Monday, October 31, 2011

New Name, New Look


Our Blue Light Security group is brainstorming new names for their system, Aegis. The logo depicted above is the original design created by Nick Florin and Chad Baker, members of the 2009 EDD class. Other security systems have since used the term Aegis and we are looking to make our system unique. Some of the new names being considered include: Secure U, Safe U, and Alert U. Vote for your favorite as well as suggest new names.

Also in the spirit of change, we have worked on updating the appearance of our blog. We are very excited about the new look, as well as many more upcoming posts!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

10/26/11

After refurbishing the powerpoint for Bechtel, our 4 presenters practiced their routine in front of the class one more time. Following were a few side comments from the class. Their final presentation is next week.

Our groups for our 4 different projects assembled at the end of the presentation, moving towards our class goals.

-Shane

Monday, October 24, 2011

10/24/11

During today's class, 4 of our peers practiced a powerpoint for next week. The powerpoint is intended to be presented in front of professional engineering firms, such as Bechtel, requesting funding for our projects. The presentation was critically evalutated and is going to be re-done next class.
-Shane

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

EDD Class 2011-12

10/18/2011 Class

Dear Reader,
Each of our four groups created powerpoints over the past week and today we presented them in front of the class. This took a good hour and we still ran out of time! Everyone was involved in the class discussions and I feel as if we got a lot accomplished; learning more about each topic and individually we were constantly weeding out ideas and keeping track of the good ones. These discussions about which final projects to implement will continue next class. Stay tuned!


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Update 10-12-11

Dear Reader,

The first few weeks of class we have been brainstorming, where as a class,
we cut down our ideas into the four described below.

Originally, we each started with our own ideas that we pitched to the PLTW
teachers during the last school year. Over the summer, each individual
posted their ideas on the blog that are also included below. As this school
year started, we each explained our ideas to the class so we could
understand the problem statements better.

To help develop these ideas, each student did further research on one of the
given problems (not their own) and gave another presentation to the class.
Since we already knew all of the problems given, the research in each
project included more detailed information, like what is currently out there
and who the market is.

Once we decided our top choices based an open discussion and a class vote,
we split into groups, tackling each of the four ideas. Currently, we are
coming up with possible solutions and are going to pitch them to the class
within the next week.

Some other discussions going on with our class are about foundraising. In
order for us to work on our ideas, we need to have a money bank where we
can buy all of the parts needed. Foundraising is very important because
each project requires a large amount of money since we are basically
starting from scratch. Any ideas for foundraising are welcome. You can
either post them directly to the website or you can email me @
ShaneTracy13@gmail.com.

As of now, no ideas are set in stone, and we are still open for different
problems and different solutions. Our limit on projects is a minimum of 2
and a maximum of 5, maybe 6. I will keep everyone updated on all of our
future work and where we stand.

Thanks,
Shane

Top 4 Projects (No Order)

- Redesign of Crutches
-Task: Reduce or completely remove irritation of underarms from use.
-Other designs: Wheel chair, knee scooter, spring-loaded armpit rest, cane.
-Needs to be cheap and easy to use.

- Submersive Cooling System
-Market: For computer users at home that pay more for increased processor speed.
-Ex. Photographer, Web designer, programmer, ect.
-Non-conductive fluid where the computer is completely submerged.
-Could be a consumer's option or could be included in the system.
-Gets rid of copper from existing systems, reducing the production price.

- Third World Countries
- Solving problems for people who spend less than a dollar a day.
-UN campaigned on human development stating that 50% of the world lives under a dollar a day...
- Bacteria infested water, spreading diseases.
- Cheaper/more effective mosquito repellent due to high risk of malaria.
- Efficient ways to transport food and water.
- Recycling plastic used in water bottles to produce cheap shoes.

- Blue Light Security
- College campuses have security, but it's hard to access.
- Phone application that allows mobile access to blue light security.
- Continuation of project started a few years back.
- All coding for program and website was complete. (75% of project).
- Need to market idea and catch up with how the program works.