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Steps of The Engineering Design Process. 

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Steps of The Engineering Design Process. 

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SUMMARY:This page goes over the engineering design process . It lists the steps and gives the reader information regarding each one . There is an interactive chart on the page that allows the reader to learn more regarding each step by clicking on the steps that are listed in a column ,in order ,from the top down. The chart not only illustrates the steps in order but also shows the flow of the process by illustrating that some steps may be repeated .

REFLECTION: This Page could be a very valuable asset for someone learning the engeneering design process. It allows them to see how it all comes together in a manner that is easy to understand .

CITATION : Buddies, Science, and Science Buddies. “Engineering Design Process.” Science Buddies, 19 Oct. 2024, www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/engineering-design-process/engineering-design-process-steps.

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A series of steps that engineers follow to come up with a solution to a problem.

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SUMMARY: This page goes over all of the basic engineering design steps and more. There are very thorough descriptions of each of the initial steps . The steps are listed in order after a section that describes what the process is . It goes beyond the initial steps to talk about the steps following the design process.

REFLECTION: I found this page to include more than many others that I have looked at . They go beyond the initial design process and on to talk about things such as documentation and things that come later after the initial steps are completed . I found this to be incredibly informative and can see much use for this pages content by anyone who is working on designing something or who has designed something and is looking to get in to the following steps.

CITATION:SGW. “What Is the Engineering Design Process? An In-Depth Guide to Crafting Innovative Solutions.” What Is the Engineering Design Process?, 1 Mar. 2024, www.sgwdesignworks.com/blog/what-is-the-engineering-design-process-an-in-depth-guide-to-crafting-innovative-solutions. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.

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What Is the Engineering Design Process? An In-Depth Guide to Crafting Innovative Solutions

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What Is the Engineering Design Process? Learn what it takes to get from concept to prototype.

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Steps to Consider When Designing Something. 

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Steps to Consider When Designing Something. 

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SUMMARY: This blog goes over things to consider when designing something . It lists things that should be thought about in regards to a design such as ergonomics, manufacture ,and material choice . There are a total of seven things that are suggested considerations and each suggestion goes in depth to describe the facets of each consideration .

REFLECTION: I think this would be incredibly important information for anyone who is in the design process . The suggestions listed here could help someone define a produced design . If these steps aren't considered a good concept could be designed to be a total failure.

CITATION:Castings, Mrt. 7 Things to Consider in Modern Product Design. blog.mrt-castings.co.uk/blog/7-things-to-consider-when-designing-your-product.

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So you've had an idea for a product or been given the specification. The idea has been proven, prototyped and tested and it's ready to go into final product design phases.

There are so many different aspects of product design, so many different nuances to be aware of. To help you on your way, we've put together a list of 7 important factors to be aware of when designing a product.

AESTHETICS

The aesthetics of the product are the most obvious part of the design process and it's ultimately the first thing that customers (and co-workers and clients) will notice about the way the product has been designed. Before people look at the specifications of the product, the way it feels to use or the way it performs its task, they will notice how it looks. This is quite often the deciding factor in a purchase.

Stay up to date with design trends in your industry, as well as other industries. Understanding what customers want their products to look like is an important consideration. Focus on previous products from the company, the brand style and ethos of the business. If Fiat's new Punto looked like a Ferrari, despite great aesthetics, it would be off brand, lost its utilitarian nature and not have the engine to back it up.

Nothing will put a customer off faster than when it's clear to a company that "form" is more important than "function"...

ERGONOMICS

This is where it's important to put "function" first. Customers are very quick to forget about the beautiful aesthetic of a product if the product is painful and irritating to use.

Ensure that the product is as comfortable and as intuitive to use as possible. You want the product to be as enjoyable to use for as long as possible. If ergonomics come at the cost of some aesthetics, it's better to have a comfortable, easy to use but less than perfect looking product than one that looks amazing but is horrible to use.

MATERIALS

One of the more obvious considerations for product design is the material or materials that the product is made from. This is where specific analysis of the products use, expected life and environment are necessary to ensure its survival.

Pay attention to the material of everything, from the 'shell' of the product, down to the materials of the hardware such as screws, nuts and bolts. Hardware of the incorrect spec can cause a product to fail years before the product's expected lifecycle.

Additionally, ensure that mixed materials - either used in the product or ones that the product is like to come in contact with - are compatible. Materials such as steel and aluminium, when used together, can cause galvanic corrosion and corrode prematurely. Certain plastics and rubbers will be degraded quickly in oily and greasy environments.

Ensure that you thoroughly research the materials and their weaknesses before use.

MANUFACTURE

It's easy to believe that in today's modern age, we're able to manufacture anything that we want to manufacture. However, that's not strictly the case. For instance, CNC machining cannot tackle every shape and size, specifically when it comes to undercuts. Similarly, casting processes need the product to be easily removed from the mould, this makes casting complex 'overhangs' difficult.

Whilst it's not impossible to manufacture complicated shapes and products, often the product needs to be split up into smaller pieces that can be cast or machines and assembled afterward.

MODULARITY

Splitting up a product into smaller pieces is a tactic employed by many product manufacturers, even car makers. The idea is to produce one singular part of the product that can be applied to other ranges of products.

For instance, Ford manufacture the Focus car with the standard engine but the design is modular so that they can simply use a more powerful engine for their Ford ST range of vehicles. This ensures a wide range of vehicles on offer, without a completely different set of parts for each and every vehicle.

Design the product with modularity in mind. Manufacturing future units and upgrades becomes simpler and in addition, repairing products becomes as simple as replacing the 'module' that is broken.

SUSTAINABILITY

An important part of product design is to ensure that the chosen materials and components are easy to find and in good supply.

There have been many businesses that have been forced to close their doors as the components for their top product begin to become rarer and rarer. This doesn't necessarily have to be electronic components, materials themselves can become hard to get hold of, banned or their use becomes condemned by the general public.

Ensure that products and materials are in good supply, well established and have numerous, easy to switch to alternatives.

PROTECTION

Does the product need to be protected from the environment, or the environment it creates? Products used in industrial settings are usually IP (Ingress Protection) rated to prevent them from failing quickly due to water and dust. Power tools must be resistant to dust and particles, some may even need to be water resistant.

Will your product be outdoors for long periods of time? Ensure that electronics are well sealed and that corrosive parts have a quality finish to prevent degradation.

Ensure that your product has the necessary protection from the environment and its usage to maintain its prolonged use.

PACKAGING & ASSEMBLY

Packaging and assembly is, next to product aesthetics, one of the first things a customer encounters when they deal with your product.

You need to pay careful attention to the 'unboxing experience'. Does it need to convey utility or luxury? Does the customer need to assemble the product themselves? Ikea and Lego dominate the market with instructions that are clear to follow regardless of your language.

Interested in bringing your product idea into the real world? Sign up for our complete guide: From Idea to Product.

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7 Things To Consider When Designing Your Product

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So you've had an idea for a product or been given the specification. The idea has been proven, prototyped and tested and it's ready to go into final product design phases. There are so many different aspects of product design, so many different nuances to be aware of.

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SUMMARY: This videos starts off by talking about the importance of prototyping . It mentions reasons why someone should do it when designing something . After going over the reasons why someone should prototype is goes into the steps . The steps are: creating a mock up , a proof of concept, and finally full prototypes . The steps are shown to go from very rudimentary models for purposes of appropriate scaling and basic aesthetics to working models that will be refined further as actual prototypes until all problems with a design are solved and it is ready for final manufacture.

REFLECTION: This video shows how after all things are considered conceptually with a design someone should do extensive prototyping . Sometimes a design looks good on paper but when we get the manufactured product in our hands it needs to be redesigned to fix unforeseen problems. Any designer could benefit from a strategic approach to prototyping and this video shows the necessary steps to achieve that.

CITATION:deDesigned. “Different Stages of Prototyping.” YouTube, 2 Feb. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=txs-Bbnil40.

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SUMMARY: On this page the Purdue Writing Lab lays out the different steps of the engineering design process in regards to how it should be documented. The importance of the documentation project is laid out and the steps are listed for readers to click into and read more . Conceptual Design, Preliminary Design, Detailed Design, and Manufacturing are the steps listed.

REFLECTION: I think that the documentation process is hugely important to understand after doing some reading about it . This resource will help a reader see the importance of, and the steps needed, for this process. When doing any type of designing it is important for a designer to document each step for future reference . It is even more important to document the steps of the process when working with a team so that everything runs smoothly .

CITATION: “Introduction - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University.” N.p., n.d. Web. <https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_engineering/engineering_project_documentation/index.html>.

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This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Engineering Project Documentation: Introduction

Throughout the lifecycle of an engineering project, engineers can find themselves overwhelmed with the wide variety of documentation that they must write. From the early stages of developing an engineering design to the final testing of the product, well-written and comprehensive documentation is required to accurately communicate information about the design to each department that has a role in the project. It can be difficult for engineers to decide the scope of each document and effectively communicate design concepts, data, and figures.

The goal of this guide is to walk an engineer through the engineering design process and explain the documentation associated with each stage of an engineering project. The guide will approach this problem from the perspective of an aerospace engineering project. However, the concepts it lays out can be implemented by engineers from any industry.
Below, find links to our guides for each stage of the project. Stage 1: Conceptual Design Stage 2: Preliminary Design Stage 3: Detailed Design Stage 4: Manufacturing

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This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

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How do you conduct a feasibility study for an engineering design project?

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How do you conduct a feasibility study for an engineering design project?

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SUMMARY: In this article the process of conducting a feasibility study is laid out . The steps of this process go from defining the problem, into research and evaluation, and wraps things up with the presentation phase . The steps are easy to follow and laid out concisely.

REFLECTION: I think that feasibility is a very important part of the design process that can often times get overlooked. if someone follows the steps listed in this article they will be more likely to have a successful design. When designing something it is easy to let our imaginations get ahead of us but following the steps listed in this article will help keep a designer on track to a successful product .

CITATION:“How Do You Conduct a Feasibility Study for an Engineering Design Project?” www.linkedin.com. N.p., 19 Sept. 2023. Web. <https://www.linkedin.com/advice/0/how-do-you-conduct-feasibility-study-engineering>.

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How do you conduct a feasibility study for an engineering design project?

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Learn how to evaluate the technical, economic, social, and environmental feasibility of your engineering design project in six steps, from defining the problem to presenting the results.

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SUMMARY: This page lays out the importance and process of defining a problem ,which is the first step in the engineering design process. This article is catered toward students working on a project to define an engineering problem . It goes over questions that need to be asked and steps that need to be taken in this part of the process.

REFLECTION: Although this article is aimed at students , I think that anyone with an interest in the engineering design process could benefit from it . Questions that need to be asked are looked at, and the process is gone over allowing readers to see how they might approach this part of the design process. This could be useful for someone with a design already in mind ,or for someone who is just looking to come up with their next big idea, but doesn't know where to start .

CITATION: Buddies, Science, and Science Buddies. “The Engineering Design Process: Define the Problem.” Science Buddies. N.p., 29 May 2024. Web. <https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/engineering-design-process/engineering-design-problem-statement>.

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The Engineering Design Process: Define the Problem

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Define the problem in the engineering design process

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SUMMARY: Christine M. Cunningham goes over the evaluation and iteration in the engineering design process . Cunningham talks about how the final product is often very different from preliminary designs . Parts of this process including team work and things to consider when evaluating are included.

REFLECTION: In the design process sometimes we can get fixated on a specific design so much that we don't allow it to evolve. Cunningham goes over how that evolution takes place ,and I think this could help any designer see the importance of letting their design blossom and grow . Designs need to be thought up and then tested and evaluated time and time again before they are worthy of the market ,and even after they reach that point they constantly need to be re-evaluated as developments arise.

CITATION: Cunningham, Christine M. Engineering Mindset: Evaluate Designs and Iterate. N.p. Web. <https://stemnext.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Engineering-Practice-Evaluate-designs-and-iterate.pdf>.