Engineering Design Activities Research Articles

What's the catch? Trade-off challenges in early design for sustainability

AbstractTrade-offs involving multiple criteria that cannot be satisfied at the same time are ubiquitous in engineering design activities. Navigating trade-off decisions can be challenging, especially when it comes to sustainability-related decisions in early-stage projects. Through a systematic literature review, we unravel the challenges related to sustainability trade-offs in technology development, concept design, and other front-end of innovation activities. The challenges, which were evaluated by experts from industry and academia, range from technical and organisational to psychological aspects.

Exploring epistemic aspects of engineering for K–12 science and engineering education

AbstractBackgroundSince the advent of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there has been an increasing focus on engineering in K–12 education. As educators and researchers have gained a better understanding of the nature of engineering in the decade following the release of the NGSS, there are new opportunities for growth and complexity.PurposeThis study used an epistemological approach to seek insights from experts in the science and engineering communities about the prominent aspects of engineering for K–12 education.Design/MethodThis mixed‐methods study employed a three‐round Delphi study and a focus group meeting to elicit experts' opinions on the epistemic aspects of engineering that could shed light on the nature of engineering knowledge and practices. Constructivist grounded theory methodology was used to identify preliminary themes concerning the epistemic aspects of engineering and then to develop main themes by combining relevant themes together.ResultsThe analysis process yielded 21 preliminary themes that reflect key ideas about the engineering knowledge base, engineering design activities, and values and norms of the engineering community. Additionally, the current study identified eight main themes that captured the broader patterns in the data.ConclusionsThe outcome of this study, including the preliminary themes and main themes concerning the epistemic aspects of engineering, could serve as a conceptual tool for establishing and improving students' conceptions of engineering and as a guide for designing and implementing engineering design activities in K–12 education settings.

Investigation of applicability of long-distance LP system for Li target diagnostics in Fusion Neutron Source

The beam target for generating a fusion neutron field in the Advanced-Fusion Neutron Source (A-FNS) is currently designed as a one-side free-surface liquid lithium (Li) jet flowing along a vertical concave wall. Characteristics of its thickness fluctuation were diagnosed in the EVEDA (Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activity) Lithium Test Loop (ELTL), which has almost the same scale as the actual target excepting its channel width. In the diagnostics, the Laser Probe (LP) system was used. However, in an actual fusion neutron source, the diagnostics need to be operated from over 10 m away with no condenser lens at a downstream point from the final mirror for directing the incident laser to the Li surface from the perspective of Li vapor and radio activation. Whereat, the long-distance LP system for the actual Li target was conceptually designed for the IFMIF, and its precision error was also verified using a specular-reflection object and a water loop. In this previous study, the precision of measurement was evaluated as sufficiently high compared with the required limitation of surface variation (±1 mm). Then, in this study, we aim to verify the possibility of long-distance measurement of thickness variation for the free-surface Li flow. In the measurement, the incident laser head was set at a distance of about 10 m from the Li surface. And, while the previous measurement setup employed the focusing lens system with a focal length of 300 mm, some focusing lenses with longer focal length were used in this study. As a consequence, the Li surface variation was successfully detected and measured though the signal intensity of the reflected laser became low. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the impact of focal lengths on the detected signal was small.

IFMIF/EVEDA achievements overview

In a fusion reactor, the plasma based on a deuterium-tritium reaction generates high energy neutron flux interacting with the materials of the plasma facing components. In order to study the irradiated behavior of these materials, the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) was conceived to generate these fusion relevant neutrons through d-Li stripping source. IFMIF is presently in its Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities (EVEDA) phase under the Broader Approach agreement signed between EURATOM and Japanese Government in 2007. This agreement mandates the IFMIF/EVEDA project to validate the design of the different systems of IFMIF and to produce an integrated engineering design of IFMIF, together with the data necessary for future decisions on its construction and operation. While the Engineering Validation Activity (EVA) of the Lithium Target Facility and the Test Facility was completed by constructing prototypes, the EVA of the Accelerator Facility with the Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc) is still on-going at the Rokkasho Fusion Institute, Japan. This paper overviews the achievements in the previous phase ended on 31 March 2020 and the progress in the current phase to complete the commissioning of the LIPAc.

More than Just the Facts: Contributions of Subject Matter Experts to Out-of-School Time Youth Programs

Background Out-of-school time (OST) science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programming has positive impacts for youth, and the importance of engineering design activities and principles within STEM programming is well-supported by research. Including subject matter experts (SMEs) in these programs enriches the experience of youth participants. Public libraries are widely accessible to the public, and their role in the OST arena is expanding. Library staff can boost the quality of STEM learning experiences by partnering with SMEs. Purpose Subject matter experts (SME) contribute more than just their expertise. Between 2018 and 2019, a group of diverse professional engineers and librarians co-facilitated engineering activities at six U.S. libraries serving traditionally underserved populations. This study investigates the alignment in active learning preferences between youth, library staff, and professional engineer volunteers. Method The study’s design implemented the Framework for the Observation and Categorization of Instructional Strategies (FOCIS), which identifies seven different types of learning activities: collaborating, competing, performing, discovering, making, teaching, and caretaking. The FOCIS helped researchers evaluate the learning activity preferences of youth participants, engineers, and librarians. Results The analysis showed that the learning activity preferences of youth and engineers were much more closely aligned than those of librarians. Conclusions Alignment between youth-program participants and SME program facilitators has the potential to enrich the program experience and foster active engagement.

Collaborative Learning in Engineering Design Education: A Systematic Literature Review

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution:</i> This article presents a comprehensive overview of characteristics of educational designs of collaborative engineering design activities found in literature and how these characteristics mediate students’ collaboration. <p xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <i>Background:</i> Engineers have to solve complex problems that require collaboration. In education, various collaborative engineering design activities have been implemented to prepare students for these professional practices. According to cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), educational activities can be described in terms of interrelated elements, i.e., subject, object, tools, rules, division of labor, and community, that influence learning outcomes. A key issue is how these elements mediate students’ collaborative efforts and how they contribute to learning. <p xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <i>Research Questions:</i> 1) How is collaborative learning implemented in engineering design education? 2) How do the elements of CHAT and their interrelations mediate collaborative learning? and 3) What is the evidence that the implementation of collaborative learning contributed to the achievement of desired learning outcomes? <p xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <i>Methodology:</i> A systematic literature review following preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses protocols guidelines was conducted, including 111 articles published between 2011 and 2021. CHAT was used as analytical framework. <p xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <i>Findings:</i> Collaborative learning was implemented in engineering design activities to develop technical as well as nontechnical skills. For the CHAT elements, it was found that establishing a common object, rules for collaboration, and division of labor are essential for effective collaboration and can be enhanced through digital technologies (tools) and support from a community, for example, educators. Finally, results showed that there is evidence that described implementations contribute to learning. However, this evidence needs to be interpreted with care, due to methodological issues in some included articles.

“Yours Needs To Be More Like Mine!” What Does Competition Look Like in Informal Engineering Design Activities?

“Yours Needs To Be More Like Mine!” What Does Competition Look Like in Informal Engineering Design Activities?

Ensuring consistency in VLE and density modelling of (CO2 + H2) mixtures that are relevant in CCS pipeline transport: fitting BIPs for various EoS implemented in ‘off-the-shelf’ property packages

The impact of impurities in the physical properties of CO2 is now widely acknowledged by industry. In particular, the presence of H2 in CO2 mixtures has a significant effect on the saturation pressure (bubble point) and bulk (liquid) density. Both physical properties are key in the many engineering tasks, for example, in calculating the closed-in tubing head pressure of an injection well or in defining operating pressures to avoid two-phase region in transport systems. If there are large uncertainties in the estimated properties, then, significant design margins will be required making the system less cost-effective.The reliability of Equations of State (EoS) implemented in property packages used in industry is limited to the availability and quality of the experimental data that was used to calibrate the model. For the pair CO2H2, there is lack of validation at conditions of CCS systems. Thus, the performance of EoS is unsatisfactory for many CO2H2 mixtures. An additional complication is that there is large discrepancy not only between models but also between the ‘same’ model implemented across different platforms. For the practitioner, this poses quite a conundrum: ‘What EoS and package should be used?’.In this work, an attempt to homogenize various EoS implemented in commercial software is presented. To calibrate the models, a subset of available of experimental data with content of up to 5%mol of H2 is used. A different subset of data is used to assess the performance of the fitted models. In the parameter estimation problem, the EoS are tuned via Binary Interaction Parameters (BIPs) or departure parameters. To improve liquid density calculations, an additional step is used to regress cubic EoS via volume shift parameters.The resulting optimized EoS can be readily available in commercial simulators, and it is hope that they will be part of a growing databank/toolbox for engineering design activities of CCS systems.

A STUDY OF THE EARLY-STAGE ENGINEERING DESIGN ACTIVITIES IN PRACTICE

AbstractThe early-stage engineering design activities include conceptualising, identifying, and solving an engineering design problem. These activities are essential and standard roles of a design engineer. However, they seem to lack comprehensive practice within the engineering design community. In this study, semi-structured interviews conducted with 18 participants having engineering design backgrounds are presented. The aim of the interviews is to investigate the awareness and practice of the early stage engineering design activities. The participants interviewed practice in countries including France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Contrary to standard expectations, the results of the interviews show that the early-stage engineering design activities are not comprehensively practised. The results suggest that design engineers' crucial role in identifying unknown problems lacks practice. Also, the data from the interviews provide empirical evidence on the determinants for the lack of comprehensive practice of early-stage engineering design activities. Recommendations on possible interventions to support the practice are presented to expedite innovations and inventions.

INCREASING STUDENT CONFIDENCE THROUGH EXPERIENTIAL DESIGN EXERCISES IN ENGINEERING SCIENCE COURSES

AbstractThis study investigates the impact on student confidence of completing in-lecture engineering design activities focused on the application of specific engineering science topics within a materials engineering course. Many times, engineering science courses are taught with the expectation that the course content can be easily translated by students at a later time to apply in engineering design activities. By measuring student self-reported confidence across several related topics before and after completion of the in-lecture design exercises the impact of the exercises on student confidence has been quantified. On average, students have a lower than desired confidence in applying the specific materials engineering topics to a design problem after completing only the course content on the subject. Following completion of the related seventy-five minute design exercise, student confidence increased by a statistically significant degree. These results suggest that close integration of topical content learning with design application activity may be a useful method to improve engineering student confidence and, by extension, retention.

Extraction and linking of motivation, specification and structure of inventions for early design use

Novel design creations often exist in the form of patents. It is well acknowledged that patents are a great source of design inspiration, therefore designers are encouraged to engage patents early in the design process. Studies of patent analysis have been carried out to benefit engineering design activities such as patent classification, technology forecasting, idea generation and emerging design-prior art comparison. However, the design intent behind inventions has received little attention in patent analysis. Designers can gain better design insight by looking at a patent from a systematic perspective starting from design intent to principal solutions. In this paper, an approach is proposed to extract and link the knowledge conveyed within patent descriptive sections to typical early engineering design stages, namely Motivation, Specification and Structure. This knowledge is then conceptualised into TRIZ engineering parameters and reconciled functional basis to enable cross-patent analysis. When compared to expert analysis, the proposed approach achieves an average of 63% accuracy with respect to Motivation, 56% with respect to Specification function and 44% with respect to Specification flow. Potential applications of such linking for early design use are then demonstrated through a prototype knowledge network.

Empowering Elementary Students with Community-Based Engineering: A Teacher’s Experience in a Rural School District

This paper presents a case study of an elementary teacher, Holly, who participated in a federally funded summer professional development (PD) program aimed at integrating community-based engineering into elementary education. The study examines how Holly’s teaching practices and beliefs about teaching engineering contributed to the significant improvements in her students’ attitudes toward engineering and their perceptions of engineering as a potential career. Data were collected over three years through multiple methods, including post-PD interviews, lesson recordings, and a post-teaching interview. We analyzed classroom videos using a video analysis protocol. We used open coding to analyze the interviews. Once the analysis of the interviews and videos was completed, we engaged in a sense-making process to identify connections across data points (videos and interviews). Our findings showed that Holly extensively incorporated scientific inquiry into her lessons. This approach enabled students to develop their inquiry skills and facilitated a smooth transition to engineering design activities. By connecting class activities to the local context, students were able to see the relevance of engineering to their everyday lives and take ownership of their learning. This study emphasizes the potential of community-focused engineering to foster meaningful science and engineering practices in elementary education.

Engineering Design and Children: A Systematic Literature Review

Over the last two decades, a remarkable number of studies have examined the role of engineering education in supporting knowledge and skill building among children. In this paper, we present a synthesis of this literature to evaluate the added value of pre-college engineering design experiences at the elementary level, and ways researchers have gathered evidence of children’s development of this knowledge and skills. We have conducted a systematic literature review. The initial search across four different databases with relevant keywords resulted in over 3000 journal articles and conference papers. In a two-rounds screening, by applying the inclusion criteria first to titles and abstracts, and then to the full text, 78 peer-reviewed publications were included in this systematic literature review. We summarized and synthesized empirical evidence of student learning and engagement in engineering design activities, and approaches they were assessed and elicited. The thematic analysis revealed five categories of knowledge and skills: (1) disciplinary content knowledge; (2) engineering design practices, (3) engineering thinking skills; (4) professional skills; and (5) career awareness. Additionally, the assessment and evaluation approaches that were used for each of these categories were identified and discussed. The findings provide collective evidence of variety in student learning opportunities but also suggest the need to carefully define these knowledge and skills. Since a wide range of evaluation approaches were used to capture similar outcomes, we conclude that it is imperative to develop a shared research agenda by carefully defining the knowledge and skills we expect children to learn.

Prototyping Strategies to Engage Stakeholders During Early Stages of Design: A Study Across Three Design Domains

Abstract Using prototypes to engage stakeholders during front-end design activities is crucial for successful design outcomes. Compared to prototyping that is used for iterative refinement during back-end engineering design activities, prototyping that informs problem definition, requirements and specifications development, concept generation, and other front-end design activities is understudied. To identify patterns in prototyping strategies for engaging stakeholders during the design front end, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 design practitioners across three product design domains: automotive, consumer products, and medical devices. Seventeen strategies evident across the collection of practitioners were used in generally consistent ways, with some variation based on context, e.g., project scope, stakeholders engaged, and the stakeholder interaction situation. Twelve of those 17 strategies were used by industry practitioners across the three domains, and five of those 17 strategies were used by practitioners from the medical device domain and either the automotive or consumer products domain. The descriptions and in-context examples of prototyping strategies used to engage stakeholders during front-end design can guide the design strategies of both experienced and novice designers.

An approach to the selection of design parameters based on conflict with constraints

The Axiomatic Design (AD) supports decision-making based on the axioms of independence and information. In the engineering design activity, the designer must make early decisions that impact the success of the project. These decisions are of paramount importance in the design of one-off products. In these products, one must make decisions in the early design phases, with scarce data about the product that will undeniably affect the solution. Applying the information axiom requires data from the alternative solutions under consideration that for one-off products are most often non-existent in the conceptual phase of the design.Additionally, the design process is highly conditioned by existing constraints, which significantly influence the outcome. This work suggests selecting design parameters (DP) for one-off products from different sets of proposals that comply with the independence of functional requirements (FR). AD design follows a hierarchical decomposition process from a conceptual to a detailed design. The proposed method allows selecting the DPs among the set of alternatives by quantifying the degree of conflict each solution presents to the constraints. It shows the first step to define the DPs, at each level of decomposition of the AD process. It is the first step to establish a zig in AD or, otherwise, a way to find a solution in the conceptual phase. It applies to one-off products – any product with one chance to be right. The paper applies this method to the DP selection of a manipulation device.

Understanding Preservice Science Teachers’ Views about Engineers and Engineering in an Engineering-Focused STEM Course

Engineering has been considered as a useful context for successful implementation of STEM education. However, teachers have limited opportunities to develop a sound understanding about engineers and engineering, which is necessary for developing students’ engineering practices and design skills. In this case study, the main purpose was to examine 18 preservice science teachers’ initial and final views about engineers and engineering in an undergraduate engineering-focused STEM course. Before and after an eight-week implementation including three engineering design activities, data were collected by the adapted version of Views on the Nature of Engineering Questionnaire and reflection papers. Findings revealed four categories: 1) views about engineers and engineering, 2) views about engineering design process, 3) views about the factors that affect engineering, and 4) views about science versus engineering. Based on the codes a scoring rubric was developed to categorize PSTs’ views as uninformed, partially informed, and informed. Results showed that PSTs’ views become more informed in each category. However, their views were still found as partially informed in some of the categories which shows the need for more emphasis on future research. The changes in their views were discussed with possible reasons and recommendations were provided for further studies.

Rural secondary STEM teachers’ understanding of the engineering design process

Though STEM teacher professional development is known to be beneficial, it is not available equally to educators in all geographic regions. Rural educators face unique challenges not often experienced by their urban and suburban counterparts. This study investigates the impacts of a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program on rural math, science, and technology education teachers’ perspectives on how these experiences changed their understanding of the engineering design process (EDP). From 2016 to 2019, eleven rural secondary STEM teachers engaged in a six-week professional development experience focused on research and implementing the EDP. These teachers were rural “solitary” STEM teachers, which meant they were the only teacher of their subject in their school building. This qualitative study used a thematic analysis approach to code and analyze individual and focus group interview transcripts. The results were analyzed to determine how the RET experiences impacted the teachers’ perception of how the EDP is used in problem-solving activities and how it could be integrated into their classroom practices. Results from this study show that the teachers developed a more authentic conceptual understanding of the EDP, which led to increased insightfulness on how to engage students in authentic engineering design activities that strengthen future workforce skills. This study demonstrated that an authentic engineering-based RET program can increase rural teachers’ commitment and readiness to incorporate the EDP into regular classroom practices. Further, this program resulted in teachers gaining a much more nuanced understanding of how the EDP’s non-linear steps and iterative nature contribute to creating authentic problem-solving challenges for students. In particular, the teachers realized the necessity of creating less prescribed challenges that require students to draw upon the constellation of skills necessary to design optimal solutions, resulting in higher-caliber opportunities to develop future workforce skills. These findings emphasize the critical need to design professional development experiences that target the unique needs of rural STEM teachers. Additional research is needed to tease out the extent to which teachers’ increased commitment to using the EPD and a more nuanced understanding of the EDP translate into sustained changes to classroom practice.

Multi-Disciplinary Design Activity for Undergraduate and Graduate Engineering Students

This paper describes a project with common equipment that was adapted and offered to both an undergraduate and a graduate-level course with learning outcomes tailored specifically to each group of students. This project is an immersive, multi-disciplinary engineering design activity with a focus on materials, solid mechanics, and instrumentation. The activity incorporates aspects of fundamental engineering theory, virtual predictive simulation, as well as physical testing and data collection. All of this was done in the context of a material selection and failure analysis of a piece of furniture (cantilever chair) which is a simplistic and recognizable device by the students.&#x0D; The project focusses on structural analysis of the chair under a variety of loading conditions, coupled with a virtual simulation model using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). FEA is utilized to identify critical regions of the structure which are prone to failure. The complexity, constraints, and provided resources of the model varied, depending on the specific implementation of the course. Finally, a physical test apparatus was constructed and used to generate experimental responses that the students were able to use to calibrate their predictive model and theoretical hand calculations.&#x0D; This activity was created initially for in-person instruction but was adapted for remote delivery during the pandemic. Both qualitative and quantitative data collected from 2nd year and graduate students indicated that the activity was effective in improving several forms of knowledge acquisition. This paper will discuss in detail how a common project platform was adapted for the two academic levels with evidence of its efficacy

A closer examination of the STEM characteristics of the STEM activities published in NSTA journals

ABSTRACT Background Based on the literature review, shared characteristics of integrated STEM (I-STEM) curriculum includes an engaging and motivating context, student participation in engineering design activities, opportunity to redesign, engaging in mathematics or science content, having student-centred pedagogies, and teamwork and communication. These principles and more were used to analyse STEM activities published in NSTA journals. Purpose It was to determine the extent to which the STEM activities published in three NSTA journals (Science and Children, Science Scope, and The Science Teacher) between the years 2013 and 2020 reflected the shared characteristics of I-STEM education. Sample A total of 161 STEM teaching activities were analysed during the study. Methods A STEM rubric (abbreviated as RACSTEM) developed by the authors. Expert panel reviews and intercoder agreement calculations provided support for the content validity and reliability of RACSTEM. The rubric was composed of seven main categories, namely, integrating different disciplines, real-world problem, learner-centeredness, teamwork, communication, redesign, and assessment. STEM activities were analysed based on RACSTEM through content analysis and reported using descriptive statistics. Results Different combinations of STEM and non-STEM disciplines were integrated into the activities. 76% of the activities included real-world problems. Learner centred strategies (e.g. project-based learning) were utilized in 81% of the STEM papers. In 94% of the papers, students mostly participated in group work. Analysis revealed that 58% of the papers asked learners what they would change at the redesign stage. Finally, in the assessment aspect, the most problematic one, results showed discrepancies between the integrative nature of STEM and its assessment. Conclusion It was unclear how many I-STEM activities were published in NSTA publications that fit the requirements for I-STEM once the NGSS was launched. The findings of this study, as well as the development of the RACSTEM instrument, seem to have the ability to resolve ambiguity.

PENDAMPINGAN PENYUSUNAN DETAIL ENGINERING DESAIN (DED) PENATAAN KAWASAN PERMUKIMAN DI KECAMATAN TANJUNG

Based on Undang-undang no 1 Tahun 2011, The implementation of residential areas is carried out with the aim of realizing an area that functions as a residential environment and a place for activities that support a planned, comprehensive, integrated, and sustainable life and livelihood in accordance with the spatial plan. The purpose of this assistance in the preparation of Detail Engineering Design (DED) is to realize a plan that is in accordance with the required technical standards. This service activity begins with an understanding of the Slum issued by the Mayor of Kota Bima, then proceeds with conducting a site survey to see existing problems, and finally by carrying out Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and technical meetings offline and online. This Community activity produces a Detailed Engineering Design (DED) and a profile of the Sapaga residential area arrangement in Kota Bima which is the basis for planning regional planning in the area. In the preparation of Detail Engineering Design activities, the expected output includes 7 (seven) parameters for structuring slum areas, only during implementation activities, of course, there are still some adjustments related to field conditions.