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Design of Technology

The Design Process

Engineering design is an iterative process where ideas, thoughts, and concepts are translated into an object, system, or
service.

The design process takes our thoughts and ideas and turns them into something
tangible.

In general, the engineering design process goes something like this

The Design Process: Keep in mind that this is an iterative cycle, so you can always go back to a previous step and modify
based on new information, new ideas, or feedback.

1. Problem Formulation: Identify the problem or need you are trying to address. Of course, from an ethical
standpoint, you need to make sure you are aiming for important values and trying to solve a problem that will
benefit people.
2. Conceptual Design: You then need to come up with different alternatives ways of building your car, designing
your system, or coding your app.
3. Decision: You then need to pick the option that works best in terms of cost, efficiency, effectiveness, etc. What
helps your customer best? What addresses all your needs? Do not forget to keep in mind that you want to
maximize happiness and also not use people in any way. So if you have a solution that involves deceiving people,
best to discount that option from the start.
4. Prototype and Testing: It is very important to test your choice and make sure it meets all your requirements.
5. Manufacturing and Construction: The final step is to actually build the product or system. Here you will need to
make sure that the materials you are using are sustainable, that the people working for you are treated well,
and the you are not polluting the environment.

Summary : The design process is complex but at the same time at the root of all the innovations we have.

What guidance is there during this design process? As you can see, there are a number of ethical issues that come up
along the way, so there must necessarily be some rules to guide engineers in their decisions. These usually take the form
of standards and regulations, with the combinations of those known as the regulatory framework.

 Standards: recommendations written by experts (voluntary standards)

 Codes or regulations: legal requirements enforced by a government body; these are mandatory and can
incorporate standards
 Regulatory framework: all product-specific regulations and standards that apply to the design and development
of a technology
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Standards

There are standards for absolutely anything you can think of! Clothes, food, toothbrushes, basketballs, chemicals,
machines, cars, toys - anything. In general, standards can be divided into two types

 Perspective Standards : specify design decisions. For example, steel enclosures for electrical equipment used
outdoors need to have G90 zinc coating; the distance between uninsulated parts of same polarity has to be ¾
inches through air

 Performance Standards : product or project must comply with a performance test. For example, the base
should be able to hold 140 kg

Consider the academic chair that you are used to sitting on (and hopefully will again at some point in the future!). How
many prescriptive and performance standards can you think of for just this simple chair? Then click on the image to see
some suggestions.

- Inclined Angle - Depth of Seat - Height of Table - Width of Seat

- Stability - Static Load

Why go through the trouble of developing all these standards? Many strong reasons.

Safety – Making sure people are not harmed

Quality – Making sure your product meets the needs of the customers

Efficiency – Do things in an optimal way

Compatibility – Standards insure that different parts can function together and that if you sell your part they are
compatible with others.

Sustainability – Standards can ensure that there is not too much pollution or waste

Accessibility – Standards can also ensure that people with special needs are accommodated

Developing Standards

How are standards developed then? These are usually done by what is known as standards developing organizations
(SDOs). There are three general types of SDOs

1. Independent Organizations : Examples include IEEE, ASME, ASCE, IISE, etc. Experts in these fields get together to
develop the latest standards
2. National Standards Body : These accredit and oversee the independent organizations. There is typically one in
each country. The US has ANSI (American National Standards Institute), France has AFNOR, and Lebanon has
LIBNOR.
3. International Standards Organizations : The most famous one of those is ISO, the International Organization for
Standardization. The members of ISO are all the NSBs of different countries.

Check out the ISO website standards. How much would it cost you to buy standards for a product of interest?
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You will have noticed that standards do not come cheap. Together with the benefits of standards, there are also some
problems.

- Engineers still have to think.

Do not be fooled into thinking that following standards is all you should do. It is just the minimum. Standards do not
really guarantee that a product is good or useful.

- May be conflicts of interest

The experts helping to create the standards might be the same people working to develop those products in their
companies. Do you see the conflict of interest? What if the engineers set the standards to benefit their own company?
Or their own manufacturing process?

- Standards are expensive

You will need to start off with some money to get the standards you need.

- May slow down innovation

You cannot get your product out on the market unless it conforms to standards, so this might encourage designers to
always play it safe and not do anything different.

Regulatory Frameworks

The last disadvantage of standards is a crucial one. What happens if you develop something that does not fit any of the
existing standards, simply because it is something completely new? What if there has not been time for any standards to
be developed yet, a process that can take a couple of years? This is where we have to distinguish between normal design
and radical design.

1. Normal Design : configuration and main working principle of the product remain the same; you can use existing
framework.
2. Radical Design : new configuration and/or main working principle. Typically, in this case, there are no regulatory
frameworks and the product or system may involve some risk to people and/or the environment.

So what do you do in case you are doing radical design?

- Wait for standards and a regulatory framework to be created

 Slows down innovation and competitors may get an edge.

 Prioritizes safety

- Opt for radical design

 Promote innovation
 If harm occurs, inventor/designer will be liable

“Driverless cars are a classic case in radical design.”

Many ethical questions come up in the case of driverless cars, as you can see in the video below.

https://youtu.be/ixIoDYVfKA0
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As a final thing to think about here, one concept that comes up in the design of technology and many other
aspects is something called paternalism. Coming from the Latin word for father, this means limiting
somebody's freedom for their own good.

Intellectual Property

As a final part of this lecture, we will touch a bit on intellectual property (IP), which is a very important topic where
engineering design is concerned.

Intellectual property is simply the property that results from mental labor.

The area of IP is all about making sure that you can safeguard whatever it is that you create so that nobody else can steal
it from you. There are many ways that you can do this, depending on the application.

Trade Secrets

A formula or pattern of information that is used to gain an advantage. The composition of Coca Cola, for example, is a
trade secret. You prevent your employees from revealing those secrets using non-disclosure agreements for as long as
you need. However, if someone reverse engineers your design, then you have no protection.

Patent

This is a document to prevent other people from making use of your new, useful, and non-obvious invention for a period
of time. Protection typically lasts for 14-20 years, depending on the country. However, after the period expires, anyone
can use your design. It helps with innovation as others are forced to build on what you do, as patents are found in the
public domain. In a way, you are given protection from the government, and in return, all the details are publicly
available.

Trademark

These are words or phrases associated with goods and services. It can be a word, phrase, symbol, or image and it can be
licensed to others. It is in use as long as the trademark is used.

Copyright

The right to use and distribute creative products such as books, pictures, graphics, movies, music, etc. Copyright exists
when the item is created and registration is much faster and cheaper than patents. It is valid for a certain number of
years (typically 50-70 years after a person dies). You can transfer copyright in exchange for royalties.
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As an engineer, one of the main issues that comes up when moving from one company to another is who owns
the intellectual property. If you are in a company, the company owns it. If you are in a university, as a student,
usually it is the students themselves (it is different for faculty).

If you are moving between companies, you will have to check the following in order to make sure you are not
stealing another company's intellectual property:

1. If the information is very specific: if it is, you cannot use it.

2. If the new application is similar to the first: if it is, you cannot use it.
3. If the information is protected as a trade secret: if it is, you definitely cannot use it
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Quiz
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Discussion Forum

Discussion Question 1

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Driverless cars are considered a radical design. They are a new innovation brought that doesn’t yet have its standard and
conditions to ensure the safety of the community. The values involve here, and that are in conflict, are innovation and
safety. Driverless cars are a step of moving forward and developing a daily task we do in our lives, but it is still new with
not enough experience, considerably, that can ensure the safety of the community.

Driverless cars are still not capable enough of making decision as humans do when certain situations happen or when a
surprise faces the driver. All this must be included in the process of developing self-driven cars. Many decisions must be
programmed into the car in case they are faced while self-driving, and the acts within these situations usually come by
practice and the experience of the driver (usually the best decision made would be from the more experienced driver).
Self-driven cars require a huge amount of data included, and a huge amount of concentration, yet there can be a case
that the car might do which might not be included within its program.