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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Engineering DesignGE121

FindingAnswers to the Problem

Part II

Lecture 5B

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Generating Design Ideas:Expanding the Design Space

Engineering creativity is goal-directedGoal may be External (usually the case in Design

Firms) or Internal (Start-up company operating out of a garage)

Creativity involves Work!Thomas Edison – “Invention is 99 percent perspiration

and 1 percent inspiration” Expanding and Limiting the Design Space is

essential to effective design During the early stages, it is desirable to expand the

size of the Design Space At the conclusion, the design space should be

contracted down to a good alternative

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Taking Advantage of Design Information that is Already Available

Sources of IdeasLiterature Search

Identify Prior Work in the fieldDetermine the State of the Art

Some Sources for literature searcheswww searches thoughtful keyword selectionStudying previous solutionsProduct advertisingVendor literatureCompendia of material propertiesDesign and Legal codesThomas Register

– Valuable Digest of product vendors– www.thomasnet.com

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Taking Advantage of Design Information that is Already Available (continued)

Benchmarking Competitive products How WELL they perform certain functions

Dissection and Reverse EngineeringDetermine HOW functions are performedIdentify other ways of performing similar functions

Good idea to look back at old notes at this pointRecapture old or premature ideas that were

recorded earlierMay have set aside MEANS / SOLUTION IDEAS

earlier during objective development phase – now is the time to revisit them

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Patents: Expanding the Design Space Without Reinventing the Wheel

PatentsIntellectual PropertyHolders of Patents are given credit having discovered

or invented a device or a new way of doing thingsCan file for a Patent detailing what they believe to be

the new art, or originality of their invention or discoveryUsually filed by country, but cooperative agreements

existReasons why Patent Searches are important

Re-inventing the wheel is not productiveMay already be patentedMay be able to licence technology / processMay generate ideas (see what others have done)

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Patents: Expanding the Design Space Without Reinventing the Wheel (continued)

Two Kinds of PatentsDesign Patents

Granted on the Form or Appearance “Look and Feel” of an idea

Clearly relate to visual appearance – minor alterations can create a new product – relatively easy to “work around”

Relatively weak patents

Utility PatentsGranted for Functions - how to do something or make

something happenHarder to “work around” Stronger patents

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Patents: Expanding the Design Space Without Reinventing the Wheel (continued)

In both cases, the right to use the designs are limitedRights can be obtained from the inventor in many

cases, usually through licensing agreementsPatent information is available on the www

One good source for information on Patent Searches:Patent Information Research Guide – Ryerson University website http://www.ryerson.ca/library/subjects/patents/print.html

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Group Activities for the Design Team

Convergent and Divergent ThinkingWill examine Group activities, and will emphasize a

respectful environment for idea generationDivergent Thinking

Try to remove limits or barriers“Think Outside the Box”“Stretch” or “Push” “the Envelope”Expand the Design Space

Convergent ThinkingNarrows the focus to the “Best” DesignsDone later in the design process

Think Outside the Box, but within the Physics and Logic!

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Group Activities for the Design Team (continued)

Techniques to encourage Divergent thinkingThe 6-3-5 Method

6 Individuals within a design team generate 3 ideas each, then circulate them for written comment (no verbal communication or cross-talk) to each of the remaining 5 group members, building on the feedback of others

Move to a common visual medium (i.e. blackboard etc.) to record and discuss the results

Can be modified to the 4-3-3 Method for our groups of 4, versus a group of 6

The C-sketch MethodSimilar to 6-3-5 method, but uses sketches as the

communication mediumBecomes unwieldy with 6 or more participants – may work

better with 4Sketches are a natural way of thinking/visualizing in

mechanical design

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Group Activities for the Design Team (continued)

The Gallery MethodCan involve written and/or sketched proposals from each

memberAll are posted (to a wall, or “gallery”), and all are discussed

at onceProcess can be iterative, with number of cycles open-

ended

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Ways to Think Divergently

Other methods include the use of Synectics and other Analogy based toolsSuggest that parallels or similarities exist between 2

sets of circumstancesTypes of Analogies

Personal Analogies– What would it be like to be a …

Fantasy Analogies– Think outside of the box– Wild ideas can trigger feasible solution ideas

Analogical thinking has led to a number of inventionsVelcro – direct analogy to plant burrs (the kind that stick to your

socks)Heart stents – Extremely miniaturized version of construction

scaffolding to expand human arteries

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GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2008

Activity

Review Top 5 Project Proposals (20 min)Group Selection

Determine which project that you want to work on

We will be forming groups

Start your Literature Search, and begin Refining your Objectives