| The
CDIO Syllabus in Topical Form (v 4.2.3)
1
TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND REASONING
1.1 KNOWLEDGE OF UNDERLYING SCIENCES
[a]
1.1.1 Mathematics (including statistics)
1.1.2 Physics
1.1.3 Chemistry
1.1.4 Biology
1.2 CORE ENGINEERING FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE [a]
1.3 ADVANCED ENGINEERING FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE [k]
2
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES
2.1 ENGINEERING REASONING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
[e]
2.1.1 Problem Identification and Formulation
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)
2.1.2
Modeling
Assumptions
to simplify complex systems and environment
Conceptual
and qualitative models
Quantitative
models and simulations
2.1.3
Estimation and Qualitative Analysis
Orders
of magnitude, bounds and trends
Tests for consistency and errors (limits, units, etc.)
The
generalization of analytical solutions
2.1.4
Analysis With Uncertainty
Incomplete
and ambiguous information
Probabilistic
and statistical models of events and sequences
Engineering
cost-benefit and risk analysis
Decision
analysis
Margins
and reserves
2.1.5
Solution and Recommendation
Problem
solutions
Essential
results of solutions and test data
Discrepancies
in results
Summary
recommendations
Possible
improvements in the problem solving process
2.2
EXPERIMENTATION AND KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY [b]
2.2.1 Hypothesis Formulation
Critical
questions to be examined
Hypotheses
to be tested
Controls
and control groups
2.2.2
Survey of Print and Electronic Literature
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
2.2.3
Experimental Inquiry
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
2.2.4
Hypothesis Test, and Defense
The
statistical validity of data
The
limitations of data employed
Conclusions,
supported by data, needs and values
Possible
improvements in knowledge discovery process
2.3
SYSTEM THINKING
2.3.1
Thinking Holistically
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
2.3.2
Emergence and Interactions in Systems
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
2.3.3
Prioritization and Focus
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
2.3.4
Trade-offs, Judgement and Balance in Resolution
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
2.4
PERSONAL SKILLS AND ATTITUDES
2.4.1
Initiative and Willingness to Take Risks
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
2.4.2
Perseverance and Flexibility
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
2.4.3
Creative Thinking
Conceptualization
and abstraction
Synthesis
and generalization
The
process of invention
The
role of creativity in art, science, the humanities and technology
2.4.4
Critical Thinking
The
statement of the problem
Logical
arguments and solutions
Supporting
evidence
Contradictory
perspectives, theories and facts
Logical
fallacies
Hypotheses
and conclusions
2.4.5
Awareness of One's Personal Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes
One's
skills, interests, strengths, weaknesses
The
extent of one's abilities, and one's responsibility for self-improvement
to overcome important weaknesses
The
importance of both depth and breadth of knowledge
2.4.6
Curiosity and Lifelong Learning [ i ]
The motivation for continued self-education
The skills of self-education
One's own learning style
Developing
relationships with mentors
2.4.7
Time and Resource Management
Task
prioritization
The
importance and/or urgency of tasks
Efficient
execution of tasks
2.5
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS AND ATTITUDES
2.5.1
Professional Ethics, Integrity, Responsibility and Accountability
[
f ]
One's 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
2.5.2
Professional Behavior
A
professional bearing
Professional
courtesy
International
customs and norms of interpersonal contact
2.5.3
Proactively Planning for One's Career
A
personal vision for one's future
Networks
with professionals
One's
portfolio of professional skills
2.5.4
Staying Current on World of Engineer
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
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3
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS: TEAMWORK AND COMMUNICATION
3.1
TEAMWORK [d]
3.1.1
Forming Effective Teams
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
3.1.2
Team Operation
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
3.1.3
Team Growth and Evolution
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
3.1.4
Leadership
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
3.1.5
Technical Teaming
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
3.2
COMMUNICATION [g]
3.2.1
Communication Strategy
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
3.2.2
Communication Structure
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
3.2.3
Written Communication
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)
3.2.4
Electronic/Multimedia Communication
Preparing
electronic presentations
The
norms associated with the use of e-mail, voice mail, and videoconferencing
Various
electronic styles (charts, web, etc)
3.2.5
Graphical Communication
Sketching
and drawing
Construction
of tables, graphs and charts
Formal
technical drawings and renderings
3.2.6
Oral Presentation and Interpersonal Communication
Preparing
presentations and supporting media with appropriate language,
style, timing and flow
Appropriate
nonverbal communications (gestures, eye contact, poise)
Answering
questions effectively
3.3
COMMUNICATIONS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES
3.3.1
English
3.3.2 Languages of Regional Industrialized Nations
3.3.3 Other Languages
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4
CONCEIVING, DESIGNING, IMPLEMENTING AND OPERATING SYSTEMS IN THE
ENTERPRISE AND SOCIETAL CONTEXT
4.1
EXTERNAL AND SOCIETAL CONTEXT [h]
4.1.1
Roles and Responsibility of Engineers
The goals
and roles of the engineering profession
The
responsibilities of engineers to society
4.1.2
The Impact of Engineering on Society
The impact
of engineering on the environment, social, knowledge and economic
systems in modern culture
4.1.3
Society's Regulation of Engineering
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
4.1.4
The Historical and Cultural Context
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
4.1.5
Contemporary Issues and Values [j]
The important
contemporary political, social, legal and environmental issues
and values
The
process by which contemporary values are set, and one's role
in these processes
The
mechanisms for expansion and diffusion of knowledge
4.1.6
Developing a Global Perspective
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
4.2
ENTERPRISE AND BUSINESS CONTEXT
4.2.1
Appreciating Different Enterprise Cultures
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
4.2.2
Enterprise Strategy, Goals, and Planning
The mission
and scope of the enterprise
An
enterprise's 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.)
4.2.3
Technical Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial
opportunities that can be addressed by technology
Technologies
that can create new products and systems
Entrepreneurial
finance and organization
4.2.4
Working Successfully in Organizations
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
4.3
CONCEIVING AND ENGINEERING SYSTEMS [c]
4.3.1
Setting System Goals and Requirements
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
4.3.2
Defining Function, Concept and Architecture
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
4.3.3
Modeling of System and Ensuring Goals Can Be Met
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
4.3.4 Development
Project Management
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
4.4
DESIGNING [c]
4.4.1
The Design Process
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
4.4.2
The Design Process Phasing and Approaches
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
4.4.3
Utilization of Knowledge in Design
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
4.4.4
Disciplinary Design
Appropriate
techniques, tools, and processes
Design
tool calibration and validation
Quantitative
analysis of alternatives
Modeling,
simulation and test
Analytical
refinement of the design
4.4.5
Multidisciplinary Design
Interactions
between disciplines
Dissimilar conventions and assumptions
Differences in the maturity of disciplinary models
Multidisciplinary design environments
Multidisciplinary design
4.4.6
Multi-Objective Design (DFX)
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
4.5
IMPLEMENTING [c]
4.5.1
Designing the Implementation Process
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
4.5.2
Hardware Manufacturing Process
The manufacturing
of parts
The
assembly of parts into larger constructs
Tolerances,
variability, key characteristics and statistical process control
4.5.3
Software Implementing Process
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
4.5.4
Hardware Software Integration
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
4.5.5
Test, Verification, Validation, and Certification
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
4.5.6
Implementation Management
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
4.6
OPERATING [c]
4.6.1
Designing and Optimizing Operations
The goals
and metrics for operational performance, cost, and value
Operations
process architecture and development
Operations
(and mission) analysis and modeling
4.6.2
Training and Operations
Training
for professional operations:
Simulation
Instruction and programs
Procedures
Education
for consumer operation
Operations
processes
Operations
process interactions
4.6.3
Supporting the System Lifecycle
Maintenance
and logistics
Lifecycle
performance and reliability
Lifecycle
value and costs
Feedback
to facilitate system improvement
4.6.4
System Improvement and Evolution
Pre-planned
product improvement
Improvements
based on needs observed in operation
Evolutionary
system upgrades
Contingency
improvements/solutions resulting from operational necessity
4.6.5
Disposal and Life-End Issues
The end
of useful life
Disposal
options
Residual
value at life-end
Environmental
considerations for disposal
4.6.6
Operations Management
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
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