If you have any doubts on who to contact for anything, first use the #009-ask-staff-anything Slack channel. For general contact and questions about the class, email 2009ta@mit.edu.
| RESOURCE TITLE | ROLES | |
|---|---|---|
| Staff | ||
| Course Instructor | Set course vision | |
| Course TAs and Admin | Assistance | |
| Team Instructors | Technical managers | |
| Communication Instructors | Communication consultants | |
| Lab Staff | Prototyping experts | |
| Librarian | Aid in finding resources | |
| Meta Yoda | Coach to team Yodas | |
| Team Mentors | Project consultants | |
Course Instructor
The course instructor sets the vision for the course, how the course is structured, and what is expected of all the participants. The lectures, project theme, grading structure, guidelines, and milestones for the project are determined and administered by the course instructor. The course instructor is available to offer advice to teams, or to receive input from any student on any aspect of the course. The course instructor is also available to all teams for design consultation in the Pappalardo lab.
The course instructor does not have a primary role in grading teams and team members.
The course instructor works with the lab instructors to: clarify and maintain the course vision; obtain detailed feedback about team progress; and identify ways to ensure that the goals of the course are met.
More details:
- The course instructor is equivalent to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a company, setting the top level vision and having ultimate decision power.
- The course instructor sets the vision for the course: how it will proceed and what is expected of all the participants.
- The course instructor invests heavily in guiding lab instructors and facilitating cooperation between teams.
- The course instructor may offer suggestions to lab instructors or individual students, but without insisting on executing details in a specific way. Similarly, the course instructor listens to feedback and stays in tune with the project so that adjustments can be made to help achieve course goals.
- The course instructor is available to help with any 2.009-related issues.
- Lab instructors (technical managers) act to implement the course vision and facilitate their engineering team.
Course TAs and Administrator
The Course TAs and administrator assist the course instructor in preparing materials for class and for the teams. The administrator works with financial officers to process team credit card purchases and receipts for reimbursement. The course TAs are available to all students to provide advice, administrative assistance, and technical assistance.
Team Instructors
Each team has two faculty members or lecturers (one per section) who serve as their team instructors. The team instructors attend many lectures and all of their team’s team meetings. During team meetings, students make most decisions and design and build the product prototypes. Instructors facilitate team organization; provide advice on the product specification/contract; help with risk assessment and concept selection; provide technical advice; assist with prototyping techniques; and conduct informal design reviews. One of the key roles of the team instructor is to help a team plan, and adhere to, a product development schedule.
Team instructors explain their thinking behind their suggestions. For example, the team instructor will not say “do not do that because I did it once and it does not work”. The instructor will instead say “you should not do that because force does not equal mass times acceleration squared”. Instructors may encourage the testing of an idea using analysis or mockups to learn whether a concept is, or is not, viable, and to perhaps synthesize a new design from observations. The team instructor should not allow students to incorrectly pursue a design on false hope.
Team instructors also grade their team meeting section and team members on the basis of weekly performance in team meetings and their individual design notebooks. All team instructors grade each team on the major project milestones.
The team instructors act like technical managers, and thus they:
- Augment the course instructor’s vision with detail (i.e., help teach the design process).
- Help students organize their projects by helping them to select feasible design goals and create a workable schedule.
- Act as coaches and facilitators.
- Encourage students to create and learn, allowing them to take chances and make mistakes.
- Allow students to have a period of discovery and invention.
- Help the design team recognize problems and prompt for solutions.
- Help the design team let go of dead-end ideas and refocus on workable solutions.
- Require justification of a concept’s feasibility (analyses, experiments, or supporting data), preventing the design team from unduly pursuing concepts on the basis of a wish or hunch.
Communication Instructors
The communication instructors are from the Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication program and provide feedback and suggestions before and after milestones. They can also help with communications/interactions within your team and with outreach to potential users for feedback. There is a communication instructor for each team who will participate in most of your team meetings and the milestone reviews. Note: 2.009 is a CI-M class, and it counts towards satisfying your communication requirement.
Pappalardo Lab Staff
The lab staff members are employees of the Mechanical Engineering Department and work in the Pappalardo lab or for the Product Development Lab (PDL). They are available to help with advice on prototype fabrication, suggesting ways to make parts easier to fabricate, and assisting teams in the use of heavy or specialized machine equipment. The shop staff are very valuable team resources.
Course Librarian
The course librarian, who is a specialist in resources for Course 2 students and faculty, provides tips on how to find information. The librarian prepares resources organized specifically for the course, and assists in class exercises geared towards improving information gathering skills. The course librarian is available to work with team information officers, suggesting possible sources or search methods for different types of information.
Team Mentors
Each team has ~4 mentors. The mentors are professionals with product development experience, and/or they are 2.009 alumni. They volunteer their time to the class. They can assist with a wide variety of issues, ranging from technical details, to team organization or business models. Most mentors will meet with teams during team meetings, others will be able to come in when requested, and others are available through email. The mentors can be thought of as experienced advisors, as is common for startup companies.
Meta Yoda
The Meta Yoda is a coach and support mechanism for the team Yoda Officers. The Meta Yoda will arrange meetings with the Yodas during the term to provide tips about techniques for promoting balance and productive engagement within the team and to assist members in reaching their full potentials. In addition to coaching, the meta Yoda will be available to help think through any challenges or questions a team Yoda may have.