The CDIO Syllabus in Topical
Form (v 4.2.3)
Data and symptoms
Assumptions and sources of bias
Issue prioritization in context
of overall goals
A plan of attack
(incorporating model, analytical and numerical solutions, qualitative analysis,
experimentation and consideration of uncertainty)
Assumptions to simplify complex
systems and environment
Conceptual and qualitative models
Quantitative models and
simulations
Orders of magnitude, bounds and
trends
Tests for consistency and errors
(limits, units, etc.)
The generalization of analytical
solutions
Incomplete and ambiguous
information
Probabilistic and statistical
models of events and sequences
Engineering cost-benefit and risk
analysis
Decision analysis
Margins and reserves
Problem solutions
Essential results of solutions
and test data
Discrepancies in results
Summary recommendations
Possible improvements in the
problem solving process
Critical questions to be examined
Hypotheses to be tested
Controls and control groups
The literature research strategy
Information search
and identification using library tools (on-line catalogs, databases, search
engines)
Sorting
and classifying the primary information
The
quality and reliability of information
The essentials and
innovations contained in the information
Research questions that are
unanswered
Citations to references
The experimental concept and
strategy
The precautions when humans are
used in experiments
Experiment construction
Test protocols and experimental
procedures
Experimental
measurements
Experimental data
Experimental data vs. available
models
The statistical validity of data
The limitations of data employed
Conclusions, supported by data,
needs and values
Possible improvements in
knowledge discovery process
A system, its
behavior, and its elements
Trans-disciplinary
approaches that ensure the system is understood from all relevant perspectives
The societal, enterprise and
technical context of the system
The interactions
external to the system, and the behavioral impact of the system
The abstractions necessary to
define and model system
The behavioral and
functional properties (intended and unintended) which emerge from the system
The important interfaces among
elements
Evolutionary
adaptation over time
All factors relevant to the
system in the whole
The driving factors from among
the whole
Energy and resource
allocations to resolve the driving issues
Tensions and factors to resolve
through trade-offs
Solutions that
balance various factors, resolve tensions and optimize the system as a whole
Flexible vs. optimal
solutions over the system lifetime
Possible improvements
in the system thinking used
The needs and opportunities for
initiative
The potential benefits and risks
of an action
The methods and timing of project
initiation
Leadership in new
endeavors, with a bias for appropriate action
Definitive action,
delivery of results and reporting on actions
Self-confidence, enthusiasm, and
passion
The importance of
hard work, intensity and attention to detail
Adaptation to change
A willingness and ability to work
independently
A willingness to work
with others, and to consider and embrace various viewpoints
An acceptance of criticism and
positive response
The balance between personal and
professional life
Conceptualization and abstraction
Synthesis and generalization
The process of invention
The role of
creativity in art, science, the humanities and technology
The statement of the problem
Logical arguments and solutions
Supporting evidence
Contradictory
perspectives, theories and facts
Logical fallacies
Hypotheses and conclusions
OneÕs skills, interests,
strengths, weaknesses
The extent of oneÕs
abilities, and oneÕs responsibility for self-improvement to overcome important
weaknesses
The importance of
both depth and breadth of knowledge
The motivation for continued
self-education
The skills of self-education
OneÕs own learning style
Developing relationships with
mentors
Task prioritization
The importance and/or urgency of
tasks
Efficient execution of tasks
OneÕs ethical standards and
principles
The courage to act on principle
despite adversity
The possibility of
conflict between professionally ethical imperatives
An understanding that
it is acceptable to make mistakes, but that one must be accountable for them
Proper allocation of
credit to collaborators
A commitment to
service
A professional bearing
Professional courtesy
International customs
and norms of interpersonal contact
A personal vision for oneÕs
future
Networks with professionals
OneÕs portfolio of professional
skills
The potential impact of new
scientific discoveries
The social and
technical impact of new technologies and innovations
A familiarity with
current practices/technology in engineering
The links between engineering
theory and practice
The stages of team formation and
life cycle
Task and team processes
Team roles and responsibilities
The goals, needs and
characteristics (works styles, cultural differences) of individual team members
The strengths and weakness of the
team
Ground rules on norms
of team confidentiality, accountability and initiative
Goals and agenda
The planning and facilitation of
effective meetings
Team ground rules
Effective communication
(active listening, collaboration, providing and obtaining information)
Positive and effective feedback
The planning, scheduling and
execution of a project
Solutions to problems
(team creativity and decision making)
Conflict negotiation and
resolution
Strategies for
reflection, assessment, and self-assessment
Skills for team maintenance and
growth
Skills for individual growth
within the team
Strategies for team communication
and writing
Team goals and
objectives
Team process management
Leadership and
facilitation styles (directing, coaching, supporting, delegating)
Approaches to
motivation (incentives, example, recognition, etc)
Representing the team to others
Mentoring and counseling
Working in different
types of teams :
Cross-disciplinary
teams (including non-engineer)
Small team vs. large
team
Distance, distributed
and electronic environments
Technical collaboration with team
members
The communication situation
Communications objectives
The needs and character of the
audience
The communication context
A communications strategy
The appropriate combination of
media
A communication style
(proposing, reviewing, collaborating, documenting, teaching)
The content and
organization
Logical, persuasive arguments
The appropriate
structure and relationship amongst ideas
Relevant, credible, accurate
supporting evidence
Conciseness,
crispness, precision and clarity of language
Rhetorical factors (e.g. audience
bias)
Cross-disciplinary
cross-cultural communications
Writing with coherence and flow
Writing with correct spelling,
punctuation and grammar
Formatting the document
Technical writing
Various written styles (informal,
formal memos, reports, etc)
Preparing electronic
presentations
The norms associated
with the use of e-mail, voice mail, and videoconferencing
Various electronic styles
(charts, web, etc)
Sketching and drawing
Construction of tables, graphs
and charts
Formal technical drawings and
renderings
Preparing
presentations and supporting media with appropriate language, style, timing and
flow
Appropriate
nonverbal communications (gestures, eye contact, poise)
Answering questions effectively
The goals and roles of the
engineering profession
The responsibilities of engineers
to society
The impact of
engineering on the environment, social, knowledge and economic systems in
modern culture
The role of society
and its agents to regulate engineering
The way in which
legal and political systems regulate and influence engineering
How professional societies
license and set standards
How intellectual
property is created, utilized and defended
The diverse nature
and history of human societies as well as their literary, philosophical, and
artistic traditions
The discourse and
analysis appropriate to the discussion of language, thought and values
The important
contemporary political, social, legal and environmental issues and values
The process by which
contemporary values are set, and oneÕs role in these processes
The mechanisms for
expansion and diffusion of knowledge
The internationalization of human
activity
The similarities and
differences in the political, social, economic, business and technical norms of
various cultures
International
inter-enterprise and inter-governmental agreements and alliances
The differences in process,
culture, and metrics of success in various enterprise cultures:
Corporate vs. academic vs.
governmental vs. non-profit/NGO
Market vs. policy driven
Large vs. small
Centralized vs. distributed
Research and development vs. operations
Mature vs. growth phase vs.
entrepreneurial
Longer vs. faster development
cycles
With vs. without the
participation of organized labor
The mission and scope of the
enterprise
An enterpriseÕs core competence
and markets
The research and technology
process
Key alliances and supplier
relations
Financial and managerial goals
and metrics
Financial planning and control
The stake-holders (owners,
employees, customers, etc.)
Entrepreneurial
opportunities that can be addressed by technology
Technologies that can create new
products and systems
Entrepreneurial
finance and organization
The function of management
Various roles and
responsibilities in an organization
The roles of functional and
program organizations
Working effectively within
hierarchy and organizations
Change, dynamics and evolution in
organizations
Market needs and opportunities
Customer needs
Opportunities which
derive from new technology or latent needs
Factors that set the context of
the requirements
Enterprise goals,
strategies, capabilities and alliances
Competitors and
benchmarking information
Ethical, social,
environmental, legal and regulatory influences
The probability of
change in the factors that influence the system, its goals and resources
available
System goals and requirements
The language/format of goals and
requirements
Initial target goals
(based on needs, opportunities and other influences)
System performance metrics
Requirement completeness and
consistency
Necessary system
functions (and behavioral specifications)
System concepts
The appropriate level of
technology
Trade-offs among and
recombination of concepts
High level architectural form and
structure
The decomposition of
form into elements, assignment of function to elements, and definition of
interfaces
Appropriate models of technical
performance
The concept of implementation and
operations
Life cycle value and
costs (design, implementation, operations, opportunity, etc.)
Trade-offs among
various goals, function, concept and structure and iteration until convergence
Project control for
cost, performance, and schedule
Appropriate transition points and
reviews
Configuration management and
documentation
Performance compared to baseline
Earned value recognition
The estimation and allocation of
resources
Risks and alternatives
Possible development process
improvements
Requirements for each
element or component derived from system level goals and requirements
Alternatives in design
The initial design
Experiment prototypes and test
articles in design development
Appropriate optimization in the
presence of constraints
Iteration until convergence
The final design
Accommodation of
changing requirements
The activities in the
phases of system design (e.g. conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design)
Process models
appropriate for particular development projects (waterfall, spiral, concurrent,
etc.)
The process for single, platform
and derivative products
Technical and scientific
knowledge
Creative and critical thinking,
and problem solving
Prior work in the
field, standardization and reuse of designs (including reverse engineer and
redesign)
Design knowledge
capture
Appropriate techniques, tools,
and processes
Design tool
calibration and validation
Quantitative analysis of
alternatives
Modeling, simulation and test
Analytical refinement of the
design
Interactions between disciplines
Dissimilar conventions and
assumptions
Differences in the maturity of
disciplinary models
Multidisciplinary
design environments
Multidisciplinary
design
Design for:
Performance, life cycle cost and
value
Aesthetics and human factors
Implementation,
verification, test and environmental sustainability
Operations
Maintainability, reliability, and
safety
Robustness, evolution, product
improvement and retirement
The goals and metrics
for implementation performance, cost and quality
The implementation system design:
Task allocation and cell/unit
layout
Work flow
Considerations for human
user/operators
The manufacturing of parts
The assembly of parts into larger
constructs
Tolerances, variability, key
characteristics and statistical process control
The break down of
high level components into module designs (including algorithms and data
structures)
Algorithms (data structures,
control flow, data flow)
The programming language
The low-level design (coding)
The system build
The integration of
software in electronic hardware (size of processor, communications, etc)
The integration of
software with sensor, actuators and mechanical hardware
Hardware/software function and
safety
Test and analysis
procedures (hardware vs. software, acceptance vs. qualification)
The verification of performance
to system requirements
The validation of performance to
customer needs
The certification to standards
The organization and structure
for implementation
Sourcing, partnering, and supply
chains
Control of
implementation cost, performance and schedule
Quality and safety assurance
Possible implementation process
improvements
The goals and metrics
for operational performance, cost, and value
Operations process architecture
and development
Operations (and mission) analysis
and modeling
Training for
professional operations:
Simulation
Instruction and programs
Procedures
Education for consumer operation
Operations processes
Operations process interactions
Maintenance and logistics
Lifecycle performance and
reliability
Lifecycle value and costs
Feedback to facilitate system
improvement
Pre-planned product improvement
Improvements based on needs
observed in operation
Evolutionary system upgrades
Contingency
improvements/solutions resulting from operational necessity
The end of useful life
Disposal options
Residual value at life-end
Environmental considerations for
disposal
The organization and structure
for operations
Partnerships and alliances
Control of operations
cost, performance and scheduling
Quality and safety assurance
Possible operations process
improvements
Life cycle management