Which One Should I Pick? Concept Selection in Engineering Design Industry

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine A. Toh ◽  
Lisa M. Miele ◽  
Scarlett R. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Creative Process ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Formal Concept ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
Design Concepts

There has been a wealth of research focused on methods for encouraging creativity during the conceptual design process due to the innate importance of creativity in engineering design. However, much of the research has focused on creativity in student designers, often neglecting to consider how professional designers perceive creativity — particularly during concept selection. In addition, while there are many formal concept selection techniques that have been adopted in design practice, it is unknown what specific types of tools professional designers use to select design concepts or the importance designers place on creativity during this selection process. In order to address this research void, an exploratory study was conducted with 27 professional designers using an online survey to understand their perceptions of creativity and the use of concept selection techniques in design industry. The results of this study are used to identify the factors that effect concept selection and increase our understanding of the creative process in engineering design industry.

My Idea Is Best! Ownership Bias and its Influence on Engineering Concept Selection

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine A. Toh ◽  
Arti H. Patel ◽  
Andrew A. Strohmetz ◽  
Scarlett R. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Final Design ◽  
Process Factors ◽  
The Impact

Concept selection is considered one of the most crucial components of the engineering design process because the direction of the final design is largely determined at this stage. One of the most widely utilized techniques for filtering designs during this process involves informal review meetings where team members identify the designs that most closely satisfy the design goals. While this is often seen as an efficient process, factors such as ownership bias, or an unintentional preference for an individuals’ own ideas, and team member personality attributes may impact an individual’s decision-making process. However, few studies have explored the impact of these factors on concept selection. Therefore, an empirical study was conducted with 37 engineering students in order to investigate the effect of these attributes on the selection or filtering of design concepts in engineering education. The results from this study show that personality impacts the proportion of ideas selected, and that male students tend to select more of their own ideas (ownership bias) than their female counterparts who more often select their team member’s concepts. These results add to our understanding of the factors that impact the team concept selection process and provide empirical evidence of the occurrence of ownership bias in engineering design education.

A Novel Method for Providing Global Assessments of Design Concepts Using Single-Word Adjectives and Semantic Similarity

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Gosnell ◽  
Scarlett R. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Semantic Similarity ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Rating Process ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Design Idea ◽  
Gold Standards

Engineering design idea-generation sessions often result in dozens, if not hundreds, of ideas. These ideas must be quickly evaluated and filtered in order to select a few candidate concepts to move forward in the design process. While creativity is often stressed in the conceptual phases of design, it receives little attention in these later phases — particularly during concept selection. This is largely because there are no methods for quickly rating or identifying worthwhile creative concepts during this process. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and test a novel method for evaluating the creativity and feasibility of design concepts and compare this method to gold standards in our field. The SCAT method employed in this paper uses word selections and semantic similarity to quickly and effectively evaluate candidate concepts for their creativity and feasibility. This method requires little knowledge of the rating process by the evaluator. We tested this method with 10 engineering designers and three different design tasks. Our results revealed that SCAT ratings can be used as a proxy for measuring design concepts but there are modifications that could enhance its utility. This work contributes to our understanding of how to evaluate creativity after idea generation and provides a framework for further research in this field.

Development and Application of a Patent-Based Design Around Process

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeh-Liang Hsu ◽  
Po-Er Hsu ◽  
Yung-Chieh Hung ◽  
Ya-Dan Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Patent Analysis ◽  
Patent Infringement ◽  
Design Matrix ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Patent Information ◽  
Design Methodologies ◽  
Function Matrix

This research proposes a patent-based design process by systematically integrating patent information, the rules of patent infringement judgment, strategies of designing around patents, and innovation design methodologies. The purpose of the process is to systematically generate new design concepts that are local variations of one of the concerned patents but does not infringe with existing patents. The basic idea is to consider patent infringement before engineering design concepts are actually generated. In this process, first the designer conducts standard patent analysis to identify the related patents to be designed around. Each patent is then symbolized by a “design matrix” converted from the technology/function matrix of the patent. A design-around algorithm is developed to generate a new design matrix that does not infringe with design matrices of existing patents. Then the new design matrix is transformed back into a real engineering design using the “contradiction matrix” in TRIZ. A computerized design-around tool based on the innovative patent-based design process is also developed.

An Approach Toward Developing Metrics to Predict Performance and Creativity of Final Products in Project-Based Design Class

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun Takai ◽  
Ashok Midha ◽  
Marcos Esterman
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Analysis ◽  
Product Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Early Stages

This paper investigates metrics to predict performance and creativity of final products at the early stages of product design, i.e., at concept selection and proof-of-concept (POC) prototyping. Three deliverables (concept sketches, POC prototypes, and final products) in a project-based design class are evaluated using Creative Product Semantic Scale (CPSS). Then, CPSS scores are analyzed using correlation analysis to find CPSS of concept sketches or POC prototypes that significantly correlate with CPSS or performance of final products. The preliminary results of this paper indicate that CPSS subscales may be used to predict performance and creativity of final products; that the earlier the stage of the design process is, the more difficult it is to predict performance of final products; and that building fully-functional prototypes is important to test performance of design concepts.

Development of a Design for Manufacturing Rules Database for Use in Instruction of DFM Practices

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Phelan ◽  
Crystal Wilson ◽  
Joshua D. Summers
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Design For Manufacturing ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Design For X ◽  
Database Model ◽  
Engineering Design Process ◽  
Modern Engineering ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Is Design

In recent years, there has been a significant push towards “Design for X” (DFX) in modern engineering design practice. One such category that has received a large amount of attention is design for manufacturing. When conducting design for manufacturing, a common tool to assist in the design process is design for a series of design for manufacturing guidelines. While the use of these guidelines, as well as other DFX guidelines, has been shown to be effective, little research has been done with the intent to standardize the guidelines or make them more readily available. In this paper, the authors propose a Design for Manufacturing database tool to assist in the instruction of design for manufacturing guidelines. The development of the database model is discussed, as well as the interface that is used to interact with the database. The tool is then evaluated and conclusions are made with regards to the effectiveness of the database and any future work to increase the functionality. One major addition that is discussed is the adaptation of the database for use in industry, and not just in education, to assist in the engineering design process.

scholarly journals The cognitive experience of engineering design: an examination of first-year student stress across principal activities of the engineering design process

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Nolte ◽  
Christopher McComb
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Physical Modelling ◽  
Design Activity ◽  
Concept Generation ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
Student Stress ◽  
Engineering Design Process ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
Cognitive Experience

Abstract The engineering design process can produce stress that endures even after it has been completed. This may be particularly true for students who engage with the process as novices. However, it is not known how individual components of the design process induce stress in designers. This study explored the cognitive experience of introductory engineering design students during concept generation, concept selection and physical modelling to identify stress signatures for these three design activities. Data were collected for the design activities using pre- and post-task surveys. Each design activity produced distinct markers of cognitive experience and a unique stress signature that was stable across design activity themes. Rankings of perceived sources of stress also differed for each design activity. Students, however, did not perceive any physiological changes due to the stress of design for any of the design activities. Findings indicate that physical modelling was the most stressful for students, followed by concept generation and then concept selection. Additionally, recommendations for instructors of introductory engineering design courses were provided to help them apply the results of this study. Better understanding of the cognitive experience of students during design can support instructors as they learn to better teach design.

scholarly journals Designing a mobile makerspace: A strategy for increasing diversity by offering engineering outreach workshops to underrepresented youth

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Compeau
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Engineering Design Process ◽  
Design Build ◽  
Underrepresented Youth ◽  
Engineering Outreach ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Physical Spaces

Makerspaces, physical spaces that provide access to fabrication tools, technologies, and resources, are potentially changing the way educators envision teaching and learning. The purpose of this poster is to illustrate how an engineering design process is being used to help guide Connections Engineering Outreach to design, build, implement, and evaluate a mobile makerspace. One of the objectives of the mobile makerspace is to provide outreach workshops to underrepresented and underserviced groups in an attempt to increasing the diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Since January 2018, the mobile makerspace has delivered workshops to approximately 2000 students in Grades 3-8. Preliminary results from an online survey indicate that the workshops provided high levels of student engagement and opportunities to learn about STEM. Interview results also suggest that the workshops are helping build the capacity of educators towards using makerspace technology. This project is yet to complete one full cycle of the engineering design process and will be conducting on-going program evaluation

Implementing Creativity Evaluation Tools Into the Concept Selection Process in Engineering Education

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Starkey ◽  
Christopher A. Gosnell ◽  
Scarlett R. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Selection Method ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
Design Creativity ◽  
Design Students ◽  
Study Teams ◽  
Expert Ratings

In design research, creativity assessment methods have been studied to obtain quantitative measurements of design novelty and feasibility for use in the concept selection process. However, little research exists that studies the application and implementation of these tools by engineering students on grade-dependent class projects. In this study, teams of undergraduate engineering design students evaluated their own early product sketches using informal team discussions, a creativity scale and our Tool for Assessing Semantic Creativity (TASC) adjective selection method. The resulting evaluations were compared and contrasted with evaluations obtained from the widely adopted Shah Vargas-Hernandez and Smith (SVS) method and expert ratings. These findings demonstrate that our TASC adjective selection method of evaluating design creativity is tapping into similar constructs of creativity as informal team discussions and expert evaluations. They also indicate that the SVS method does not appear to be evaluating creativity as perceived by engineering design students or experts. The results of this study can be used to understand how students make decisions during the concept selection process and how tools can be developed or implemented in the classroom setting to aid in this process.

Risky Business: The Driving Factors of Creative Risk Taking Attitudes in Engineering Design Industry

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuan Zheng ◽  
Scarlett R. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Driving Factors ◽  
Years Of Experience ◽  
Great Cost ◽  
Fuzzy Front End ◽  
Front End

Designing breakthrough products comes at a great cost to the design industry due to the risk and uncertainties associated with creative ideas. However, without creative ideas, there is no potential for innovation. As such, companies need to appropriately embrace the risk associated with creative concepts in the fuzzy front end of the design process in order to build their value. While previous research has linked risk taking attitudes to creative idea generation and selection in engineering design education, there has been limited research focused on engineering design professionals’ creative risk taking attitude and the corresponding driving factors. This is problematic because without this knowledge we do not know what factors inhibit or promote the flow of creative ideas in engineering design industry. In order to address this gap, a preliminary online survey was conducted with 46 design professionals from a global manufacturing company to understand the potential driving factors of creative risk taking, including educational training, job type (R&D, applied engineering, or management), and years of experience. The results suggest that there is a relationship between employee education level and years of experience and an engineering employee’s willingness to take risks on creative ideas in the fuzzy front end of the design process. Interestingly, the results also show that those individuals primarily responsible for the development (R&D) and selection (management) of creative ideas tend to be more financially risk averse than individuals in traditional engineering positions. These results contribute to the prediction of professionals’ design behaviors and have implications for the management of creative ideas in the early conceptual design stages of engineering design industry.

A Case Study in Challenging Engineering Requirements

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth R. Crouch ◽  
Gregory M. Mocko
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Conceptual Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
A Value ◽  
Value Model

Requirements are an essential element to engineering design as they are used to focus idea generation during conceptual design, provide criteria for decision making during concept selection, and verify the chosen concept fulfills product needs. Because they are essential to the entire design process, emphasis must be placed on ensuring that they are correct. This research focuses on a value-based methodology useful for challenging and validating established requirements. A case study was conducted on an industry-sponsored project to use this value-based process on the requirements that constrain the design of an automotive seat. A human anthropomorphic model, comfort value model, occupant safety model, and a model of an automotive seat are integrated to establish an H-point travel window to maximize the safety and comfort of an automotive seating structure. This case study shows that this approach provides evidence to establish requirements based on value to the human rather than legacy seating requirements.

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