Subject Specific Vocabulary Flashcards
Automation
The use of control systems for operating equipment such as machinery and processes in factories; this reduces human input.
Commercial Product
A product intended to make money.
Co-operative
A group of people united to meet common social, economic or cultural needs through a jointly-owned business.
Client
The person/people/audience being designed for and whose needs are being met.
Conceptual Stages (of design)
Use of models, sketches and computer aided design (CAD) to show the design of a product as it develops.
Crowd funding
A large number of people who raise money for a project or venture.
Commercial Process
Manufacturing method used to produce products in quantity.
Continuous improvement
The identification of improvements and subsequent evolution of products.
Ecological
The consideration of the environment and the impact the design could have on it.
Fabricate
Using processes such as cutting, bending, joining and assembly to produce products.
Ethics
Moral decisions when designing and manufacturing.
Finite
A material or source which will one day run out.
Iterative Design
Design methodology based on a cyclical process of analysing, prototyping and testing to refine a product. Each iteration and result starts the process again.
Functionality
How well a product carries out its purpose.
Fusibility
How well a material is converted by heat into a molten or liquid state dependent on its melting point.
Lean Manufacturing
Reducing and eliminating waste in a manufacturing process.
Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs)
A technique used to assess the environmental impact of a product at all stages of its manufacture, use and disposal.
Market Pull
Products developed to meet the needs of society or a specific section of the market.
Mechanical Device
Mechanism which produces and/or changes movement.
Nesting
The tessellation of shapes or nets on a material to minimise the amount of waste during manufacture.
Physical properties
Properties that refer to the actual matter that forms the material (e.g. insulation, conductivity, fusibility, etc.).
Primary Source (of material)
Where materials originate (e.g. polymers from oil, etc.) and the raw material that needs to be converted into a workable form.
Planned Obsolescence
Deliberately designing the lifecycle of a product to be short, forcing the user to update their products quickly.
