What
is expected from a liaison engineer?
Liaison engineers play a vital role in both the successful
completion of the IPPD project and in the development
of students into professionals ready for the workforce.
The students will be looking to you as a role model. It
is important that they learn how professionals get the
job done. The liaison engineer keeps the team focused
on the project goals, while the faculty coach has this
and additional roles, such as helping the team meet the
academic goals of the IPPD course. Click
to see the expectations for liaison engineers.
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Who do I contact
if I am not satisfied with the performance of the project
team?
In the early phases of the project, it may be advisable
to contact your project coach prior to addressing the
team regarding their performance. Once you have developed
a rapport with the team you should feel free to address
this issue directly with the team. Do not let this issue
fester!
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Who do I contact
if I am not satisfied with the performance of the faculty
coach?
Contact the IPPD Program Director
Keith Stanfill at 352-846-3354 or by e-mail: stanfill
@ ufl.edu. Do not let this issue fester!
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How involved should
I be?
This is a judgement call. You need to be available for
the weekly teleconferences and for occasional consultations
with individuals on the team. You may find that your role
changes as the project team becomes more competent in
the required technical aspects of the project. Note that
the team will lose ownership in the project if they perceive
their role is simply to implement your own pet design.
On the other hand, if the team believes that from your
lack of involvement that the project is not important
to you or company, then they will likely perform very
poorly. This can have a very negative impact on your company's
image amongst the students.
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How much time
commitment is involved?
The time commitment will depend upon the complexity of
the project. Two hours a week would cover the weekly team
teleconference and routine e-mail traffic. Visits to your
facility (two to three times per project) will likely
consume half a day. Design reviews on the UF campus will
consume a day and may require an overnight stay.
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I am not available
to meet with the during their weekly team meeting. What
can I do?
Sometimes student class schedules make it nearly impossible
for the entire project team to meet during normal business
hours. Coordinate this issue with the faculty coach. It
may be necessary to schedule a regular teleconference
that includes the coach and a subset of the team, or at
least with a subset of the team if the coach cannot make
it. In the latter case, the liaison engineer and the coach
can communicate with each other about the project. The
team should prepare and e-mail to everyone (team members,
coach, liaison engineer) the detailed minutes of each
coach-team meeting and of each teleconference with the
liaison engineer so that everyone should be on the same
page regarding the progress of the project.
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What facilities
are available at the university to support the project
team?
The project team has 24 hour access to the IPPD Design
Stations. The Design Stations include conference rooms
with computers, marker boards, speaker phones, and file
cabinets; copiers, fax machines, and printers; and, two
small assembly and prototype testing labs.
The students also have access to the Electrical and Computer
Engineering Senior Design Lab where they can fabricate
and assemble 2-layer printed circuit boards. Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering has two machine shops available
to the students. Access to rapid prototyping equipment
is limited.
The College of Engineering has numerous laboratories
and centers of excellence. See www.eng.ufl.edu
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The project scope
seems to be too agressive for the project team to complete.
What can be done?
Frequently the project scope needs to be renegotiated
during the execution of the project. This may be the result
of new technical or resource challenges discovered by
the project team, due to a mismatch between the team's
skillset and the refined project goals, an underestimated
original project scope, or other reasons.
Regardless of the root cause, your concern should be
addressed as soon as possible with the project's faculty
coach. The Preliminary Design Review, held in mid October,
is an excellent opportunity to change the project scope--after
this review it is generally only possible to narrow the
scope.
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How do I get to learn
more about the individuals on my project team?
Prior to the first visit to your facility, it is recommended
that you and the student project team exchange brief biographical
sketches. You may also request resumes. You may wish to
share your motivations for becoming an engineer in your
biographical sketch.
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The project appears
to be headed for disaster. How should I step in?
If you feel the project is headed for disaster, then
immediately contact the project faculty coach, the IPPD
Director, and your management. If necessary, involve
your superiors in the disaster recovery process. It may
be possible to engage additional resources to help the
team complete a challenging deliverable. The project team
should be made aware of your concerns and should be involved
in the replanning process. This activity should be treated
as an important learning opportunity.
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My job situation
has changed or will soon change. What effect will this
have on the team and what can be done?
Losing a liaison engineer in the middle of a project
can lead to disaster. Identifying, educating, and integrating
a new liaison engineer can take months. To minimize the
effects of a liaison change, it is recommended that a
back-up liaison be involved with the team throughout the
project. Alert the project team as soon as you can publicly
disclose your change in job status. If possible, it is
helpful to be available to the new liaison engineer during
a transition phase.
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The team and I are
having communication problems. What can be done?
Communication problems need to be fixed quickly or the
project will be doomed. Work with the faculty coach and
project team to establish communication norms. These norms
may include the time for regularly scheduled meetings,
advance notice timing for meeting announcements, agenda
templates, action item/action register tips, timing for
posting of meeting minutes, establishment of a team webpage,
and use of collaboration tools. Persistance and adherence
to established standards can make a big difference. Do
not let this issue fester!
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How should I offer
criticism?
Constructive criticism is preferrable, but do not sugar
coat your statements. As you develop a rapport with the
project team, you should be able to treat them as you
would a coworker or subordinate. Provided you treat the
team as professionals and can share with them the technical
or business justification for your criticisms, you should
not hesitate.
One caution: allow the team freedom to develop ideas
to accomplish project goals that may be contrary to how
you would do it. If it fails, it can be turned into a
learning experience.
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How do I exchange
computer data files with the project team?
There are two secure methods available to project teams
to exchange files with sponsors. The project team has
a common data storage area on the IPPD fileserver that
is accessable remotely by NetStorage, a web-based tool.
The liaison engineer will be provided with access to NetStorage.
This tool allows an authenticated user to upload, download,
rename, and delete computer files in the team's common
data storage area. See NetStorage.
The second method involves using a web interface to the
IPPD Groupwise groupware suite. Each sponsor will be provided
with a Groupwise account. The system can be accessed via
the web. Files can be emailed to the team or put in shared
folders. See GroupWise.
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