The engineering process is the sequence of steps that engineers use in order to design and build products. There are many models of the engineering process, with less or more steps however most follow a similar sequence. In this article, we will look at a nine-step engineering design process that engineers employ to tackle specific problems.
The first step in the process of engineering design is to identify the issue. This is an essential process, as failing to clearly and accurately define the issue can cause delays at a later time in the design process. Sometimes, the solution to a problem will naturally arise at this point. For instance when students were tasked to design a method to hold their school lunch hooks on the bottom of their desks they came up with an easy solution of fixing a hook to the bottom of the desk.
The next step is to perform a requirements analysis in order to identify the exact requirements of the customer and the available resources. This will help you create a specific set of project requirements and constraints. For example the case where a customer requires their new product to be able to hold 20 pounds The engineer will determine how much weight the system is able to support and what the size of the hook must be to ensure it can accommodate all of the student’s full lunches.
The next phase is design synthesis, also known as design planning, and is where the specifics are established and a detailed design of the product is designed. This involves establishing the inputs and outputs of the various modules that comprise the system, and their interconnections. The tools used during this phase include Gantt and Pert charts as well as spreadsheets for loading resources sketches, drawings, and proof-of-concept models.