A3–Grader’s Comments

Grader #1

• When making your structural system selections many groups failed to mention any quantitative information.  This type of information such as span length and overall building height will help you to compare the capabilities of each system.
• For the member sizing section many groups just showed output tables from SAP.  It is important that you consolidate this information so that it is more meaningful to the reader.  It is only necessary to show the output from the members with the highest moment/shear/deflection because these are the ones you are designing for.
• The quality of the structural drawings improved for this assignment.  Just be sure that the drawings have all of the proper labeling and that it is easy to read.
• Instead of trying to model the entire structure in SAP sometimes it is just easier to simplify the structure to just a beam or two and apply the proper loads.  You should find similar results with less work.  Just be sure to state your assumptions.
  

Grader #2

• This assignment, in comparison to the past assignments, has shown a lot of improvement in determining relevant, important information and how to illustrate this information clearly and concisely.
• In regards to constructive criticism, the most prevalent mistake I found in these submissions was in the “Member Sizing” section. Many teams were able to begin to display the proof that they had completed the analysis, however, the next step after completing the analysis is to sort through all of the information to give the most useful information to the following designers after you. The engineering process is iterative and part of the responsibility is to be able to sift through all of the outputs to give the most relevant information to whoever needs it. A few groups did this very well and summarized the information in a couple of tables. To improve upon this, it would help to summarize all of this information (key members, max shear, max moment, max deflection, etc) in a single table.

A2 - Grader's Comments

Grader #1

As you all progress through this course, you will begin to learn how to effectively collaborate within your team and with the teams that follow you. Analogous to the real world, the team you are working in for each submission is your design team  and the teams that follow you are the other engineering firms that you work with to complete the project. With this in mind, the plans and documentation you are producing for each assignment is the means of communication you are using to progress the project forward with each following group. Standard elements such as graphic scales and north arrows become important not for a good grade but so that there is less confusion and more clarity about the current state of the project and what information is available.

When completing your assignments, know that this is practice for what you will be doing in the industry, under the presumption that you are all going to become architectural engineers in the future. Know that future groups will most likely be working in Revit 2011 since it is the available software at their firm (the CAD Lab). So working in Revit 2012 will hinder/inconvience the progress of a project as the file cannot be downgraded. Know that by providing .dwgs or sheets in Revit will allow future teams to easily begin laying out their single lines for HVAC, for example, rather than having to redraft everything.

In regards to the assignment, only two teams provided a blown up/enlarged view of areas and provided notes. Please read the directions carefully, I can't give partial credit for something that isn't there. Also, begin to understand that any decision you make needs to be backed by sound engineering reasoning. Simply stating that a floor area was reduced in size because it seemed larger than necessary does not suffice. Why does it seem larger than necessary? Does the maximum occupancy of the building pale in comparison to the size of the lobby giving an unnecessary 400SF/person in the lobby? Knowing how to justify your reasoning will be a useful skill come senior design next year.

Good luck in future submissions, you're all well on your way.

Grader #2

The quality of these assignments was highly variable.  For the most part, students did a very good job creating plan sheets and drawings of the buildings.  Remember that the drawings should be clear, easy to understand and contain the necessary information such as overall dimensions and labeling.  Some students made excellent use of Revit, although this was not a requirement.

Some groups missed out on major parts of the assignment.  Many groups did not show close up views of critical areas.  This would include a zoomed in view of the area along with some explanation.  Another part that students forgot was a fire protection plan.  At minimum, this shows all exits, fire-proof stairwells and an egress path.