The Engineering Process

An emergency-equipment company makes warning-signal flares. The company wants to redesign  a flare so that it produces light for a longer period of time. 
After the company thinks of ideas, what is the next step in the design process?

• Build a prototype
• Define the problem
• Decide on the best solution

Engineers plan on developing a new drill for use on oil rigs. After Clarifying the Problem, What should the engineers do next in order to develop the new drill?

• Conduct research on features for a new drill

• Determine the materials needed to build the new drill

• Build a prototype of the new drill

Some scientists want to design a system of instruments that will evaluate ocean currents, temperatures, and winds in order to predict weather patterns.

What should they do before they produce the first complete working version of the system?

• Improve the design of the system

• Evaluate the results of the system

• Build and Test a prototype of the system

What is the purpose of building a prototype?

• to test the product and make sure that it is the best solution to the problem
• to make sure that the product is in compliance with government regulations
• to determine the design constraints for the product

A design team built a prototype robot that is a vacuum cleaner. Their goal is for the robot to be able to vacuum people’s homes on its own with no human supervision. How will the team know if the robot prototype works after it is completed?

• Place it in someone’s home, and see if it can vacuum the carpets on its own.
• They should go ahead and build a prototype of this design.
• Place it in a grassy field, and observe to see if it can vacuum up dirt and sand.

A factory produced a new type of refrigerator designed to use less electricity. The machine was manufactured and sold to the public at Target, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart. After several months, reports showed that this refrigerator was not working correctly. 
Which choice below is the most likely cause?

• The proper cost analysis was not performed.
• The designers did not test other types of machines.
• They did not rigorously test and modify the prototype

What is the First Step of the Engineering Design Process

• Testing the Design

• Generate designs

• Clarify the Problem

• Planning Solutions

What two things determine whether or not engineering solutions are successful?

• If it solves the problem

• If it looks cool

• If it solves a problem

• If it meets the conditions of operation

An engineer has designed and built a prototype to improve the brake system of a car. What is the next step that the engineer should take in the process?

• Test the design

• Make sketches of the prototype.

• Clarify the problem

• Collect and analyze the test results.

When finding the solution to an engineering problem, there is/are usually 

• only one possible correct solution
• a very limited number of possible correct solutions
• many possible correct solutions