INTRODUCTION TO

ENGINEERING DESIGN

BBE 3002
 WHAT IS ENGINEERING
• The word engineer (Latin ingeniator) is derived from the Latin
words ingeniare ("to create, generate, contrive, devise")
and ingenium ("cleverness").

• A person who designs, builds, or maintains engines, machines, or

public works.
 WHAT IS DESIGN (VERB)

• To conceive or execute a plan

“To design is to pull together something new or to arrange existing

things in a new way to satisfy a recognized need of society.”

“Design establishes and defines solutions to and pertinent

structures for problems not solved before, or new solutions to
problems which have previously been solved in a different way.”
 WHAT IS DESIGN (NOUN)
An outline, sketch, or plan, as of the form and structure of a work of art, an
edifice, or a machine to be executed or constructed.

Organization or structure of formal elements in a work of art; composition.

the combination of details or features of a picture, building, etc.; the pattern
or motif of artistic work: the design on a bracelet.

The art of designing: a school of design.

A plan or project: a design for a new process.

 Importance of the Engineering Design
Process
• Decisions made in the design process cost very little in terms of the
overall product cost but have a major effect on the cost of the
product.
• You cannot compensate in manufacturing for defects introduced in
the design phase.
• The design process should be conducted carefully, to develop
quality, cost-competitive products in the shortest time possible.
 Types of Design
• Original Design (Innovative Design) – can lead to inventions.
They can disrupt existing technologies and markets. Examples
include the introduction of microprocessor and possible and
possibly mRNA technology in new drug discovery.
• Adaptive Design – when an existing solution is modified to
satisfy a different application.
• Redesign – when an existing design is modified to improve
features – cheaper, less weight, consumes less energy to produce.
• Selection Design – changing components (or vendors) that
enhances performance, reduce cost.
 STEPS IN DESIGN
1. Define the need for the design or a problem statement. Design
becomes easier when problem is well understood.

2. Gathering of information needed to complete the design and

where to acquire this information.
• What do I need to find and where can I find it?
• How reliable is this information?
• How should the information be interpreted for my situation?

3. Generation of Alternative Solutions and evaluating these designs

are vital to successful design. Some are usually better than the
others (in some aspects)
 STEPS IN DESIGN (CONTINUED)
4. Decision making – deciding which alternatives to choose (some
designs may be better than others). Designing does NOT guarantee
that designs will work.

5. Communication of the results is important for the impact and

significance of the work. This communication (oral or written)
needs to happen on a continuous basis between the project
manager and the customer.

6. DESIGN IS AN ITERATIVE PROCESS.

Engineering Design Process(Summary)
 Design Method versus Scientific Method

Adapted from P. H. Hill, The Science of Engineering Design, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York 1970.
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 What is Science (i.e. Research) ?

• Processof creating new, purposeful, generic and valid knowledge:

Systematic study of phenomena of interest

• To develop knowledge: Outcome of research is knowledge

– Purposeful: improves (understanding of) phenomena
– New: not before (different from existing knowledge)
– Generic: applies to multiple things, cases, people…, high reuse value
– Valid: Has some sense of truth; can be demonstrated to be true/false
(observable and falsifiable)
 Learning from Physics

• Systematic study and understanding of physical phenomena

• Leads to knowledge development
- Describes/explains/predicts physical system behavior
• How objects with mass behave – Newtonian Mechanics
• How heat flows from one object to another – Thermodynamics
• F=m.a could predict quantitative values of a due to F applied
• 1st law of thermodynamics: law of conservation of energy
– Generic: Applies to multiple things, cases, people…
• Applied to all systems with inertia
• Applied for all types of heat flow, for all kinds of systems
– Valid: Prediction matched observation
What is Biology?
• Systematic study of biological phenomena
• Develop knowledge
– Purposeful: Describes/explains/predicts biological system
behaviour
• How living systems evolve – Darwinian Theory of Evolution
• How e.g. signals flow from one neuron to another – Neuroscience
– New: Not before
• Theory of evolution explained qualitatively how species evolved
• Neuroscience could explain some aspects of the working of the brain
– Generic: Applies to multiple things, cases, people…
• Applied to all living species
• Applied for all human brains or nerves
– Valid: Has some sense of truth
• Explanation matched observation (within acceptable limit)
 ENGINEERING v SCIENCE
Engineering brings science to the public.
Engineers provide ways to meet needs and wants of society by
inventing or designing new products and processes, or by Improve
existing products and processes.

Design is the essence of engineering. Design is a systematic

process by which solution to the needs of public are satisfied.

Engineering design is the process of converting an idea or market need

into the detailed information from which a product or process can be
produced
 WHAT IS A PRODUCT ?

 A product is an object or system made available for consumer use; it

is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy the desire or
need of a customer.
 In retailing, products are often referred to as merchandise.
 Products are manufactured by converting raw materials to finished
goods.
Commodities, services, insurances are also regarded as products.
 WHAT IS A PROCESS ?
A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a
result.
Manufacturing process is a collection of technologies and methods
used to define how products are to be manufactured.
Chemical or biochemical processes uses equipment that are used to turn
raw materials such as oil, natural gas or milk (using heat, pressure or a
chemical or biochemical agent) into an end product.
 Product Design Specification
(Problem Statement)
Product Identification Market Identification
• Basic functions of the product. • Description of target market and its
size.
• Special features of the product.
• Anticipated market demand (units
• Key performance targets (power per year)
output, efficiency, accuracy).
• Competing products.
• Service environment (use
conditions, storage, • Branding strategy (trademark, logo,
transportation, use and brand name)
predictable misuse). What is the need for a new (or
• User training required. redesigned) product? How much
competition exists for the new
product? What are the relationships
to existing products?
 Product Design Specification
(Problem Statement)
Key Project Deadlines
• Time to complete project.
• Fixed project deadlines (for example, review dates)

Physical Description
What is known (or has already been decided) about the physical
requirements for the new product?
• Design variable values that are known or fixed prior to the
conceptual design process (for example, external dimensions)
• Constraints that determine known boundaries on some design
variables (for example, upper limit on acceptable weight)
 Product Design Specification
(Problem Statement)
Financial Requirements
What are the assumptions of the firm about the economics of the
product and its development?
What are the corporate criteria on profitability?
• Pricing policy over life cycle (target manufacturing cost, price,
estimated retail price, discounts)
• Warranty policy.
• Expected financial performance or rate of return on
investment.
• Level of capital investment required.
 Product Design Specification
(Problem Statement)
Life Cycle Targets
What targets should be set for the performance of the product over time? (This will
relate to the product’s competition.)
What are the most up-to-date recycling policies of the corporation and how can this
product’s design reflect those policies?
• Useful life and shelf life.
• Cost of installation and operation (energy costs, crew size, etc.)
• Maintenance schedule and location (user-performed or service centered)
• Reliability (mean time to failure): Identify critical parts and special reliability
targets for them
• End-of-life strategy (% and type of recyclable components, remanufacture
of the product, company take back, upgrade policy).
 Product Design Specification (Problem
Legal Requirements
Statement)
Are there government agencies, societies, or regulation boards that control the
markets in which this product is to be launched?
Are there opportunities to patent the product or some of its subsystems?
• Safety and environmental regulations. Applicable government regulations
for all intended markets.
• Standards. Pertinent product standards that may be applicable
(Underwriters Laboratories, OSHA).
• Safety and product liability. Predictable unintended uses for the product,
safety label guidelines, applicable company safety standards.
• Intellectual property. Patents related to product. Licensing strategy for
critical pieces of technology.
 Considerations of Good Design
1. Achievement of Performance Requirements
2. Life-Cycle Issues
3. Social and Regulatory Issues
 DESIGN CONCEPTS
• From problem definition and product dissection you develop a set of
concepts and select the most promising concepts.
• Develop product and process function structures – you might to
decompose the function into smaller units that are easier to manage.
• Combine ideas into concept where each concept satisfies one or
more functions.
• Consolidate the concepts by how well each concept is likely to satisfy
the functions and other requirements.
 Creativity Techniques for a Design
• The motivation for applying any creativity
technique to a design task is to generate as many
ideas as possible.
• Once an initial pool of concepts for alternative
designs exists, these alternatives can be reviewed
more critically.
• The goal becomes sorting out infeasible ideas.
 Checklist to Aid in Brainstorming
Proposed Change Description
Substitute What if used in a different material, process, person, power source,
place, or approach?
Combine Could I combine units, purposes, or ideas?
Adapt What else is like this? What other idea does it suggest? Does the
past offer a parallel? What can I copy?
Modify, magnify, Could I add a new twist? Could I change the meaning, color,
minify motion, form, or shape? Could I add something? Make stronger,
higher, longer, thicker? Could I subtract something?
Put to other uses Are there new ways to use this as is? If I modify it, does it have
other uses?
Eliminate Can I remove a part, function, person without affecting outcome?
Rearrange, reverse Could I interchange components? Could I use a different layout or
sequence? What if I transpose cause and effect? Could I
transpose positive and negative? What if I turn it backward, upside
down, or inside out?
 Behavioral Aspects of Decision Making
Behavioral psychology provides an understanding of the influence of risk
taking in individuals and teams.
Making a decision is a stressful situation for most people because there is
no way to be certain about the information about the past or the
predictions of the future.
This psychological stress arises from at least two sources:
• Decision makers are concerned about the material and social losses
that will result from either course of action that is chosen.
• They recognize that their reputations and self-esteem as competent
decision makers are at stake.
Steps to Making a Good Decision
• The objectives of a decision must be established first.
• The objectives are classified as to importance.
• Alternative actions are developed.
• The alternatives are evaluated against the objectives.
• The choice of the alternative that holds the best promise of
achieving all of the objectives represents the tentative decision.
• The tentative decision is explored for future possible adverse
consequences.
• The effects of the final decision are controlled by taking other
actions to prevent possible adverse consequences from becoming
problems and by making sure that the actions decided on are
carried out.
Engineering Design Process(Summary)
Different stages during product development

• A generally accepted model of the product

development process:

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 Phases 0 – Business Development
• The planning that should be done before the approval of the product
development project.
• Determine the scope of project, potential market, cost analysis,
technical and manufacturing feasibility.
• Involves personnel from various departments within the organization
– marketing, design (technical), manufacturing, legal, and finance.
 Phase 1- Concept Development
• Considers different ways the product can be designed
• Development team develops (from data from Phase 0) product design
specification (PDS).
• Need to come up with several feasible concepts and determine which
is best suited for the product.
• This process is important – without excellent concept you cannot
have a great product.
 PHASE 2 – EMBODIMENT DESIGN
• In this phase, the form and features of the product begin to take shape.
• Various functions of the product are examined leading to the division of
products into various subsystem.
• Alternate ways of arranging the subsystems in product architecture are
studied.
• Material selection, manufacturing process, configurations, and product
dimensions are established.
• This is the step where ergonomic features are finalized.
 PHASE 3 – DETAIL DESIGN
• Complete Engineering description of the product is finalized.
• Dimensions, tolerances, properties, and manufacturing properties of
each part is detailed.
• Also need to decide if the development will be inhouse or
outsourced?
• Develop protocols for quality assurance process to check product
quality.
• Drawings of actual product parts are laid out using CAD.
• Final review of all particulars are done in this phase.
 PHASE 4 – FINAL TESTING AND
REFINEMENT
• Involves producing and testing many pre-production version of the
products.
• Need to determine if the product will actually work as intended.
• Whether customer needs will be met.
• In this phase, prototypes are usually made with production-intent parts.
• There is extensive in-house testing as well as by selected customers in their
own settings.
• At the end of this phase, the product is set for final ramped up production.
 PHASE 5- PRODUCTION RAMP UP
• Production begins using manufacturing and assembly operations using the
intended product systems.
• Even at this stage there will be kinks (likely production and quality issues)
and will involve a learning curve.
• Initially the products are sent to selected customers who will provide
critical feedback. These feedbacks are incorporated to make continual
improvements.
• This final improvement/review could take between 6-12 months. At the
end of this review the product is devoid of any drawback.
• This is also the time to look at final pricing (we will look at this in detail
later on).
 FACTORS FOR SUCCESS
• Price = Product Price − Product Cost
• Key factors to success
The quality, performance, and price of the product.
The cost to manufacture the product over its life cycle.
The cost of product development.
The time needed to bring the product to the market.

• Quality attributes include reliability, easy to use.

• Needs to be better than what is available in the market today.
 FACTORS FOR SUCCESS
• Product Cost decreases with time with improvements in the
production process.
• Reducing production time will add to the life of the product in the
market place.
• First product to market (or early to market) leads to increased market
share and greater profits.
• Outperforms the competition.
• Meets and exceeds customer needs.
Engineering Design Process(Summary)
 Problem Definition

• Product Development begins by determining what the needs are that a

product must meet – cost, safety, effectiveness
• Problem definition is the most important of these steps in the P D P.
• Understanding any problem thoroughly is crucial to reaching an outstanding
solution.
• The problem definition process is mainly the need identification step.
 Description of a Terms in Product Development
Design Parameters:
• Parameters are a set of physical properties whose values determine
the form and behavior of a design.

Design Variable:
• A design variable is a parameter over which the design team has a
choice.

Constraints:
• A design parameter whose value has been fixed becomes a constraint
during the design process.
 Preliminary Research on Customers’ Needs
In a large company, the research on customer needs for a particular product or for
the development of a new product is done using a number of formal methods and
by different business units.
The initial work may be done by:
• Marketing department specialist.
• Team made up of marketing and design professionals.

Designers focus on need that are:

• Unmet in the marketplace.
• Products that are similar to the proposed product.
• Historical ways of meeting the need.
• Technological approaches to engineering similar products of the type under
consideration.
Issues to be Addressed in Product Design
• Types of decisions involved in product design and
development
• Product design decisions : What to make?
• Process design decisions : How to make?
• Business decisions : Do we want to make?
• Management decisions : How to do it efficiently?
• An approach (paradigm) for product design and
development is needed to organize the activities and
tasks in a systematic manner

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Gathering Information from Customers

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Market Situation and Potential Customers
• What desires and needs do the new product address?
• What are the potential customers doing now?
- Nothing
- Using a different product
- Using a product from competition that is similar to the
proposed product
• Understand the nature of the industry.
• Who are the key players and individuals in the industry?
• Are there potential partners in each phase of product
development?
• How satisfied are the potential customers with the existing
products?
• How hard will it be to get them to change to the new product?
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 Design Point of View of Customer
Requirements
• Designers must compile a ranked listing of what customers need and want
from the product being designed.
• Know the buying patterns of the customer.
• Performance deals with what the design should do when it is completed
and in operation.
• The time dimension includes all time aspects of the design.
• Cost pertains to all monetary aspects of the design.
• Quality is a complex characteristic with many aspects and definitions.
 Types of Design Information
Customer Surveys & Feedback, Marketing Data
Related Designs Specs & Drawings for previous versions
Similar designs of competitors
Analysis Methods Handbooks, Textbooks, Monographs, Technical Reports, Specialized
computer programs
Materials Performance in past designs, Properties
Manufacturing Capability of Processes, Capacity analysis
Manufacturing sources, Assembly methods
Cost Cost history, Current material & manufacturing costs
Standard Components Availability & Quality of vendors, Size & Technical Data
Technical standards I S O, A S T M, Company specific
Governmental Regulations Performance-based, Safety requirements

Life Cycle issues Maintenance/service feedback, Reliability/quality/warranty data

Embodiment Design in P D P

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 Introduction
We have divided the embodiment phase of design lectures into three
groups of:
• Product Architecture:
• Arranging the physical elements of a design in order to carry out it’s functions
• Setting the arrangement of the physical elements of the design into groupings,
called modules.

• Configuration Design:
• The design of special-purpose parts and the selection of standard components,
like pumps or motors.

• Parametric Design:
• Determining the exact values, dimensions, or tolerances of the components or
component features that are deemed critical-to-quality.
 Product Architecture
Product architecture is the arrangement of the physical elements of a
product to carry out its required functions.
A product’s architecture is related to its function structure.
A product’s architecture is selected to establish the best system for
functional success once a design concept has been chosen.
There are two entirely opposite styles of product architecture:
• Modular.
• Integral.
 Configuration Design
• In configuration design we establish the shape and general dimensions
of components.
• Exact dimensions and tolerances are established in parametric design.
• The term component is used in the generic sense to include special-
purpose parts, standard parts, and standard assemblies.
• A part is characterized by its geometric features such as holes, slots,
walls, ribs, projections, fillets, and chamfers.
• The arrangement of features includes both the location and orientation
of the geometric features
Possible Configurations of Features
• Four possible configurations of features for a right-
angle bracket:
 Design for Reliability and Safety

• Reliability is a measurement of the ability of a component or system to

operate without interruption of service or failure in the service
environment.
• Durability is the amount of use that a person gets out of a product
before it deteriorates.(it is a measure of the product lifetime)
• Safety involves designing products tat will not injure people or damage
property.
• A safe design is one that instills confidence in the customer and does
not incur product liability costs.
 Dimensions
Dimensions are used on engineering drawing to specify size, location,
and orientation of features of components.
Dimensions are as important as the geometric information that is
conveyed by the drawing.
Each drawing must contain the following information:
• The size of each feature.
• The relative position between features.
• The required precision(tolerance) of sizing and positioning features.
• The type of material, and how it should be processed to obtain its
expected mechanical properties.
 Tolerances
• A tolerance is the acceptable variation in the dimension.
• Tolerances must be placed on a dimension or geometric feature of a part to
limit the permissible variations in size because it is impossible to repeatedly
manufacture a part exactly to a given dimension.

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 Industrial Design
Industrial design, also often called just product design, is concerned
with the visual appearance of the product and the way it interfaces
with the customer.
Industrial design deals chiefly with the aspects of a product that
relate to the user:
• Aesthetics appeal:
• Aesthetics deal with the interaction of the product with the
human senses.

• Ergonomics (usability):
• This activity deals with the user interactions with the product and
making sure that it is easy to use and maintain.
8.9 Human Factors Design
What is human factors design?
 Human Factors Design

• Human factors is the study of the interaction between people, the

products and systems they use, and the environments in which they
work and live.
• This field also is described by the terms human factors engineering and
ergonomics.
• Human factors design applies information about human characteristics
to the creation of objects, facilities, and environments that people use.
• Human factors expertise is found in industrial designers, who focus on
ease of use of products, and in industrial.
• Engineers, who focus on design of production systems for productivity.
 Human Physical Effort
• Measurement of the physical effort that a man could perform in
the manual handling of materials (shoveling coal) and supplies
was one of the first studies made in human factors engineering.

Correspondence Between Human Factors Characteristics &

Product Performance

Product Performance Human Factors Characteristic

Comfortable to use Good match between product and person in the
workspace
Easy to use Requires minimal human power; clarity of use
Operating condition easily sensed Human sensing
Product is user-friendly Control logic is natural to the human
 Design for Serviceability

Serviceability is concerned with the ease with which maintenance can

be performed on a product.
There are two general classes of maintenance:
• Preventive maintenance is routine service required to prevent
operating failures, such as changing the oil in your car.
• Breakdown maintenance is the service that must take place after some
failure or decline in function has occurred.
 Design for Packaging

• Packaging is related to visual aesthetics because attractive,

distinctive product packaging is typically used to attract
customers and to identify product brands.
• Packaging provides physical protection against mechanical
shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures in shipping and
storage.
• Different packaging is required for liquids, gases and powders
than for solid objects.
• A shipping package provides information about the recipient,
tracking information, instructions regarding hazardous materials,
and disposal.
 Life-Cycle Design

The worldwide concern over global warming coupled with concerns

over energy supply and stability have moved design for the
environment (D F E) to a top consideration in design for all types of
engineering systems and consumer products.
The major issues of life-cycle design are:
• Design for packaging and shipping.
• Design for serviceability and maintenance.
• Design for testability.
• Design for disposal.