Design Step 4: Select a Promising Solution Using Engineering Analysis
Selecting a promising solution using engineering analysis distinguishes true engineering design from "tinkering." In this activity, students are guided through an example engineering analysis scenario for a scooter. Then they perform a similar analysis on the design solutions they brainstormed in the previous activity in this unit. At activity conclusion, students should be able to defend one most-promising possible solution to their design challenge. (Note: Conduct this activity in the context of a design project that students are working on; this activity is Step 4 in a series of seven steps that guide students through the engineering design loop.)
Various types of engineering analysis guide the development of product design.Copyright (scooter image) 2004 Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA. All rights reserved.
Using engineering analysis to select a promising solution is the internal guidance of a project. It can be described as the breaking down of an object, system, problem or issue into its basic elements to get at its essential features and their relationships to each other and to external elements. It is an important part of the engineering design loop that occurs many times during the completion of real-life engineering product or system design. Often, a thorough and varied analysis of a design prior to implementation leads to increased safety and efficiency in using the product.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Describe the role of analysis in engineering.
- Evaluate alternatives using an interaction matrix analysis.
- Compare and contrast design alternatives to select the most promising idea.