Pittsadelphia Freight Shipping System#

A first-year engineering design brief about lowering freight-related smog for a fictional port city while preserving shipping capacity.

See Text Problem Catalog for the text family index.

Quick Facts#

Field	Value
Problem ID	`ideation_pittsadelphia_freight_shipping_system`
Problem Family	text
Implementation	`TextProblem`
Capabilities	`citation-backed`, `prompt-packet`, `statement-markdown`
Study Suitability	`human-subjects-ready`, `ideation-friendly`
Tags	`text`, `human-subjects`, `ideation`, `freight`, `shipping`, `transport`

Taxonomy#

Formulation: textual_prompt
Is Dynamic: no
Orientation: engineering_practical
Objective Mode: qualitative
Constraint Nature: embedded-constraints
Tags: text, human-subjects, ideation, freight, shipping, transport
Deliverable Type: concepts
Timebox Hint (Minutes): 20
Participants: team
Evaluation Mode: idea_generation

Statement#

Pittsadelphia is looking for the design of a cost-effective freight shipping system that reduces smog and meets EPA requirements, while maintaining or increasing freight capacity into and out of this important port city.

Suggestions provided with the prompt included upgrading the locomotive fleet to meet more recent EPA emissions guidelines and adopting alternate freight shipping methods.

Prompt Profile#

Field	Value
Deliverable Type	concepts
Timebox Hint (Minutes)	20
Participants	team
Evaluation Mode	idea_generation

Sources#

Key	Summary
`zheng_miller_2016`	Zheng and Miller (2016). How Do I Choose? The Influence of Concept Selection Methods on Student Team Decision-Making. ASME IDETC/CIE 2016, DETC2016-60333.

Raw Citation Records#

Zheng, Xuan, and Scarlett R. Miller (2016). How Do I Choose? The Influence of Concept Selection Methods on Student Team Decision-Making. ASME IDETC/CIE 2016, DETC2016-60333.