Innovation In Engineering Design And Education

This paper explores innovative approaches to both the engineering design process as well as education regarding engineering design.First, the engineering design process is discussed as a distinct two stage procedure involving (a) architectural design, and (b) subsystem design.The steps in these two stages are articulated and examined.Innovative aspects of the engineering design process are then discussed in terms of some of the ways of "thinking outside the box", as set forth by the author.These ways include (1) broaden and generalize, (2) crossover, (3) question conventional wisdom, (4) back of the envelope, (5) expanding dimensions, (6) removal of constraints, and (7) the systems approach.The final issue involves carrying these notions into education approaches to the engineering design.Examples are provided that demonstrate and explore how these innovative approaches have been used and how they might be expanded. THE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESSEngineers have been designing systems for a very long time.Accordingly, we have studied the design process itself for many years.A relatively recent way to describe that process is to confirm that it is, or should be, a distinctly two step procedure: architectural design followed by subsystem design.The latter has been more-or-less taken as axiomatic.The former has been somewhat controversial, taking different shapes over the years.For example, Buede 1 has cited the following as the five functions of the engineering design of a system: