Identifying and solving problems in engineering design

Abstract

This paper describes some aspects of a short course in problem-solving devised by the authors for first-year chemical engineering undergraduates at Imperial College. The main features of the course are: (1) a distinction is made between the process and the product of design; (2) the process is, nonetheless, not divorced from the professional engineering context; (3) emphasis is placed on the diversity of solutions produced for a given problem; (4) students are taught to take professional responsibility for the definition of the design problems they undertake and to agree criteria of satisfactory completion with their clients; (5) the presentation of a design solution is itself seen as a design problem; (6) throughout, students work in groups as a design team rather than as individuals. The course takes the form of 26 contact hours spread over two weeks of afternoons. The intention is that the conventions and procedures learned by the students should be carried over into subsequent design and related projects throughout the rest of their undergraduate course and hence into their subsequent professional careers.