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Team Officer Roles

Last Updated: Friday, September 9, 2022

System Integrators

There are two systems integrators per team. In the first team meeting all students interested in this role should be identified. Then, each interested person should have one week in the position before a vote is made to choose the integrator for the rest of the term.

The system integrators will assume a number of coordination and integration functions during the project, from both a project management and technical design viewpoint. While they are not the owners of the design vision (the team is), they are the hub of team communication. (Note: All team members should actively share ideas, information, and feedback and not expect the SI to always elicit or motivate it.) The system integrators will have management responsibilities that include:

  • Coordinating weekly team meetings, agendas, and goals.
  • Ensuring that the meeting minutes and team's Slack workspace is properly maintained.
  • Facilitating communication within and between team task forces.
  • Forming and maintaining the overall project schedule in consultation with the team lab instructors.
  • Spearheading the development of the product contract and specifications.
  • Forming and maintaining a system image of the product as it is designed.
  • Helping with the physical integration of product subsystems.

Financial Officers

Each team has two financial officers who track expenditures and monitor the project budget. The financial officers also ensure that purchases follow ethical guidelines (to be discussed in class). Team financial officers will be selected during the first team meeting.

Financial officers are responsible for initiating the process of purchasing project materials (team credit card or purchase order) and reimbursements. The financial officers will have a team credit card in their name.

Financial officers are expected to keep receipts, keep an accounting ledger for the project, and be prepared to provide a budget status report at each team meeting. Each week they will update an expenditures spreadsheet documenting all charges—credit card, requests for payments, and requests for reimbursements. The spreadsheets may also be reviewed by team instructors during weekly staff meetings.

In many cases the financial officers also play a lead role in product cost modeling.

Tool Officers

Each team will have two tool officers. The tool officers will be responsible for coordinating the cleaning of the team workspace and the weekly organization of the team tool cabinet.

Tool officers will be elected during the first week of lab. Tool officers will be responsible for the tools in their team area. Tool officer will receive a list of tools the list will be in the top draw of the brown tool chest. Tools are in the storage cabinet and tool chest located in the team workspace. Inventory the list of tools and return the list to Steve Haberek 3-056 if you have any questions ask one of the Pappa Staff. A combination lock will be on the storage cabinet located under the power tool workstation. The combination for that lock will be on the bottom of the tool list sheet. At the end of the semester, the tool officer will inventory tools compare it to the initial list, and replace ones that are missing and return extra or other tools that are not on the list.

Tool officers will also help with the care of the PDL prototyping facility (Product Design Lab aka the Toy Lab) in 3-004.

Information Officers

Information officers (two per team) are the primary contacts who work with the course librarian to facilitate secondary research, helping team members obtain any information or relevant standards that the team needs. This year the information officer will oversee the maintenance of the design history file. The information officers should also take responsibility for observing team meetings, paying careful attention to note when decisions are difficult or arbitrary due to insufficient background information, and bring this issue to the attention of the team. They should help with sharing information, monitoring team use of information technology, and proposing ways to use the technology more effectively. In many instances the information officers will help integration officers by recording and maintaining team minutes, or designating other team members to record and maintain minutes in both task force and team meetings.

It is also expected that the information officer will play a significant role in research related to the development of your team's business model, along with financial officers and other team members.

Safety Officers

Each team has two safety officers, elected during the first team meeting, who assist shop staff with monitoring working conditions within the team space and reminding teammates or instructors about safety issues when dangerous practices are observed.

Safety officers will also be responsible for reminding teammates to follow 2.009 safety procedures, including PPE guidelines and safe tool handling procedures. Additionally, the officers will identify safety issues related to their team's product and conduct research to identify relevant regulations or standards. They should obtain and post material safety data sheets (MSDS) in the team area for potentially dangerous materials.

The safety officers will meet for a tutorial with the department EHS Presenter near the start of the term.

Yoda Officer

Each team has two Team Yodas who monitor work distribution, individual engagement, and team dynamics. Team Yodas will be selected during the first team meeting.

The Team Yodas' ultimate purposes are to promote balance and productive engagement within the team and to assist members in reaching their full potentials. They may fulfill these duties by acting as a mediator or an active listener, or by supporting individuals in voicing their needs to the team. While Yodas can act as a team resource for any interpersonal conflicts, they should be particularly sensitive to any and all imbalances due to team member identity, including (but not limited to) gender, race, or religion.

Team Yodas are encouraged to work closely with System Integrators to identify opportunities for a) improvement in the division of labor and b) students who wish to expand their knowledge and capabilities to do so.  With guidance from mentors, Team Yodas should both proactively and passively engage with team members to discuss ways to optimize their 2.009 experiences.

Team Yodas are expected to keep track of their observations on team dynamics and of their role-related interactions with team members in their notebooks.  They may be called upon by System Integrators and/or lab instructors and/or the course instructor following class milestones and team review surveys to provide recommendations on how to address weaknesses in team operations.

Team Yodas will have periodic meetings throughout the term with the Meta Yoda (our Yoda coach) during the term. The meetings will be scheduled once all team Yoda officers are appointed.

Story Officers

Each team has two Story Officers that serve to share a real time telling of their team's experience on social media using the team's Instagram account. Story Officers will create and curate videos and photos of their team and document their team's product development process. Story Officers will gain experience as social media storytellers using their phone cameras and Instagram tools.

Story Officers will receive instruction/mentoring on photo, video & audio techniques, and in building a narrative. When the semester is completed, all the media created and archived by the Story Officers will be edited by a professional editor into a short movie about your team's experience.