The Engineering Design Process is a systematic, iterative problem-solving method that produces solutions to meet human needs and wants.
Learning Objectives
Apply the steps of the design process, including defining a problem, brainstorming, researching and generating ideas, identifying criteria, specifying constraints, exploring possibilities, selecting an approach, developing a design proposal, making a model or prototype, testing, and communicating results.
Engineers apply their in-depth understanding of scientific and mathematical subjects to design and create devices, structures and systems that improve our lives. While scientists investigate what already exists and discover new knowledge by peering into the unknown, engineers create what has not been—they make things that have never existed before. Engineering teams follow the steps of the engineering design process: understand the need/problem, brainstorm different designs, select the best design, make a plan, create and test a prototype(s), and improve it until a satisfactory solution is achieved. The process is iterative and cyclical. It may begin at, and return to, any step.
The steps of the engineering design process as we have learned them in our Technology Education class are:
The+Engineering+Design+ProcessOverview