Design project

Course

URL study guide

https://tue.osiris-student.nl/onderwijscatalogus/extern/cursus?cursuscode=6PDPPD900&collegejaar=2025&taal=en

Description

During one year a design problem is elaborated on, with the help of various coaches and carried out either at a company or at TU/e. During the execution of the project, three coaches will assist the PDEng trainee:
  • The company coach, who is responsible for the PDEng trainee within the company and for guidance during the execution of the project. The company coach must be an experienced designer.
  • A scientific university coach with expertise in the areas of science and/or technology relevant to the project. At least once a month a meeting is arranged between the trainee and the university coach.
  • A second-year coordinator, who will be involved in supervision in a supporting capacity, paying attention to overall project management by the PDEng trainee and their professional and personal development. The second-year coordinator also safeguards communication between the involved parties.
The PDEng trainee must organize at least two meetings in the project year with all the coaches involved (a kick-off meeting to discuss the project brief and an intermediate meeting to show and discuss progress). The trainee will host these meetings and will update the coaches about the progress of the project in the form of a presentation in which goals, objectives, results, interpretations, and any deviations from the work plan and mitigating actions are discussed. Additionally, there are monthly progress meetings, during which the project status is reported to the second-year coaches via a normal progress report or a quarterly progress report (every three months), as specified below. Further details about the progress-meeting days are specified below. If the project is carried out at the university, regular meetings via online media such as Skype or Teams will be organized, typically weekly between the trainee and the company and monthly with the university coaches.   Progress-meeting days Progress meetings are organized on the last Friday of each month. Part of the meeting is used to discuss the overall progress of the project toward its goals and the development of the candidate with one of the second-year coordinators. Usually, plenary meetings per generation are organized to address certain issues as part of inter-vision sessions. PDEng trainees are expected to raise issues for discussion during the one-on-one sessions, as well as during plenary sessions. On a progress-meeting day, two or three trainees will practice a public presentation for colleagues. In the following month, this presentation is improved and finally given to an audience of first- and second-year colleagues, the university coach, and possibly the company coach(es) and the management team at the subsequent progress-meeting day. Requirements for the presentations are given in the detailed lists below. Progress reporting The regular progress report addresses the following:
  • Plans established in the previous quarter;
  • Project performance from the previous month;
  • Possible changes in the project plan/objectives that have occurred, why they have occurred, and how project planning has been/will be affected by these changes;
  • Planning for the upcoming months;
  • Any subject for discussion or creative solutions (inter-vision).
The report is used as a guideline for the individual one-to-one sessions with the second-year coaches that take place on a monthly basis.

 
Furthermore, intermediate and quarterly reports are written to satisfy the requirements set in the detailed lists below.  

Extended information about examination:
At the end of the project year, the project will be reviewed. The input for this exam is the final report, which must include the following:
  • A design objective explaining the necessary building blocks that were and were not available;
  • A justification of the approach chosen for delivering the design;
  • Details of the (chemical) engineering, (physico)-chemical and technological-management principles behind the design and their importance to a successful outcome for the company, including an assessment of the reliability and robustness of the design;
  • A management summary;
The final assessment of the second-year project is based on the following assessment criteria:
a written report, an oral presentation, and an oral defense. The examination committee checks that the overall file of the trainees is complete. A committee executing the final review consists at least of
  • a representative of the program, up to now always the scientific director,
  • the scientific supervisor,
  • the company supervisor (more representatives of the industrial partner may attend, but only one holds voting right),      
  • two independent external members.
  • the second year coordinator
The independent external members have not been involved in the project and were not a member of the TU/e research group involved in the project. The review committee is invited, hosted, and led by the scientific director of the PPD program in agreement with the regulations set by the Graduate School.   The procedure is as follows. At least one week before the final review, the candidate provides a report that composed in a manner described above, with all technical documentation in appendices.   The final review of the design project has the following agenda:
  • Presentation by the candidate (typically 30 minutes max);
  • Questioning of the candidate (typically 60 minutes);     
  • Evaluation of the candidate by the committee; the committee decides by consensus using the criteria as defined by the program;
  • Feedback to the candidate.
The assessment criteria for the examination are the following:
1. Objectives & performance at company;
2. Design
3. Report
4. Presentation
5. Discussion
6. Professional skills Rubrics for the assessment criteria are available from the program. For each of the assessment criteria individual marks will be given and the final mark is a weighted average of the grades for the individual criteria, where the exam committee has discretionary power over the weights for the individual components. All assessment criteria need to be evaluated with a mark 5.0 or higher, with the end grade 6.0 or higher to pass. Re-examination is only possible if the marks for the individual criteria 1 (Design) and 2 (Execution and independence) have been assessed with a mark of 5.0 or higher.  

Objectives

The PPD program aims at developing the following knowledge skills:
  • Specifying the requirements that must be met by a process, product (properties), or system.
  • Solving the core technical and/or economic problems of processes/products.
  • Determining the process/product parameters with boundaries and tolerances.
  • Designing of the process, product or system and evaluating its reliability and robustness
  • Having knowledge of the societal effects related to the design.
  The PPD program aims at developing the following professional skills:
  • Working in an interdisciplinary team and to develop technical creativity.
  • Working independently and critically in the profession of process-and-product designer.
  • Using a project approach based on planning, throughput time, and market developments.
  • Presenting design results in reports, oral presentations, and journal publications.
  • Finding solutions within a given time frame.
  • Recognizing needs for additional expertise in a timely manner.
 

Method of Assessment

Design project
Course period1/09/19 → 31/08/26
Course formatCourse