BTEC Level 3 National Engineering Teaching Resource Pack Unit 3

Unit 3 Engineering project

BTEC Level 3 National Engineering

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Unit overview Credits: 20

This unit gives learners the opportunity to integrate the knowledge and skills gained throughout their programme of study into a single major piece of work. They will develop their ability to identify and plan a course of action and then follow this through to produce a viable outcome to an agreed specification and timescale. The end result could be an engineered product, service or process; a modification to an existing product or service; or anything of an engineering nature that maps to the learning outcomes. In the real world, engineering projects do not always go to plan; learners will explore strategies for resolving implementation problems so that they can employ them if required.

The engineering sector is very diverse and includes manufacturing and service companies that produce, operate and maintain products such as aircraft, cars, chemicals; electrical, marine and medical equipment; polymers, smart materials; and energy, telecommunication and transportation systems. The range of possible project areas is therefore extensive.

This is a 20-credit unit which can be taught in 120 guided learning hours, with learners expected to complete around 90 hours of individual learning. The unit can be taken as part of the BTEC Level 3 suite of Engineering Certificate or Diploma qualifications. Delivery is by some whole-class teaching and group discussion but mainly by individual activity.

On completion of this unit, learners will: LO1 Be able to specify a project, agree procedures and choose a solution LO2 Be able to plan and monitor a project LO3 Be able to implement the project plan within agreed procedures LO4 Be able to present the project outcome

Unit contents The scheme of work for this unit links to the following resources to help you deliver Unit 3.

LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4

Lesson plan LP week 5

Activity sheet AS1, AS2, AS3 AS4, AS5 AS6 AS7, AS8

Stretch and support SS1, SS2 SS3 SS4 SS5, SS6

Presentation PP1

Video component VW3, LZ13, LZ7, TVC3

LZ8, LZ14 VW3, LZ4 TV6

Websites Web 18 Web 17 Web 13 Web 16

All of these resources can be found on the accompanying @t Work CD-ROM, as well as an editable version of the scheme of work and answers to questions in the Student Book.



Links to other units ● Unit 2 Communications for engineering technicians

● Unit 8 Engineering design

● Unit 16 Engineering drawing for technicians

Unit delivery The scheme of work is set out exactly in the same order as the content that is listed in the BTEC unit specification. This then aligns the scheme of work with the outline learning plan given on pages 9 and 10 of the specification, which should be followed exactly. From early in delivery of this unit the learner will be working on the development of their own chosen project topic. While there will be whole-class teaching, for much of the delivery time the tutor will act as a critical friend providing support to the learner as required.

It is important that learners use expertise gained in other units to support their project activities particularly:

● Unit 2 Communications for engineering technicians:

o LO1 Be able to interpret and use engineering sketches/circuit/network diagrams to communicate technical information

o LO2 Be able to use verbal and written communication skills in engineering settings

o LO3 Be able to obtain and use engineering information

o LO4 Be able to use information and communication technology (ICT) to present information in engineering settings

● Unit 8 Engineering design:

o LO1 Be able to prepare design proposals that meet the requirements of a PDS

o LO2 Be able to produce and present a final design solution

The scheme of work is presented as a 30-week delivery. Centres may think it more appropriate to front-load Units 2 and 8 before starting on the project so that learners have time to develop supportive skills. Where learners are on a two-year programme, it is recommended that the project be carried out in the second year.

Learners must be given strong guidance about good time management. They should also be made fully aware of the requirement that a significant part of the assessment of the project relates to its management and monitoring and documenting its progress. Keeping a logbook will be the main method for recording progress and should be considered as a working document that contains notes and other records made at the time of doing something; paper or ‘e’ formats are acceptable. The importance of keeping it up to date and having it regularly reviewed should be emphasised to learners.

A significant number of the guided learning hours are intended to be used for self-directed activities – effectively working on their own but with a high degree of supervision from the tutor and centre support tutors. There are opportunities throughout this unit to develop the personal, learning and thinking skills of self-management, and from day one it should be made clear to learners that they must take ownership of the project. This should influence their choice of topic, with a better outcome being achieved if it is one which really interests them.



If the project topic involves significant amounts of practical activity the learner should be advised about potential problems if they are over ambitious in what they hope to achieve. Page 8 of the unit specification gives suggestions for possible project outcomes.

To achieve some of the higher grading criteria learners must critically review their progress, evaluate the outcome of the project and make recommendations for process improvements if it were to be repeated. A project that has not turned out to be a total success need not present a bar to achieving these higher criteria; in fact, it should provide learners with a better chance of coming up with a detailed strategy for improvement when compared to a project that turned out to be 100 per cent successful.

Assessment The assessment process

The unit requires the completion of six assignments, each assessed internally and conforming to the requirements of Edexcel standards verification. It is probably best to stick with the suggested combinations of grading criteria as given on page 13 of the unit specification; this is what has been done in the scheme of work.

The assessment activities in the Student Book are intended to be used by learners only as practice exercises. Each should be worked on before learners are given the full centre-devised, verified assignment. The activity sheets reinforce learning and give learners the opportunity to develop their skills in putting together the types of evidence required when they undertake the assignments.

Some of the assignments can only be fully achieved when delivery of the unit is complete; for example, the first assignment requires learners to prepare and maintain project records from initial concepts through to a solution. They might start it in week 3 (see SoW), maintain records over the life of the project, have regular reviews with the tutor, and hand in for signing off in week 28.

In order to avoid a mad panic during the closing stages of the project it is strongly recommended that the tutor closely monitors learner progress and the generation of robust evidence for assessment. It may seem that 120 hours is a generous amount of time for the delivery and assessment but where practical activities are involved the time can be very rapidly eaten up.

Evidence for assessment

This should be presented as:

1. A logbook containing diagrams and sketches, written notes and tutor annotations.

2. Portfolios containing formal drawings and diagrams, written work, observation records and witness testimonies, evidence of a PowerPoint presentation, edited research materials.

Page 13 of the unit specification gives definitive guidance on what evidence should be presented for each assignment. It is really important to ensure that logbook and portfolio evidence for each learner can be confirmed as their own work when BTEC internal and external standards verification takes place. It is very important that tutors are fully aware of what is written in the unit delivery guidance about group or individual working (page 6, paragraph 4 of the specification). It is recommended that the BTEC guidance be followed; i.e. learners undertake individual projects.

Grading

For a learner to achieve a particular grading criterion the evidence that is presented must address the statements in the criterion and also cover to an appropriate degree the topics in the unit content. It is



good practice to run a proposed assignment past a BTEC Standards Verifier before issuing to learners. On pages 11 and 12 of the unit specification there is helpful guidance about assessment and grading, and this guidance should also be consulted when writing the assignment briefs.

Additional advice

The Tutor Resource Package, Student Book, Tutor Book and BTEC specification should be a sufficient resource for most tutors to effectively deliver the unit. If a tutor does have concerns about delivery then additional support can be sought from:

● the nominated BTEC Standards Verifier for the centre; they can provide guidance on issues relating to assessment and working with BTEC

● ‘Ask the Expert’: a web-based service, accessed from the Edexcel home page. It can used for subject-specific enquiries about the interpretation and delivery of unit content, lesson planning, assessment and grading. Complex questions, which require a personal explanation, are resolved by telephone. The experts are verifiers and senior associates who have extensive experience of developing National and other programmes. The turn-round time is about three working days; this is because many are tutors who can only pick up messages in the evening.

Projects can be difficult to manage if learners are left too much to their own devices – in the early stages they will spend too much time researching and trying to come up with ideas, fall into the trap of thinking that 120 hours is a long time and then find there are all sorts of logistical and resource problems as they move into the implementation stage (learning outcome 3). Tutors and nominated support tutors, such as workshop technicians, must monitor learners very closely.

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Un

it 3 Engineering project

Scheme of work Unit 3 Engineering project Broad aim: to give learners the opportunity to specify, plan and implement an engineering

project and present its outcome.

Tutor(s): ................................................................................................................................

PPT = PowerPoint

SB = Student Book

AS = Activity Sheet

SS = Stretch and Support activity

Academic year: ....................................................................................................................

Number of weeks: 30, or 15 if double-block semester

Duration of session: 4-hour blocks

Guided learning hours: 120

Credits: 20

Week Outcome/topic Content Learner activity Resources Assessment and PLTS

Stretch and support

1 Induction, outline scheme of work and assignments

LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Be aware of what is involved with running a project

LO1

Be able to keep project records

Explanation of the unit content including the purpose of the unit and learning outcomes

Very brief overview of how unit links to others in the programme

Overview of one successful well-documented engineering project, and one not so successful

Note making and sketching

Planning and target setting

Planning tools

Recording initial concepts

Learners listen to input from tutor

Tutor-led discussion about project management

SB ‘Start-up’ activity, page 68

SB Activity: Success and failure, page 70

SB Activity: Keeping records, page 71

A copy of the unit specification for each learner

Tutor presentation

SB

Overview handouts relating to the successful and not so successful projects

2 LO1

Be able to investigate initial concepts

Setting limits of time, cost and feasibility

Value/cost benefit analysis

Ideas generation: discussion, thought showering, mind mapping

Research techniques and lines of communication

Tutor-led discussion about design concepts and their evaluation

SB Assessment activity 3.1, page 74

Paired/group activity, AS1 Project records

Exemplars of well-known design concepts, e.g. Dyson cyclone

Tutor support as required

AS1 Project records

Independent enquirer

Self-manager

SS1 Company profiles

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Stretch and support

3 LO1

Be able to prepare and monitor project records

Assignment 1

Evidence will be presented as a logbook containing notes and sketches

Individual supervised activity producing evidence for P1 and M1

A centre-devised assignment brief that has been internally verified before being issued to learners


Self-manager

P1, M1

Learners working towards M1

4 LO1

Be able to investigate initial concepts

Carried forward from week 2

Ideas generation: discussion, thought showering, mind mapping

Introduce Assignment 2

Presentation by a visiting speaker: ‘How projects are managed in their company’

Learner Q&A with speaker

Individual activity: prepare a brief report about what the speaker said.

SB Activity: Assessing market needs, page 75

Review logbook with tutor

20-minute presentation agreed with the tutor before the session

A centre-devised assignment brief that has been internally verified before being issued to learners; it draws together evidence which learners will generate during weeks 4 to 8

The assignment to be finished during week 8

5 LO1

Be able to produce a project specification

Type of project

Technical data

Health and safety

Environmental and sustainability issues

Quality standards and legislation

Timescales and resources

Start to produce three potential project solutions

Tutor-led discussion

SB Activity: Research terms, page 76

SB Activity: Initial concepts, page 76

SB Activity: Writing a specification, page 81

Individual activity: AS2 Concepts and specifications

Exemplars of product and system specifications (technical)

AS2 Concepts and specifications

Creative thinker

Functional skills: ICT, Find and select information, speaking and listening

SS1 Concepts and specifications

6 LO1

Be able to identify and select the procedures to be followed when implementing own project

Roles and responsibilities

Decision making

Budget planning and control

Reporting

Allocating resources

Continue to produce three potential project solutions


Group activity, AS3 Procedures and techniques

Exemplars of planning documentation and procedural specifications

AS3 Procedures and techniques

Creative thinker

Functional skills: ICT, find and select information, access information and evaluate its purpose

SS2 Procedures and techniques

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Stretch and support

7 LO1

Be able to identify and use techniques for evaluating potential solutions

Comparison methods

Resource requirements

Fitness for purpose

Cost–benefit analysis

Evaluate three potential project solutions

SB Activity: Analysing different options, page 85


Tutor support as required Reflective learner

Functional skills: speaking and listening


8 LO1

Be able to specify a project, agree procedures and choose a solution

Assignment 2

Evidence will presented as a logbook and a portfolio containing a specification, sketches of three design proposals, plus a description of how one of the proposals was selected for development

Individual activity drawing together evidence for P2, P3, P4 and M2


A centre-devised assignment brief that has been internally verified before being issued to learners. It draws together evidence which learners have been generating during weeks 4 to 8.

The brief will have been given out at week 4

Self-manager

P2, P3, P4, M2 Functional skills: speaking and listening


9 LO2

Be able to plan a project and monitor a project

Long-term planning

Charts and scheduling techniques

Gantt charts and network analysis

Setting priorities and milestones

Resources: human and physical


SB Activity: Planning your project, page 90

Individual activity AS4 Planning

Visit local industry and meet with a project engineer

Paired activity: preparing a short report about what they found out on the visit

Exemplars of planning documents – useful if these can be sourced from local industry

AS4 Planning

Access to local industry

If this is not possible then arrange a meeting with a day-release student who is studying on a higher level course which has a project unit, e.g. foundation degree in engineering


Team worker

SS3 Planning

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Stretch and support

10 LO2

Be able to plan a project and monitor a project

Continued from week 9

Monitoring and recording achievement

Logbook: recording and analysing data, modifying charts and planners, goals and milestones, initial concepts, project solution, technical decisions

Assignment 3

Evidence will be presented as a logbook containing notes, sketches, calculations and other relevant information

SB Activity: Planning terms, page 90

SB Activity: Monitoring, page 91


Paired activity: AS5 Monitoring

Individual activity producing evidence for P5, P6


Exemplars of good and poor logbooks

Exemplars of diaries (good and poor)

AS5 Monitoring


P6 can only be achieved when the project is finished at week 29

Self-manager


Creative thinker

P5, P6, functional skills: writing

11 LO3

Be able to implement a project plan within agreed procedures

Implementing a project through:

The correct use of resources, such as equipment, tools, materials, people and keeping to timescales, generating solutions

Adapting the project plan, maintaining records

Checking solutions: evaluative and analytical techniques


Individual activity: AS6 Implementing a plan and checking solutions

Individual activity: develop own project

AS6 Implementing a plan and checking solutions


Access to web-based and other resources for research purposes

Self-manager


Creative thinker

SS4 Implementing a plan and checking solutions

12 LO3


Assignment 4

Evidence will be presented as a logbook containing notes, sketches, calculations and other relevant information

Individual activity to plan and start producing evidence for P7, P8 and M3


A centre-devised assignment brief that has been internally verified before being issued to learners and spans across weeks 12 to 27.

P7, P8, M3

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Stretch and support

13 LO3


Carried forward from previous week


SB Activity: Organising resources, page 93

Tutor and technician support as required

Access to web-based and other resources for research purposes

Access to equipment, materials and other resources sufficient to meet the needs of the learner e.g. workshop, laboratory, IT system, work placement

Self-manager


Creative thinker

14 LO3




As for previous week Self-manager


Creative thinker

15 LO3




SB Activity: Checking solutions, page 95



Creative thinker

Reflective learner

16–20 LO3







Creative thinker

Reflective learner

Effective participant

21 LO3





Reflective learner

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Stretch and support

22 LO3






Reflective learner

23 LO3





Effective participant

Reflective learner

24 LO4

Be able to present the project outcome as a verbal presentation

Content and style of presentation

Audience

Preparation techniques: visual aids, software packages, projection facilities, video

Assignment 5

SB Activity: Perfect preparation, page 97

SB Activity: Prepare and make a three-minute presentation, page 98

Group activity: AS7 Delivering a presentation to a group


Prepare evidence for P9, P10 and M4


IT and presentation equipment

AS7 Delivering a presentation to a group

Reflective learner

P7, P8, M3, ICT, develop, present, communicate information


SS5 Delivering a presentation

25 LO4

Be able to present the project outcome as a verbal presentation


Individual activity: deliver a presentation to a small audience

Prepare evidence for P9, P10 and M4

Presentation equipment

A small audience which might include someone from local industry, e.g. an engineer who manages projects

Reflective learner

ICT, develop, present, communicate information


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Stretch and support

26 LO4

Be able to present the project outcome as a written report

Logbook record of all events

Written technical report

Drawings, sketches and circuit diagrams

Evaluating a project outcome against its specification

Suggesting improvements

Using ICT when preparing a report

SB Activity: Prepare a written report, page 100


Paired activity: AS8 Project report

IT equipment


Anonymous exemplars of reports produced by learners in previous years

AS8 Project report

Reflective learner

ICT, develop, present, communicate information


SS6 Project report

27–28 LO4

Be able to present the project outcome as a written report


Continue from previous week As for previous week ICT, develop, present, communicate information


29 Independent project management

Evaluation of the whole project development process

Assignment 6 Individual activity

Produce a written report which addresses D1 and D2


Self-manager

Reflective learner

D1, D2

Learners present evidence for D1 and D2

30 LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Project evaluation

Unit review and wrap-up session

Collection of final evidence and learner portfolios

Agree timescale with tutor for completion of assignment activity if grading criteria have not been met


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Lesson plan – Unit 3 Engineering project – week 5 Aims To investigate how to project specifications are developed from initial ideas and design briefs

SB Student Book

AS = Activity Sheet

This is a 150-minute lesson (split into two sessions of 85 and 65 minutes) within a 240-minute block. Remaining time is for supervised self-study or delivering presentations.

Learning outcomes

All learners will be able to identify and describe the key features of a product specification

Most learners will be able to write a specification to meet the requirements of a given design brief

Some learners will be able to develop a detailed technical specification from a given design brief

Timing/ Content

Tutor activity Learner activity Resources Individualised activity/differentiation

PLTS Functional skills

5 mins

Welcome

Welcome to the session Aims written on the board

Health and safety check

ECM check

Register

Learners settle in and read aims

Whiteboard/interactive white board

PC/multimedia

20 mins Tutor presentation: product and project specifications

Listen to tutor

Take part in a discussion

Exemplars of design briefs and specifications developed from them

PowerPoint PPT01

Level of verbal confidence

Validity of responses during discussion

60 mins Tutor introduces SB activity: initial concepts

Provide support as required, monitor learner discussions, pick up on key issues which they may identify, write these on white board

Pair-work producing prompt cards

Make five-minute presentation to rest of group

Compare notes

Web access and paper based resource materials

Learners paired according to stretch and support needs

Speaking and listening: make a range of contributions to discussions and make effective presentations in a wide range of contexts

(part covered)

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Timing/ Content

Tutor activity Learner activity Resources Individualised activity/differentiation

PLTS Functional skills

60 mins Provide support as required, monitor learner discussions, pick up on key issues which they may identify, write these on white board and use as pick up points during the rest of the lesson

Review what each group has produced and pull out common elements

Write up agreed specification on white board

Introduce AS2 and SS1

Small group SB activity: agreeing and writing a specification.

Pool the individual specifications and then as a whole group produce an agreed one

Print off from the whiteboard – learners file for future reference or save onto pen (flash) drive for transfer into own computer

Look over AS2 and SS1and work on in own time

SB

Interactive whiteboard

PC and printer.

Activity sheet AS2: concepts and specifications

Stretch and support SS1: concepts and specifications

The amount of detail in the specification points and the level of discussion as they are presented

Level of success when working on SS1

Creative thinkers generate ideas and explore possibilities; question their own and others’ assumptions

Speaking and listening: make a range of contributions to discussions and make effective presentations in a wide range of contexts (part covered)

5 mins

Plenary

Review the aims of the lesson

Introduce next session and explain how it links with week 5

Q & A Whiteboard/interactive whiteboard

Link to next session when learners continue to give verbal feedback on small group discussion (varying levels of confidence is the differentiator)

Differentiation picked up again during week 6 when learners move on to AS3 and SS2



Project records

1. For each of the following headings, have a discussion with a colleague, and highlight your thoughts on a flip chart.

Write it down or you may forget it when needed for future reference.

Why do we need to keep records about anything?

What are the key features of a reporting system for monitoring the progress of a new product from initial design to delivery to the customer?

In an engineering environment, what are the job roles of people who need to have access to project records?

Get together with the rest of your group and round-up your discussions.

2. Work in a small group on this one.

To achieve grading criterion P10 you have to produce a written project report. Ask your tutor to show you an example of a report produced by a former learner, which is good enough to be presented to a training manager or engineer.

Now discuss with your colleagues how to plan the report that you are going to write. It could be handwritten, but you will save yourself a lot of time and energy if you word-process it. As your project progresses you can record your thoughts and notes into documents and keep them for later editing or pulling together. Also, you can save digital images of anything you make, along with copies of emails and other correspondence.

Create a single A4 page fact sheet titled ‘How to get it right when preparing a technical report’.

Come together as a whole group and overview what you have produced.

AS1


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Concepts and specifications

1. The supermini is a British car classification, also known as the B-segment across Europe and the subcompact in North America.

Investigate the origins of the terms ‘mini’ and ‘supermini’.

Investigate the concept on which the original mini car was based. At the time many people had doubts about the technical feasibility of the proposed new car. Why was this?

What was the 1973 oil crisis and how did it influence the design of domestic vehicles sold in the UK and Europe?

2. In the late 1980s Tim Berners-Lee was putting together a design proposal for a data communication system which was to become the World Wide Web.

What was the concept on which his design was based?

As his system was rolled out to a world market what organisations will have influenced its design specification?

3. Each of the units that you are studying has a specification, all set out in a common way. Look through the specification for this unit and make a list of the sections in it, for example unit introduction, outline learning plan, essential resources.

Why is a common format used for the specification?

What are the consequences if your tutor does not correctly interpret the specification for this unit?

How can Edexcel/BTEC check that your work meets the requirements of the specification?

4. During the past year, you or a colleague may have done a mobile phone upgrade. Find the sales leaflet or user guide and pick out 10 details from its specification, for example physical dimensions, battery life.

AS2



Procedures and techniques

This diagram shows the functions carried out as a new product is developed and marketed.

1. In a small group discuss this diagram and then choose two domestic products with which you are familiar. For each product explain:

where the cycle would have started

the significance of the decision-making function, particularly with respect to the people involved in it; think about who has the final say in whether a project should proceed or not.

2. You work for a company that produces braking systems for domestic vehicles. You have been put in charge of a project to work with a car manufacturer who is setting up a new assembly line in the UK. The car is ‘next generation’ battery-powered and is due to come into production in three years’ time.

Make a list of the procedures to be followed as you work with the car maker on the detailed design of the braking system.

• What techniques will be used to evaluate your design proposals?

AS3



Planning A customer is negotiating a contract with a manufacturer for the design, building and commissioning of a new type of uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The customer wants to know how quickly the first batch can be delivered.

Use the data given in the table below to carry out a network analysis.

Before starting work think about precedents that apply to the activities, for example:

you cannot manufacture something before you have designed it

to design something you need a design specification.

Add a fourth column to the table in which you indicate precedents.

Assume that there are enough people working in the factory to enable some tasks to be carried out simultaneously (i.e. in parallel).

Activity Time (days)

A Agree design brief with customer 1

B Prepare a design specification 1

C Agree specification with customer 0.5

D Electronic modules design 2

E External casing/racking design 1

F Module racking design 1.5

G Manufacture of electronic modules 5

H Manufacture of exterior enclosure 1

I Manufacture of racking 1.5

J Ordering and delivery of batteries 6

K Assembly of modules into racking 1

L Assembly of racked modules into enclosure 0.5

M Commissioning/burning in 2

N Testing and certification 0.5

O Visual inspect for external flaws 0.1

P Pack for shipment 0.2

Q Delivery to customer 1

AS4



Monitoring

1. For each of the following activities have a discussion with a colleague, and highlight your thoughts on a flip chart:

2. Present this information as a Gantt chart using a timeline which you have agreed with your tutor.

3. For each activity describe how it would be monitored.

Choose a topic for the project

Set up a record system

Start logbook

Agree project with tutor

Produce specification

Prepare a long-term plan

Generate three potential solutions

Select the best one for development

Implement plan and produce solution

Monitor and evaluate progress

Check solution against technical specification

Prepare and make a verbal presentation

Prepare a written report

Submit written report and other evidence

AS5



Implementing a plan and checking

solutions Food packaging is a highly automated process that uses special purpose machinery. Typically three companies will be involved in the specification, design, manufacture and commissioning of a new machine to pack snack foods in foil/clear wrappers, for example:

SuperPak: who build packaging machines

Pneuno Systems: who manufacture and supply pneumatic actuators and control equipment to SuperPak and other machine manufacturers

Besto Foods: a company buying one of SuperPak’s machines.

Besto has ordered six machines (worth £300,000) with the first one recently installed and commissioned.

You work for Pneuno Systems as a design engineer and are responsible for the technical aspects of the SuperPak contract. Pneuno has a good track record and has worked with SuperPak before.

A high-priority email arrives on your desktop from Pneuno’s sales director. It reads:

I have just received a message from SuperPak saying that Besto Foods has been in touch with them claiming that the new machine is not operating to specification. Besto says that their quality assurance people have done statistical sampling and are finding inconsistencies in the amount of product being packed. They are refusing to take delivery of any more machines until the problem is sorted out and are hinting that they may claim against SuperPak for the cost of lost production – apparently one of the big supermarkets has rejected a batch of 10,000 chocolate bars.

As a matter of urgency, please pull together all the technical information and records that we have about this contract and meet with me tomorrow morning to review what our response should be. I am meeting with SuperPak’s technical director tomorrow afternoon. Please get someone else from our design department to help you to gather and collate what we and SuperPak have on file.

Before starting on the actual collation, put together a checklist of the information you will need to gather and let me have this list a.s.a.p. so that I can provide advice if necessary.

Put together the checklist and outline the importance of each item in it.

AS6



Delivering a presentation to a group

1. In a small group discuss and record your thoughts about the following:

Over the past four weeks, what types of verbal communication have you used at work or in college?

Active as opposed to passive listening.

‘I hear what you say but I’m not listening.’

Positive body language and good eye contact help to keep an audience engaged.

Persuasion is better that coercion.

Standing up under questioning.

Dos and don’ts when supporting a verbal presentation with PowerPoint and handouts.

Strategies for overcoming nervousness.

2. Work in a small group on this one.

In turn, each of you should deliver a 5 minute presentation to your colleagues about where you are with your project.

Fill in these feedback grids and have a light-hearted discussion.

Things that the speaker did as they were talking:

Saying Tick list of how many times it happens

• er/um (the ‘um’ count)

• basically

• OK

• yeah

• you see

• you know

• know what I mean

Other things

• coughing

• not looking at audience

• strange gestures

AS7



The presentation

Feature Feedback (comment or marks out of 10)

Introduction

Main content

Finishing up

Presenting for the specified length of time

Answering questions

Engaging with the audience

Getting the message across

Slides easy to read

Quality of slides

Presenter reading slides

Eye contact

Clarity of speech

Annoying traits

How did you do?



Project report 1. In a small group discuss and record your thoughts about the following:

Over the past four weeks what types of written communication have you used at work or in college?

Font styles and size to be used when writing technical reports

Effective use of the spell and grammar checkers in a word-processing package

Presenting a report in a ‘house style’

Readability

Using graphics and images to enhance a presentation

Plagiarism

Acknowledging sources of reference material

2. Ask your tutor to show you two exemplars of project reports (made anonymous) produced by learners who have completed a BTEC National. The first should be one which is satisfactory but only just makes the pass criterion. The other report needs to be a really good one that made the distinction grades.

Put them down side by side and look over them; at this stage just go for general presentation and overall impression.

a. Now identify specific features that differentiate the two documents, and set them out as a list.

b. Convert what you have written into a checklist titled ‘Tips on what makes a good technical report’.

c. Discuss your checklist with a colleague and your tutor.

AS8

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Unit X <Unit title here>

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Stretch and support The following suggested activities can be used by or adapted for learners who demonstrate a need for stretch or support activities.

Concepts and specifications

Support

Many of the products that we use have names that have become icons of their time and have assumed a generic meaning. Until James Dyson came along many people would go into an electrical retail shop and ask to buy a Hoover when in fact what they really wanted was a vacuum cleaner. They would be presented with a range of makes including one that might be the actual Hoover brand. They asked for a vacuum cleaner because this was the make that first dominated the UK market many years ago, and was based on a very simple concept – suck air through a piece of cloth and it picks up dust particles.

Many years later James Dyson came up with an alternative concept which was to remove the dust particles by using a centrifugal process – the cyclone.

Work with a colleague on the following:

● What do we mean when we talk about an iconic product or brand?

● Investigate the concept from which the design of the Sony Walkman was developed in the late 1970s.

● Why is the Walkman brand name still being used today, given that technology has moved on significantly?

● Investigate the concept of the proposed KERS system which may be fitted to F1 racing cars in the 2012 or 2013 series.

Stretch

On narrow, winding country roads it is difficult to see oncoming vehicles until they are nearly on you. You work for a company that manufactures safety equipment, and yesterday your design office manager almost had a head-on collision at a right-hand bend. They have come up with a concept for solving the problem.

● Approaching the bend, a driver will see an active display screen mounted on a short pole.

● If a vehicle approaches from the opposite direction a warning message will be flashed on the screen.

● Sensors each side of the bend will detect vehicle movements.

● It will be powered independently of mains electricity supply.

● Video camera or some other device will help to prevent vandalism.

● Night and day brightness settings are needed on the display.

● If the system goes faulty, it should fail safe.

Working with two colleagues, put together a specification which can be presented to the manager for consideration.

SS1

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Procedures and techniques

Support

An electronics company that designs and manufactures handheld scanners and barcode readers is tendering for a contact with a national home delivery service. The delivery company wants a ‘smart’ scanner that links wirelessly to an onboard vehicle computer and then back to the distribution centre using 3G mobile phone technology.

The chief designer of the electronics company is setting up a design review meeting in order to evaluate two possible scanner designs, which are now at the prototype stage.

● Make a list of the people who will be at the meeting.

● Make a list of things that the review team will consider as they come to a decision.

● Make a list of the data and other information that the team will look at.

Stretch

A company selling and installing IT equipment runs a fleet of 20 hatchback cars, which are used by its installation engineers when visiting customers. The vehicles are purchased new, run on diesel, are reliable, serviced in-house and replaced when they are five years old. Your company has recently replaced the computers at the local main dealer for a Japanese car manufacturer that produces hybrid and traditionally powered vehicles.

You are the fleet manger of the IT company. A sales person at the garage has just phoned and made you a ‘not to be repeated offer’; they recommend that you replace the whole of your fleet with new hybrid vehicles because:

● fuel and taxation costs will be less

● there will be no city congestion charges

● your company will be seen as ‘green’

● state-of-the-art vehicles will create a good hi-tech image for your company

● the old vehicles can be traded in.

Make a list of the information/data that you will require in order to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of the proposal made by the sales person.

SS2

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Planning

Stretch

You and two colleagues work for Hivalve Ltd and have been asked to plan and supervise the relocation of the factory. The move has to be carefully planned so that deliveries of finished parts to customers are not interrupted and manufacturing downtime is kept to an absolute minimum.

Produce a detailed plan, which you will present to senior management. Your presentation should include:

● identification of strategic priorities

● identification of resource issues

● a flowchart showing the sequence of events

● a Gantt chart

● supporting documentation.

Here is some information about Hivalve Ltd.

● Hivalve Ltd has been in business for about 10 years and manufactures high-precision valves for the braking systems of cars. It operates from an old converted warehouse and is having trouble meeting the latest regulations concerning health and safety, noise and air pollution, etc.

● The present site is very valuable and the directors have decided to sell it for housing, and to move onto a greenfield site (about 10 km away) where a new custom-built factory will be set up.

● A recently appointed manufacturing director, with a background in aerospace engineering, has convinced the board of directors that there is scope to expand the business by making valve systems for aircraft.

● The sales director has negotiated a six-year contract with High Fly Aero plc to supply control valves for the hydraulic systems fitted to its planes.

● Currently, valve bodies are bought in as aluminium castings and then machined on site. To ensure consistent quality the manufacturing director wants to set up an in-house casting facility.

● Other components are machined from steel, brass and polymers with standard parts such as nuts and bolts being bought in.

● The company employs about 100 people on the shop floor, supported by 20 designers and manufacturing engineers.

● The factory currently manufactures 2000 valve units a week for the automotive industry.

● The aerospace contract is for 50 units a week but these are of very high value and will be subject to special inspection procedures.

● A five-year business plan has been presented to the company’s bank and they have agreed to provide overdraft facilities, sufficient to cover the move to the new site.

● The company is raising finance from a shareholders’ rights issue.

● The local authority has granted planning permission for the new factory.

SS3

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Implementing a plan, and checking solutions

Support

An electronics technician is asked to build and test a prototype of a new type of power amplifier for use in data communication systems. The designer has given the technician a circuit diagram, a specification to test against and a plan to work to.

● What information will be presented in the plan?

● How will the engineer check the progress being made by the technician?

● How will the technician record the results of testing?

● What will the engineer do with the test results?

The prototype operates to specification and the company decides to move forward to large-scale production of the amplifier. A manufacturing engineer picks up the prototype design.

● What information will they need when planning the manufacturing process?

● As units start to roll off the end of the production line, how will they check that the amplifiers operate to specification?

● What information will they pass back to the design engineer?

SS4

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Delivering a presentation

Support

Lots of people get very nervous before delivering a presentation to an audience – even experienced speakers. When people are nervous they tend to either speak faster than normal or just freeze up. Try taking the following actions to improve your confidence.

1. Put together a single page of text about a subject which interests you.

2. Break it into manageable paragraphs and set it out using double line spacing and a clear font. The aim is to make it easy to read.

3. Sit down and time yourself as you read the document from start to finish.

4. Read it through again this time going slower – try to take twice as long.

5. Now stand in front of a mirror and read out loud what you have written – try to keep your head up, pause for a couple of seconds between each paragraph and aim for a total time which is twice as long again as when you read the document in Step 4.

6. Keep repeating Step 5 until you feel confident about what you are saying.

7. Use a marker pen to highlight the first line of each paragraph.

8. Using only the first line of each paragraph as a prompt see if you can present the document to yourself by talking to the mirror again!

9. Repeat Step 8 until you get it right.

10. Now cut and paste into a new document a copy of either the first line from each paragraph or better still just key words from each paragraph.

11. Now deliver the presentation to someone who is a sympathetic listener. Try to refer only to the document created at Step 10; keep the original document in reserve in case you freeze up. Discuss where you went right and where you went wrong.

12. Repeat Step 11 but now have it timed by your listener. Are they happy with your speed of delivery – was it much slower than when you carried out Step 3?

Stretch

Get together with six other people for this exercise.

● On a slip of paper, each person writes down a topic to talk about.

● Fold and shuffle the slips.

● Each person picks up one slip and has ten minutes to plan a five-minute presentation.

● No visual aids are to be used.

● Prompts can be written but only on a single side of A6 (74 × 105 mm) paper.

● Each person in turn delivers their presentation – use the grids in activity sheet AS7 as guides for feedback purposes.

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Project report

Support

Find a copy of a word-processed report that you produced for one of your other units, perhaps early on in your studies. It would be best if you could find one that your tutor was not too happy with and which they have annotated with comments about how to improve. Alternatively, pick up an assignment report that has to be improved before resubmission to achieve a grading criterion.

Make an ‘e’ copy of the report, read through the brief which relates to it and then make improvements. Think about:

● correcting grammatical mistakes

● rearranging the sections

● improving images

● layout of numerical data

● presentation of maths equations and calculations

Discuss what you have done, with your tutor.

Stretch

EKAB Ltd manufactures control systems that are fitted to commercial aviation aero engines. Two weeks ago, as a cargo plane was taking off from a regional airport, a problem occurred causing the shutdown of one of the engines. The pilot aborted the take-off and veered off the runway into a field. There were no injuries, but the plane was severely damaged and the airport was closed for several hours. Preliminary investigations by the UK Air Accidents Branch (AAIB – see http://www.aaib.gov.uk/home/index.cfm) have identified that the loss of power was caused by a fault in the EKAB system.

The operations and technical directors at EKAB are very concerned, because the system is a developed version of an existing design, sold in large quantities to the plane makers. Doubt is being cast over the performance and reliability of the product. They need to act fast and put together a technical report which can be presented to the AAIB and plane makers.

You and a colleague work in the design department of the company and are charged with producing the report. Your technical director asks that before getting into too much detail, you plan the layout of the report, for example the sections that should be in it, how it will be introduced, the technical data to be included, and so on. Up to now EKAB has had a 100 per cent track record, so there is nothing to refer to in the way of format for a report which will be going public.

Plan out the layout/content of the report and discuss your proposal with the technical director (role-played by your tutor).

SS6



Video worksheet Fluid power: Helipebs Controls

1. Glen Harding is carrying out a project management role when he works on the design and development of a new cylinder for a customer. In addition to his technical skill, what other types of expertise will Glen be employing?

2. What information will Glen present to the customer in a design specification?

3. Describe the likely job roles of other people who work at Helipebs and are involved with the planning and development of a new product?

The motor industry: Jaguar Cars

1. Designing and building a new model is an expensive and lengthy business; the process requires careful planning and monitoring. Usually the new car is given a code number rather than a name and testing is carried out in secret, very often with the vehicle being disguised in some way. The aim is to bring the product to market with a high-profile marketing launch. Suppose you have been appointed project manager for a new vehicle. Create a Gantt chart or network diagram which identifies the major activities to be carried out from design concept to public launch.

2. Suppose that half way through the new car project a change in European Union legislation requires that additional safety and emissions features are incorporated into the vehicle. The launch date is immovable. How will you tackle the problem? Put together an action plan.

VWS3

Documents

BTEC Level 3 National Engineering Teaching Resource Pack Unit 3