Review of Engineering Design, by Rudolph J. EggertEngineering DesignPearson Education, Inc.$82.67

Abstract

One of the more difficult tasks in engineering education is to effectively teach the concept of “design.” The design process is very broad and involves a wide range of activities, from abstract thinking to detailed modeling and calculations. In Engineering Design, author Rudolph J. Eggert presents a well-structured and thorough overview of engineering design concepts and methods. A major strength of this book is the presentation of the overall design process, the illustration of the systematic concepts that are involved in every phase of design, and definitions of the terms that are used in design. The author has experience with various organizations, including General Electric, Fisher-Price Toys, Wurlitzer, and the New York State Energy and Development Authority, and that experience with the design process no doubt contributed to the effective organization of this text. The author states that this is a text for undergraduate or firstyear graduate engineering students. He also states that the book has a focus of integrating engineering design with topics about the business of manufacturing. This reviewer teaches civil engineering. In my opinion this textbook might be particularly appropriate for use in senior-level capstone design courses. It is my observation that engineering educators are very good at teaching the science of design. By this I mean they are good at making appropriate engineering calculations once a design concept has been established. However, the more abstract processes of design, such as developing an initial design concept or working with customers, are not as easy to teach. The strength of this textbook is its presentation of a coherent structure for understanding the more abstract processes. In this book Rudolph Eggert provides a systematic description for every phase of the design process. Chapter 3 gives an example of the design of a motorcycle that clearly illustrates the steps involved in developing design concepts. Other examples in the text also use items that students can relate to, including the design of a coffee pot and the manufacturing of bicycles. The discussion of customer satisfaction curves, in Chapters 3 and 8, is particularly useful in terms of providing the basis for the concepts of performance functions and ultimately multicriteria decision analysis techniques. These tools provide a basis for both guiding decisions as well as documenting decisions made during the design process. Chapter 10 covers topics of design failure, safety, and environment that it is crucial to present to engineering students. Finally, Chapter 14 on Projects, Teamwork, and Ethics has some very useful material. While I believe that this would be a textbook strongly worth considering for an engineering capstone design course, as a civil engineer I would have liked some detailed examples of design that relate to large, one-of-a-kind projects. While the material