α Engineering Design and Development as a Course - Key Terms

Term

Definition

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

1. A professional engineering organization that is known for setting codes and standards for mechanical devices in the United States. ASME drawing standards are found in the Y-14M publications. 2. The acronym for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Association

A professional body or professional organization, also known as a professional association or professional society, is an organization, usually non-profit, that exists to further a particular profession, to protect both the public interest and the interests of professionals.

Critical Thinking

The ability to acquire information, analyze and evaluate it, and reach a conclusion or answer by using logic and reasoning skills.

Deliverables

The end product; that which will be delivered; often used in the plural.

Design

1. An iterative decision-making process that produces plans by which resources are converted into products or systems that meet human needs and wants or solve problems. 2. A plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or working drawings of something before it is built or made.

Design Process

A systematic problem-solving strategy, with criteria and constraints, used to develop many possible solutions to solve a problem or satisfy human needs and wants and to winnow (narrow) down the possible solutions to one final choice.

Develop

To change the form of something through a succession of states or stages, each of which is preparatory to the next. The successive changes are undertaken to improve the quality of or refine the resulting object or software.

Engineering Design Process

A decision making process (often iterative) in which the basic sciences, mathematics, and engineering sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to meet a stated objective.

Engineering Design

 The systematic and creative application of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends, such as the design, manufacture, and operation of efficient and economical structures, machines, processes, and systems.

Inductive Reasoning

Logical conclusions drawn from inferred, presumed, and extrapolated data.

Information

One of the basic resources used by technological systems. Data and facts that have been organized and communicated in a coherent and meaningful manner.

Inquiry Methods

Scientifically specific methods of forming and then answering questions germane to the larger problem at hand.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

A non-governmental global organization whose principal activity is the development of technical standards through consensus.

Iterative Process

A process for arriving at a decision or a desired result by repeating rounds of analysis or a cycle of operations.

Management

1. The act of directing the design, development, production, and marketing of a product or system. 2. The act of controlling production processes and ensuring that they operate efficiently and effectively.

Manufacturing Process

The transformation of raw material into finished goods through one or more of the following: casting and molding; shaping and reshaping for forming; shearing, pulverizing, machining for material removal; or joining by transforming using heat or chemical reaction to bond materials.

Methodologies

The system of principles, practices, and procedures applied to a specific branch of knowledge.  The branch of logic dealing with the general principles of the formation of knowledge.

Research and Development (R&D)

The practical application of scientific and engineering knowledge for discovering new knowledge about products, processes, and services, and then applying that knowledge to create new and improved products, processes, and services that fill market needs.

Research Methodologies

Research Methodologies: Certain stepwise methods that have been adopted by the technical and scientific communities for conducting research. 

Statement of Work (SOW)

A document used in the Product Development Life Cycle. A company will send a SOW to notify a client of work about to be undertaken and agreed pricing, which specifies the project and responsibilities of the parties involved. There is an executive summary, which summarizes the entire statement of work document in paragraph form.