Engr400 Designprocess

Design Engineering Office
The Engineering Design Process
1 Introduction
The engineering design process is a rigorous method of moving from a stated need to a product or
system that meets that need. It is a creative and iterative process that is multidisciplinary and, in its
fundamental form, is often applied in fields outside of engineering.
As with other creative processes, design tends to defy universal definition. There is, however, a
commonly accepted form of the design process that you will use to guide your work in this course
(Figure 1).
Identification of Need and

Problem Definition
2 Description of the Engineering Design Process Stages

The following sections describe each stage of the process indicated in Figure 1.
2.1 Identification of Need and Problem Definition

Of all the stages in the engineering design process, identification of need and problem definition is the
most important. A small investment of time at the start of the project to understand the need
thoroughly and to define problem accurately can save much time later in the design process.
2.1.1 Client Need

What a client perceives as their need, and what they actually need can be two different things. When a
client states their “need”, they may actually be presenting an assumed solution. Your job as a design
engineer is to eliminate bias, evaluate assumptions, and separate your client’s fundamental need from
their vision of a solution.
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For example, a client may state that they need tire enhancements designed for their wheelchair. Upon
further investigation you may discover that the fundamental need is for increased mobility on rough
terrain. The tire enhancements may be the solution to this, but there are other alternatives you should
explore.
2.1.2 Problem Definition

Once the client’s fundamental need is determined, a design engineer must create a clear and concise
problem definition. This problem definition is NOT a solution. It is open-ended and does not
presuppose any approach, method, technique or discipline.
2.2 Gather Information

The information needed for an engineering design is often more diverse and less readily available than
that needed for a research project. Some of the questions that need to be answered at this stage
include:
Has someone else already solved this problem?

Are there any existing patents that serve a similar function?
What industry or governmental codes and standards govern this issue?
What are the environmental implications of solving this problem? Social implications?
Ethical implications?
Is there relevant published information in the public domain? In academic journals? In trade
journals? In print and web-based media?
Are there existing libraries or frameworks that can be leveraged?
What system architectures that can be used?
Are there any design patterns you can follow?
Are there any domain experts with whom you should consult?
The primary objective of this stage is to ensure that you benefit from the work of others (i.e. don’t
reinvent the wheel!). In this investigation, it is important not to limit yourself to the immediate field in
which the design will be used.
Upon completion of this stage you should be familiar with the broad range of information that may be
relevant to your project.
2.3 Generate Concepts

This is often the most creative stage in the engineering design process. This creative aspect makes
team consultation particularly important. Your team is to generate a list of alternative designs. These
designs are preliminary conceptual designs and not complete engineering designs. At this stage no
design is too outrageous; this is the stage for generating designs, not evaluating them. Even seemingly
impractical designs can become elegant solutions when seen from a different point of view. The
primary product of this stage is a portfolio with many conceptual designs.
2.4 Decide
At this stage you must narrow your list of conceptual designs down to a single preferred option. The
tools, methods, and tests by which you conduct this reduction will vary from project to project.
However, in all cases your selection must be clearly justified on facts and sound logical reasoning.

2.5 Detailed Engineering
Most of the analytical content of the project is undertaken in this stage. The outcome of this stage
will depend on the type of design project. In all cases, however, this stage will contain sufficient
detail that another engineer or technical expert could reproduce your analysis (i.e. check the analysis)
and implement your design based on your documentation. Possible aspects include: component
selection, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, stress and failure calculations, static and dynamic
UML diagrams, use cases, test cases, etc.
2.6 Implement
In this stage, your detailed engineering work is used as the basis to produce a product or system.
Depending on the type of design there are two different implementation options. For large systems, or
when time and resources are insufficient, a model can be built that allows testing of critical aspects of
the design but that does not have all of the desired functionality of the final product or system. This is
often called a proof-of-concept model. The second option is a prototype which is a fully functional
product or system.
In either case, the primary outcome of this stage is the testing of your proof-of-concept model or
prototype. The testing methods will vary, but should be based on logical methodology that will allow
future design projects to improve upon your design.
2.7 Iteration
It is important to note the iterative nature of the engineering design process. Various stages may be
visited multiple times during the evolution of your design. For example in the process of generating
your conceptual designs you may discover that you require additional information from the client and
must revisit the identification of need and problem definition stage. You should feel free to jump
back and into previous stages as your design needs dictate.
Acknowledgement: This description of the design process is based, in-part, on materials developed
by Professor David Strong, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario.
<http://appsci.queensu.ca/courses/APSC381/2008/CourseNotes.php>

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Design Engineering Office

The Engineering Design Process

Identification of Need and

2 Description of the Engineering Design Process Stages

2.1 Identification of Need and Problem Definition

2.1.1 Client Need

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2.1.2 Problem Definition

2.2 Gather Information

Has someone else already solved this problem?

2.3 Generate Concepts

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