Student Comments

The graders provide the instructors with a summary of your comments and suggestions.  Below are reactions to a number of those comments.

Improvements to the Excel Spreadsheet

A number of you suggested specific, useful suggestions for improving the Excel spreadsheet.  We applaud those suggestions and hope that you’ll use them when you prepare a program for Senior Design.  Our goal in this course is to give you a reasonable starting point from which you can improve. 

In fact on the AE Resources website you’ll find an MS Access Database that might well be a significant improvement on Excel.

 

Other Systems

At least one group suggested including other systems (e.g. plumbing and fire protection).  That’s an excellent idea.  We didn’t want to make the requirements overwhelming, but for Senior Design you would indeed want to do that.

 

Basis of Design

Firms like KlingStubbins use a “Basis of Design” document at the beginning of a project.  That would indeed be a good format to completely define a project.  Given the time limitation we didn’t want to ask too much.  When you’re engaged in Senior Design it would be a good model.

 

Library Use

One group noted they’d found very helpful books in the Library.  Yes.  What an amazing concept

EQuest Tutorial

A group suggested posting an eQuest tutorial.  There is very good help available for eQuest in their help files and also separate tutorials.  Feel free during projects to ask for further information.  We’ll post it via the blog.

HVAC Calcs

A group wanted us to post the necessary HVAC equations.  We assume that since you’ve taken the HVAC course that you’ve got notes or have kept the book.  There is also a copy of Stein McGuiness and Reynolds in the lab, which has the equations.