Description
This paper will be used solely to assess the student’s competency in technical writing. This competency accounts for 40% of his or her grade for this course, and this 40% is allocated exclusively to the technical writing of the paper.This is a major report, with a minimum-length requirement of 3000 words of text (approximately 12 double-spaced pages), not including figures, tables, front materials, and back materials.The title page, coversheets, references, bibliography, acknowledgement, tables and figures are not considered as part of the main body of the text. More precisely, the main body of the text of the final report must be 3000 words of content (approximately 12 double-spaced pages or longer on 11-inch by 8.5-inch paper), with a 1-inch margin on all four sides and with a font size of 12 or smaller. The instructor designates a professional referencing style manual (APA6) for the in-text citations and the bibliography. Identify appropriate types of sources, e.g., books, reviews, articles, e-resources, and primary sources, and require a minimum number of three sources. The front materials must include a transmittal letter, title page, abstract, table of contents, list of illustrations, executive summary, and/or list of symbols, when applicable.
*** In all cases, at least three external references are required as part of the research. ***
A: Lean Implementation in Washington State
Readings:
• NSPE Code of Ethics
• http://results.wa.gov/lean/agency-list
• http://results.wa.gov/lean/lean-conference/previous-conference-materials
• http://results.wa.gov/goals-progress/tracking-progress/case-studies
• Appropriate technical articles.
Please address the following in your case study paper, select two departments reporting for both 2016 and 2017 for evaluation:
- Describe the points where failure could have been avoided using appropriate Lean or CCPM tools (what and how).
- Determine whether the NSPE Code of Ethics were potentially violated during the conduct of the projects
- Were the hypothesis test results statistically valid?
- How effective were the prior year’s implementations based upon the following year’s report?
B: Autonomous Vehicles
Readings:
• NSPE Code of Ethics
• 2016 NHTSA Review of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for Automated Vehicles
• NTSB accident reports for incidents involving autonomous vehicles (i.e, HAB 1906, HAB 1907 and HSR 1901 as well as other appropriate reports)
• Additional research properly documented
- Describe what challenges were identified by the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the safe use of autonomous vehicles.
- Which challenges would be addressed using Lean tools and principles and how?
- Compare and contrast the processes by which Tesla, and other companies are conducting road trials in the USA and elsewhere (i.e. South Australia).
- Determine whether the NSPE Code of Ethics were potentially violated during the conduct of these trials, especially comparing Tesla and Waymo’s methods to validate autonomous transportation.
C: Columbia Disaster
Resources:
Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report
NSPE Code of Ethics
- Were any NSPE Code of Ethics tenets violated or bypassed, and how?
- What decisions led to the disaster and how did these contribute to the chain of events?
- Were there any gaps in the FMEA
- Were scheduling pressures for the shuttle mission a factor
- What Lean principles and concepts were missing in the chain of events that led to the destruction of Columbia, and where?
D: Caltrain Modernization
http://calmod.org/ and through www.caltrain.com and appropriate news reports
- Describe how the program has been implemented including any appropriate environmental impact, stakeholders (including property rights), and the process towards approving the project, including points where failure could be avoided using appropriate Lean or CCPM tools. In your opinion supported by evidence declared in the paper, are these projects worth the tradeoffs?
- Determine whether the NSPE Code of Ethics were potentially violated during the conduct of the projects.
- Describe how environmental sustainability will be affected by the program.
- Determine whether the process requirements (EIR, Corps of Engineers, etc.) required by law were properly completed, and what concerns raised about this program.
- Determine why the project schedule is slipping and whether the delays could have been anticipated.
- Where would Lean tools and principles be useful in getting back on track and why?