Engineering Fundamentals and Problem Solving †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Engineering Fundamentals and Problem Solving. Answer: Introduction The Mayukwayukwa housing project is a program for settling refugees in the country, and is located in the Western Province of Zambia, and specifically in Kaoma District. The scheme is home to about 11,000 refugees; more than 6,000 of whom are indigenously from Angola. The facility was established in 1966 when many Angolans were fleeing their country from the liberation war taking place in Angola around this time. The facility can thus be said to the oldest refugee camp in the African continent, as it was established before any other countries in Africa had any civil wars. The remainder of the refugees who have since settled in the camp has come from other African countries near Zambia that have experienced the perils of war, including Rwanda, The Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. Since Zambia has continued to experience a state of stability and peace even amidst the continuing rage of war in its neighboring countries, Zambia has found it fit to rescind the refugee status for the refugees that have inhabited this country for more than half a century has passed since the facility was set up. The Zambian government began the process of integrating about 10,000 refugees from Angola into its community of Zambians by giving them permanent residency status. This case was also applied to about 4,000 Rwandan refugees, whose status of being refugees had long expired and remained in the country with nowhere else to go and no other place to call home. The refugees whose status has been rescinded are now able to legally settle and continue with their lives as Zambian citizens on permanent residency. Only about 6,000 refugees formerly from Angola have been considered eligible for the permanent residency arrangements after applications, and thus only those have been able to be integrated into the Zambian community. The Zambian government has made it possible for these former refugees to integrate fully into the community by allocating them between five and ten hectare s of land for farming, depending on the size of their families. This allocation of land has been made possible so as to enable the former refugees to leave the camp and start a new life as individual and integrated members of the Mayukwayukwa community of Zambia. The government has set aside 2800 plots, to be allocated to the former refugees who succeed with their applications at both the Mayukwayukwa refugee camp, and another adjacent camp in Maheba District, still in the Western Province of Zambia. Engineers Without Borders, Australian Chapter, UNHCR, and the refugee community have begun to partner with the community to develop both technical and engineering solutions for the communities. This will assure the community of a smooth integration project and creating sustainable livelihoods for these integrated former refugees as well as for the refugees that have been left behind in the camps to make their lives more habitable and tolerable. To be able to turn out as a successful engineer in todays professional world, one ought to be capable of communicating effectively in written and verbal forms. The letters were written to invite applicants to express interests and that were written in response are both lacking in their ability to communicate effectively. While they both have all the expected layout parts making them effective for communication, they fail to address the factors in line with the EWB objectives including clearly highlighting how they are able to develop skills in sustainable design contexts and failing to highlight the complexities of working across different cultures. These letters could be improved by clearly highlighting how the project being advertised will factor in sustainable design and sustainable engineering contexts, as well as stipulating the possible complexities that could result in working in the said community if one is not from South Africa. In addition, the response could also benefit f rom highlighting some of the cross-cultural backgrounds it has been able to work in a cross-cultural background, as well as highlighting some of the technical work it had been involved in both in the letter and in the said attached annexures. This would give the recipients of the letter a better account of what the projects were about and what the responding company could do for the project right away. Project Research Findings The project will align with the goals and values of EWB, as it is a sustainable project built with the main aim resettling former refugees from a refugee camp and integrating it into the Zambian community in the Mayukwayukwa resettlement area. The project alternatives utilized in the area will include building homes using low-cost structural materials like corrugated iron sheets, and steel rods for the roofs as well as reinforced concrete. It also entails the use of locally available materials in a different form than the community traditionally uses them to fill the walls of the structure and make it a more durable home than the one they inhabited when in the refugee camp. The designs will also factor in the local norms; culture and religion of the people being resettled in the project site, as it will utilize the same materials that they use for building, only use them differently to add value to the structures that will be built. The skills will also be taught to the people of the community to empower them to continue building themselves and their communities in a social, economic and cultural manner. The project will seek to utilize the local materials utilized by the community only in a different manner to ensure that the structures built will be durable and strong, cutting the maintenance costs that the community had to incur ever so regularly as a result of weather patterns and the impact of destructive termites. It will utilize the community knowledge and skills, as well as add to these aspects by teaching the community more profitable ways of building long-lasting structures using the locally available materials. The new methods of building will make the structures more durable to withstand the different climatic seasons without having to repair and replace their homes as a result of rains or the effect of termites. The design will utilize locally available material like mud, wood and grass, thus considering the natural environment, and preserving the land from the impact of encroaching climate change. Since wood will be utilized, the resettled families will be encouraged to plant trees to protect the earth from the impact of climate change as well as promoting sustainable land management. The Engineering Method and Problem Solving Cycle After analyzing the problem faced by the families being resettled to be integrated into the Mayukwayukwa Zambian community from the refugee camps, both the engineering method and the problem-solving cycle was effective in helping to come up with the project alternatives and outcomes to be utilized in the project. The first step entailed properly researching the problem so as to clearly define the problem and also to identify what exactly is required and how it could be achieved. After clearly understanding the problem, it was simple to brainstorm different ideas about how it could be solved by creating alternative solutions. The performance criteria made in the first stage was utilized to evaluate the applicability of all the solutions brought forward in the brainstorming stage. The remaining solutions were also monitored and reviewed to ensure that they would be appropriate and applicable for the project. Finally, the proposed solutions and recommendations are to be communicated so as to be considered as possible solutions for the said problem. The solutions proposed in this project were socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. Social sustainability was manifested in this project in that the project team understands that the building methods that are being introduced to the community are new and thus the members of the households in this community ought to participate in filling in the walls themselves, so as to increase the labor force and complete the project on time. Most importantly, the participation of the community in this project will enable members of the community to greatly benefit from the skills they learn from the project. It will also enable them to continue to practice and use these techniques of building new homes for future generations, and thus achieving social sustainability. Economically, sustainability is achieved through the fact that the proposed solutions for this project utilize the community for labor and locally available materials for the construction projects. While the initial cost for future project might cost the community a little more than it did when the project is being funded by Habitats for Humans, UNHCR, and EWB, economic sustainability will be achieved. This will be seen through the very low initial cost and durability of the project, unlike the way the community suffered to regularly maintained the traditionally built homes. In addition, those who learn the skill could also achieve economic sustainability of earning a living from constructing such structures for the community and investing that money in other sectors like agriculture to promote a continuous and sustainable economic cycle in the community. Finally, the project attains environmental sustainability by the utilization of locally available materials that do not negatively affect the environment. The material used will consider the prosperity of the natural environment in the face of climate change and global warming. Since wood will be utilized in filling the walls of the rooms of the structure, the resettled families will be encouraged to plant trees in the plots of land they have been allocated as farmlands for the newly resettled families. This will aid to protect the earth from the impact of climate change as well as promoting sustainable land management. The project alternatives offered will factor in culture in engineering design by utilizing the same materials that have been used by the community for constructing homes, structures, and infrastructure. The materials will, however, be utilized differently so as to increase the durability of the new structures. Culture will also be emphasized by ensuring that the community has learned the skill of using the locally available material differently so as to continue the culture of building long-lasting and durable homes for the same community. In addition, the design project will urge the community to start a culture of planting trees in their large tracts of land, encouraging environment and land management sustainability. Alternative Designs and Viable Solutions The project will assist in the provision of resettlement shelters for the former refugees from the Mayukwayukwa refugee settlement and be integrated into the Zambian community through three major aspects. First and foremost, the project scope seeks to improve the design of the shelters that the families leaving the camps will go to settle in and integrate with the Zambian community due to the resettlement programs. This will ensure that the community incorporates the locally available materials to fill in the walls and make a durable home for their families. In addition, it will enable them to learn the skills that are necessary, so that they could expand their own homes and make additional rooms of the home so that the space could be sufficient for the family sizes of the resettled families. It will also help them to cut down on the costs that are involved with the purchase of some necessary materials, as locally available materials are cheaper options for the recommended structural materials. In so doing, the project will empower the new resettled former refugee community to put a durable roof over their heads as the program suggests, benefiting both the people and the community at large. The skills gained in the process could also be used in the future after other families are resettled, helping the community to empower itself to grow both socially, economically and culturally. The project will also entail the utilization of alternative methods to incorporate the locally available materials during the construction of their new resettlement shelters to make the structures more durable than when they use this material in the way they have done for decades. Different construction methods will be suggested in this project for the new resettlement areas so that the locally available materials that are cheap and easy to find in these communities can be utilized differently thus making this homes more durable than it has ever been for the community. In addition, this different utilization will help the community to cut down the costs associated with maintaining and replacing the shelters that the locals had built using the locally available materials after the effect of different weather patterns. The people in the community could also benefit from learning the skills of using the locally available materials and benefit the community and themselves from building t he shelters differently, to make them more durable and long-lasting. Finally, the project will also entail incorporating different methods to termite proof the homes and buildings that will be inhabited by the resettled former refugee families. The project will incorporate different methods to destroy any currently existing termites in the resettlement area, as well as implement strategies that will keep these destructive insects away from the homes and buildings constructed at the said resettlement areas. These insects have greatly contributed to the damages on the shelters, buildings, and infrastructure that the former refugees had at their respective camps, and thus getting rid of them for good will be a great help for the newly settled families. These methods will not only save the families the regular maintenance costs associated with replacing the wooden structural components, but they will also benefit the community by empowering them with the knowledge that will keep these insects at bay from the community for good. This will be achieved throu gh making their structures and infrastructure more stable and durable for the entire resettlement area. Considerations and Methodology for Selecting the Solutions The project is to be completed by using the locally available materials and in a short span of time. This short timeframe will enable the newly resettled families to inhabit their new durable homes in time after being resettled from the respective camps and being allocated a plot of land for the entire family to farm and make a living. The following considerations were made before selecting the solutions Project team members will stick by the communications and executions plans to ensure no hitches in the delivery of service to the community. All the stakeholders will act in accordance with the project plan, so as to avoid a conflict of interests. The different households whose homes are being built in the project will provide manpower for any help needed in the constructions of their more durable homes, including help in filling the walls with locally available materials to turn the structures into durable habitable homes. The project plan might continue to change as more people continue to be found eligible by the government for permanency and resettlement, and as new issues that relate to the project continue to come to light. The beneficiaries of the resettlement area design and construction area have little or no resources to help the project team with the provision of the required materials, and thus locally available materials will be used in a different format to construct homes for all beneficiaries. The responsibilities of the project manager will include developing a communications plan, travel to meet with the stakeholders to understand what exactly is expected of the project team, communicate with the different stakeholders on behalf of the team, prepare project management reports, and communicate to the volunteers interested in participating and learning from the project. Project Management Approach As the resettlement situation with the camp continues to change in the course of the project, the plan of the project may have to change given the dynamic situation of things. This, however, means that the resources of time, labor, and finances, as well as the quality of the project, may continue to change with other factors. Issues should be managed by using a given process so as to accurately and effectively protect the resources and quality of the project. Any changes that could impact the scope, timing, and financing or even labor supply in the project cycles should be noted by the project manager. The PM is also expected to assess the change and the impact that it will have on the deliverables. At this stage, the issue should also be clearly communicated to the stakeholders of the project for a review and for them to decide on how the project will be handled in the face of the issue. The stakeholders should then give a consensus on the way forward regarding the issue. If the sta keholders cannot decide on the issue, it should then be forwarded to the sponsor of the project so he can give overall recommendations. The decision is then to be communicated to the stakeholders and the project team so that it can act accordingly. Communications Plan The sharing of information in a project team is of utmost importance for any project to be successful. All the participants and stakeholders of the project ought to know exactly how the project is fairing and how this progress affects them. A communication plan factors in stakeholders such as the sponsor of the project, the committee in charge of the project, the project manager and his/her team, the participants and beneficiaries of the project, as well as the experts conducting the project. Since information concerning the project could come from either of these stakeholders, having top down, bottom up, and middle out communication methodology could guarantee the effectiveness of the information dissemination. In top down methodologies the executive of the project speaks in one voice and what every other party stands to gain or lose, as well as listen to all the other strata in the chain of command. Bottom up communication allows personnel to explain how the solutions were arrived at, promoting inclusivity in decision making and overall acceptance of the project by the community. Finally, middle out communication allows all to participate in change, promoting a personal entitlement of the project and thus sustainability in the group. Communication outreaches should be done through status reports and status meetings so that all stakeholders remain aware of the progress of the project and that anxiety is controlled. References Eide, AR, Roland, J, Mashaw, L, Northup, LL. 2001. Engineering Fundamentals Problem Solving (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill, Inc. Engineering Accreditation Commission, 2003. Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs. Baltimore: ABET. Inc. 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PEER Consultants, P.C. 2004. Engineers Scientists Planners from the World Wide Web: https://www.peercpc.com/aboutus.htm. Redden, J.2006. After four decades, UNHCR foresees an end to the plight of refugees in Zambia UN Refugee Agency News Stories, https://www.unhcr.org/4433f2774.html Sustainable Buildings Industry Council 2004. Designing Low-Energy Buildings with Energy-10. World Wide Web: https://www.sbicouncil.org/store/e10.php. The University of Iowa 2004. The Hanson Center for Technical Communication. from the World Wide Web: https://www.engineering.uiowa.edu/%7Ectc/. U.S. Department of Energy 2004. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 2004 from the World Wide Web: https://www.eere.energy.gov/. UNHCR, 2014. A draft livelihoods strategy document in support of the local integration of former refugees in Zambia, s.l.: UNHCR. UNHCR, 2015a. Local Integration Programme for Local Refugees in Zambia, s.l.: UNHCR. UNHCR, 2015c. UNHCR Operation in Zambia Factsheet. 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