The Engineering Design Process

Need Implementation assessment Problem formulation

Analysis

Iteration

Abstraction and synthesis

Needs Assessment
The first step of the engineering design process is to identify as clearly as possible what needs are to be satisfied by a solution based on technology. A design project may originate out of a concern to protect the health and safety of the public or to improve the quality of life for some people. An existing product or process may need to be redesigned in order to be made more effective or profitable. A company may wish to establish a new product line for commercial benefit, but how well it meets their customers needs will determine its success. Technological developments or scientific discoveries may create opportunities for new engineered products.

Problem Formulation
It is important to recognize that a specific problem must be formulated if one is to develop a specific solution. Ask if the real problem differs from the problem as initially presented. In what ways? In real-life engineering, you may be asked to solve incorrectly defined problems. Formulation of a problem statement is a most critical step in an engineering design project since it will determine the direction in which the efforts proceeds.

A problem well stated is a problem half solved -Charles F. Kettering

Abstraction and Synthesis

Abstraction provides us with a perspective of the building blocks that can be used to develop a set of design solutions. The first step in abstraction is to break the problem into as many functional parts, sub problems, or meaningful units as possible. Next, one should try to classify these functional aspects of the problem into more general categories in accordance with their distinctive characteristics. Synthesis is then used to form whole solutions from these sets of building blocks or constituents parts.

Analysis
Compare and evaluate alternate designs. Eliminate alternatives that do not satisfy critical design goals. Construct prototypes of the most promising designs and test and evaluate. Select the best alternative from among those designs. Revise and refine this best design as appropriate.

Implementation
The final phase of the design process, a design becomes reality by converting raw materials into the desired product or system. Develop the final solution and distribute it to your intended clients/customers/users, and obtain feedback for the nextgeneration design.
A single Boeing 747 is composed of more than four million parts, and about 10,000 workers are needed to build one of these plane. Case History 1.1 (Incomplete Design) The Early Quest for Manned Flight Case History 1.2 (Methodical Design) The Wright Brothers Success in Manned Flight.

Ethics and Product Liability Issues Ethical behavior in engineering can be the difference between success and failure in professional practice, triumph and tragedy concerning a problem, or life and death for a user. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has called ethical, social, economic, and safety considerations in engineering practice essential for a successful engineering career (see Section 8.1). An engineer needs to be familiar with, and consciously work to comply with, his or her professional society is code of ethics, as well as applicable federal, state, and local regulations, contract law, and torts law.

Nth-Generation
Engineering design does not end with an optimal solution. There is no such thing as perfect solution to an engineering problem. The search for a better Nth-generation design solution to a problem may continue endlessly. The design process is repeated again and again as new and better solutions are developed.

Case History 1.3 (Nth-Generation Design) Refining the Typewriter (1867-Present).

Current Practices in Engineering Design

Life-cycle design Engineers increasingly focus on the entire life cycle of a design - from conception through its manufacture and use of its final disposal. Design for manufacture and assembly Design and manufacturing engineers work together to produce products that are innovative and cost effective. Design for quality Low failure rates coupled with high performance levels. Faster design cycles The new technologies have allowed engineers to reduce significantly the time required to develop new design. Examples: Computer-aided design (CAD) Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) Finite element analysis (FEA)

Writing Technical Reports

Title page Contents List of figures List of tables Abstract (or summary) Introduction Relevant background information Methodology Alternative solutions developed Final design solution Conclusions Recommendation Bibliography Appendices

Teamwork
Working in formal design teams, engineers form various disciplines can more effectively devote and coordinate their diverse skills and knowledge to develop innovative solutions quickly and efficiently. The procedural elements in the course project teams Formation of Design Teams: Four members per team. Design Team Leadership: The team leadership can be rotated periodically among the members. Project Journal: This journal should include sections devoted to team meeting notes, articles, data sheets, draft of progress reports,daily and weekly reflections by each team member, and other materials.

Exercise (Engineering estimations)

Estimate the amount of paper will be used by the freshmen engineering students, of this University for homework, quizzes and examinations during this academic year. Express your answer in kilograms. Assumptions: 1. College has 450 students 2. 2 sheets are used per credit hour per week. 3. 32 weeks per academic year. 4. Tablet of 50 sheets of paper has a mass of about 1/2 lb. 5. Students average 16 credits per term. Calculations Mass per sheet = (0.5 lb / 50 sheets) * (454 grams / 1 lb) = 4.54 g / sheet Mass of paper = 450 * (15 credits/students) * (2 sheets/credit week) * (32 weeks/year) =

Exercise (Engineering solutions) Eighteen circular wooden bases are to be cut from a piece of plywood. Each circular base has a diameter of 10 in. (a) What is area of triangle ABC? (b) What is the area of the largest piece of waste material? (c ) What is the percentage of waste given the configuration shown in figure? B C

Problems (Understanding the Human-Made World)

1. Describe how you think the Egyptians constructed the Great Pyramid. The stones of pyramid weigh about 2.5 tons and had to be transported from 500 miles away. 2. Develop a technological time line of your life. Include significant technological events, such as the IBM personal computer introduced in 1983. 3. Explain in your own words how an airplane wing allows something that is heavier than air to fly. Problem (Design) Design and construct a working model of a 13 inch ruler which only has six marks on it, but can be measure an integral length between 1 and 13, that is 1, 2, 3, 4, ..13.

Case History: Wright Brothers - The Engineering Design Process

Wright Brothers: Problem solving approach