Business Skills

Fundamentals of
Engineering Design

February 2015

Design

Scientists investigate that which already is;

engineers create that which has never been.
Albert Einstein

Design distinguishes engineering from pure

science and mathematics

Engineers need to apply their creative talents to

improve or build new products, processes,
devices, and systems
Design experience is an important part of every
engineering program

Outline

Defining Engineering Design

Characteristics of Good Design Practice
The Engineering Design Process
Design Tips
Decision-Making
Design Documentation
System Life Cycle
Design Teams
Conclusions
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Definition

Design can be both an activity (verb)

and the result of an activity (noun)

Text uses design for the activity and

solution for the result

Engineering design: the process of

developing workable plans for the
construction of devices, processes, etc.,
to satisfy some identified need
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Definition (contd)

More formal definition (CEAB):

Engineering design integrates mathematics, basic
sciences, engineering sciences and
complementary studies in developing elements,
systems and processes to meet specific needs. It
is a creative, iterative, and often open-ended
process subject to constraints which may be
governed by standards or legislation to varying
degrees depending upon the discipline. These
constraints may relate to economic, health, safety,
environmental, social, or other pertinent
interdisciplinary factors.

Definition (contd)

Engineering design is as creative as

artistic design, but it requires scientific,
mathematical, and technical knowledge
to carry it out properly

Types of Engineering Design

Evolutionary Design

Improvements to existing solutions (primarily

because technology has improved or knowledge
has expanded)
E.g., passenger car (braking, fuel, airbags, )

Innovation

New or original idea; novel way of solving a

problem (e.g., wheels on running shoes)
If the innovation applies to technology, it may be
considered an invention (and may be patentable)

Good Design Practice

Need more than common sense, or

common knowledge!
Seven-step process:
1.

2.

List criteria, requirements, and

constraints (in order of importance)
Identify users and their tasks

Who will need to use this product (throughout

its entire life cycle) and what do they need to
do with it?

Good Design Practice

3.

4.
5.

Identify effects on the environment

Generate multiple solutions (brainstorming)
Select optimal solutions

6.

Make defensible decisions

7.

Try to maximize benefits while minimizing costs

Engineer should be able to defend (in a court of law, if
necessary) every design decision from scientific and
other perspectives (e.g., economic, safety, etc.)

Use best practices

Base design on recognized methods, procedures,

codes, and standards

Design Terminology

Heuristic

Guideline

More specific than a heuristic, but still general advice (e.g.,

products to be operated by the general public should be
designed to accommodate the 5th percentile female to the 95th
percentile male)

Standard / Code

General rule of thumb (e.g., product should be easy to use)

More specific than a guideline: states technical requirements

that must be met, but does not provide a complete solution

Specification

Description of the technical requirements in sufficient detail

that someone else can build or implement what the designer
has envisioned (sometimes requires interoperability)
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Engineering Design Process

Systematic approach to design (i.e.,

repeatable from one project to the next)

Still room for creativity, but creativity is one

step in the process (along with info.
gathering, analysis, testing, etc.)

Six main activities (each focused on

answering specific questions)
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Engineering Design Process (contd)

Needs Assessment

1.

What is the problem? What are existing

solutions (and why are they inadequate?)? What
are the criteria, requirements, and constraints of
the desired solution?

Synthesis

2.

What ideas are there for solving the problem?

Which of these should be given priority?

Design Analysis

3.

Is the proposal feasible? Does it incorporate

best practices? What is the predicted
performance?
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Engineering Design Process (contd)

Implementation Considerations

4.

How will the solution be built? Do we need to

develop a prototype or simulation to confirm
feasibility?

Testing / Validation Considerations

5.

How will we objectively evaluate the solution to

ensure that it will meet the requirements? How
will the results be measured?

Recommendations

6.

Are we ready to clearly state the design

specifications for construction or manufacture?
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Engineering Design Process (contd)

May do these six activities in a spiral

approach or a waterfall model

Spiral: all activities involved in feasibility study,

then again in preliminary design, then again in
detailed design

Waterfall: each activity done once

Useful for environments with short development times

and uncertain solutions
Useful when solution is well understood or when
developing lots of prototypes is not useful (e.g.,
wheelchair ramp)

Sometimes a combination is used

Appropriate approach used for each subsystem

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Design Tips
1.

Clearly define the problem

State the problem in a single sentence format:

Design a (type of solution: product, device, or
system) to be used by (potential target users) to
(carry out a particular task or set of tasks) that
(meets a specific set of benchmarks).

E.g., Design a low-cost water-purifying system for

remote areas to be used by adults and children with
limited education that will convert 2L of ground water
into drinkable water within 10 minutes.
E.g., Design a software program to be used by bank
customers to allow online banking transactions with the
following security and privacy features:
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Design Tips (contd)

2.

Generating solutions

3.

Explain the problem clearly and succinctly

Brainstorming: as many ideas as possible
(without evaluation or criticism!) for a fixed
period of time
Challenge assumptions and presuppositions

Build models, simulations, prototypes

Quickly test feasibility of one or more proposed

solutions
The simpler, the better (as long as it answers the
feasibility question)

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Outline

Defining Engineering Design

Characteristics of Good Design Practice
The Engineering Design Process
Design Tips
Decision-Making
Design Documentation
System Life Cycle
Design Teams
Conclusions
17

Systematic Decision-Making

List all courses of action

List all factors that could affect the design
List advantages and disadvantages for each
course of action
Then, choose randomly for a tie, or use a
computational decision-making technique
(maximizing or minimizing a quantitative
function; example taken from Andrews, et al.,
text, Section 15.5.1)
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Computational Decision Making

A tabular decision-making method that finds

the best choice(s) among several alternatives
by maximizing or minimizing a quantitative
function

Can help to force a thorough comparative

evaluation of the alternatives
Can help to increase the objectivity of a decision
(and, therefore, of a report)

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Method

Suppose there are m alternative solutions

Choose n selection criteria for judging the m
solutions (each solution already satisfies the
design requirements and constraints, so these
are criteria that further distinguish between
the solutions)

Each criterion is assigned a relative importance, or

weight, wi, for i = 1, , n, such that the sum of
the weights is 1 (or 100%)
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Method (contd)

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Example

A student lives 2 km from the university and

wants to choose the best travel option.
There is no bus service, so the alternatives
are walking, riding a bike, buying a
motorcycle, and buying a car.
The criteria are cost, time, and safety, which
are rated at 30%, 40%, and 30%,
respectively.
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Example (contd)

Operating cost:

Walking has zero cost

A bicycle is estimated to cost $100
A motorcycle is estimated to cost $500
A car is estimated to cost $1000

Thus, the (normalized) ratings are

r11 = 0/1000 = 0; r12 = 100/1000 = 0.1

r13 = 500/1000 = 0.5; r14 = 1000/1000 = 1
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Example (contd)

Time:

Walking takes 35 minutes

A bicycle takes 20 minutes
A motorcycle takes 8 minutes
A car takes 8 minutes

Thus, the (normalized) ratings are

r21 = 35/35 = 1; r22 = 20/35 = 0.57

r23 = 8/35 = 0.23; r24 = 8/35 = 0.23
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Example (contd)

Safety (somewhat arbitrary safety estimate):

Walking is neutral (0)

A bicycle has a safety level of 1
A motorcycle is 5 times as dangerous as a bicycle
A car is 2 times as dangerous as a bicycle

Thus, the (normalized) ratings are

r31 = 0/5 = 0; r32 = 1/5 = 0.2
r33 = 5/5 = 1; r34 = 2/5 = 0.4
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Example (contd)

Each of the 12 ratings is multiplied by its

weighting factor, and the results are summed
for each alternative

The sums can then be compared to

determine the best alternative overall

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Results

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Notes regarding this technique

Determining reasonable weights and precise

ratings can be difficult

E.g., perhaps the safety rating for the bicycle in

winter weather would not be neutral
E.g., A decrease in a given quantity may be
subjectively more important than an increase of
the same magnitude

Reasons for the choice of all numerical values

should be carefully recorded
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Notes (contd)

Weights and ratings should be varied, or

additional criterial added, to see how they
affect the outcome

A decision that stands up to reasonable changes is

said to be robust

A robust decision will be the preferred choice because it

will still be the best decision even if some of the numerical
estimates (weights, ratings) turn out to be incorrect

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Design Deliverables

What the designer must give to

someone else so that the design can
move from abstract ideal to useful
product or system
Usually due on specific dates (project
milestones)

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Design Deliverables (contd)

Typical deliverables include

Project plan and milestones (estimate, then multiply by 3)

Project budget (estimate, then add 10-20%)
Functional specification (critical functions first)
Test and validation plan (ensure solution will meet
quantitative benchmarks)
Progress reports (how its going; unanticipated obstacles)
Design logbook (your record of your contributions to the
project [may be useful years later])
Design reviews (external review by clients or superiors)
Design specification (buildable by someone else)
Final report (overview, literature review, significance of
project, rationale, final outcome, recommendations)

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System Life Cycle

After the feasibility study, the preliminary

design, and the detailed design, there is

Production and deployment

Operation and Maintenance

Possibly including a pre-production or beta version to

correct design issues prior to full deployment
Designers can learn what worked well and what may
need to be changed in the next version

System retirement

Occurs when the product needs to be replaced with a

new or redesigned product
Decommissioning may require awareness of
environmental regulations for recycling or disposal

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Design Teams
Design is not just a creative process;
it is a social process.

Competencies required include

Clearly defining the teams goals

Establishing and performing allocated tasks
Creating and maintaining a supportive team culture
Planning and managing time effectively
Ensuring effective team interactions (e.g., team-building
activities and exercises; see, for example,
http://teambuildersplus.com/)
Establishing incentives and rewards for both team and
individual achievement

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Outline

Defining Engineering Design

Characteristics of Good Design Practice
The Engineering Design Process
Design Skills
Decision-Making
Design Documentation
System Life Cycle
Design Teams
Conclusions
34

Conclusions

Creativity is a key ingredient in engineering

design

At least one study has shown that

Creative people think that they are creative, and
less creative people do not think that they are
creative (!)

However, it is still essential to practice to

develop your creative skills (there is
significant opportunity to do this throughout
your degree program)
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Creativity is not enough

Creativity must be coupled with
scientific and technical knowledge, as
well as discipline, organization, and
social skills if you wish to excel at
engineering design.

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Fundamentals of Engineering Design

Bibliography
ELG/SEG/CSI 2911 textbook (Chap. 15)

H. Petroski, Invention by Design, Harvard

University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1996
M. Asimow, Introduction to Design, Prentice
Hall, New York, 1962

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