MEC 440

Mechanical Engineering Design

Fall 2016
Jay Mendelson
Lecturer
Mechanical Engineering Department
Jay.Mendelson@stonybrook.edu
Normal office hours 10AM Noon
Monday and Wednesday
Graduate Program Directors Office Room 171
Light Engineering building

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Who is Jay Mendelson?

New instructor in the Mechanical Engineering Dept.
Princeton University, BS in Mechanical Engineering,
1982
Carnegie-Mellon University, MS in Mechanical
Engineering, 1984
31 years in product design in the industrial world
VP Technology at firms in the electrical and process
control industries
Worked with hardware, firmware, software,
mechanical, process, and quality engineers
Currently: CTO of Eng x IP, LLC, a consulting firm
For more details, please connect with me on LinkedIn
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MEC 440: Preparing a Project Proposal

More thoughts on the Learning Objective
Overview of product design methodology
Some advice on the project proposal and
working as part of design teams
Resources available to help you pick projects

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MEC 440: More Thoughts on the Learning Objective

Learn how to do market research across broad

sources of market and technology information
Develop design specifications and conceptual
designs per the marketing spec and PDS
Align your market research findings all through the
details of your final design
Use engineering standards and multiple constraints
of time, cost, and product safety to develop a design
Understand how engineers in the industrial world do
their work

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MEC 440: Overview of a Corporate

Phase-Gate Design Process
Phase 1:
Research

Phase 2: Analysis
Inputs: Sales figures

Inputs: Customer
requests, trade
shows, competitive
products, ideas from
engineers and
product managers.

Key Tools:
Customer
environment and
engineering
economic study, set
guidelines on MARR,
IRR, and NPV.

Deliverables: List of
projects for
consideration.
Gat

Gate
e1
3
Gate 3 Criteria:
IRR, NPV, patent
work-arounds,
competitive
price-value
curve, design
execution.

Phase 3: Product
Design

Gat
Gate
e1
1

Gate 1 Criteria:
Match with
unmet, needs,
fit to core
product lines and
sales channels,
profit potential.

on existing products,
field quality data

Key Tools: Voice of

Customer study,
competitive analysis,
conceptual design

Deliverables:
Marketing and product
design specs, concept
design, business plan,
risk assessment

Phase 4: Verification &

Validation
Inputs: Completed
design, DVT plan, requests
for Beta models

Key Tools: functional

test vs. product design
spec, network, HALT, CE,
UL, ATEX tests. Beta test
at in customer installation.

Deliverables: Fully
working prototypes, pass
DVT, update BOM cost
with quotes; customer
acceptance,

Gat
Gate
e1
2

Gate 2 Criteria:
Sales, IRR, and
NPV forecasts,
mitigation plans,
resource plan,
Gantt chart

Phase 5: Pilot Run

Gat
Gate
e1
4

Gate 4 Criteria:
IRR, NPV,
robustness of
DVT testing,
acceptance of
vendor tooling,
customer
acceptance

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Inputs: Product Design

Spec, patent analysis,
project schedule and
rough BOM cost

Key Tools: concept vs.

criteria matrix, design
review, CAD/CAE tools,
Alpha level prototypes

Deliverables: Detail
design requirements,
flowcharts, schematics,
models, and drawings,
updated schedule, BOM
cost, demo code

Inputs: Parts off

production tooling, MVT
test plan

Key Tools: Incoming

parts inspection, test pilot
samples to product design
spec, production worker
qualification

Deliverables: Pilot run

report, component and
finished goods inventory,
product literature, BOM
loaded5into business
system, stocked field

Gat
Gate
e1
5

Gate 5 Criteria:
IRR, NPV, readiness
of supply chain,
tooling, and inhouse workers,
thoroughness of
rollout plan

MEC 440: Tips on Choosing a Project Proposal

Choose an idea that you are genuinely passionate about.

You will have more fun that way.
Scope the project in a feasible way, so that you can
complete it on time with the resources that you have at
your disposal.
Make sure your idea can be reduced to practice in the
concept stage. Otherwise, you will lose a lot of time doing
detail design, and then have to start all over.
Make sure the core design skills needed fit within the
curriculum of the mechanical engineering department.
Otherwise, you may lose too much time learning too
many skills from scratch.
Money matters. Standard reimbursement per team
member is $280. Take a look at the prototype costs before
you freeze your design. If they are too expensive, scale
back
the complexity of9/13/16
the design.
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MEC 440: Some Advice About Design Teams

Creativity is the biggest key to your teams success. Have
everybody share in the fun stuff (brainstorming wild ideas,
drawing fantastic objects in CAD)
Share the grunt work too (filing down parts that dont fit,
documenting test data, etc.) Nothing builds teamwork better than
having people share in adversity.
Sometimes the stresses of getting a project done by a fixed
deadline lead to heavy disagreements and difficult emotions. This
is very normal in the working world. If so, take a timeout and
regroup. Dont let disagreements fester. It hurts the teamwork.
Take time to celebrate completing the major tasks in the project.
Have pizza parties, go bowling, etc.
Make sure you feel you are learning important skills for your
future career interests. This class is your best chance to do this. It
also makes for good talking points when you go for job
interviews.
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MEC 440: Format for a Project Proposal

1. Describe what problem you are trying to solve, from the perspective of
the customer.
2. Discuss how your design will solve the customers problem.
a.
b.
c.
d.

Describe the main technical challenges and project goals.

Define the approach you will follow to overcome the constraints.
Describe the advantages of your ideas vs. prior art.
Mention any positive social impact that your idea may have (e.g. reduction
in carbon footprint, improve mobility of physically impaired people, etc.)
e. Discuss whether the project is for an existing initiative: Baja, Solar Boat,
part of funded university research by a professor, etc.

3. Time table for key milestones: market research, PDS, conceptual

design, detail design, prototyping, testing, formal project report.
4. Resource chart: list each members individual responsibilities according
to the project requirements and members expertise.
5. Include a cover sheet with project title, group letter (once assigned),
name and and student ID of each student member, and faculty advisor

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MEC 440: Resources Available to Assist You

Previous Senior Design projects stored in:
http://me.eng.sunysb.edu/~senior-design
Assistive Technology Program - There are additional NSF funds
for these projects to assist in customizing make a successful
prototype.
Speak to Stony Brook professors and research staff
The US patent office: www.uspto.gov/patents/process/search
Think-tank and incubator web-sites:
www.strategyn.com innovation consulting firm
www.angel.com web site for angel investors and entrepreneurs
https://www.linkedin.com forums on Product Development, Front
End of Innovation, On Startups The Community for Entrepreneurs
http://battlebots.com build your robot and fight it out on the TV
show
www.makerfaire.com This is the premier show for inventors. Come
to the World Maker Faire at NY Science Center on October 1 or 2.
Ti

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