Project Title: Heat Recycling of Outboard Motors

Author: Blace Jacobus

Class Code: EM636
Date: 06/27/16
eLearning Pack ID: EM636-Summer-2016-34-16

Main Body:
1) Critical Requirement:
a. Hands Free Interface: The system must be able to operate without
any customer interaction. Process Heating must develop a
computer control system that can control flow rates in the system
to optimize the heat transfer efficiency. An example would be if
outboard motors are at full speed generating a lot of heat than the
fluid flow must automatically adjust to optimize the amount of heat
recycled. The opposite situation is if the outboard motors are not in
use then the system must sense that and stop the system
otherwise it would actually cool the hot water reservoir
b. Efficiency of System: This requirement is a numerical value of the
effectiveness of the system. The efficiency of each subsystem will
directly affect the efficiency of the whole system. Engineer has
specified that each subsystem must operate at higher than 40% for
the systems operating cost to break even. A requirement of 80%
has been placed on each subsystem to ensure the system as a
whole has a substantial benefit to the end user.
c. Manufacturing Costs: For Deffos Marina to desire this product the
manufacturing cost of each unit must be kept to a minimum so they
can still sell their boats at a completive price while still offering the
best possible product.
d. Engineering Cost: For my company to maximize profits from this
project we must keep engineering costs to a minimum. Since we
will be selling this product to Deffos Marina at a low profit margin
once the system is designed and approved we must keep the
upfront design costs as low as possible to ensure a quick return on
investment of this project.
e. Ease of Instillation: For Deffos Marina to desire this product they
want it to be a simple instillation into their boats. They have
requested that the system be so simple that any assembler can
read basic instructions and put it together. This will help in reducing
the required labor cost for Deffos Marina if a specialist is not
required for every build

f.

Safety Of Operation: The safety of the customer must be a top

priority! This system will be piping around hot water though the
boat. A high factor of safety must be in place to ensure that the
system never breaks and causes harm to the customer or boat.
g. Required Maintenance: This product is to be made as hands free as
possible. This means that all components used in the heat recycling
system must be designed to outlive the life of the boat.
h. Constant Water Supply: The heat recycling system may not be in
use at all times and a backup heating system must be in place. If
the boat is anchored for the night the outboard motors will not be
producing heat so control system must know when to turn off the
heat recycling system and switch to tradition means such as oil
burner or electric water heater.
2) Decision as an Engineering Project Manager:
a. Project Management for Civil & Construction Engineers
i. Project management decisions would require years of
experience to make the right decision because there are so
many different variable that could affect the outcome. In my
current roll most if not all the decisions I make are directly
backed by data and numbers that prove it is the best route.
In the constructions projects you cannot base a decision for
20 years out solely off data from the past. There are also
many uncertainties due to environment alone. You can
predict a project to be complete in 6 months but what
happens if the worst winter to ever occur happens? You are
still held to the 6 month dead line.
b. Project Timeline/ Phases of a Typical Civil Engineering Project
i. The decisions from this topic cover a large spectrum of the
project. The first is deciding the economic feasibility of the
project. Very rough estimates are used to get a crude number
for final cost. Being that the design phase is the deciding of
how to achieve the desired result it is riddled with decisions
such as the broad plan of how they plan to complete the
project down to the finer details such as what type of
concrete they will need to use. Once the project manager
has seen all the bids they must decide what offer is the best.
This decision can be based on past experiences with the
companies, finical means, and the overall design. Since
construction is not an exact science more decisions will have
to take place during the actual project since there are so
many uncertainties the project outline cannot account for
everything.
c. Project Lifecycle Matric
i. This topic highlights that project managers are facing more
and more challenges as the world becomes further

developed. Working for an American based company may

not mean you only manage project in the states. You could
be brought overseas to head some projects in the companies
foreign office. This being the case you must be able to make
competent decisions outside of home. This would mean being
familiar with different regulations and standards as well as
local environmental factors. When abroad the locals might be
better at certain aspects of a project so you must be open
and willing to learn but maybe you are more specialized in a
particular aspect so being able to teach that to the work
force can be extremely valuable.
d. Building Information Modeling
i. This is a very interesting form of modeling as I am only
familiar with 3D CAD modeling. From what I understand a
model of the building can be made and information can be
directly associated with it. This seems very powerful. If all the
upfront time is spend into making the model and up keep it
would allow for automatic generation of architectural
drawings, timelines, simulations and much more. Having all
the up to date information will allow for well informed
decisions by all parties involved. How many times have you
heard that a wrong decision has been made due to lack or
information or old information?! With this type of model
project managers can keep tabs on all projects running in
parallel and decide the most efficient use of resources for the
end goal.
e. Integrated Project Delivery
i. From my understanding Integrated Project Delivery is all
about working together up front to establish project goals,
communication channels, and a successful construction plan.
As a project manager this would make the decision more
effective. If some new plan or design is suggested it would
be easy to hear everyones concerns of the new suggestion
and a well informed decision could be made. This is better
than relying on the project managers intuition and
experience to make decisions without all required input. I
think it is essential for everyone in the process to be involved
in the goals of a project. I work hand and hand with the
machinists that produce my prototype requests for new
designs and this allows them to have an understanding of the
critical dimensions and the ones that are not so important.
This does not mean they will slack off on the non-critical
surfaces but for example if the surface finish is not perfect

they will not reject and waste a part that will still work just as
well.
f. Specific Construction Industry Challenges and Solutions
i. This topic is closely related to the last section as it is heavily
dependent on IPD. In the construction field times are
changing and it is distributing the decision making power
more evenly. This means that the architect is giving up some
of the power and the project teams are gaining more. This
means that the project manager has more say in how the
construction project occurs. This allows the use of decision
making tools such as CIMpgr and CORA to be used. It also
allows systems such as six-sigma and green sustainable
management systems to be used. This may not seem like the
best approach in the architects eyes but they are proven
method to increase the value of the project while reducing
the cost.
g. The Role of Project Managers
i. This section focuses on who project managers are and how
they become the best at their field. One of the key take
always I found from this section was to not become set in the
mind set of this is hows its been done for years. A project
manager must always be looking for a new innovation to
problems. However this new innovative solutions must only
come after a complete understanding of the project, problem,
and solution. Making a decision to tackle a problem using a
new innovative solution may have devastating consequences
if all factors of the decision are not well thought out. I also
found it interesting that project planning is also a huge
problem for most projects. I wonder if the new project
management systems such as six-sigma and management
tools will help for better project management and
projections. Will these new tools allow for reduced project
cost and better time lines in the future? I am sure most of
these tools are already being implemented in current projects
but as new generations of managers are more and more
fluent with new technology I hope it will allow for better
decisions and more cost effective projects.
h. Predictive Analytics
i. This was a bitter sweet section to read. On one hand I
thought of the current situation of how current construction
projects are projected, priced, and bid on. I do not know firsthand but I assume that when projects are being projected
they undershoot there price and timeline on purpose with the
goal of fighting for more money right away. This seems rather

unethical to me. It would be like buying a low price car and

after the contract is already signed the dealership requiring
more money. A pricing strategy like that doesnt fly in the
public sector first because customers would just stop buying
from that dealership and secondly because there are laws
against it. The part that I am hopeful for is that there is so
much room for growth in this area. With the new technology I
would hope that more accurate models and predictions are
made and not undercut. It would be a big step if terms of
ethical management decision to actually propose accurate
project projection. Maybe this is where we need some new
unique ideas. Something like a project contract that locks in
the price of the project. This would make that companies
contract more desirable since all involved know that the
other contracts are actually going to cost 30%-50% more.