ENG 206 Final, Fall 2006

PASSAGE A: Passage A At Five Years Old, Kids In Danger Still Working Hard for Children’s Product Safety As we pass our five year anniversary, KID continues to meet the challenges posed by unsafe children’s products. KID was founded by Danny Keysar’s parents, Linda Ginzel and Boaz Keysar, five years ago. Since that time, KID has become synonymous to many parents with trusted information on children’s product safety and with policymakers as a voice pressing for strengthening our children’s product safety system. KID’s programs continue to work for those goals. Teach Early Safety Testing (TEST), KID’s outreach program to engineering education programs is currently working with four programs to incorporate children’s product safety into the curriculum. At Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute Indiana and University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, seniors can choose from among design projects suggested by Kids In Danger to address problems in children’s product design. From a portable crib that doesn’t create a v-shaped hazard to warnings to parents when a stroller isn’t fully latched, design students will look not only at a particular design problem, but get a view of the larger scope of issues involved in safe product design. At Illinois Institute of Technology and Purdue University, KID is working with the engineering and service learning departments to incorporate information about children’s product safety into many parts of the curriculum. The Health Care Providers Outreach Program now has a presence at four pilot sites in the Chicago area. At Town and Country Pediatrics on Chicago’s northside, patients have been surveyed about children’s product safety and after an informal briefing of the staff, posters are now in all exam rooms and brochures available for interested patients and caregivers. KID will institute similar programs at Children’s Memorial Continuity Clinic, the Friend’s Family Clinic at University of Chicago Children’s Hospital and the Women’s Care program at University of Chicago Hospital and Northwestern University Prentice Women’s Program. After the pilot period and evaluation, these materials will be presented this fall at the national conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics and available for wider distribution at that time. 1 KID’s Mission is to promote the development of safer children’s products, advocate for children, and educate the public, especially parents and caregivers, about dangerous children’s products. English 206 Final Exam Fall 2006- 2007 Along with these exciting programs, KID continues our outreach to childcare providers, parents, and policymakers to promote the development of safer children’s products, educate the public and advocate for children. False Sense of Security In fall 2003, KID released a report called “False Sense of Security: Recall Histories of Leading Children’s Products Manufactures (1993-2003).” This report focuses on the recall histories of major children’s product brand names over the past ten years. Parents often assume that the only old or “off-brand” products are dangerous and that popular, trusted brand names are more likely to be safe. As the report shows, this trust is often misplaced. Companies like Cosco, Graco, Evenflo, and Playskool have high injury and recall rates. Without mandatory safety testing, any children’s products, regardless of brand name, can prove dangerous. Other findings of this report include:  Within the last decade, the children’s product industry has recalled almost 60 million items.  Nine companies have recalled more than five products.  Cosco and Graco posted the most recalls with 13 and 12 recalls respectively.  Eleven products broke, malfunctioned or otherwise failed over 400 times before they were recalled.  In the past decade, juvenile products caused over 3,000 injuries.  Recalled products are responsible for almost 40 reported deaths in the last decade. Graco’s products have been linked to 11 deaths and Kolcraft to 7 deaths. Based on this report, Kids In Danger recommends that mandatory testing for all children’s products be developed to prevent unsafe products from entering the marketplace. Stringent safety standards should be developed and products should be required to achieve certification of these standards. Finally, manufacturers should take a more proactive role in the recall process in order to ensure that all recalled products are removed from use in homes and childcare facilities. Adapted from: Action Newsletter (Fall 2003) http://www.kidsindanger.org.publication/newsletter/pubs_action_2003 PASSAGE B News on children’s product safety News from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) shows that injuries involving nursery products that required emergency room care were down 14% since 2001. However, nearly 60,000 children were rushed to emergency rooms last year due to injuries involving nursery products. Almost 25% of those injuries involved baby carriers or infant seats – not in use in automobiles. Strollers were responsible for the next highest number of injuries at 10,800 followed by cribs (9,800) and high chairs (7,300). Other dangerous products were shopping carts, vapor patches, and lunch boxes. It is impossible to know how many of the products involved were recalled or not 2 working properly. The CPSC reports that the leading cause of the 59,800 injuries was falls, suggesting a need to reexamine the design and safety features of these products. KID Program Updates Kids In Danger has always believed that the solution to unsafe children’s products requires a multipronged approach – promoting the development of safer products, advocating for legislative and regulatory changes, and educating parents and caregivers. Our activities this year show progress in all three areas. Teach Early Safety Testing (TEST) KID has been working for several years to develop curriculum materials that can be used in the University engineering classroom to teach the importance of safety in design. Using children’s products as examples, KID has developed lecture notes and slides, student projects and resources that accomplish that goal. This summer, KID presented the materials at the annual conference of the American Association for Engineering Education in Chicago. Over 100 interested college professors stopped by to learn more and KID distributed 15 curriculum sets which will be piloted in schools this year. Feedback from these programs will allow us to fine tune the materials. Safe From The Start Our outreach efforts continued over the summer with KID participating in safety fairs and distributing both our DVD and workshop materials to many new locations. KID’s materials are now used in childbirth classes, childcare training seminars, parenting classes, pediatricians’ offices and more. Children’s Product Safety Act Over the summer, KID worked to increase contact in states without the Children’s Product Safety Act (CPSA). We are always eager to talk with interested advocacy groups and lawmakers in every state to introduce this lifesaving legislation. Did you know that without the CPSA in place it is legal for second hand dealers to sell products that have previously been recalled? Or that in most states there is no mechanism in place to educate childcare providers about recalls and other product dangers – leaving millions of children vulnerable to these unsafe products? Adapted from: Action Newsletter (Fall 2006) http://www.kidsindanger.org/publications/newsletter/pubs_action _2006 PASSAGE C Engineering Student Survey Response from University of Michigan Kids In Danger (KID) designed the Teach Early Safety Testing (TEST) Program to promote the development of safe products by integrating children’s product safety, standards and testing 3 practices into the undergraduate engineering curriculum. To evaluate current safety education in engineering programs, KID designed a survey instrument. Students in Mechanical Engineering program at the University of Michigan were asked to complete this survey. Forty-six students responded. Survey Findings Most of the students (93%) were undergraduate Mechanical Engineering majors, graduating within a year. The rest were pursuing a Masters or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. Design Safety in Classroom Instruction Two-thirds of the students (67%) said that they had taken classes, forums or seminars in which design safety and potential hazards of products were discussed. The other third said they had not taken any such classes. Sixty-one percent mentioned either ME 250 or ME 350, Design and Manufacturing I and II as their source for safety information. Another 17% mentioned ME 282, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, as a place where safety was discussed. But these optimistic results were a little tempered when asked what was discussed. Most students mentioning a topic mentioned a workshop or manufacturing safety issue (54%) and only 32% said a product safety design issue was addressed. Student Perceptions of Safety Instruction and Knowledge Only 30% of students said that classes addressing standards or safety presented them with new knowledge about the topic, 37% they did not garner new safety knowledge and 24% were unsure. But among those who said safety or standards were addressed in their classes, 47% said they learned something new, 25% said they did not and 28% were unsure. Using Safety Knowledge Only one third of students, 33% felt confident in their ability to test their designs for safety and risk prevention. Slightly more said they were not confident (37%) and 30% were unsure. Students would like to see more safety information covered in their engineering education. Of the 28 who answered this open ended question, 29% wanted to learn more about standards and testing, 32% wanted to learn more about design safety specifics and 18% wanted to learn more about potential hazards, examples of dangerous products and product liability. Interest in Seminar or Course on Children’s Product Safety One-third of students surveyed (33%) said they would be interested in taking a seminar or capstone course addressing safety and standards in the design of children’s products. Thirty- seven percent would not be interested and 29% were unsure. Students felt they could learn everything from what is currently done in the industry to how to make cool toys safe in a course about children’s product safety. Others felt they could learn the unique safety concerns for children’s products, how to implement safety standards into design, how to design for safety ad becoming more aware of what is unsafe for children. 4 Implications While a small sample of engineering students, this survey provides important pointers for KID’s TEST program. Not enough information on product design safety and hazard avoidance is reaching undergraduate engineering students. It appears that overview classes (Design and Manufacturing) are a good place to introduce the basic concepts with more detailed information coming in specific design classes or  seminars. Students understand the importance standards play in making safe products, but don’t necessarily have enough information about standards. Using design seminars or projects can build on students’ basic knowledge as well as introduce them to the application of standards and hazard analysis. Adapted from: Teach Early Safety Testing http://www.kidsindanger.org/programs/test/2004_04_engineering_survey PASSAGE D Drafting A New Plan For Design.(Industry Overview) Market forces and new tools are reshaping design. In response, companies are changing the way they produce designs, and universities the way they produce design engineers. THEODORE VON KARMAN, the famous aerodynamicist, once observed that "science is the study of the world as it is. Engineering is the creation of the world of tomorrow" Science is basically "passive" observation of the universe as it exists, to generate knowledge. Engineering is making use of that knowledge to meet human needs by creating machines, systems, processes, and technologies that have not previously existed. Design and manufacture are the synthetic part of engineering practice. Manufacture has received a lot of attention recently for very good economic reasons. However, design is an integral part of manufacture, and world class manufacture cannot happen without world class design. Design can be viewed as planning for manufacture, or "the creation of an artifact." Improvement of manufacturing processes, while vital, is pointless without excellent design. 5 Design is at the core of engineering practice. And now the very process of design is being reshaped by a combination of market forces and the availability of new tools. In response, companies are changing the way they produce designs, and universities the way they produce design engineers. There have been huge improvements in design support tools, particularly computer tools. There have also been very significant changes in how we do design; that is, in design methodology. Parametric solid modeling software provides a true three-dimensional digital representation of every part. It holds the potential for simulation tools such as finite element analysis to work directly off the design database with no intermediate modeling step. It also promotes computer-integrated manufacturing and rapid prototyping by opening the possibility of tool paths' being automatically generated, again without an intermediate modeling step. The parametric feature permits rapid manual or automatic modification of part geometries in the light of analysis results. Rapid prototyping technologies have advanced to the point that parts can often be prototyped in the material to be used in production, permitting mechanical testing. Use of "disposable" tools permits prototyping using essentially the same processes and materials as for volume manufacture. Sophisticated simulation packages are available to study almost every kind of mechanical behavior, from stresses and deflections under load of single parts, or nonlinear dynamic behavior of systems, to complex heat transfer and fluid flow fields. The next big improvement will come from full integration of these tools based on parametric solid model technology. It will no longer be necessary to generate multiple models of parts or systems. It will be possible to move seamlessly and directly from the geometric definition of a part, to stress or vibration mode analysis, or to examination of the dynamic behavior of a system incorporating that part. PRESSURES ON THE CURRICULUM Changes in the way that engineers do design have led to pressures on the engineering curriculum. Educators are responding to these pressures, although perhaps the rate of change is slower than our colleagues in industry think that it should be. In fact, design educators are changing continuously. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology has proposed the new ABET 2000 accreditation criteria, which will both stimulate and facilitate innovation in engineering curricula. Programs will write and publish their own goals and objectives, and will be measured against those published statements. The broad guidelines on the amount of time to be spent on each classification of material are still in effect (one year of math and basic science, a half-year of humanities, and one and a half years of engineering topics), as is the requirement for an integrative capstone experience. ABET has listed 11 criteria that will be crucial in determining whether a program and its students meet the evaluation criteria. It is noteworthy that six of the 11 criteria focus on nontechnical issues. To meet the new standards, a student must demonstrate the following: 1) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering; 2) an ability to design and construct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data; 3) an ability to design a system, component, or 6 process to meet desired needs; 4) an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams; 5) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems; 6) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility; 7) an ability to communicate effectively; 8) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in global and societal context; 9) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in, life-long learning; 10) a knowledge of contemporary issues; and 11) an ability to use technique s, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice. An engineer is not a passive observer, but an active creator of machines, systems, and processes to meet human needs. We must emphasize the differences between engineering and science. Everyone knows about the similarities. We must maintain an alignment between our academic programs and the industrial environment; otherwise our students will not be successful. Adapted from: Waldron, K.J. (1999). Drafting a new plan for design. Mechanical Engineering-CIME Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com 7 English 206 Final Exam Fall 2006-2007 Name: ___________________________ Section: ____________ Instructor: __________________________ Time Allowed: 2 ½ Hrs 1. Writing on behalf of the Student Representative Council, address a proposal to your Dean, Dr. Ibrahim, Hajj, suggesting the establishment of a multi-disciplinary course in child product safety. 1.1 Before writing the report, briefly answer the following question: Certain companies which sell children’s products with high injury rates send out a warning label with the unsafe product instead of recalling it from the market. Is this behavior ethical or not? Justify your answer. (5 points). ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 1.2 Write your report in MEMO format on page 2. Base your proposal on ideas from the given texts; use your discretion to supplement it with details from your general knowledge. 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As part of the scenario for preparing the proposal, you sent an e-mail to all FEA students, soliciting their participation in a survey on the issue of child product safety. Write the e- mail, including instructions for completing the survey, which is available at a given URL. Be as persuasive and clear as possible. Use this page for drafting. Write your letter on page 8. (45 points) 7 ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ 8 English 206 Final Exam Fall 2006-2007 Name: ___________________________ Section: ____________ Instructor: __________________________ Time Allowed: 2 ½ Hrs 1. Writing on behalf of the Student Representative Council, address a proposal to your Dean, Dr. Ibrahim, Hajj, suggesting the establishment of a multi-disciplinary course in child product safety. 1.1 Before writing the report, briefly answer the following question: Certain companies which sell children’s products with high injury rates send out a warning label with the unsafe product instead of recalling it from the market. Is this behavior ethical or not? Justify your answer. Use this page or the back of the sheets for drafting. (5 points). Unethical behavior: Companies should study the consequences and implications of their actions and decisions. Not recalling defective products constitutes a violation of a company’s duties towards its employees, its profession, and the public at large. Its decisions and actions should promote the safety, health, and welfare of the public. 1.2 Write your report in MEMO format on page 2. Base your proposal on ideas from the given texts; use your discretion to supplement it with details from your general knowledge. (50 points). I. Introduction and Background  Present brief description and justification of proposed project  Provide basic background information  Provide overview Writer is proposing the establishment of course in child product safety. Unsafe kids’ products are a major hazard. Concerned organizations are networking with engineering professors and students in colleges to address the issue of product safety design. In what follows the writer will detail the problem and present the proposed solution. II. Problem Definition  Present detailed description of problem  Identify readers’ needs Writer details the issue of unsafe children’s products (examples of unsafe/recalled products & statistical info found in Passages A and B). Writer presents the findings/implications of the K