Comprehensive Engineering Design and Project Management Glossary

Actual cost of work performed (ACWP)

In project management, the actual cost of the work done to a certain time point or other time interval of a project; in contrast to Budgeted Cost of Work Performed.

Adjourning

The fifth and last stage in the Tuckman team model involving the dissolution of the team, generally at the end of a completed project.

Aesthetic

The look and feel of a design, often created in collaboration with an industrial designer, architect, or artist.

Affordance

The function of a design that is intuitively obvious; for example, a button suggests pushing.

Agenda

The list of items that will be addressed during a meeting, often with a budgeted time for each item.

Agile development

An iterative, incremental, adaptive development process where requirements are developed as the project progresses.

Alpha testing

The testing of a complete or almost complete version of a product by developers before it is given to users to test.

Analogy

An idea-generation tool that uses solutions in other realms to inspire design ideas.

Angel investor

A wealthy individual who typically invests a few million dollars or less in exchange for equity in a project.

Anthropometric data

Information on human physical characteristics, including data such as the range of physical size and shape present in a population.

Appendix (pl: Appendices)

An extra section of a document added after the end of the document containing additional material that provides more detail.

3D-printing

A form of rapid prototyping where CAD drawings are printed layer by layer into a physical object made out of various materials.

Acceptable Risk

A risk considered 'acceptable' if its probability is very low or its consequence is not serious.

Accident

Unintentional exposure to a hazard that may result in negative consequences.

Accumulated benefit

The total amount of benefit gained from a project less the total amount spent on the project at any point in time.

Accuracy

Precision or exactness, or a value of maximum expected error.

Action item

A task assigned to a team member at a meeting or through another type of communication.

Active listening

Concentrating on what the speaker is saying and listening attentively without interrupting.

Active voice

A sentence in which the subject precedes the verb.

Activity on the arrow

A way of depicting a PERT chart where tasks are shown on the arrows.

Activity on the node

A way of depicting a PERT chart where the task is shown in the node bubbles between the arrows.

Actor

A component within the design of a system, which can be a human or a system interacting with the design.

Actual cost

The cost of a project or part of a budget spent, in contrast to budgeted cost.

Bias

The tendency to judge things in a certain way due to pre-existing ideas rather than the details of the situation.

Bid

An estimate of the cost of a job submitted by contractors in response to a Request for Proposal.

Bill of materials (BOM)

A list of materials used in the manufacture of a design, including item, quantity, and other relevant information.

Biodegradable

The quality that a product can be returned to an essentially natural state in a reasonable amount of time through the action of living organisms.

Biological analogy

Using knowledge about the natural world to inspire design solutions.

Biologically active materials

Materials capable of having an effect on an organism, such as drugs.

Biomimetics

The process of adapting solutions from the biological world to engineering design problems.

Black box method

A method used to discover functions of a design by connecting the components going into a design to the components that result from the design.

Blue sky thinking

A creativity method where people imagine what is possible with no constraints.

Body language

Physical demeanor while communicating; both physical stance as well as tone of voice.

Body text

The primary font and paragraph style in a document, contrasting with other text types.

Boilerplate clause

A clause that is reused in contracts, often combined with original language.

Brainstorming

Process in which a group generates ideas to address a specific question.

Assembly instructions

Documentation describing the steps needed to assemble a product from components.

Assembly line

Set of manufacturing processes that occur in the same location to create a product.

Assessment of future technology

Making an educated guess about future technology available in a field.

Audience assessment

Structured method to determine characteristics of the person receiving communication.

Axis

The number line on a graph; includes x-axis (horizontal) and y-axis (vertical).

Back of the Envelope (BOTE)

Calculations providing quick approximate answers based on known information.

Background processes

Common processes used for multiple analyses in Life Cycle Analysis (LCA).

Ballpark answer

A very rough approximation of an answer.

Bathtub curve

Probability of failure of technology over its lifespan, resembling a bathtub shape.

Benchmarking

Analysis of existing technology to identify requirements and compare design ideas.

Beta testing

Testing done by a small group to find problems before commercial production.

Break-even point

Point when costs are covered by revenues, leading to net positive profits.

Budgeted cost

Estimated amount of money needed for a project with allowances for potential deviations.

Budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP)

Planned cost for work done in a specified time interval.

Claim

An assertion requiring supporting explanation and evidence to be persuasive.

Client

An individual or organization that commissions the design and funds the project.

Budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS)

Planned cost for work scheduled to be done in a specified time interval.

Burn in

Time at the end of manufacture to check for faults and premature failure.

Client statement

Initial written statement from the client describing a design problem.

Capital Costs

Costs associated with the purchase of items needed to initiate a project.

Closed question

A question designed to elicit a specific, short answer.

Closed-ended problems

Problems having one correct answer, aiming to find that specific solution.

Capital equipment

Tools, machinery, or structures purchased for the implementation of a design.

Caption

A title for a figure, placed below the figure, identifying the figure number and giving a short description.

Carcinogenic

Increasing the incidence of cancer.

Code

A set of requirements that follow from government regulations, ensuring minimum levels of safety and performance.

Cash flow

The money moving into and out of a project, department, or other entity.

Column

A set of cells along a vertical path in a two-dimensional table.

Cell

One box in an information table, containing information relating the column header item to the row header item.

Chart

A pictorial representation of statistical data.

Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)

Proposed designs that use parts, components, and other systems that are readily commercially available.

Commission

To sponsor, authorize, or support (fund) a project.

Check points

Places in a problem-solving process that allow stopping to reflect on the process.

Citation information

The details of ownership and publication or distribution of ideas.

Commissioning

Getting a plant or system up and running after it has been constructed.

Conceptual design alternatives

A primary set of ideas for possible solutions.

Conceptual design specification

A document that describes the alternative design solutions considered and recommends a design for further detailing.

Confidence level

The degree to which the samples used in a statistical analysis represent the true distribution.

Confidentiality agreement

An agreement that legally establishes confidentiality.

Consensus

A team decision-making strategy that requires group assent to a decision formed through discussion.

Consequence

A result; for example, the result of exposure to a hazard.

Conservation of energy

A physical law stating that energy is neither created nor destroyed.

Conservation of mass

A physical law that states that mass is neither created nor destroyed.

Constrained problems

Problems that have limits to possible solutions.

Constraints

Absolute limits of a design.

Consulting company

A type of engineering company that works exclusively through collaborative projects or contracts.

Consumables

Resources that are used up in the activity (or task).

Community consultation

The process of involving the community in the design process.

Complex

A system in which a variety of parameters interact to create events that are not perfectly predictable.

Complexity count

A count of the interrelated parts of a system and the number of interactions these represent.

Complicated system

A system that has many interacting parts, which can be modeled.

Components

In detailed design, a component refers to a piece or part of hardware or software.

Compound sentence

A sentence made up of two parts (clauses), each of which could stand on its own as a simple sentence; the two parts are joined with the word 'and.'

Compound-complex sentence

A sentence that has clauses connected with the word 'and' (as in a compound sentence) as well as clauses in relation to one another, connected with such words as 'but,' 'because,' or 'if...then' (as in complex sentences).

Compromise

A dispute resolution method characterized by all parties giving up some aspect of their individual desires in order to achieve a group decision.

Computer aided design (CAD)

A process in which a software package is used to create a detailed two- or three-dimensional representation of a physical structure.

Concept of operations (ConOps)

A document that describes the design problem and conceptual design solution from the user's perspective.

Continuous distribution

A probability distribution where the set of outcomes or possible events forms a continuous curve.

Critical thinking

The ability to analyze a situation, idea, or problem to come up with unique ideas.

Cross-functional team

A team whose members come from various disciplines and bring varied skill sets.

Custom off-the-shelf (COTS)

Designing using components or items that are already in production and available to buy or license.

Datum

Singular of data. A datum also refers to the standard solution used for comparison in the Pugh method of decision making.

Deciding how to decide

The procedures by which a team determines how to come to agreement.

Decision-making methods

Methods used to try to remove bias to ground decisions firmly in engineering reasoning.