Research and Development
Final Project
The goal of this project is to encourage students to apply the product development concepts discussed in this course to a real world product or research project. Upon completion of the project, students should be familiar with all aspects of product development including concept development, manufacturability, and marketing feasibility. A final written report is required. Use 3rd person, past tense. Each project should minimally consist of the following:
Concept Development
-Include copies of the pages of your design notebook with content pertaining to the development of the project
-Include any napkin sketches, etc. pertaining to the development of the concept.
Research Prior Art
-Briefly summarize the literature and prior art (patents related to your product)
-If applicable, indicate how your product is different than others currently on the market.
-Discuss possible trademarks for any products or services that may arise from this project.
Build Models/Prototypes
-Apply fabrication methods shown in class (or others) to develop prototype(s) of products.
-Keep models/prototypes that didn't turn out as you wished and explain what you learned from them
Engineering
-Show through either physical testing or engineering analysis how your product meets all functional and safety requirements.
-Show any product revisions performed as a result of testing and/or analysis
Manufacturing
-Select manufacturing processes for each for each of the components in your product. Indicate why this process should be used for the manufacture of the component compared to other processes available and applicable.
-If applicable, show sample product using the selected processes
Business Plan
-Executive Summary
-Indicate why/how your product is saleable
-Market Analysis
-Company profile
-Indicate total product cost, including costs of individual components, costs of assembly, costs of tooling, etc.
-Indicate assumptions used in costing, for example, if you have neglected cost of inventory, state why.