Engineering Design

The ability to design is both a science and an art. The science can be learned through techniques and methods to be covered in this text, but the art is best learned by doing design. It is for this reason that your design experience must involve some realistic project experience.Design should not be confused with discovery. Discovery is getting the first sight of, or the first knowledge of something, as when Columbus discovered America or Jack Kilby made the first microprocessor. We can discover what has already existed, but has not been known before, but a design is the product of planning and work.We should note that a design may or may not involve invention. To obtain a legal patent on an invention requires that the design be a step beyond the limits of the existing knowledge (beyond the state of the art). Some designs are truly inventive, but most are not.One thing that should be clear by now is how engineering design extends well beyond the boundaries of science. The expanded boundaries and responsibilities of engineering create almost unlimited opportunities for you.