Welcome to MSD

1. Welcome to MSD Gary Werth

2. Agenda • What is MSD & Why is it valuable • Why use Guide’s • Personal Introduction • Who I am • What to expect • Course Logistics But 1st, Why are you here? Gary Werth

3. What is MSD? • Multidisciplinary • These are real projects – they take more than one discipline to be successful • These are real projects – capacity can be an issue (having enough resources) • These are real projects – you need project management • Senior • You are all 5th year students – you have sufficient technical skill to be successful • You are all 5th year students – you lack certain critical skills to be successful and will need each other and additional support • Design • There is no pre-determined one right answer • You are expected to understand the real requirements, design, build, test, and delivery something that meets your customer’s expectations. Gary Werth

4. So Why MSD?Why are you here if you are not going to learn any more technical material in your major??? Tactical Strategic • Some examples…. • I have to (in order to graduate!) • I want to apply my (discipline) • I want to get an (easy) “A” to raise my GPA • Some examples… • Learn other leadership/project skills • Build my resume to get a better job • Build contacts to get a better job You can get an “edge” over your (career) competition Gary Werth

5. What do you want out of MSD? • Resume builders? (Career day is in October…) • Interview Techniques? • Additional Skills? • Academic and/or industrial recognition? • Or just get by….. Decide now because the time will fly by Gary Werth

6. Why Use “Guides”? (rather than Faculty) Kindergarten “Now” • Structured Academic Environment • Taught specific processes & methods • Safe learning environment • Single solution problems with a “right” answer • No surprises (or changes) • Rewards • Individual performance • Must demonstrate individual competency for good grade… Effort counts! • Faculty • Subject Matter Expert (SME) in one technical area • “teaches” material in one subject area • Provides your grade based on your ability to repeat what you have been taught MSD the rest of your career • “Real Life” Environment • Integration of everything you have been taught + more! • Safe learning environment • No one “right” answer, no one “customer” • Surprises occur regularly, usually at the most inopportune time • Rewards • Team performance • Good grades depend upon balanced… Results count! • Guide • Experienced in real life project processes… all of them! • Part of the team with ability to point to SME’s as needed • Provides your grade base on your ability to translate learnings to a problem with no previous solution MSD is different than anything you have experienced; Your guide is critical to your success Gary Werth

7. For Example… • Skills/Processes you bring to the course • Areas where MSD teams historically fail….. • …. Guides typically have years of experience Guides are only as effective as the time you spend seeking & following their suggestions Gary Werth

8. Fail? Really? Here’s a few examples from last year alone! Gary Werth

9. Some Tips to succeed in MSD… • Demonstrate Honesty & Integrity • Be open and provide candid, constructive feedback • Do what you say you are going to do; and, if you can’t, let your team know ASAP • Be on time • Communicate – communicate – communicate: but only log books & EDGE count towards grades • Use all of the available resources including guides and SME’s (faculty/industry) • Break your project into small doable chunks (eg: 3 weeks) • Know your mini-plan objectives for the team and for each team member • Frequently test to see if you are on track • Plan to be done early…. Because stuff happens and you will not be! • Do NOT let the MSD academic schedule be your guide – you will run out of time! • Know your teammates strengths & weaknesses and support each other • Not everyone is good in everything, even if they are the same discipline • Share the load • Individuals run into trouble and need help Gary Werth

10. Who Am I? • Academic Credentials: • BS Physics (RIT) • MBA (Syracuse) • Center for Creative Leadership • MIT (Program Management) • Six Sigma (Black belt) • Employment Experience: Three fortune 500 Aerospace Corporations • Engineering (Entry level to VP Technology) • Project & Program Management (15 years) • Senior Management (Senior Business Site Leader for 3 businesses) • RIT Adjunct Faculty since 2013 • Industry Experiential Recognition: Invited to lead major initiatives • Industrial Oversight Board for Sandia National Laboratory • Corporate Initiatives: Program Management, Six Sigma & Total Quality Management I am your “guide” and I’ve done it before! Gary Werth

11. About me…. Personally: • Married • Retired early to pursue interests… • Built our house (Walworth) • Adjunct at RIT • Volunteer work (LINC, RCLC) • Riding Motorcycles • Hiking • Pistol Shooting • And, of course, quality time with my grandchildren (all 12!) Professionally: • Strong emphasis on character: • Honesty & Integrity • Strive to bring out your full potential • But you have to decide to do it • Not big on surprises nor excuses • I will treat you as an adult professional • Available (almost) whenever • gdwddm@RIT.edu • 315-651-0014 (call or text) I am also “Real People”!! Gary Werth

12. Students Feedback: On MSD • I thought MSD was going to be more of a technical learning (like an Independent study) class, similar to the rest of my classes at RIT. I now know MSD was a class more designed to illustrate how project management, customer interaction and multi-disciplinary groups should work, which will immediately benefit me in workforce.   • I still think it's good for future teams to struggle with (grading standards) on their own and have an "Oh shit" moment if necessary. Clearly broken down expectations should be last resort just like in our case. We are too used to rubrics and syllabi. The real world is not that clear and this, in my opinion, is the best way to learn it (even though it isn't pretty). • I thought you did really well being “hands off” when we did our concept generation and selection. I really enjoyed that you let us keep our creative freedom, but still offered suggestions. I personally believe the best part of senior design is being able to translate our visions/ideas to a working prototype • Another thing I really like was the manner in which you gave use criticism. The combination of real world experience and light-hearted criticism was great. You always had feedback about ways that we could improve which was beneficial to us, not only for MSD, but things that we will use for the rest of our lives. You were always straightforward about it. If it looked like shit, you helped us paint our own better picture. Gary Werth

13. Students Feedback: On Gary’s Style • Pushing us beyond what is expected into the ‘A’ zone: On several occasions, especially at the beginning of MSD, we thought we were doing great just meeting the expectations, which in reality only gets us B and C grades. By defining exactly what you wanted, which was tailored to our project, you gave us much better metrics than other MSD guides. Frequently, we thought we had too much work and that we had given it our best. By keeping our plate full on any occasion, we came closer to realizing our full potential. • I want to start off by saying that I think you were a great guide and I would not have wanted to have any other person as our guide. You genuinely seem to care about all of us and our success, not only in the course but in our lives. That is something that is really valuable to me and I don’t think you could know how much you have helped me grow as a professional entering the engineering world. • One last thing I want to add, I really like that you will give some of your feedback in the presentation, but save a lot of the other stuff until later. It is much more comfortable for us being able to talk about it with you in a relaxed setting rather than in front of everyone. • Time & Project Management: should I elaborate? None of us had experience doing this. Sure, we all keep planners and finish assignments before others, but when it came to a group dynamic, it’s a completely different story. There are many things going on simultaneously and you helped us to prioritize and follow the critical path for success. • I also enjoyed that you were “hands on” when helping us with project management and presentations. Looking back to MSD I, it was very obvious that we needed help and you were more than happy to share your expertise. Gary Werth

14. Students Feedback: On Communication • After the first couple of weeks, I really started to enjoy the countless lessons to ensure the group succeeded, but communication can never be stressed enough. Letting us struggle at the beginning of MSD II may have been a teaching moment (it worked) but I believe more emphasis on communication would help groups succeed in MSD. When working towards the end of the MSD II, we were sending emails and text messages to each other every day, updating tasks and asking for help.  Over the past month I believe we were the more efficient than any other time in MSD due to this communication. A good group dynamic made all the work associated with senior design bearable, but good group communication would makes completing all tasks possible. • One thing at the beginning that was a bit intimidating was the feedback that we would get from our reviews. I know at first our team had a hard time realizing that your feedback was helping us and was not a criticism… I know we will never forget our first ‘real’ review where we all stood up at the front with our customers staring at us while you explained all the changes are steps we should take moving forward. Looking back now, it was extremely helpful, but then, we were very upset because we didn’t understand that it was being helpful and not attacking our project. After that though, we realized just how helpful it was and learned to appreciate all the feedback from you guys. • At first I was a bit annoyed that you always had feedback, but after a couple of presentations, I realizing feedback is not a personal insult. Unless someone is doing a terrible job, feedback is given to make the project better and I believe our presentations, group dynamic and all around work quality improved due to the honesty in your feedback. • Presentations: Practice makes perfect. Although we were given guidelines for what they should entail, effectively communicating to our customers and guides was enhanced by practicing with you, as opposed to by ourselves. Not only did we improve the content of presentations, we also learned how to present more effectively. Nobody likes presenting before MSD. Most of us are nervous and scripted. With your help, we learned a lot of useful techniques that we will continue to use in the future. Now, we are much more comfortable. Gary Werth

15. Logistics … Reqt Systems Subsys Detailed Design • Regularly scheduled classes • Tuesday & Thursday • 1/week one hour group team meeting • I am out Sep 19th-23rd • Contact me anytime • If immediate contact needed, text 315-651-0014 or… • email: sueandgary13@gmail.com* * it’s my phone Gary Werth

16. Questions? Gary Werth