Design Project - Week 1

Hey!
So today during recitation we were put into our groups for our design project; we were also informed that this project is also a competition to see who can create the best design for a PCOA. My group and I decided to name our "company" STS Incorporated because our last names begin with two S and one T. In our initial discussion, we set up a weekly meeting time (Tuesdays after lecture), discussed how we want to stay on top of the work, brainstormed some components and features that we want in our PCOA, and decided what we were all going to do for Tuesday's meeting.

At first we were a little confused about what type of device we were to design, but after clearing things up with our TA, our ideas starting flowing. Our TA told us to be careful what we post because, since this a competition, anyone can read our blogs and possibly "borrow" our ideas. Even though I will not list them specifically for this reason, I can say that we talked a lot about how we were to meet to basic specifications assigned for the project; we talked about storage for the drug, security features, our intended users, physical design, and how we need to remember to include programmable settings such as lock out and maximum doses so that doctors can use this device for a range of medications.

What started off our brainstorming, which I felt was very successful and productive, was that I told my group that when I first heard about the device we were to design, I immediately thought of a gum ball dispenser. In a way, our device can be compared to one; both devices store product, release it to the person upon request, and can only hold a certain amount of product. Also, the quarter that one puts into the dispenser is like the password on the PCOA; before either device dispenses anything, a proper "exchange" must occur. As we continued to jump off this idea, we thought that our storage container could be a globe shape as well; almost immediately we thought against it, however. We felt the globe shape would take up too much room, could be broken more easily, could lure people to the device and its contents, and could ultimately make our device larger because the other components would have to be placed elsewhere. However, this idea led us to believe that having a sort of "window" into the storage are of our device might be a feature that we want to consider in our designs.

For security purposes, at least until I can figure out how to only access to this blog to my subscribers, I will not post some of our other ideas; it is very tempting though because I really think that they will help our design rise above the others, and I am just really excited about them.

As we starting to end our initial meeting, we discussed what should be done for our next meeting since we already have rough designs and basic specifications due for next recitation; we decided that each one of us was going to create at least three designs using ideas we talked about today and any other ideas from additional research. Also, we planned on keeping all of our work organized so that when it comes time to make the poster and finalize our design, we will have a linear track of our design process from the initial stages to the final one. We are very determined to stay on top of this project; we do not want to be rushing around the night before this project is due especially when we should be studying for finals.

I also should mention that we are taking turns writing this blog about our progress; group members are going to email me their blog, and I will post it. We feel this is fairer than only one person blogging, and it is easier than creating a new blog with multiple users.

Personally, I actually am very excited for this project because this device has actually never been completely designed and created before; we are actually the pioneers for this device. It is exciting because this project has a link to the real world; their is a demand for this type of device, so one should be created. This weekend I am going to start designing; I can already feel that I definitely will have more than three designs prepared for Tuesday.

I think that is all for now. More to come!