MCAS Engineering Design

A building contractor is reviewing architectural plans for a new deck. The scale of the plan is 1/2" = 1' . The width of the deck on the scaled drawing measures 5 1/2". What length of decking material should be used to span the width of the deck with a single board while minimizing waste?

• 6'
• 10'
• 12'
• 16'

Many types of models are used throughout the design process to help engineers create, develop, test, evaluate, and explain solutions.  An automobile company is ready to test a new, full-size, fully operational model. This type of model is called a

• mock up
• prototype
• scaled system
• control system

The front view of a piece of equipment is shown in the diagram below.

Which of the following conclusions about the piece of equipment can be made from this diagram?

• It has two holes.
• It has two types of material.
• It has the same length and width.
• It has strength in compression and tension.
  

The drawing below represents a finished basement floor plan.

What does W represent in the drawing?

• pipelines
• ceiling tiles
• ventilation duct
• staircase

In many microwave ovens, a turntable slowly rotates food while the oven is in operation. The turntable, however, was not part of the original microwave oven design.Which of the following statements is the most likely reason the turntable was added to the microwave oven?

• Food did not cook evenly.
• The oven used too much power.
• Food did not receive enough energy.
• The oven became too hot during operation.

During which of the following steps of the engineering design process would an engineer most likely use the Internet?

• identifying the problem
• constructing a prototype
• researching the problem
• selecting the best solution
  

A student has a drawing of the Federal Reserve Bank Building in Boston, Massachusetts. The building’s height in the drawing is 25 cm. The drawing has a scale of 1 cm = 7.5 m.What is the actual height of the building?

• 32.5 m
• 187.5 m
• 312.5 m
• 375 m

Which devices are required by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration to be installed in every new automobile sold in the United States to supplement the protection offered by seat belts?

• airbags
• antilock brakes
• four-wheel drive systems
• global positioning systems

A company is designing a new automobile brake system. After repeated testing of the brake system prototype, engineers presented a report to their company explaining that they discovered a major problem in the system.Which of the following should the engineers do next?

• redesign the brake system
• build a full-scale version of the brake system
• identify the reasons for building the brake system
• evaluate the quality of the report about the brake system

A paper punch card, shown below, was an early technology developed to give commands to a computer.Punch cards were physically inserted into a computer to deliver commands. After punch cards, the technology was improved so that commands could be delivered by keyboards, wired or wireless mice, styluses, and touch screens.Which of the following needs was the most likely cause for these improvements in technology?

• the need to perform experiments with computers
• the need to use computers in fast and simple ways
• the need to allow for computers to store information
• the need to make computers available for medical and business applications