Design Judges' Questions

[Initial EG]

What questions about your design did the design judges ask you at competition?

Let's hear em; I'm sure we might all find this info useful. State which competition, team, and year...

[Initial EG]

What questions about your design did the design judges ask you at competition?

Let's hear em; I'm sure we might all find this info useful. State which competition, team, and year...

[PatClarke]

Well,
As a Design Judge, what I am interested in is WHY you made the design decisions you did.
As FSAE design these days has stagnated somewhat, and many teams have a new and hopefully (but not necessarily)a better car than last years version, I want to hear the logic behind the design.
Unfortunately, this knowledge often has left with the graduates from last year or even earlier, so we hear complaints like..
"The judges cant make their mind up. Last year they loved our widget and this year they hate it'!
What is going on here is that last years team were able to cogently argue in favour of their widget, whereas this years team say "Well, you liked it last year, so it must be a good idea".
Design judging has changed over the last few years, so it is likely that a list of questions to prepare for is not a good way to prepare for design judging.
Do a Design Audit on your car, especially if it is an evolutionary design. Understand why every single design decision was made, and be prepared to discuss it with the judges.
Don't try to snow the judges. If you don't know why something was done 'that way'. then say so. It is quite likely the judge will tell you =]
Regards
Pat

[Mechanicaldan]

The Design Event really is simply about explaining and defending the design process you chose:

1. Set goal
2. Brainstorm ideas
3. Compare pros and cons of each
4. Pick the best one
5. Do the calculations
6. Test
7. Refine
DOCUMENT EVERYTHING IN STEPS 1-7
Present to judges and answer questions

Of course this needs to get applied to everything on the car from individual bolts and nuts holding a suspension arm to the chassis to engine choice and tuning. These are the details that require the work.