Engineering Design: A Foundation for a 21st Century Renaissance

Abstract

Engineers understand well the importance of design as the culmination of the engineering process, the ultimate application of science and technology to meet the needs of society. As such, engineering design is an intellectual endeavor very similar to that encountered in the creative arts, but distinguished by its rigor and use of scientific and technological tools. Unlike research, which attempts to induce general conclusions from specific experiences, engineering design is a rigorous deductive process that develops a specific solution to meet a specific need from a general set of principles. Engineering design is a far more general, powerful, and disciplined approach than mere invention. In addition to innovation, ingenuity, and creativity, design requires great skill and training. It is not an activity left to happenstance, to accidental discovery. Rather, engineering design is approached with the disciplined methodology of engineering problem solving.