Junior Seminar

bullet1 Paper Design Project

bullet2 Engineering Design Process

Clive Dym and Patrick Little in their book, Engineering Design: A Project-Based Introduction, identify 10 tasks associated with 5 steps in the engineering design process.

Your "paper design" presentations will cover the only the "Problem Definition Phase" and may enter the "Conceptual Design Phase."

bullet3 A. PROBLEM DEFINITION PHASE

The problem definition phase is devoted to clarifying the objectives set out by the client and gathering the information needed to develop an engineering statement of what the client wants.

Input:            client's statement

Sources:      literature on state-of-the-art

                experts

                            codes and regulations

        Tasks:            1. Clarify design objectives

                   2. Establish user requirements

                   3. Identify constraints

                   4. Establish functions

    Means:     literature review

                    brainstorming

                    user surveys and questionnaires

                    structured interviews

    Output:       revised problem statement

                    detailed (weighted) objectives

                    constraints

                    user requirements

                functions

bullet3 B. CONCEPTUAL DESIGN PHASE

The goal of the conceptual design stage of the design process is the generation of concepts or schemes of candidate designs.

  Input:        revised problem statement

                    detailed (weighted) objectives

                    constraints

                    user requirements

                   functions

  Sources:    competitive products

 Tasks:        5. Establish design specs

                   6. Generate design alternatives

  Means:        brainstorming

                    analogies

                    benchmarking

                    reverse engineering (dissection)

  Output:       conceptual design(s) or scheme(s)

                    design specifications

bullet3 C. PRELIMINARY DESIGN PHASE

The goal of the preliminary design phase is the identification of the principal attributes of the design concepts or schemes.

Input:        conceptual design(s) or scheme(s)

                    design specifications

Sources:    heuristics (rules of thumb)

                simple models

                known physical relationships

Tasks:        7. Model, analyze conceptual designs

                8. Test, evaluate conceptual designs

Means:        metrics definition

                laboratory experiments

                prototype development

                simulation and computer analysis

                proof-of-concept testing

Output:        a selected design

                        test-and-evaluation results

bullet3 D. DETAILED DESIGN PHASE

The goal of the detailed design phase is the refinement and detailed definition of the final design.

Input:        selected design

                test-and-evaluation results

Sources:    design codes    

                handbooks

                local laws and regulations

                suppliers' component specifications

Task:        9. Refine, optimize the chosen design

Means:        formal design reviews

                public hearings (if applicable)

                beta testing

Output:        proposed fabrication specifications

                        final design review for client

bullet3 E. DESIGN COMMUNICATION PHASE

The design communication phase is devoted to documenting the fabrication specifications and their justification.

Input:        fabrication specifications

Sources:    feedback from clients and users

                required deliverables

Task:        10. Document the completed design

Output:        final report to client containing

                    (1) fabrication specifications

                            (2) justification for fabrication specs