Civil and Environmental Engineering 350

Introduction to Engineering Design

“Engineering is the interface between imagination and reality.”

– John W. Norton, Jr.

Instructor: John Norton

Class Hours: <the class will meet when I become a professor!>

Textbooks: Eugene S. Ferguson, “Engineering and the Mind’s Eye,” The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1992.

Samuel C. Florman, “The Civilized Engineer,” St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1987.

Henry Petroski, “To Engineer is Human,” St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1985.

John McPhee, “The Control of Nature,” The Noonday Press, New York, 1989.

Goals: To introduce the student to the concepts of engineering design, the design process, stakeholder analysis, engineering compromise.

Introduction: This course is designed to introduce the student to the principles of a successful design. Successful designs are those that are cost-effective, achievable (which means buildable, possible, doable etc.), and which meet the desired objectives, all while minimizing the compromises necessary to satisfy all of the stakeholders. Structures, systems, processes can all be designed by engineers through the course of their career. This course will help guide the student towards identifying and understanding all of the facets of a successful design.

Objectives: This course is designed to introduce the student to the method and madness of successful design. By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

* identify the driving needs of a design

* identify impending phases of design

* identify potential components of a design

* isolate the stakeholders of a design

* classify and explain the likely failure modes of a design

* understand potential compromises and limitations of a design

* communicate the design specifics to the different stakeholders

* guide and critique the design process

* determine the design deliverables

* evaluate and measure the success of a built design

	Topic	Reading	Due
1	Intro to design
2	What can be designed?	McPhee – cool the rock	Quiz – on reading
3	Design stages – conceptual, preliminary, detailed design	Florman – Cpt. 2	Paper 1 – what can be designed? Story of an unconventional design
4	1^st group project – critique a public transportation system (form groups)
5	Whose design? – stakeholders	Ferguson – Chp. 3
6	Design for society – subways, buildings in Hong Kong, pretty retaining walls	McFee – hold the dirt	Quiz – public trans systems
7	Boundary value problem – needs of a design	Petroski – Cpts 1,3	Paper 2 – Who matters? Story of the new bridge
8	Limit states, limiting criteria
9	Design review, design codes	Florman – Cpt. 12
10	GROUP PRESENTATIONS – transportation system		1^st group project
11	2^nd group project – evaluate wastewater treatment options (form new groups)	Florman – Cpt. 15
12	Failures – do failures mean bad design?	Petroski – Chp 8 Florman – Cpt. 17
13	MIDTERM
14	Failures of subdivisions: system failure	McPhee – channel the water
15	Failures – Firth of Forth bridge: cost	Ferguson – Chp. 7
16	Enough of failures – how to succeed!		Paper 3 – was the Challenger disaster an engineering failure?
17	GROUP PRESENTATIONS – wastewater treatment options		2^nd group project
18	3^rd group project – city infrastructure development		Quiz – failures
19	What to consider when you design?	Florman -
20	Engineering as a series of compromise
21	How do you design something that has already been built? Building in the city	Petroski – Chp. 7	Paper 4 – What engineering challenges do cities have to manage?
22	Communicating a design – specs and plans	Ferguson – Chp. 5
23	GROUP PRESENTATIONS –city infrastructure development		3^rd group project
24	Design deliverables – how a design gets turned into reality
25	Measure the success of a built design	Florman Cpt. 16
26	Design reliability
27	More design reliability		Quiz – reliability
28	Course summary	Petroski – 17

Course Grading

Three group projects and presentations

Presentation 5%

Class handout 5%

Group formation letter 5%

Each project 15% Total 45%

Quizzes – 4 to 6 for semester Total 15%

Tests, each one comprehensive

Midterm 10%

Final 10% Total 20%

Class papeletts (very short papers!)

Paper 1 – unconventional 5%

Paper 2 – bridge 5%

Paper 3 – Challenger 5%

Paper 4 – city engineering 5% Total 20%

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Straight scale grading A >92

B >80

C >65

D >50

Group projects

Each group project team will be randomly assigned, and new groups will be formed for each project. Each presentation will be performed using a PowerPoint slide presentation format. The class presentation will be 8 minutes long, teams must email their presentation to me 1 day prior to class. Each team must also prepare a 1-2 page handout to accompany their presentation, which must be passed out to the class. Finally, each team must turn in the next class AFTER their talk a 2 page paper detailing what they did to establish the working of their group, how they settled on a topic, and how they conducted their team design process.

Class papeletts (very short papers)

These are 1 page papers on various design subjects. Each paper can be one page maximum length. The paper needs to be clear, direct, and to the point. Only one page will be graded, the paper must be computer-typed.

Testing

Quizzes – closed book

Tests – open books/notes