The Engineering Design Process
Posted on October 23rd, 2011 by Mary Lord
Safer highways. Cool phone apps. Green buildings. Thrilling roller coasters. What do all these things have in common? All bear the stamp of engineering design – a process of brainstorming, building, testing, and refining to create a product, service, or system within time or resource limits.
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Tags: build, Design, Engineering Design, Engineering Design Process, Lesson Plan, Resources for Teachers
Despite the anxiety triggered by last spring’s nuclear disaster in Japan, nuclear power is still a key part of this country’s energy mix. Industry and universities are enlisting help from teachers in preparing the next generation of nuclear engineers and technicians. 
Recent headlines about tainted cantaloupe are grim reminders that food is not always as safe as it looks or tastes. Despite a host of high-tech efforts, E. coli and other food-borne illnesses kill thousands of Americans each year. Now, researchers in the emerging field of food-safety engineering are developing ways to protect what we eat, from farm to table. Call it the Food Safety-Engineering Network. 
The Naval Research Enterprise Intern Program (NREIP), provides an opportunity for university students to participate in research at a Department of Navy laboratory during the summer. This ten-week intern program is designed to provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to participate in research, under the guidance of an appropriate research mentor. The last day to submit an application will be January 6, 2012.
What does it take to build a solar village, where homes not only are designed to create more energy than they use but are comfortable and cool to look at, too? For some 19 collegiate teams from the U.S. and aborad installing their entries to the 2011 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C., this past weekend, the answer is: lots of hands-on work involving hammers, wrenches, plumbing, and construction cranes.
In the decade since the September 11 attacks, engineers have been involved in helping the nation recover, from improving security to designing memorials and soaring new structures to rise over the rubble at Ground Zero. Here’s a sampler for learning more about engineering’s role, including past features from ASEE’s PRISM magazine.
Engineers are creative problem-solvers who make the world a better place. Today’s coolest technologies, from space rockets and roller coasters to life-saving medicines and robots, spring from their hands and minds. Use our colorful “Dream Up the Future” cards to help get your class thinking about the possibilities!
Want to incorporate engineering into your STEM curriculum but don’t know where to start? Stephanie Greer, a technology integration specialist in an inner-city Philadelphia school, faced that exact challenge last year. She shares her top tips for making the most of eGFI, which she calls her “go-to site” for inspired engineering lessons, activities, and more!
