Introduction to Engineering

Design
Bo Hu
John Nieber

Foundational Questions
What is an engineer?
What is engineering design?
Difference between engineering analysis and engineering design
What is the difference between product and process design?
What is the context of the design process?
Engineering design vs. design in other academic disciplines?
Why design?

What is engineering?
the purposive adaptation of means to reach a pre-conceived end E.T. Layton, Jr.
Technological activity to solve problems

Human creativity
Engineering as a Thinking-Making Activity
The use of technology to make products and systems
for societal benefit.

Historical Questions
What role of engineers in history?
Irrigation and farming equipment, dam projects, water and wind mills building construction,
the Pyramids, the Great Wall, Leonardos contraptions, the printing press, the Wright brothers
aircraft, fermented beverages, nuclear power, the Space Shuttle, Tacoma Narrows Bridge,
electric appliances, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals.

When did the engineering disciplines begin?

3000 BC
1000 BC
AD 1700
AD 1800

AD 1900

AD 1950

Civil
Military
Mechanical
Materials
Agricultural
Electrical
Chemical
Aerospace
Computer, Nuclear, Biochemical
Biomedical
[ Holtzapple, M. T., Reece, W. D. (2005) ]

Product Realization Process

(PRP)

Engineering design
Industrial design
Production planning
Manufacturing
Distribution
Sales
Marketing
Service
Disposal

Environmental assessment
Stakeholder involvement
Engineering design
Construction planning
Construction
Effectiveness monitoring,
control, and maintenance

Problem solution
Engineering as Problem Solving
Problem identification

Synthesis

Orderly stepwise approach

Analysis

Application

Qualitative/general
quantitative/detailed

Comprehension
[ Holtzapple, M. T., Reece, W. D. (2005) ]

Solution

Process of Engineering
Think

Think

Sketch

Sketch

Make

Make

Show

Show

Use

Use

Math
Analysis

Politics

Physics
Chemistry
Biology

Law
Ethics
Environmental
Economy

Process of Engineering
Need
Analysis of Problem
Statement of Problem
Conceptual Design

Brainstorming
Rule : There are
no stupid ideas
in a brainstorm

Selected Schemes
Embodiment of Schemes
Detailing
Working drawings, etc..

[ Ferguson, E. S. , (1992) ]

 What is a product or process?

Object produced, substance, material, arrangement, service, step sequence,
manufactured good, transformation of something, system, organization.
Example 1 : Water bottle made of biodegradable plastic
Example 2 : Biorefinery for ethanol production from biomass
Example 3 : Bio-repellant coatings
Example 4 : Flood control structures
Example 5: Contaminant/pollutant removal systems
Example 6: Structures for wildlife migration

Examples in bio-based products

Materials and Chemicals
- Wood
- Wood-based
- Paper
- Biodiesel fuel
- Bio-based plastics
- Biodegradable plastics (e.g. drink bottles)
- Ethanol (bio-based)
-

Examples in bioprocessing
Utilization of living cells or their components to obtain
desired products
- Ethanol fermentation from corn
- Antibody production via fungal fermentation
- Anaerobic digestion to treat wastewater
- Biodegradable plastics (e.g. PLA) production from corn
- Enzymatic hydrolysis to produce sugar from cellulose
-

What is engineering design?

Engineering design is the set of decision-making processes
and activities used determine the form of an object given the
functions desired by the customer. (Gov of MA)
Engineering design is the process of devising a system,
component, or process to meet desired needs. It is a decisionmaking process (often iterative), in which the basic science
and mathematics and engineering sciences are applied to
convert resources optimally to meet a stated objective. Among
the fundamental elements of the design process are the
establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis, analysis,
construction, testing and evaluation. (ABET)

Context of Design

Historical
Precedents

Cosmological

Government
Non-profit NGOs

Global
Regional
State

Military
City
Industry

Biology

Ward
Chemistry

Commercial

House

Physics
Family

Mathematics

Person

Bodypart
Organ
Cell
Organelle
Molecular
Atomic

Ideal Society
Projections

Product Design
New products are critical for corporate
prosperity
Approximately 33% of revenues come
from products that did not sell 5 years ago
Successful new products are profitable
Median achieve 33% ROI or better
Median have payback of 2 years or less
Median achieve market share of 35%

Significant R&D expenditures and

investment

Manufacturing of Chemical Products

Process Engineering Design

Environmental Design
Changing human needs mean the need
for the design of new infrastructures
Design with a focus on natural processes
Designs should mimic nature i.e., selfadaptive, self-sustaining, and resilient

Engineering Design vs Engineering Analysis

Engineering analysis: Predicted behavior is the solution

to an analysis problem
Formulating
Solving
Checking

Engineering design:

Formulating
Generating
Analyzing
Evaluating

Design Step

Process of Engineering

Map

[ SSL (2004) ]

Process of Engineering (cont.)

Map

[ SSL (2004) ]

Issues in design
Utility and cost
Single and multi-functionality
Batch or mass production
Patents
Aesthetics
Integrity of product (wholeness)
Whole life-cycle planning
Health effects and safety
Recycling and disposal
End of product life and replacement issues
Failure modes
Effects on society

Ethical issues design

Philosophical and practical ethics
Codes of Ethics
- Health and welfare of humans and nature
- Informing client/employers of consequences
- Statements and information in truthful manner
- Treating people fairly (avoiding conflict of interest)
- Limits of professional competence
- Building professional reputations according to merits
- Continuing professional development
- Issues with intellectual property.
Issues
Life systems preservation
Maintenance of quality of life
Maintaining high standards of personal and professional conduct
Managing intra-professional customs, identifiers, habits, and limits.

[ SSL (2004) ]

Economic analysis
What is the relevance of economic analysis to design?
Economic assumption : Measure of value is monetary
Process cost in context of the company
Reporting costs, financial status, and transactions.
Value today, value tomorrow.
Material cost, labour cost, indirect cost
Manufacturing cost, storage cost, transport cost
Product cost scaling and correction factors

Statistical analysis
What relevance is statistics to design?
Statistical focus : The one and the many
Measures of central tendency
Measures of variation
Probability
Uncertainty analysis
Linear regression
Six sigma quality concept
Optimization and development of designs
Statistics in process control for quality

AspenTech HYSYS Modeling Code

Menu driven, Mouse driven.
Flowsheets, Modular units.
Mixers, Reactors, Flash separators,
Distillation units, Heat exchangers.
Reaction databases.
Chemical property calculations.
Species, Mass, Momentum, Heat Balances.
Equipment Sizing.
Economic calculations.
Optimization.

CAD, MAPWindow/ArcGIS, WAM,

HEC-RAS
CAD develop engineering drawings
MAPWindow/ArcGIS work with mapping
systems for various geographical analyses
WAM one of many models for watershed
assessments
HEC-RAS a model for water flow in open
channels
30

Notes of S. Takagaki, H. P. Huang, S. Ramaswamy

Introduction to Engineering Design

Minnesota context
Products from Minnesota
Sources : Inventing Tomorrow Magazine

Minnesota context
Environmental analysis and design;
Assessment of impaired waters water quality
Wetland loss mitigation
Stormwater control and mitigation
Drainage of lands for food production and
development
Liquid and solid waste treatment

References
deCamp, L. Sprague, (1963) The Ancient Engineers, Bantam books
Ferguson, E. S. , (1992) Engineering and the Minds Eye, MIT Press, Cambridge.
Cussler, E.L., Moggridge, G.D. (2001) Chemical Product Design, MIT Press, Cambridge
Holtzapple, M. T., Reece, W. D. (2008) Concepts in Engineering, 2nd Edition, McGrawHill.
also Holtzapple, M. T., Reece, W. D. (2005) Concepts in Engineering, McGraw-Hill.
Kangas, P.C., Ecological Engineering, Principles and Practice, Lewis Publishers, 2004
Ogot, M. G. Okudan-Kremer, Engineering design: a practical guide, Togo Press, LLC.
2004, 544 pages.
Seider, W. D., Seader, J. D., Lewin, D. R. (2004) Product and Process Design Principles,
Second Edition, Wiley.

Smith, R. (2005) Chemical Process, Wiley.

Assignment 1 Bioproducts and

bioprocessing students
1.

2.

3.

Search through issues of Inventing Tomorrow for

articles on product and process design. Read and make
notes, especially those related to bio-based products and
processes. List your favorite three examples and explain
their design process, for example: what is the problem?
What are the alternative solutions? Why they choose the
one and how do they do that?
Find library resources related to chemical and physical
properties. find the flash point of ethyl alcohol and
propylene
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
- Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook.
Find (free) websites which catalog Material Safety Data
Sheets (MSDS) and find an entry for isopropyl alcohol and
propylene. Also check other safety data archives esp.
governmental.

Assignment 1 EEE students

1.

2.
3.

Search through issues of Transactions of the American

Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers , Applied
Engineering in Agriculture , and Journal of Ecological
Engineering for articles on the design of systems for
water quality improvement, flood control, etc. Read the
abstracts for these articles and make notes. List your
favorite three examples.
Find website resources related to chemical and physical
properties of soils, geological materials, and water.
Go to the MnDNR website to find out about the waters of
the state. Find out how many lakes and miles of
rivers/streams we have in Minnesota. How much is the
mean annual precipitation, and how much of the water flows
out of the state? How many of the waters of the state are
known to be impaired (see MPCA website,
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/tmdl/index.html)