Richard Hornsey
Departments of Computer Science & Physics
Fall 2002

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Ancient history
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MA, MSc, DPhil, Oxford University
Hitachi Central Research Labs, Tokyo
Microelectronics Research Lab., Cambridge University
Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo,
1994 - 2001
Research areas:
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 electronic materials, manufacture of microelectronic devices nanostructures thin-film electronics integrated sensors
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What is an Engineer?
What is Engineering?
Where is Engineering going?
Skills required by and Engineer
Engineering Design
The design process
Case study
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R. Hornsey www.startrek.com
www.unitedmedia.com
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel
R. Hornsey William Gates collections.ic.gc.ca
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Bombardier’s snowmobile
(1923)
R. Hornsey sol.brunel.ac.uk/~jarvis
Brunel’s Clifton
Suspension Bridge
(designed 1830)
Donald Smith and the
“last spike” (1885)
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Pyramids
(c. 2500BC)
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Stonehenge
(c. 2500BC)
Leaning tower of Pisa (1173)
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http://abe.www.ecn.purdue.edu/~agenhtml/agenmc/china/images/scenery/gw0.gif
Great Wall of China
(200BC)
B-2 Stealth Bomber (1990s)
R. Hornsey http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/b2/b21.html
medieval trebuchet
(1300s)
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Pont du Gard, France (20BC)
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CN Tower, Toronto (1976)
Petronas Towers
Kuala Lumpur (1998)
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Intel Pentium 4 www.mdrobotics.ca
Canadarm
R. Hornsey Confederation Bridge
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What are the differences between the traditional and the newer forms of engineering?
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“I fix things; that’s what Engineers do.”
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Chief Miles O’Brien, StarTrek Deep Space
Nine
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Profession devoted to designing, constructing, and operating the structures, machines, and other devices of industry and everyday life
Discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems
 better – it implies a scientific basis
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 while acknowledging that there is an artistic component
 and that engineers solve practical problems
“Doing for seventy cents what any fool can do for a dollar” not precise, but sums up the economics
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Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario (APEO)
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“any act of designing … that involves third-party concerns … and that requires the application of engineering principles”
Professional Engineers Act, Ontario
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1. any act of designing, composing, evaluating, advising, reporting, directing or supervising;
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2. wherein the safeguarding of life, health, property or the public welfare is concerned, and
3. that requires the application of engineering principles, but does not include practising as a natural scientist.
Textbook for this course
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“an innovative and methodical application of scientific knowledge and technology to produce a device, system or process, which is intended to satisfy human need(s)”
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Engineering is a profession
 what does it mean to be a professional?
Engineering is legally regulated
 use of the title “Engineer” is restricted
Key words in these definitions
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 design third-party concerns; safety and public welfare innovative methodical scientific knowledge; technology produce device, system, or process
Engineers Act serves to protect the public
 for more information on the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO), see http://www.peo.on.ca
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Canadian Council of Professional Engineers and Microsoft Corp. Agree on use of “Engineer” title
Ottawa, Ont., May 11, 2001 – After discussions with Canada’s engineering profession, Microsoft Corp. will advise Canadian holders of its MCSE certification not to call themselves engineers or use the full title Microsoft Certified System Engineers.
Microsoft’s decision should prevent Canadian holders of the MCSE certification from inadvertently breaking provincial and territorial laws, which protect the public by restricting the use of the titles “engineer” and “engineering” and the practice of engineering in Canada to licensed professional engineers. It should also ensure that the engineering profession’s licensing bodies will not be required to take enforcement action against MCSE holders who mistakenly use the title engineer or otherwise hold themselves out as having been qualified to practice engineering.
“We are very pleased by Microsoft’s decision,” said Marie Lemay, P.Eng., CEO of the Canadian Council of Professional
Engineers (CCPE). “Microsoft has demonstrated corporate leadership by acting in the best interest of the MCSE community.
Holders of the MCSE certification are not licensed or regulated by the engineering profession. If they mistakenly use the titles
“engineer” and “engineering” the provincial or territorial engineering associations/order would have to take enforcement action against them. Its decision is good for the information technology industry, good for MCSE holders, and good for the engineering profession.”
The engineering profession, represented by CCPE and several provincial engineering regulatory associations, met with
Microsoft in Seattle late last year to explain the legal issues surrounding the use of the title “engineer” in Canada, and to ask the corporation to stop referring to holders of the MCSE credential as engineers. Canadian MCSEs have received certification as Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers, which could lead them to mistakenly misuse the title “engineer.”
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with the engineering profession and to support it,” said Anne Marie
McSweeney, the acting Director of Microsoft Certification and Skills Assessment. “It opens the door for closer cooperation among all organizations in the information technology industry and the engineering profession in Canada. As the Microsoft credentials continue to evolve, it is our goal to ensure they maintain the highest level of relevance to the industry and represent leaders in cutting-edge technology.”
Microsoft is currently researching alternatives for the MCSE credential worldwide, which could result in a new name for the credential later this year.
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Based on out definitions, is this engineering?
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Or this?
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From the text book:
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Problem-solving skills
Effective communication skills
Highly ethical and professional behaviour
Open mind and positive attitude
Proficiency in math and science
Technical skills
Motivation for “lifelong learning”
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Knowledge of business strategies and management practices
Computer literacy
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Understanding of world affairs and cultures
Be good at everything!
The engineering profession is changing
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• no longer do people stay with one company the above skills ensure that an engineer remains flexible
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Engineering programs must show that their graduates have:
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 an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyse and interpret data an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility an ability to communicate effectively the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning a knowledge of contemporary issues an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.
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Half-life is the time after which half of our (technical) knowledge is obsolete
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~12 years in 1940
~5 years in 2000
~3 years for software professionals long half-life knowledge
Fundamentals time e.g. science & math, communication, creativity, process short half-life knowledge time
Application Specific e.g. software packages, exam cramming
R. Hornsey acquisition depreciation
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From Oxford English Dictionary
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 to make the plans and drawings necessary for the construction of (a building, ship, machine, etc.), which the workmen have to follow out from Latin, to mark out, from de- + signare to mark
Engineering Design
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 is the systematic, intelligent generation and evaluation of specifications for artifacts whose form and function achieve stated objectives and satisfy specified constraints (Dym & Little) how is this different from the definition of “engineering”?
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Key words
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 systematic generation and evaluation specifications, stated objectives artifacts form and function constraints
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The underlying philosophy of this course is that engineering design is a process that can be learned
It is this process that distinguishes an engineer from an inventor
 indeed, good professional practice requires that the appropriate process be followed
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Such management practices are being standardised in such generic standards as ISO 9000
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“The ISO 9000 family of standards represents an international consensus on good management practices with the aim of ensuring that the organization can time and time again deliver the product or services that meet the client's quality requirements. These good practices have been distilled into a set of standardized requirements for a quality management system, regardless of what your organization does, its size, or whether it's in the private, or public sector.”
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R. Hornsey this is not specifically for engineering, but the same idea applies
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From textbook: Needs assessment
(Evaluation) Implementation
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Problem formulation
Abstraction and synthesis
Analysis
Other books use slightly different models, e.g. Dym & Little
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Client Statement
Problem Definition
Conceptual Design
Preliminary Design
Detailed Design
Design Communication
Final Design
Are these the same? Which do you prefer?
The 6 steps in the cycle are well described in the text ( §1.2)
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Identify the objectives and/or needs
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 may be supplied by the client may require ‘education’ of the client
Who will benefit from the solution? How?
What solutions, if any, already exist?
 strengths and weaknesses?
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What are the constraints?
 may be apparent or hidden
How will you know if the needs have been met?
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 testability, design for test verification manufacturability
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For example, we are asked to build an aeroplane
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(based loosely on case studies of the Wright brothers in Ch.1 of text) it must be capable of powered flight
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An unanticipated constraint in the Chellenger design
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‘O’-ring seals do not seal effectively at low temperatures
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Define the ‘real’ problem
 re-interpret the objectives in the light of what is possible
The goal is to break down the problem into a set of design objectives which can lead to a full solution
 check that the sum of the parts still equals the whole, i.e. the individual steps together solve the original problem
For our aeroplane
 require enough lift
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 must overcome drag need a low-mass engine must have enough control (pitch, roll, yaw)
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Develop general methods for solving the problems, including alternatives
Each of the problems must be tackled methodically, based on
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 experience technical knowledge creativity input from others
If necessary, additional knowledge should be gained from published material or from experimentation/theory
For example
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 determine how the the drag and lift are affected by the shape and area of the wing, hence propose appropriate wing geometries find someone to build a lightweight engine to your specifications test a number of control strategies on un-powered gliders before designing the final version
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The world is not an ideal place
 non-idealities lead to very complex – and not necessarily solvable – calculations
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 even ideal situations have no straightforward solution e.g. the motion of a pendulum with just one extra joint is chaotic
However, engineers must find a workable solution
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Sometimes a brute-force approach is used, such as numerical simulation
 but this is still only as good as the knowledge used to construct the simulator
Typically, the skill of an engineer is to determine which
approximations to use in order to reach an acceptable solution
 e.g. Sydney Opera House
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R. Hornsey the architect originally wanted parabolic roofs but the stress calculations were so complex that engineers eventually substituted arcs of circles
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Determine which of your designs is best
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 technically economically ethically, environmentally to manufacture (linked to economics) for product life cycle for human factors satisfies the customer
Construct prototypes to evaluate close contenders
 the Wright brothers made numerous revisions and modifications to their gliders based on trials of the prototypes
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Build it and sell it!
Typically, pre-production models will be tested before fullscale manufacture
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 by the customer by focus groups by interest groups, e.g. beta testing of software
The design process is iterative
 i.e. it repeats continuously, (hopefully) approaching the optimum solution
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How do we know that the solution is getting more optimal?
 evaluation, feedback from customers, litigation
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 for mass produced products, there is more feedback, but the consequences of an error are larger e.g. recent Bridgestone-Firestone tire recall
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It is very expensive if it is the customer who finds the fault in your product
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The Pentium Bug
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 a subtle fault which appeared in 1994 that could produce significant errors in mathematical calculations
Intel initially responded that only people doing ‘serious’ math would get a replacement company eventually gave in under intense pressure and offered replacements for everyone
New Intel slogans
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Q: How many Pentium designers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: 1.99995827903, but that's close enough for non-technical people.
At Intel, quality is job 0.999999998.
http://www.maa.org/mathland/mathland_5_12.html
Law of ten
 cost of catching a mistake increases tenfold at each stage
 concept, schematic, layout, manufacture, packaging, verification, customer
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Engineers are highly skilled and versatile professionals
 with understanding both of the technical theory and the methods for solving problems
Problem solving is structured
 several different methodologies are possible but the outcome is similar
This combination makes the professional engineer different from both the technologist and the inventor
We concluded this introduction with a brief overview of each of the stages of the design process
These stages will be examined in detail in the remainder of the term
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C.L. Dym & P. Little, "Engineering Design: A Project-Based
Approach", Wiley, 2000, ISBN 0-471-28296-0
P. Dominick et. al., "Tools and Tactics of Design", Wiley, 2001,
ISBM 0-471-38648-0.
M. Horenstein, "Design Concepts for Engineers”, Prentice
Hall, 1999, ISBN 0-13-081369-9
C. Fleddermann, "Engineering Ethics", Prentice Hall, 1999
ISBN 0-13-784224-4
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Read and understand the section on report writing in textbook
( §1.5)
Read the case studies at the end of Ch.1
Chapter 1 problems
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