Winter Quarter 2022

          
Perspectives in Assistive Technology
ENGR110/210

          

David L. Jaffe, MS
Lathrop Library Classroom 282
Tuesdays & Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:30pm PST

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Information and Instructions for Presenters of Candidate Team Projects


Project "Pitchers",

Thank you once again for your willingness to participate in the Stanford Course: Perspectives in Assistive Technology and pitch your project suggestion to the class on Thursday, January 6th. If you are uncomfortable or unable to attend the class session, you may record and send me a 3-minute video illustrating the project challenge.

Requirements for project suggestions: Please review the requirements for project ideas.

Class location and parking: The class will be held in the Lathrop Library, Classroom 282. Refer to the Classroom Location and Accessibility Information webpage for driving directions and parking instructions. Let me know if you would like me to mail you a printed map highlighting the classroom location and nearby parking areas.

Class time:

  • Please plan to arrive at the classroom by 3:45pm for setup. Give yourself extra time to negotiate traffic, navigate around campus, find a parking space, and make your way to the classroom.
  • The class session will begin promptly at 4:00pm.
  • Please stick around after all the project pitches so that students can approach you with specific questions to help them better understand your project suggestion and thereby aid in choosing a project to pursue.
  • The order of presentation will be listed here. Let me know if you will be unable to arrive at the beginning of class so I can re-order the schedule.

Presentation logistics:

  • You are welcome to compose a short slideshow if you think your pitch would benefit from the display of a video, a few images, or text. (It would be best to upload any videos to YouTube and include links to them in your slideset.) You can also distribute a short handout.
  • Email me your PowerPoint presentation and a soft copy of any handouts you wish to disseminate by Friday, December 31st so I can load it on my laptop and make handout copies for the students. (Having your presentation pre-loaded on my laptop minimizes turn-over time from one project pitcher to the next, assures that the slides will display properly, and makes the material available before class to any students with visual impairments.)

  • Multiple monitors and speakers are available in the classroom.
  • There is a wireless device to advance the slides and a laser pointer for your use.
  • Access to the Internet is available only through my laptop, so it is ok to include weblinks in your slides.
  • You will be given a wireless microphone to wear on your lapel to record audio from your lecture. Do not handle the microphone as it generates noise.
  • Your pitch will be videotaped and posted on YouTube.

Presentation suggestions:

  • The pitch time for a single project must be no longer than three minutes. This will be strictly enforced to allow time for every project to be presented.
  • Present the most important information at the beginning of your pitch to prevent having that information cut off.
  • Be short and concise.
  • Practice your pitch for timing.
  • The objective of your pitch is to interest students in taking on your project.
  • Describe and illustrate the challenge or problem to be addressed. Do not suggest solutions as that is the students' responsibility.
  • Assume students have already read your project description, so do not merely restate it.
  • The overall framework for your pitch is:
    • User: Identify the user or user group
    • Context: Describe the context or situation in which the problem exists
    • Problem: Provide an example incident that calls for a new device
    • Solution: Show how the user or user group would use the new device
    • Outcome: Describe the happy outcome for the user or user group
  • Pitch checklist:
    • Introduce yourself
    • Name your facility or organization
    • State your role in the facility or organization
    • Give a very brief background of the population and/or impairment addressed by your project suggestion
    • Identify the problem or challenge
    • Illustrate examples of the problem in a slide
    • Show images in slides as it is difficult for students to see anything that you hold up
    • List the prototype's desired operational features and specifications
    • Describe what the prototype device should do, but not how it should be designed (the student team will come up with a creative solution)
    • Suggest design concepts / alternatives
    • Provide any additional information such as weblinks
    • Mention the skills that are needed to fabricate the prototype: mechanical, electronic, computer, programming - so the students will be able to judge if it is an appropriate project for them to undertake.
    • Specify what resources, expertise, and involvement you will be able to provide
    • Bring along any prior prototypes you might have to show to students - after all the pitches have been presented - not during your pitch
    • Prepare to provide more project details and answer questions at the end of the class - after all the pitches have been presented - not during your pitch
  • Your pitch should not be a scientific presentation.
  • Avoid highly technical engineering, medical terms, and abbreviations.
  • Please do not overwhelm the students with technical details.
  • Communicate they can successfully pursue the assistive technology project that you have suggested.

Audience:

  • The audience will include Stanford engineering students (mostly mechanical engineering) and individuals from the greater Stanford community (perhaps as many as 50 people total).
  • There may be several students who arrive late or have to leave early due to other class committments.

Video pitch:

  • If you are unable to present your project(s) in class, you can alternately create a short video pitch (not longer than three minutes). Upload the video to YouTube and send me the url so I can play it in class.

Class website:

Please contact me if you have any questions. Thank you again,

Dave Jaffe

Updated 12/02/2021

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