Engineering Design
Scientists Investigate that Which Already Is;
Engineers Design that Which Never Has Been!
- Theodore Von Karman
Engineering Design
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Think of a Great Product that you use, a
Structure you Admire, a Program that
you Enjoy or a Vehicle you want to Drive.
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All of those came about by Design –
- Most probably by Engineers and/or
Computer Scientists.
So…What is Engineering?
…And How does it differ from Science?
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So…What is Engineering?
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“Engineering is the profession in which a
knowledge of the mathematical and natural
sciences, gained by study, experience, and
practice, is applied with judgment to develop
ways to utilize, economically, the materials
and forces of nature for the benefit of
humankind.”
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
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What is Engineering Vs. Science?
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Engineering is often associated with science and
understandably so. Both make extensive use of
mathematics, and engineering requires a solid scientific
basis. Yet as any scientist or engineer will tell you, they
are quite different. Science is a quest for “truth for its
own sake,” for an ever more exact understanding of the
natural world. It explains the change in the viscosity of a
liquid as its temperature is varied, the release of heat
when water vapor condenses, and the reproductive
process of plants. It determines the speed of light.
Engineering turns those explanations and understandings
into new or improved machines, technologies, and
processes – to bring the reality to ideas and to provide
solutions to societal needs.
- Astronaut/Engineer Neil Armstrong
A Century of Innovation: Twenty Engineering
Achievements That Changed Our Lives
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Engineering Design
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Is Inventive, Creative
Open-ended
Iterative
Constrained
Engineers and Computer Scientists use a Process to
Optimize a Design for a Client.
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There can be many aspects (and much more complexity),
but some procedures are common to the design process.
Methodology
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Following a procedure or methodology helps speed and limit
the process
Can make your work more efficient
An example process is….
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Iterative Process Model
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Design Process
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Identify Need – From Client or Market
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Define Problem
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Identify need/
Client or Market
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Define
problem
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Test / Implement
Solution
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Analyze / Select
Solution
Generate
Multiple Solutions
Select Best Alternatives, Initial Design,
Take to Client
Document Process
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Perform Preliminary Design for Best
Alternatives and Cost
Test and Implement Alternative
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Suspension, Beam, Girder, Timber,
Concrete, Steel, “Back of Envelope”
Analyze and Select “Best” Alternative
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Gather Information
Criteria / constraints
How Many People? What Length?
Duration? Climate? Cost? Etc..
Generate Multiple Solutions
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Communication
Pedestrians Across River from Pt. A to
B
Gather Information – Criteria and
Constraints
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Documentation
Build a Bridge
Design Notebooks, Plans,
Specifications
Iterate
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Reiterate design with client and start
over with best alternative
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Why Use a Process Model
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Avoid typical problems
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Jumping to conclusions
Relying on old assumptions
Failure to collect pertinent data/information
Working off-task
Failure to use “experts”
Failure to plan
Reminder of “critical path”
Facilitates inter-group communications
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Creative Design
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What can you do to have a more
creative design?
The Process model steers you into
innovative procedures:
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Multiple Solutions
Brainstorming and Focused Creativity
Documentation to prevent “ReInventing
the Wheel”
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Generate Multiple Solutions:
Creativity
“Creativity is playing with imagination and
possibilities, leading to new and
meaningful connections and outcomes
while interacting with ideas, people,
and the environment.” Lumsdaime
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Creative Ability
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Curiosity and tolerance of unknown
Openness to new experiences
Willingness to take risks
Ability to observe details and see the
“whole picture”
No fear of problems
Ability to concentrate and focus on the
problem until it’s solved
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Brainstorming
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Accept everything / Do not evaluate
Welcome the outlandish
Visualize!
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Strive for quantity
Build / combine old ideas
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The mind is most creative when dealing with images.
Be creative / thorough
Lateral (new categories) / Vertical (new ideas in categories) Thinking
Analogies
Record everything for later evaluation
Every idea is a good idea
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Design notebook
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Keep track of ideas/meetings
Refine concepts
Document materials
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What is “free”- if it is found/thrown away
Fair market value
Purchased items
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Design Process vs. Scientific Method
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Design Process
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Identify Need – From Client or
Market
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Define Problem
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Perform Preliminary Design for
Best Alternatives and Cost
Select Best Alternatives, Initial
Design, Storyboard, Take to
Client
Document Process
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Observation
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Design Notebooks, Plans,
Specifications
Iterate
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Reiterate design with client and
repeat with best alternative
Photometry indicates the color
didn’t change, Hypothesis
Testing
Decision
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Ink eradicator is sprayed into
the sky
Analysis
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Ink eradicator will turn the sky
clear
Experiment
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There is a bunch of blue ink in
the sky
Prediction
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Why is the sky blue?
Hypothesis
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The sky is blue
Question
Test and Implement Alternative
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Excel?, Visual Basic? C++?
XML, User Level?
Analyze and Select “Best”
Alternative
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What Language? Database?
Multiple offices? Cost? Etc..
Scientific Method
Generate Multiple Solutions
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Firm wants an in-house system
Gather Information – Criteria
and Constraints
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Build an Accounting System
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The blue isn’t from ink
Iteration
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Redo the experiment, new
prediction, New Hypothesis