Civil Design and Build: Part 1 - Research - 2020 entry

To be successful in any industry requires a keen awareness of the commercial landscape in which you operate. Civil engineering is no different; in this project you and your team will complete a hands-on design and build project that challenges you to develop, prototype and explore the market for a solution to a Civil engineering challenge. This project emphasis the combination of commercial awareness and the application of sound engineering knowledge. You will have creative freedom and be encouraged to develop innovative engineering solutions to real-world problems and market opportunities.

This project will put you and your team in the enviable position of having the time and resources to deploy your creativity and engineering knowledge towards a commercial opportunity of your choice. The construction industry today has many traits on common with the manufacturing industry, however unlike the manufacturing industry, it relies heavily on craft labour (on site, labour intensive and time consuming activity). Will your team develop an offsite construction technique that revolutionised the speed of construction, dramatically increasing profitability? Every year millions of people find themselves without shelter and basic sanitary provision following natural disasters. Will you and your team, develop a rapidly deployable, cheap and robust emergency shelter? Or perhaps you can identify a commercial development opportunity and decide to develop a proposal and build a case for investment to capitalise on this opportunity. Within this project, you are limited only by your imagination.

This project will not only focus on technical challenge, of equal importance is identifying a viable
commercial opportunity and strategy to capitalise on it. This project aims to broaden your
appreciation for the commercial realities that all engineering activities must face. It’s no good
creating a world beating solution that nobody wants to pay for! In this project you will need to deploy
more than technical engineering knowledge.

1. Carry out market research in order to identify commercial opportunities and assess potential market demand

2. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of products/solutions/processes

3. Use technical engineering knowledge to propose innovative product improvements or problem solutions

4. Demonstrate greater commercial awareness in the context of product development

5. Develop and manage a multi-strand programme of research and development

6. Develop a design proposal that meets set requirements

7. Work effectively in a group, demonstrating good team working and communication skills

8. Verbally present information in a confident and professional manner

9. Condense a large amount of technical information into a compelling and concise report form.

10. Use data to make evidence-based decisions and logical arguments

11. Estimate costs and track a development budget

This project does not have a set taught syllabus. However activities you can expect to be
engaged with include:

• Identification and investigation of a technical challenge and market opportunity - identify a ‘pain point’ that you and your team have the ability to address
• Identify any existing solutions and their limitations - who/what if anything is currently solving this problem and where/how are they vulnerable to disruption?
• Identify a differentiating innovation to an existing solution or propose a new solution with an outline scheme design or proposal for innovation
• Investigate the potential market size and demand for your improved solution through traditional market research including direct outreach. Ask potential customers if your solution a vitamin (“nice to have, but I don’t really need it”) or a pain killer (“where do I sign up…take my money ”)
• Produce a costed development plan to implement in part two of this project (term 2)
• Build a case for securing funding to develop the product or solution or business opportunity and bring it to market or secure further investment. Present an outline business case and pitch it to an investor panel

Reading list for this module: