Week 3

Welcome back to our blog!
This week, we covered on SCAMPER, the feasibility Analysis and COWS decision matrix.

Firstly, SCAMPER is a systematic way of diversifying a vague product into various and more specific types. These types can be really out there, but serves a purpose in understanding the limits and the opportunities from the product! Here are our 5 ideas from our original topic, non-electrical air-conditioner, using SCAMPER:

• Portable non-electrical air-con

• zero-energy air-con (through design)

• More effective air multiplier and purifier

• Carbon negative air-con

• Zero-energy ventilation system

After getting our ideas, we need to filter the good ones from the bad. Using the feasibility table, we can delve deep into our idea and see how far we can go with it in terms of our set project limitations. From there, we picked the 3 best ideas to consider:

Idea: Zero-energy air-con	YES	NO
Budget -  Less than S$2000?	X
Project Timeline - Can be completed within one semester?	X
Technical Feasibility - Evaluate the technical feasibility of the project.
·        Is the project feasible within the limits of current technology?	X
·        Are the required utilities available?	X
·        Does the lab have necessary testing and fabrication equipment?	X
·        Does it need any computer software and hardware?		X
·        Do we possess the necessary technical expertise and skills?	X
·        Does the lab have sufficient space to support the project?	X
Operational Feasibility
a.      Does the project team have sufficient manpower to carry out the project?	X
b.      Is it legal to operate the project?	X
c.      Is it safe to operate the project?	X

Idea: Portable non-electrical air-con	YES	NO
Budget - Less than S$2000?	X
Project Timeline - Can be completed within one semester?		X
Technical Feasibility - Evaluate the technical feasibility of the project.
·        Is the project feasible within the limits of current technology?	X
·        Are the required utilities available?
·        Does the lab have necessary testing and fabrication equipment?
·        Does it need any computer software and hardware?
·        Do we possess the necessary technical expertise and skills?
·        Does the lab have sufficient space to support the project?	X
Operational Feasibility
d.      Does the project team have sufficient manpower to carry out the project?	X
e.      Is it legal to operate the project?	X
f.       Is it safe to operate the project?	X

Idea: More effective air purifier + multiplier	YES	NO
Budget -    Less than S$2000?	X
Project Timeline - Can be completed within one semester?		X
Technical Feasibility - Evaluate the technical feasibility of the project.
·        Is the project feasible within the limits of current technology?	X
·        Are the required utilities available?	X
·        Does the lab have necessary testing and fabrication equipment?		X
·        Does it need any computer software and hardware?	X
·        Do we possess the necessary technical expertise and skills?	X
·        Does the lab have sufficient space to support the project?	X
Operational Feasibility
g.      Does the project team have sufficient manpower to carry out the project?	X
h.      Is it legal to operate the project?	X
i.       Is it safe to operate the project?	X

Idea: Carbon-negative air-con	YES	NO
Budget - Less than S$2000?		X
Project Timeline - Can be completed within one semester?	X
Technical Feasibility - Evaluate the technical feasibility of the project.
·        Is the project feasible within the limits of current technology?	X
·        Are the required utilities available?	X
·        Does the lab have necessary testing and fabrication equipment?		X
·        Does it need any computer software and hardware?	X
·        Do we possess the necessary technical expertise and skills?	X
·        Does the lab have sufficient space to support the project?	X
Operational Feasibility
j.       Does the project team have sufficient manpower to carry out the project?	X
k.      Is it legal to operate the project?	X
l.       Is it safe to operate the project?		X

Idea : Zero-energy Ventilation System	YES	NO
Budget - Less than S$2000?	X
Project Timeline - Can be completed within one semester?	X
Technical Feasibility - Evaluate the technical feasibility of the project.
·        Is the project feasible within the limits of current technology?	X
·        Are the required utilities available?	X
·        Does the lab have necessary testing and fabrication equipment?	X
·        Does it need any computer software and hardware?	X
·        Do we possess the necessary technical expertise and skills?	X
·        Does the lab have sufficient space to support the project?	X
Operational Feasibility
a.      Does the project team have sufficient manpower to carry out the project?	X
b.      Is it legal to operate the project?	X
c.      Is it safe to operate the project?	X

From the tables above, we chose the 3 ideas:

1. Zero-energy air-con
2. Portable non-electrical air-con
3. Zero-energy ventilation system

Lastly, we put our ideas through the COWS decision matrix. This helps us consider the key factors that differentiate between the 3 ideas. Using criteria, scores (from 1 to 3) and weightage, We tally it into a final score, where the highest scoring product is the one that we will follow. We assess them through the following criteria:

• Estimated size of final product - We must consider the scale of our product so that we understand the amount of precision in our design. A smaller product might be harder to modify. Thus, the bigger the design, the better the ranking.
  
  
• Number of required testing variables - As we are working with air-conditioning in principle, There are a lot of variables required to effectively compare them to commercially available products. With more variables to test, this will also affect our project timeline. Hence, the lesser the amount of variables, the better the ranking.
  
  
• Ease of fabrication - This pertains to the parts required to make the product, whether big or small. The less the amount of parts, the easier the production, the better the ranking.
  
  
• Estimated cost - We hope to spend as little as possible while still providing perfect quality in our final product. The lower the cost, the better the ranking.

• Consumer necessity - Our main problem that we want to tackle is how to cool down someone in SG without using energy. Thus, the idea must be novel so that the need for it could be realised. We checked around for products that might give similar benefits and/or function very similar to the idea. If the idea was too similar to the commercially available one, we lowered its ranking.

Here is our COWS matrix:

Thus, from our COWS matrix, the portable non-electrical air-con is the best product to follow through due to its highest total rating.