Engineering Design And Problem Solving

This involves first identifying the needs of the people affected by the problem, which may include everything from manual workers to management.Once you understand everybody's needs in detail and the ins and outs of the situation, you can write a problem statement.

We have everything from machines that can breathe for you in hospitals to suspension bridges to computers we use every day.

All of these things were once designed by engineers using the engineering design process.

So, it makes sense that defining the problem would be the first step in the engineering design process.

But understanding the problem isn't as simple as you might think.

In the real world, it can involve not only hundreds of people, initial research and investigation, and complex systems, but also unexpected circumstances as well as issues of cost, time, and resources.

The first step in defining a problem is to identify the needs of the people involved.And to do this, you must answer some important questions. Once you've discussed the problem in depth with all relevant parties and used your investigation to figured out what the need is, it's time to write a problem statement, which is a paragraph or larger document that addresses three main questions: To really understand the nature of the problem, you may need to involve numbers in the mix.For example, how often do people have to move the crates? For example, you could ask: How much time does it take to move the crates and, considering the cost of time, how much does the process cost?Also, how much would the management be willing to pay to prevent the problem?The solution depends on how important the problem or crucial the need is and how much people want to solve it.This process of uncovering a problem, or identifying the need for change or improvement to an existing solution, is called need finding.One really great way to start the need-finding process is to make a "bug list." Think about all of the things that bug you or bug other people around you. They may seem like small and silly problems, but they can spark ideas for a project or lead to larger problems that you may not have noticed otherwise.For example, let's say that large wooden crates need to be moved across a factory floor.The problem is that the factory building is split up into rooms with heavy doors that need to be held open to move the crates. To really understand this problem, you need to identify the needs of the people involved. How badly does management want to resolve the problem?Now, let's discuss how engineers go about defining a problem in order to develop a new technological tool, structure or object.It's impossible to solve the problem if you don't fully understand what the problem even is.