The year 2008 has seen lots of lows in markets, fall of the BUSH kingdom, attack of terrorists on the posh hotels in MUMBAI and also this year can be considered as one of the most significant years in the history of world cricket. I say this because of the turn of events around the world in the cricket field. If we see the history of test cricket or one day cricket there will be only one team at its pick in a particular era. During the Bradman era Aussies were at the top and then the seventies belonged to the West indies and then after the mid eighties the Aussies captured the thrown and kept it for more than two decades.In his period of twenty years are so there has been many contenders for their thrown but no one was able to de-thrown them of their thrown. The Aussies were way ahead of the rest of the field and the rest of the world vied for the contender's spot only. Also during this period no team was able to match the consistency of the Aussies and were terrified or may be amazed at the way the Aussies played their cricket.
But 2008 has seen a change in proceedings ,teams like South Africa ,India and Sri lanka were not competing for the second spot but for the first sport with the Aussies, giving the true meaning for the word contenders. Australia were dethroned from their first spot by the Africans and India went a step ahead by defeating the Aussies 2-0 in the test series.The Aussies are no more invincible and are not seen fearful by the other teams. Its really a amazing and wonderful site for cricket lovers all over the world to see teams fight it out and also to see the monotony of single team dominating a period of cricket.
It will be rally intersting to watch the next major tournaments like mini world cup, The world cup itself, to see how these contenders perform and can they de-thrown the australian Dynasty.
Only time will tell!!!!!
M.S.Prakash
Birth of an interesting era of cricket
A must read conversation between a student and a professor
An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problemscience has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to standand.....
Prof: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How isthis God good then? Hmm?
Student is silent.
Prof: You can't answer, can you?Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?
Student: No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student: From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student: Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?
Student does not answer.
Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terriblethings exist in the world, don't they?
Student: Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?
Student has no answer.
Prof: So, who created them?
Student has no answer.
Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe theworld around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have youever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student: Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science saysyour GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Now the student said can I ask something to you Professor.
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student: And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, megaheat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anythingcalled cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but wecan't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold isonly a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence ofit.(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something.You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light... But ifyou have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness,isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to makedarkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there islife and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing theconcept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but hasnever seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as theopposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as asubstantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence ofit. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolvedfrom a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, ofcourse, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where theargument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work andcannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you notteaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class is in uproar.)
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor'sbrain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, feltit, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according tothe established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, sciencesays that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we thentrust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his faceunfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH. That is allthat keeps things moving & alive. .
WANT TO KNOW WHO THAT STUDENT WAS?
This is a true story, and the student was none other than
DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India.
Engineering Design Processes, Problem Solving &Creativity
BY
Don L. DekkerRose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Abstract:There is confusion as to what the terms in the title mean. None of them are clearly defined. ``The engineering design processes'' are often confused with open-ended problems. ``Problem solving'' has many definitions. ``Creativity'' is much more than the prevalent ``free-thinking'' view. The lack of a common definition leads to confusion when people, faculty included, are discussing these topics..
There are many listings of the steps or phases which comprise the engineering design processes. There are also many listing of the steps or phases of problem solving. Although completing an engineering design is solving a problem, ``problem solving'' is not engineering design. Engineering design and problem solving can be distinguished by the activities that take place during the project.
Early in most descriptions of problem solving and the design processes, there is usually a step called ``search for alternatives'' or ``ideate.'' This implies that creativity is needed only in this step. The prevalent, ``free-thinking'' view of creativity also implies that creativity will happen if all constraints and negative attitudes are removed. There are positive techniques that can help everyone become more creative. These structured creative enhancement techniques provide a tool to quantify creative skills. This quantification also makes creative skills easier to teach.
These creative enhancement techniques are consistent with the structure of the engineering design processes and the phases of problem solving. In fact, these creative skills must be used throughout the engineering design processes to produce a ``better'' design in a shorter time!
The Importance of the Engineering Design Processes
Two quotes emphasize the importance of design in the product realization process:
``After all, 70%of a product's total cost is determined by its design, and that cost includes material, facilities, tooling, labor, and other support costs.''
A. Sandy Munro [1]
``Studies have shown that 50 to 80 percent of the life cycle cost of products are influenced in engineering design.''
Description of Session DFM 3 [2]
The first quote not only indicates the large impact that the engineering design processes have on product cost but also some of the other considerations that go into the product realization process, (PRP), such as tooling, facilities, and labor. These other considerations dictate that certain members of the engineering design team must be knowledgeable in these other areas.
Introduction
Many authors have developed a ``framework'' or ``structure'' to help describe engineering design. Most of these ``structures'' have been developed in the European design community. Studying the engineering design processes became necessary only after WWII when the products which were being developed became more complex. When the companies which had been involved in the war effort reverted to peacetime producers, the associated design processes and development techniques carried over into their peacetime products. Greater use of physical laws, mathematics, information theory, materials selection, and systematic design techniques was required.
Perhaps the ``king'' of these complicated peacetime projects was the landing of a man on the moon. This required a concept, a lot of calculations, preliminary layouts, much prototype testing, a great deal of detail designing and specifying the shape of the parts and recording this in a document (drawing), production, and finally the ``moon shot.''
Engineering Design Processes
Most engineering design follows the ``moon shot'' type of format. Pahl and Beitz [3] provide one of the better known design ``structures.'' One of the useful parts of this ``structure'' is the fact that it not only shows the steps, it shows what the output of each step should be. The structured design steps of Pahl and Beitz &Hubka and Eder [4] show, in addition to the steps in the process, conceptual design, embodiment design and detail design. These three activities take place in all industrial design projects. In educational design projects, students may only complete the conceptual design phase, or both the conceptual design and embodiment design phase. It is important that the students and their instructor recognize what type of design they are expected to complete.
Ambiguity
All design challenges are ambiguous. Unlike answers to mathematical expressions like the derivative of , there are always several ``right'' answers to any design challenge. The answer is always uncertain or ambiguous. Not all design solutions are equally good, however, and some are definitely wrong.
The ``best'' design solution is the one that most completely fulfills the client's requirements and can be delivered when it is needed and produced with the available resources.
A. T. Roper [5]
All designs could be improved if there was more time and resources. Most products improve as time passes and the product is refined. However, there are windows of opportunity. A product that is too late or costs too much often is unsuccessful even though it may be technically superior. In time, new technology often provides ways to expand performance, increase reliability, lower cost, broaden applications, and overcome other limitations. Therefore the engineering design processes require judgment, creativity and discipline as well as technical skill.
Conceptual Design
Conceptual design is just like it sounds-the generation of a concept. Some of the terms used by Pahl and Beitz to describe it are: identify essential problems, establish function structures, search for solution principles, combine and firm up concept variants. Using the ``House of Quality'' [6] may be very useful at this stage.
An excellent example of this is the ``lunar-orbit rendezvous'' (LOR) which enabled American astronauts to land on the moon. Other options were earth-orbit rendezvous (EOR) and the direct ascent, which was an updated Jules Verne version. John Houbolt had a difficult task to get his new idea accepted. The LOR concept was ridiculed and other NASA scientists said it wouldn't work. This has been described in Space [7] by James Michener and in LIFE in Space [8].
Embodiment Design
Embodiment design consists of preliminary layouts and configurations, selecting the most desirable preliminary layouts and refining and evaluating against technical and economic criteria.
After NASA selected the LOR concept to land a man on the moon, there was an incredible amount of design work to be done. The rough, conceptual sketches of the LOR do not provide any direction as to how to built these devices. Much work had to be done to refine the concept. Configurations, shapes, weights and interactions had to be determined before detail design could begin.
Detail Design
The detail design includes specifying the materials, the sizes, the type of motor, the size of the hydraulic pump and cylinders, where the attachment and assembly holes should be drilled, the size of the holes, etc, etc, etc. It requires a lot of skills to specify this myriad of items correctly if the design is to ``go together'' in a satisfactory manner. Many alternatives and options should be considered during this part of the engineering design processes.
Many of the skills required in detail design can be acquired early in the student's career. Students can acquire skills, such as dimensioning, tolerancing, surface finishes, welding, heat treating, and many others during the first two years of their studies.
Iterations
All of the steps or phases of the engineering design processes indicate feed-back arrows which indicate RE-DOING or iterating the steps.
This ``re-doing'' is necessary because we seldom know enough at any stage of the design process to produce a complete answer, let alone the best one. For instance, we must define the problem to begin, but the beginning is precisely when we know the least about the system we are designing. We learn about its characteristics, performance and limitations as we design. Thus, we must do and redo the design, that is, we must iterate.
Problem Solving
There are differences between the problem solving steps and the engineering design processes. Polya's [9] problem solving steps are probably the most well known. They are: (1) Define, (2) Think about it, (3) Plan, (4) Carry out the plan, and (5) Look back. The steps usually neglected are ``plan'' and ``look back.'' The looking back is essential if our thinking skills are to improve.
The author has used an eight step list for problem solving. These eight steps are: (1) Recognize a Need, (2) Accept the Challenge, (3) Define the Problem, (4) Collect Information, (5) Synthesize &Ideate, (6) Analyze &Optimize, (7) Evaluate, and (8) Implement. In either case the steps provide a ``roadmap'' or ``guide'' to follow. To improve our thinking skills, it is imperative that the processes used to solve problems are recognized. These processes are more important than the ``correct answer.'' We must think about our thinking processes.
Differences Between ``Problem Solving'' and ``Engineering Design Processes''
Conceptual design, embodiment design and detail design are the three activities that separate the engineering design processes from the problem solving processes. Problem solving is done by nearly everyone, nearly every day. A problem, like ``my car won't start'' or ``how can we increase our market share'' can be solved by following the problem solving steps. However, these examples are not problems in engineering design because there is no conceptual design, no embodiment design, and no detail design.
Creativity
Creativity is given a back seat in design education because it is poorly understood and difficult to teach. There are positive techniques that everyone can learn. Dr. Edward de Bono, in his book Serious Creativity [10], describes many different ways to produce creative ideas. A listing of de Bono's creative techniques is helpful here because the names of the techniques are very descriptive. The techniques are: ``The Creative Pause,'' ``Focus,'' ``Challenge,'' ``Alternatives,'' ``The Concept Fan,'' ``Concepts,'' ``Provocation,'' ``Movement,'' ``Setting Up Provocations,'' ``The Random Input,'' and ``Sensitizing Techniques.''
It is interesting to note that Dr. de Bono then discusses ``Harvesting,'' ``The Treatment of Ideas,'' ``Formal Output,'' and ``Group or Individual'' techniques. This means that once the creative ideas are generated, there are useful additional techniques for nurturing a young, tender idea so it will grow into a productive concept or solution.
Dr. de Bono concludes by mentioning several creative situations, many of which are applicable to design. The most applicable situations are: ``Design,'' ``Invention,'' ``Opportunity,'' ``Problems,'' ``Improvement,'' ``Planning,'' ``Futures,'' and ``Projects.'' Another one is ``Conflict,'' and there certainly needs to be conflict resolution when engineers work in teams. Creative conflict resolution would be useful in many, many situations. Of course, ``design'' and ``invention'' are two of these situations that are integral parts of the engineering design processes. A successful company will always be looking for ``opportunities'' and these ``opportunities'' will, by definition, occur in the ``future.'' Engineers are always working on ``projects.'' Certainly, all engineering design processes and projects must be ``planned.''
These creative skills must be practiced until the thought patterns in our minds become comfortable with these creative lateral thinking techniques. We can create these creative grooves in our mind so these techniques will be utilized. These creative lateral thinking techniques can be used to enhance all of these situations. These previously described situations are integral parts of the engineering design processes.
Conclusion
The engineering design processes include conceptual design, embodiment design and detail design. Engineering design is ambiguous and iterative. Open-ended problem solving may also be ambiguous and it may have several iterations. However, it does not include conceptual design, embodiment design, and detail design. The structured creative enhancement techniques provide a tool to quantify creative skills. The creative skills should be used in all phases of the engineering design processes. Upper level students have more and stronger analytical skills than first year students, but the lower level students can be learning and practicing the creative skills. The combination of creative skills and technical abilities will enable the students to be ready to ``hit-the-ground-running'' and produce in industry when they graduate. This also can help students produce better, more satisfying, and more creative designs. Ultimately this will produce better designs for society. Our students, the engineers of tomorrow, must have a command of the engineering design processes, and be ready to actively participate in the product realization process.
References
Munroe, A. S., ``Is Your Design a Life Sentence?,'' Machine Design, 26 January 1995, pp. 156
PREVIEW, National Manufacturing Week '95: National Design Engineering Conference Sessions 1995, Design for Manufacturability Track, Session DFM 3
Pahl, G. and Beitz, W., Engineering Design: A Systematic Approach, Edited by Ken Wallace, Springer-Verlag, The Design Council, 1988
Hubka, Vladimir and Eder, W. Ernst, ENGINEERING DESIGN: General Procedural Model of Engineering Design, Heurista, Zurich 1992
Roper, A. T., Class Handouts, ME461, Aerospace Design, 1995, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Hauser, John R. and Clausing, Don, ``The House of Quality,'' Harvard Business Review, May-June 1988
Michener, James, SPACE, Ballantine Books, New York, 1982
LIFE IN SPACE, Mason, Robert Grant, Editor, Time-Life Books, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1983
Polya, Gyorgy, How To Solve It, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1971
de Bono, E., SERIOUS CREATIVITY: Using the Power of Lateral Thinking to Create New Ideas, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York, NY, 1992
