Engineering Design: An Organic Approach to Solving Complex Problems in the Modern World (Synthesis Lectures on Engineering, Science, and Technology)

While more and more undergraduate engineering programs are moving toward a multi-disciplinary capstone experience, there remains a need for a suitable textbook. The present text seeks to meet that need by providing a student friendly step by step template for this important and culminating academic journey beginning with the student design team's first meeting with the client to the final report and presentation. The text provides a wide range of design tools, a discussion of various design methodologies, a brief history of modern engineering, and a substantive consideration of engineering ethics. In addition, chapters are included on communication, team building and dealing with the inevitable obstacles that students encounter. Throughout the text, emphasis is placed upon the issues of environmental impact and the importance of diversity.