Introduction to Engineering Design Review

Vocabulary terms and definitions covering the fundamentals of engineering design, professionalism, human factors, creativity techniques, and ethics.

Engineering Design

The process of devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs.

ABET

Stands for Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.

SMART Criteria

An acronym for objectives meaning Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bounded.

Research

The process of finding answers to more complicated questions or examining multiple aspects of an issue.

Profession

A job that requires special skills and qualifications to perform; involves specialized and highly skilled knowledge.

Occupation

Specific tasks or activities that do not necessarily require academic training.

Competence

An element of professionalism described by relevant qualifications and continuing professional development.

Integrity

An element of professionalism described by a clear commitment to abide by a code of ethics recognized and administered by the professional community.

Public Obligation

An element of professionalism focused on protecting public interests and social responsibility.

Functional Specifications

Specifications that describe what the product must do.

Performance Specifications

Specifications used to judge how good a design is.

Primary Objectives

The "need" side of design objectives; without these, the design is considered a failure.

Secondary Objectives

The "want" side of design objectives.

Anthropometric Factors

Human factors that focus on human interaction in a static sense, such as body dimensions and physical measurements.

Ergonomics

The study of Work Laws dealing with repeated tasks and dynamic interaction, focusing on safety, comfort, and efficiency.

Physiological Factors

Factors related to neurological, muscular, and sensory systems; they respond to visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, taste, and environment inputs.

Psychological Factors

Factors related to the interpretation of information, decision making, and aesthetics.

Creativity Stimulation Techniques

Methods used to generate ideas, including Inversion, Morphological Analysis, Analogy, and Brainstorming.

SWOT Analysis

A method used to modify and improve existing designs by identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Questions Options Criteria (QOC)

A method used to judge each option or idea based on specific criteria.

Creativity

A skill defined as the capability or act of conceiving something original or unusual.

Innovation

A process defined as the implementation of something new.

Creative Thinking (Lateral)

Divergent, right-brain thinking that is global, parallel, emotional, subjective, and focused on synthesis.

Critical Thinking (Logical)

Convergent, left-brain thinking that is analytic, serial, logical, objective, and focused on evaluation.

Synthesis

Combining two or more existing ideas into a new idea.

Revolution

A completely different, new idea.

Design Specification

Precise and explicit information about the requirements for a successful solution to a problem, typically including criteria and constraints.

Product (Technical) Specification

An explicit set of requirements that must be met in order for a product to operate as designed.

Planned Obsolescence

A manufacturing decision by a company to make consumer products become out-of-date or useless within a known period.

Product Life

The length of time a product will undergo production before being replaced with a newer version.

Service Life

The length of time a product is expected to operate properly without need for repair.

Weights

A term in decision matrices referring to determining the importance of each attribute using values that sum to $100$.

Rates

A term in decision matrices referring to rating each attribute for alternative concepts on a scale from $1$ (worst) to $10$ (best).

Common Morality

A type of ethics shared by most members of a culture or society.

Personal Values

Ethics usually developed through home, religious, or social training.

Professional Ethics

A code of ethics followed within a profession.

NSPE

Stands for National Society of Professional Engineers.

Preventative Ethics

The specific type of ethics upon which engineering ethics is based.

Dimensions of Engineering Ethics

Thinking ahead and anticipating consequences, and thinking effectively about consequences.