Project

General

Profile

Benchmarking Memo

Individual Deliverable - Benchmarking Memo

The purpose of this task to enable you to understand and bring you up-to-date on the technical material relevant to your project. Obviously the students on your team are not experts in the field with years of experience, but you collectively need to understand how similar problems have been solved. This will provide a solid technical foundation that is critical for project success. You will research on the topic assigned to you and prepare this benchmarking memo document and submit.

  • The template to prepare the benchmarking memo is here: Templates and Forms
  • Get the template and rename it to 'Benchmarking_Memo-Topic-RCSID.docx'
  • Format: 4 pages, Arial, 12pt, single-spaced, left-justified.
    • References DO NOT count in the 4 page limit
  • After completion upload to the team's Repository in the Background Information folder.
  • Grading rubric for the benchmarking memo is available on the Tasks and Due Dates page.

The topic of your benchmarking memo DOES NOT represent your assignment for the entire semester, only for this first individual deliverable.

Topics

Teams are responsible for proposing topics for their members' Benchmarking Memos, which are then approved or sent back for additional consideration by your Project and/or Chief Engineers.

Process

Following Day 3, Teams are responsible for posting proposed topics in the EDN.
  • Create a thread called "Memo Topics" in the Background Info forum.
  • Post complete list of topics, if developed, or:
  • Team members reply to thread with suggested topics.
  • Team should discuss and identify research topics for each individual relevant to the project. Recommended to avoid duplication of topics unless topic is broad that requires multiple perspectives or research

Examples of Potential Memo Topics

For these examples, XYZ represents a specific aspect of your project.

  1. Laser Tracking systems For XYZ
  2. Camera Based Tracking Approaches
  3. Vibration Table Approaches to Test XYZ
  4. Distance Sensors for Measuring XYZ
  5. <Software Package> Functions for Comparing Images
  6. Using Python to Drive CAD Simulations
  7. FEA Methods to Analyze XYZ
  8. Interfacing to and using the XYZ Sensor
  9. Algorithms for analyzing XYZ
  10. Human Interface Approaches for XYZ
  11. Key Material Properties of XYZ
  12. CFD Approaches for Understanding XYZ

Instructions to prepare the Benchmarking Memo

Carefully read and follow the instructions below on completing different sections of the memo.

1. Introduction

This is the first section of the memo. It must clearly state the memo topic and its purpose in your design project. It should be written such that the readers are able to understand the importance and relevance to your project.

Describe the process(es) used to collect the information discussed here:
  • Literature/Internet search
  • Interview with user(s)
  • Experimentation
  • Industry standards and codes
  • Reproducing previous work - compiling & running code, operating existing prototype

2. Key Terms

List and define key terms used in this document

3. Section Title ( Put your own section title here. )

Conduct literature review, benchmarking study, detailed survey of past work (or existing products), on the topic assigned to you. Summarize the key findings, your analysis (interpretation of the findings and the relevant information) and its usefulness to your project.

  • Use appropriate tables, figures, and graphs for better understanding and explanation of concepts.
  • Include appropriate citations to references.
  • Use sub-headings to organize the content and make them more understandable to the reader.

If required add additional sub sections and given appropriate titles.

Sub Heading 1 Title (As appropriate)

Sub Heading 2 Title (As appropriate)

4. Recommendations

Based upon your research, identify, and give recommendations for the application of this concept/topic to your project.

Guiding questions for reference:
  • How and why are your findings relevant to your project?
  • How can the team productively use this information to progress in the project?
  • What are the next steps proposed relative to this concept/topic?

5. References

Use IEEE style of referencing. IEEE Citation and Referencing Info

Generative AI

If generative AI is used in preparing this memo, the specific tool and prompts must be cited. Remember that each student is responsible for the content that they submit – do not blindly trust AI without reviewing its output. If you check the sources used by the AI tool, include the information sources in References.

Some useful tools provided by Microsoft Word for documentation are: