The paper surveys design methodology, the science of methods of design. It discusses the aims of design methodology as well as objections to it. The various sources of design methodology are reviewed. The nature and structure of the design process are outlined. An organised presentation is given of methods of design concept generation. Finally the evaluation and decision steps in design are briefly analysed. In conclusion the authors state their contention that design methodology is a useful contribution to design.

Review of design methodology

This descriptive study examined the current status of technology education teacher practices with respect to engineering design. Participants were drawn from the current International Technology Education Association (ITEA) high school teacher membership database. A survey instrument gathered data about the extent to which engineering design concepts are incorporated into the curriculum content, and assessment practices employed by secondary technology educators. Moreover, the survey identified challenges faced by technology educators when seeking to implement engineering design. Current curriculum content that addresses engineering design concepts consisted of the following seven subsets: (a) engineering design, (b) engineering analysis, (c) application of engineering design, (d) engineering communication, (e) design thinking, (f) engineering and human values, and (g) engineering science. The instrument was developed from current research in technology education that has identified curricular goals, content recommended for teaching an engineering design focused program at the high school level, appropriate assessment practices for evaluating engineering design projects, and perceived challenges facing teachers implementing engineering design content (Asunda & Hill, 2007; Rhodes & Childress, 2006; Smith, 2006; Gattie & Wicklein, 2007). A composite score of total instructional hours was generated for each of the seven engineering design categories by combining the mean scores of frequency of use and time per typical use. These composite score results revealed that the categories engineering design, design thinking related to engineering design, and engineering communications were greatly emphasized in secondary technology education programs. The study results also indicated that engineering and human values, engineering science, and engineering analysis were the least emphasized categories in technology education curriculum content. The results of technology education teacher practices revealed that little emphasis has been place on assessing mathematical models to predict design results. INDEX WORDS: Engineering design, Technology Education, Pre-Engineering, K-12 Engineering, Project Lead the Way EXAMINATION OF ENGINEERING DESIGN IN CURRICULUM CONTENT AND ASSESSMENT PRACTICES OF SECONDARY TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

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Examination of Engineering Design in Curriculum Content and Assessment Practices of Secondary Technology Education

Systems engineering is currently characterized by conflicting and contradictory opinions on its nature. The paper begins by describing the evolution of systems engineering in the National Council on Systems Engineering (NCOSE)/ International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and the difficulty in defining and differentiating systems engineering as a discipline. The paper then identifies and discusses six different and somewhat contradictory camps or perspectives of systems engineering. After identifying the cause of the contradictions the paper suggests one way to reconcile the camps is to dissolve the problem to distinguish between the activity known as systems engineering and the role of the systems engineer with a return to the old pre-NCOSE systems engineering paradigm. The paper then continues by testing the hypothesis and shows that systems engineering is a discipline that can be differentiated from other disciplines. However, it is not a traditional engineering discipline. Systems engineering in NCOSE/INCOSE Systems engineers have had a problem, not only explaining what they do, to other people but also defining it amongst themselves since the early 1990's. The baseline for this research however began at the 1994 symposium of the NCOSE, where presenter after presenter opened their presentation with a definition of systems engineering and each definition was different. However, when each presenter continued by describing the functions performed by systems engineers, they talked about planning, organizing, directing and controlling; the traditional functions of management (Fayol, 1949) page 8). When asked what systems engineers did, their answers were also different. These observations in 1994 triggered a research program into the nature of systems engineering and its overlap with project management which began with an analysis of the activities or functions performed by systems engineers. The initial research showed that there seemed to be no unique body of knowledge to systems engineering and that all of the activities performed by systems engineers, apart from possibly requirements and interfaces, were also performed by other types of engineers (Kasser, 1996). The paper concluded with ―systems engineering is a discipline created to compensate for the lack of strategic technical knowledge and experience by middle and project managers in organizations functioning according to Taylor's "Principles of Scientific Management‖. Subsequent research into the nature of systems engineering included a literature review of text books published between 1959 and 2009 starting with (Goode and Machol, 1959) as well as the proceedings of all the international

Yes systems engineering, you are a discipline

This article investigates the origins, goals, and outcomes of modern design-based engineering education in the USA by analyzing an interdisciplinary project that asked students to collaboratively prepare for nuclear holocaust. Project NOAH, conducted at Harvey Mudd College, a pioneering institution in student-centered engineering education, generated national publicity and established an approach to design pedagogy that was observed, appropriated, and developed in parallel elsewhere. In addition to an exploration of the Cold War transformations of the meaning of design in US engineering education, Project NOAH offers three insights for today's efforts to cultivate students’ design imagination. First, it reveals how the project's creators conceived of interdisciplinary problem-based design education as “good” engineering amid competing institutional, pedagogical, and societal contestations about the future of the profession. Second, it highlights the persistence of individual and collective tensions encoun...

“Suppose the World Were Already Lost”: Worst Case Design and the Engineering Imagination at Harvey Mudd College

The need for developing propulsion systems to support missions of increased endurance for autonomous underwater vehicles is investigated and a conceptual system is proposed, based on currently available technology and desired system characteristics. The investigation evaluates and ranks alternative energy sources and proposes the use of a closed Brayton cycle gas turbine power plant using a chemical energy heat source with a metallic fuel. A thruster system using electric propulsion motors and screw propellers is selected. Evaluation factors include reliability, depth independent operation, weight, endurance, quietness and efficiency. Reliability of the proposed system is analyzed and the design modified to meet proposed reliability requirements. A knowledge-based system is developed to manage the operation of the propulsion plant in an autonomous manner. A simulation system is developed using Common Lisp and the operation of the propulsion plant and its knowledge-based management system are evaluated using the simulator.

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Warren Elvin Wilson

Papers

Concepts of engineering system design.