Special session: Learning design thinking using engineering case studies

Abstract

The dominant mode for teaching engineers about design thinking is project-based learning. We give students things to design — individually or in teams, and then evaluate the products they produce. But another way to learn about engineering design is to study real-world examples. Case studies provide one way to do so. Cases have been used in schools of business for many years; the case study method is the primary approach for MBA programs at schools like Harvard Business School and the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. In this special session, we will examine several case studies used in a course Fundamentals of Design Thinking taught at the University of Virginia. These focus on individual engineers and architects as well as the companies they have founded: Dave Kelley (IDEO), Dean Kamen (DEKA), Oliver Kuttner (Edison 2), Bill McDonough (William McDonough + partners), and Evan and Eric Edwards (Kaleo). The cases concern the personalities and motivations of the key players in each organization, the structure and culture of the organization, the types of products designed, and their impact on contemporary society. We will illustrate the use of cases with two examples: one focused on a successful company and the other on a particular product design. Then we will briefly discuss cases concerned with ethical issues, product liability and intellectual property.