Steps of the engineering design process
The engineering design process is a series of steps that engineering teams use to guide them as they solve problems. To determine how to build something (skyscraper, amusement park ride, bicycle, music player), engineers gather information and conduct research to understand the needs of the problem to be solved. Then they brainstorm many imaginative possible solutions. They select the most promising idea and make a final design that includes drawings, and decisions on the materials and construction, manufacturing and fabrication technologies to use. They create and test many prototypes, making improvements until the product is the best it can be.
Engineers design and build all types of structures, systems and products that are important in our everyday lives. The engineering design process is a series of steps that engineering teams use to guide them as they solve problems:
- Understand the need: What is the problem? What do I want to do? What are the project requirements? What are the limitations? Who is the customer? What is the goal? Gather information and conduct research.
- Brainstorm different designs: Imagine and brainstorm ideas. Be creative. Investigate existing technologies and methods to use. Explore, compare and analyze many possible solutions.
- Select a design: Based on the needs identified, select the most promising idea.
- Plan: Draw a diagram of your idea. How will it work? What materials and tools are needed? How will you test it to make sure it works?
- Create: Assign team tasks. Build a prototype. Does it work? Talk about what works, what doesn't and what could work better.
- Improve: Discuss how you could improve your end product. Make revisions. Draw new designs. Make your product the best it can be.
Engineers use their science and math knowledge to explore all possible options and compare many design ideas. This is called open-ended design because when you start to solve a problem, you don't know what the best solution will be to meet the requirements. The process is cyclical and may begin at, and return to, any step.
The use of prototypes, or early versions of the design (or a model or mock-up) helps the design process by improving the understanding of the problem, identifying missing requirements, evaluating design objectives and product features, and getting feedback from others.
Engineers select the solution that best uses the available resources and best meets the project's requirements. They consider many factors before they implement a design: Cost to make and use, quality, reliability, safety, functionality, ease of use, aesthetics, ethics, social impact, maintainability, testability, ease/cost of construction and manufacturability.
Using the engineering design process with your students
Two key themes of the engineering design process are teamwork and design. Since students are working in small groups, encourage them to think about the steps of the engineering design process. How will they work well together, listening to and respecting all ideas in the brainstorming session, reserving any judgment until a decision is made? Even then, make the decision-making process as democratic as possible, with all opinions being heard. Once a teamwork base is established, build upon that with a creative design. If a team of students is excited about their idea, they can come up with some fun methods for improving or extending the original idea. Reinforce with them that the end goal is a final design solution that is a seamless blend of creativity and utility.
Introduce the engineering design process with a lesson from the Engineering Pathway. The lesson “Time for Design,” part of the TeachEngineering digital library includes an introduction to the engineering design process and features activities in which students solve problems at their school. The engineering design process is useful when introducing any of the exciting engineering design activities from TeachEngineering and other Engineering Pathway resources.
