8. Engineering Design Flashcards
Tacit knowledge
Skills, ideas and experiences that people have but which are not codified and are difficult to transfer to another person by verbalizing it
Artefact
Existing material object that has been assigned one or multiple functions
Technical artefact
An artefact which realizes its function in virtue of its physical properties
Dual nature
Technical artefacts are characterized both by their physical properties and by their intended functions
Function
The purpose that someone intends for an artefact
Normative
How things should be, regardless of how they are
Ascribed function
A function given to an existing object by a user who believes that this object has certain capacities that can fulfil a certain purpose
Function assignment
A function given to an object by a designer by creating or describing an object with certain capacities that can fulfil a certain purpose
Functional kind
A categorization of artefacts and their descriptions in terms of the functions they ought to satisfy
Design
A process that develops a physical description corresponding to a functional description
Creation-centred
A design process creates a physical object that robustly satisfies the functional description
Client-oriented
A design process creates a physical object that robustly satisfies the client’s needs
Operational principle
The underlying, basic concept of why a particular physical structure might deliver a certain functionality
Satisficing
A process where search and evaluation is combined, so that options that fulfil a certain threshold are chosen
Design validation
Testing aimed at ensuring that a product or system fulfils the specified functional requirements under specified operating conditions