Engineering Design

Engineer’s have to…

"apply their scientific and engineering knowledge to the solution of technical problems, and then optimize those solutions within the requirements and constraints set by the material, technological, economic, legal, environmental and human-related considerations" (Lewis et al., 2005, p. 41).

What Makes Engineering Unique?

Design is the basic activity that differentiates engineering from science and is the one activity found in every field of engineering. TRAILS encourages students to design their own solution to solve given real-world problems.

"Engineering design process allows students to use mathematics and science inquiry to create and conduct experiments that will inform the learner about the function and performance of potential design solutions before a final prototype is constructed".

Kelley, T. R., & Knowles, J. G. (2016).

A conceptual framework for integrated STEM education. International Journal of STEM Education

TRAILS Practice through 3D Printing Technology

RubberJig-Fusion360

Create Mold Template

Soft Bait Casting Material

Casting Soft Baits

7 Essential Features of Engineering Design-Based Science

Client Driven and Goal Oriented
Authentic Context
Includes constraints
Materials, tools, and equipment familiar to students
Yields a product (prototype) or process
Yields multiple solutions
Requires teamwork

TRAILS Design Process Model

Download Additional Resources:

Engineering Design Featured Lessons

Clean Sweep

Lesson Overview Students will describe and illustratethe feeding relationships of aquatic food webs. They will communicateenvironmental issues of plastic pollution ...

Nature’s Origami

Lesson Overview : Lesson focuses on teams of students using nature-derived inspiration to design a functioning solar panel that ...

Temporary Sanctuary

Lesson Overview: Lesson focuses on students learning about how sustainability, biomimicry, and architecture can work together to create innovative and ...

This project is supported by the National Science Foundation, award # DRL – 2148781 (Purdue University) / 2148782 (University of Hawaii). Any opinions and findings expressed in this material are the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.