Professional Review, Communication, And Project Management For Eco-friendly Waste Management System

Meetings

This project design seeks to improve the Vanuatu community, through the provision of alternative eco-friendly waste management system from the current practice of burning wastes. This professional review expounds the design features of the projects, as well as the triple bottom line and sustainability aspects of the project.

In the Engineers Australia Charter, effective communication both verbally and in written form is highly encouraged. This is because success in the broader engineering profession requires the professional to work in close collaboration with other professionals from other fields, as well as with the stakeholders of the different projects that the engineers undertake. These stakeholders in most cases make the decision whether the engineer gets to carry out that project. For this reason communication skills come in handy when trying to explain and convince these stakeholders to buy that idea. The communication skills of an engineer in both professional and layman language are therefore extremely important in the success of an engineer’s profession as has been demonstrated in this project.  This importance is brought our plan to educate the community so as to sell the idea of building a centralized compost area for the locals to dump their organic waste, and later benefit the community through the production of organic fertilizers and compost. We utilized effective communication skills like persuasion when we managed to convince the community that the idea would be beneficial to them and their farms through the production of these fertilizers (Lichetenegger, 2015). p. 520) We also utilized effective communication skills in the decision-making process, and thus we arrived at our idea collaboratively.

In the EGB 100 speech, we learnt about the importance of informed decision making and persuasion as seen in Engineering your Future: An Australasian Guide ( Chapters 7 & 8), and this helped our project to achieve all of its goals. Persuasion is important aspect as we saw the importance of educating the community and all the stakeholders, with the aim of convincing them to jump on board and invest in your solution (C.Troy, et al., 2016) p. 24). In this persuasion, ethical standards and professional accountability will have to be greatly emphasized, to ensure that the project does not use illegal and unethical ways to convince the stakeholders to jump on board. As explained in the EGB 100 speech, our group intends to utilize the best research to design alternative ideas to achieve this solution, as well as experimental analyses to ensure that creativity is used in the design to solve this problem for the community.

Working

Since the different stakeholders are both professionals in different fields as well as laymen from the Vanuatu community, engineers are expected to address different audiences while selling the idea to these stakeholders. The engineers are thus expected to have a good command of language in both oral and written forms for the professional class, as well as an ability to communicate without any hindrances to the laymen in the community. The mode and means used in the professional world is very different from that used with laymen, as it includes jargon and complicated lingo which is not necessary when addressing the laymen. In addition, making the language too simple in the professional world may hinder the effectiveness of an engineer’s communication in some situations. This is true in the case of laymen, because too much complicated and scientific jargon may have a negative impact of creating a barrier in the communication and also making people lose interest (Mobrand, et al., 2013).

What is the team consensus about when, where, and how often to have team meetings?  What is expected of members with regard to attendance, timeliness, and preparation?  Also, what is the balance between work and fun?

Group meetings will be held in the QUT Library in the allocated study room. This will be established through the availability times for all members. Meeting twice a week having the prepared items for each meeting, which is established through the Facebook group chat. The following days are Monday from 3-4pm and Friday from 4-5pm. It is advised for all members to attend every meeting unless legitimate reasons/ circumstances. If members do not attend meetings with a legitimate reason, consequences will be made.

What the team expects from one another about standards, deadlines, how equally effort and work should be distributed, how work will be reviewed, and what to do if people do not follow through on commitments?

The group is aiming for an overall grade of 7 (minimum of 85%) towards the assessments. Work will be evenly distributed towards all members and each member must contribute towards their part. The group will meet twice a week for the one hour per meeting and will notify the group if they are unable to attend due to circumstances out of their reach. If members do not follow the commitments without any suitable justifications then it will be reported towards the tutor. It is advised to complete the assignment 24 hours prior to the due date.

Communication

When should communication take place, who is responsible, how should it be done (phone, email, etc.) and how will the team discuss feelings about the team or members?  By what means and in what manner will the members communicate with one another across different media like phone, e-mail, etc?

Group members shall communicate via the Facebook Group chat (EGB100) and QUT Blackboard. It is advisable to edit group documents through Google Docs or the Facebook group chat. The group chat should consist of information relevant towards the unit, if used inappropriately, measures will be taken in place.

How the team decides who should takes the lead role for what aspects of our work?  What expectations do team have for how those in leadership roles should act?

Group members will be allocated roles that are relevant towards their strengths. Nature of tasks being undertaken by the group, and its mode of operation, will determine the skills required to complete those tasks. This involves technical skills, generic skills and group or team skills, with the latter being used to define the roles each member will undertake in the group.

How will team members treat one another personally while working together?  How should minority viewpoints be treated, and how we will manage the time during our meetings? What information will we consider to be confidential?

All members will be treated equally and with respect. A team-orientated approach will be demonstrated throughout the project. Therefore, people are concerned with how the team is working and ensuring all members have an opportunity to contribute; and the team operates by consensus.

What are the consequences for violating each of the agreements we’ve established above?  Who will decide and how will this be enforced?

After three transgressions against the group charter  – each of which will result in a warning from the group of increasing severity, the teacher will be informed of the particular individual and dealt with as deemed necessary.

The project dubbed Live Learn Vanuatu is a great engineering project for the community and its future generations. The project aims to implement scientific principles in the design which converts plant based wastes into useful products through repurposing the litter from leaves and other plant-based waste material. The design will entail a central waste collection point which converts litter into manure, managing waste and providing an alternative and better solution to the current burning method. The benefits that all the stakeholders will obtain from this project will include adding in the concept of sustainability to solve a waste management problem, through the production of compost. This compost will bring benefits like improving the quality of soil in that community, improving soil aeration, and also improving the yield quality for the community members who mainly practice agriculture. In return the entire community and the other stakeholders will reap benefits of economic, and social cultural advancements.

Leadership

The design uses a strategy of problem solving. This is because the Vanuatu community experiences a problem of plant based waste management, which can easily be composted to manufacture organic manure for use within the farms of that community. The design is also simple as it utilizes simple scientific and psychrometric principles to achieve its final goal and solve the problem (Hubka, 2015) p. 17). It is also a simple design to use as it does not require experts to be there for it to work. Its construct and repair is simple and it would help the community which relies on agriculture. It implements the use of wood barrels that are simpler to manufacture to the desired shape and are also biodegradable. This will positively improve the impacts of climate change in the region, as most of the hazardous emissions from burning and decomposition will significantly reduce. The use of organic manure in farms will also improve the environment and the lifestyle of the people in the community. The design can be adapted by increasing the size of the bins and incorporating earthworms in vermicomposting technologies. While the social, environmental, and economic benefits expected from this project are inevitable, they can be greatly limited the uncovered nature of the barrels design and the risk of deforestation to make the wooden barrels. These limitations hinder the community from benefiting as they cause toxicity and pollution if the waste content is spilled in the area, and a harm to the environment through deforestation (Dieter & Schmidt, 2013).

Conclusions

This project is a great opportunity for the people of the Vanuatu community to reverse the environmental impacts of climatic change, and manage plant based waste. This projects stands to improve many aspects of the lives of this community through the social, environmental, and cultural benefits it will bring. It also presents immense opportunity for other stakeholders, as it will empower the community in different ways, enabling them to benefit other sectors and players. The design presents limitations and threats that could affect the effectiveness of the design, although the design utilizes simple concepts that can be repaired to make it effective. In conclusion, the design will improve the efficiency of managing plant waste in the community by creating fertilizers that aid plant growth of the fertilizers, allowing for the environmental damages caused through burning the wastes to be repaired.

References

C.Troy, et al., 2016. Writing to learn engineering: Identifying effective techniques for the integration of written communication into engineering classes and curricula. ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, 4(1), pp. 21-26.

Dieter, G. & Schmidt, L. C., 2013. Engineering Design (Vol 3). 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hubka, V., 2015. Principles of Engineering Design. 1st ed. Elsevier: CRC Press.

Lichetenegger, G., 2015. Engineering communication systems-Considering the socio-technical perspective in design and implementatio. International journall of Computer System Engineering, 3(4), pp. 518-522.

Mobrand, K., Turns, J. & Mobrand, L. M., 2013. Revealing and enhancing engineering undergraduates students’ motivation for the communication of proffesional practice through creation of communication preparedness portfolios in a study setting. Professional Communication Conference IEEE, 10(20), pp. 1-10.