The 8 Steps of the Engineering Design Process
Engineering design is a process that engineers use to assist in product development. Physical product design is the creation of structures that serve a purpose and is one branch of the engineering field. This area of design requires trained professionals typically with a mechanical engineering background. It is a decision-making process that requires engineers and designers to apply mathematics and engineering sciences to convert resources, ensuring that they meet the desired objective. The following are the eight steps of engineering design:
- Identify the need or problem
- Research the need or problem
- Develop potential solutions
- Select the best possible solution
- Create a prototype
- Test and evaluate solution
- Communicate the solution
- Redesign for improvement to the objectives
1. Identify the Need or Problem
In engineering design, it is important to properly identify the need or problem first to be able to improve it. Not properly identifying the need or problem could result in the engineer wasting thousands of dollars in funding. Measureable and subjective metrics are often used to steer the design and allow the engineer and design team to determine when the goals are achieved.
2. Research the Need or Problem
In order to research the need or problem in engineering design, one must examine the current state of the issue as well as the solutions that are presently available. Engineers and designers must be equipped with a diverse range of information in order to produce the best possible solutions. They need to determine if there are products on the market that already solve the problem, and if there are, they must list the advantages and disadvantages of the products. Engineers must then narrow down the results of their research and decide what is or isn’t relevant. Research can be informal or more structured and the path to take is defined often by budget and level of uncertainty.
3. Develop Potential Solutions
After conducting research, the engineer as designer must brainstorm potential solutions and make a list of the pros and cons of each solution. The engineer then has to think about what could be changed in order to improve each solution. Using principles from mathematics and engineering science, the engineer will then analyze the potential performance of each solution. Computer based modeling and engineering simulation tools can be used in many cases to assess solutions and reduce risk.
4. Select the Best Possible Solution
The engineer and designer will review the original requirements to determine which solution best meets them. Selecting a single solution is a challenging task. There are always trade-offs when you choose one solution over another. Carefully categorizing primary and secondary attributes for features that have competing requirements is an important step. Weight, size, cost and number of features are examples of competing needs. By keeping the ultimate purpose of the solution in mind, considering the person using the product and comparing the strengths and weaknesses of each solution, the engineer and the design team will be able to make the best possible choice.
5. Create a Prototype
After deciding on a solution during the engineering design process, the engineer will create a prototype by modeling the solution in two and three dimensions using computer tools and advanced machining and prototyping tools. Accurate, detailed 3D computer models, descriptions and sketches will help the engineer describe the product to prototype suppliers.
6. Test and Evaluate the Solution
Once the engineer creates a prototype, he must test and evaluate it to determine if it works and if it meets the original design constraints. Prototypes can be simple or complex depending on the number of parts and technologies included in a design. A chair may have 10 parts, a WiFi radio may have 500 parts. Minor adjustments are normal to finish the development of the engineers design intent on technically challenging product designs.
7. Communicate the Solution
The engineer designer will create a persuasive presentation that explains how the product solves the need or problem that was initially defined. The presentation must get the engineer’s ideas across to the audience in simple language to describe the solution in a way the audience sees the value of the new product from their perspective as users.
8. Redesign
Using information gathered during the testing, evaluation, and presentation stages of engineering design, the engineer designer can optimize and revise the solution to achieve the best results.
Conclusion
Society continues to seek innovation and in striving to progress, the engineering and product design field will continue to grow. The 8 steps of engineering design that are outlined above provide the tools and guidance engineers use in the complex field of product design.
