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Presentation ideas
alistairolsen - 6/1/10 at 10:13 AM

Hi,

As part of an upcoming course I have to prepare and give a 7 minute presentation on a subject of my choice to a group of engineering graduates. The subject matter wont be assessed on technical content, but my enthusiasm and ability to answer questions will be assessed.

The possible list so far is:

Designing a car to work with control tyres
Suspension design
Different layouts of front suspension
Different layouts of rear suspension
Engine tuning
Brake specification
IVA/Registration process
Different chassis designs (space frame/ladder frame etc)

Only thing Im worried about is managing to provide a worthwhile overview in 7 minutes (about 10 slides inc cover and questions) and not boring "normal folk" to death!

Any suggestions?

Cheers!

blakep82 - 6/1/10 at 10:19 AM

i think i'd go with IVA and registration process. i think its the only one where you can give the outline in 7 minutes. all the others are a bit too involved for 7 minutes

alistairolsen - 6/1/10 at 10:20 AM

Indeed, but its also the most boring! How can I make it interesting?

fesycresy - 6/1/10 at 10:23 AM

A presentation on grid girls would keep me interested

sebastiaan - 6/1/10 at 10:25 AM

by highlighting the most common points that people struggle on? (noise, exterior projections etc...)

10 slides in 7 minutes is extremely tight....

[Edited on 6/1/10 by sebastiaan]

gottabedone - 6/1/10 at 10:27 AM

7mins with a technical subject matter is very short. Depending how far you are with your 7 you could briefly explain the thought process to get to your decision on chassis or suspension and then go into detail based upon your car/intentions.

Some of the guys on the Locost USA sight spend many an@l months on their chassis/suspension design so there are a lot of examples out there.

There can't be many mechanical engineers that aren't petrol heads to some extent so if you use your car then you have already got their attention. Plant a few questions out there if it's your peers

have fun

Steve

[Edited on 6/1/10 by gottabedone]

02GF74 - 6/1/10 at 10:30 AM

quote:
Originally posted by alistairolsen


Engine tuning


not quire that but "selection and fitting engine to locost"

cover things like:
- power to weight
- physical size (no. cylinders - length, dohc vs ohv (height) V8 vs inline 4 (width)
- conversion to RWD (re: gearbox adapter choice)
- huge engine ( e.g.stonking V8) vs hair dryer (bike engine)
- merits of the above - masses of toque vs none; wieght aginst no wieght (bike has built in gearbox)

then if you have time
- engine control: carbs (oem/twin side draught/bike), manifold manufacutre etc. end then if time permits, efi: oem, off the shelf, diy (megasquirt)

anyways, I';m stopping there as I ain't doing ya homework for ya

iank - 6/1/10 at 12:06 PM

NA vs Turbo vs Supercharger vs NOS ?
Car design+Driving styles for best results in snow

Worzey - 6/1/10 at 12:35 PM

I do presentations for a living now.

10 slides in 7 minutes is very tight - I work to 1 slide per minute max often half that so 3-4 slides for a 7 minute session is about right.

I'd use the slides as aid to your verbal presentation so I'd be tempted to have pictures relevant to your choosen topic and no text on the slides. Talk around them and give contact details at the start and end. (this takes some balls!)

This approach keeps people focused (and interested) in what you are saying rather than reading the slides.

The best presenters I've seen in recent years use this method....the best I've ever seen didn't use Powerpoint at all - he just spoke and engaged the entire room.

GBaggott - 6/1/10 at 02:59 PM

I'm a graduate and into kit cars and I would be bored by an IVA presentation.

Worzey is right just a few slides with pictures and maybe even a very short video clip of a 7 driving sideways.

Get thier interest then present why 'kitcars' are better handling, faster etc

Confused but excited. - 6/1/10 at 06:30 PM

If you like a challenge, CEC versus BEC in seven minutes.

austin man - 6/1/10 at 06:45 PM

I reckon 7 minutes on a seven, make sure the slides dont tell the story, they should be there more as a prompt an coonfirmation. theres nothing worse than having a slide with all the information. The presenter is the key to success.

I have sat through presentations on the internals of a golf ball and ping pong ball, all very boring subjects as you can imagine. The presentation however was delivered in a upbeat manner and ultimately two of the best Ive ever seen.

alistairolsen - 6/1/10 at 07:07 PM

I feel the same about the IVA, I have researched every aspect of the varas I have approached it, but the IVA was more of a have to than a want to situation.

CEC vs BEC dont get me started.

I could cover apotted history of the seven but I dont know if thats any good?

I wrote one on brakes earlier, but I bored myself

liam.mccaffrey - 7/1/10 at 09:40 AM

i did a 15 min presentation on my "kit car" once for a training delivery course. I was asked to sit down after an hour. People were so interested in the fact that you could legally build your own car from bits of other cars that they just asked question after question and I struggled to bring things back to the presentation.

02GF74 - 7/1/10 at 12:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
i did a 15 min presentation on my "kit car" once for a training delivery course. I was asked to sit down after an hour.



perhaps you should speak a bit faster!?