Engineering Design Process
The engineering design process is a methodical series of steps that engineers use in
creating functional products and processes. The process is highly iterative - parts of the
process often need to be repeated many times before another can be entered - though
the part(s) that get iterated and the number of such cycles in any given project can be
highly variable.
" Engineering design is the process of devising a system, component, or process to
meet desired needs. It is a decision-making process (often iterative), in which the
basic science and mathematics and engineering sciences are applied to convert
resources optimally to meet a stated objective. Among the fundamental elements
of the design process are the establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis,
analysis, construction, testing and evaluation.
The engineering design component of a curriculum must include most of the
following features: development of student creativity, use of open-ended
problems, development and use of modern design theory and methodology,
formulation of design problem statements and specification, consideration of
alternative solutions, feasibility considerations, production processes,
concurrent engineering design, and detailed system description. Further it is
essential to include a variety of realistic constraints, such as economic factors,
safety, reliability, aesthetics, ethics and social impact." Elsewhere in the ABET
criteria for accreditation; they stress the use of teams in solving problems and
performing designs.
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Common Stages of the Engineering Design Process
One framing of the engineering design process delineates the following stages: research,
conceptualization, feasibility assessment, establishing design requirements, preliminary
design, detailed design, production planning and tool design, and production. Others,
noting that "different authors (in both research literature and in textbooks) define
different phases of the design process with varying activities occurring within them,"
have suggested more simplified/generalized models - such as problem definition,
conceptual design, preliminary design, detailed design, and design communication.
Research: Various stages of the design process (and even earlier) can involve a
significant amount of time spent on locating information and research. Consideration
should be given to the existing applicable literature, problems and successes associated
with existing solutions, costs, and marketplace needs.
The source of information should be relevant, including existing solutions. Reverse
engineering can be an effective technique if other solutions are available on the market.
Other sources of information include the Internet, local libraries, available government
documents, personal organizations, trade journals, vendor catalogs and individual
experts available.
Design requirements: Establishing design requirements, sometimes termed
problem definition, is one of the most important elements in the design process, and
this task is often performed at the same time as a feasibility analysis. The design
requirements control the design of the project throughout the engineering design
process. These include basic things like the functions, attributes, and specifications -
determined after assessing user needs. Some design requirements include hardware
and software parameters, maintainability, availability, and testability.
Feasibility: Feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a proposed
project. In some cases, a feasibility study is carried out after which schedules, resource
plans and, estimates for the next phase are developed. The feasibility study is an
evaluation and analysis of the potential of a proposed project to support the process of
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decision making. It outlines and analyses alternatives or methods of achieving the
desired outcome. The feasibility study helps to narrow the scope of the project to
identify the best scenario. A feasibility report is generated following which Post
Feasibility Review is performed.
The purpose of a feasibility assessment is to determine whether the engineer's project
can proceed into the design phase. This is based on two criteria: the project needs to be
based on an achievable idea, and it needs to be within cost constraints. It is important to
have engineers with experience and good judgment to be involved in this portion of the
feasibility study.
The acronym TELOS refers to the five areas of feasibility - Technical, Economic, Legal,
Operational, and Scheduling.
(a) Technical feasibility: This assessment is based on an outline design of system
requirements, to determine whether the company has the technical expertise to handle
completion of the project. When writing a feasibility report, the following should be
taken to consideration:
A brief description of the business to assess more possible factors which could
affect the study
The part of the business being examined
The human and economic factor
The possible solutions to the problem
At this level, the concern is whether the proposal is both technically and legally feasible.
The technical feasibility assessment is focused on gaining an understanding of the
present technical resources of the organization and their applicability to the expected
needs of the proposed system. It is an evaluation of the hardware and software and how
it meets the need of the proposed system.
(b) Economic feasibility: The purpose of the economic feasibility assessment is to
determine the positive economic benefits to the organization that the proposed system
will provide. It includes quantification and identification of all the benefits expected.
This assessment typically involves a cost/ benefits analysis.
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(c) Legal feasibility: Determines whether the proposed system conflicts with legal
requirements, e.g. a data processing system must comply with the local data protection
regulations.
(d) Operational feasibility: Operational feasibility is a measure of how well a
proposed system solves the problems, and takes advantage of the opportunities
identified during scope definition and how it satisfies the requirements identified in the
requirements analysis phase of system development. The operational feasibility
assessment focuses on the degree to which the proposed development projects fits in
with the existing business environment and objectives with regard to development
schedule, delivery date, corporate culture, and existing business processes.
(e) Schedule feasibility: A project will fail if it takes too long to be completed before
it is useful. Typically this means estimating how long the system will take to develop,
and if it can be completed in a given time period using some methods like payback
period. Schedule feasibility is a measure of how reasonable the project timetable is.
Given our technical expertise, are the project deadlines reasonable? Some projects are
initiated with specific deadlines. It is necessary to determine whether the deadlines are
mandatory or desirable.
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