Technical enginnering

WHY: The purpose of this assignment is to develop the statement of work (SOW). The SOW is the contract between the student and the client (professor) that describes what the student will do. The SOW explains the what, why and how of a project, before it starts.

WHO: This is an individual assignment.

WHAT: Please read your syllabus and interact with your client when developing your SOW as you and your client must agree to the scope. Many organizations, including companies and branches of the U.S. government require a SOW as part of the project proposal process. While every SOW will look different, they all share the sections described below. There is no page limit on your SOW, but a typical SOW for this project is two pages.

Use these headings for your SOW:

Background

This section describes the problem to be solved and the context of the problem. It should have a general statement about the project, a specific statement about the problem to be solved, a description of why the project exists and its relation to other projects, and a description of how the end result of the project will be used.

Scope

Two paragraphs. The first describes, in general terms, what will be done on the project. The second describes what is out of scope and will not be done on the project. The scope section is very important because it is the agreement between the student and the client on what is in and out of scope for the project.

Tasks

A list of four to five major tasks that the student will undertake during the project, and the approach that the student will take on the tasks. The purpose of this section is to describe the top level work plan.

Deliverables

A list of the major end-of-project deliverables that will be turned over to the client (professor) by the end of the project (semester). If the deliverables include documents, the title, contents and purpose of the document is described. If the deliverables include an apparatus or a physical prototype, the purpose and functional capabilities of the apparatus are described. If the deliverables include a computer model, the capabilities of the model are defined.

Schedule

Provide a simple GANTT chart showing when the deliverables will be provided.

WHEN: This assignment is due by (before) 1 pm on Monday 9/25

Tips

For the deliverables, check out the assignments in the syllabus.

Use simple words and sentences. No jargon.

Be concise. No gratuitous or extraneous words.

Use active rather than passive voice.

Define technical terms.

Use figures, diagrams and images to make your point.

As with any document you produce, date the document, state the authors' names and include page numbers.

A good way to catch errors is to read the document out loud to yourself.