C.P. Chuah's Website- The Challenge of Design

University of Bristol

Undergraduate Project 1998/1999

in conjunction with

Faculty Design

Chiew Peng Chuah (cc8657)

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

The Challenge of Design 'The challenge of Design' had introduced many interesting points towards real engineering design. Below are the distillations of the professor's messages.

Professor Horst Peters gave the insight of the design of ship and ship building which plays an important role for millennia. He invoked the importance of ships, which many may have taken for granted in today's modern technology. Ships were still used for fishing, transportation, and military to name a few. It was interesting to know that the epoch-making discoveries centuries ago was due to the design of ships which were not "real engineered" as in today's shipbuilding design. Design of ships involves several stages from its size and weight, to its aerodynamic shape; thus shipbuilding design is actually more complex than building cars and planes. Professor Peters also concluded that the manufacturing of a product in general is always determined by the 'availability of materials and tools'. Thus the production methods and technology is always improving from time to time.

Professor Chris Elliot talked about how to approach a design problem that starts with a clean sheet of paper. Firstly, it is important to have an overview of the problem, the alternatives available and the 'least bad' way to solve it. He concluded that design means 'taking decisions and that design decisions should be rooted in analysis, not guesswork'. There are no "right" answers in designing since it's a trade off between the good and bad aspects. In his lecture on "The Design Cycle", he emphasises on the cyclic process of a good design which involves evaluating alternatives at all stages so that the design would be kept to the initial requirements.

Professor Michael Shears gave two lectures on "Ravenspurn North Concrete Gravity Offshore Platform" and "Emley Moor TV Tower". In his lecture on the offshore platform, he showed that by challenging conventionally adopted solutions and comparing alternatives, new and novel concepts can be developed and used successfully. He also concluded that understanding the needs of the customer, examining the options and comparing alternatives of designs and introducing new ideas were key concepts to real engineering work.

Professor Davies gave a lecture on "Culture of Business Management" and a lecture on "The Management of Configuration". He emphasises on the role of business culture and configuration which supports almost all the decisions on the strategic directions for the business through to the choice of the specific content of the products or services being offered. He also stresses on the difference of business culture of the Japanese, North American and British companies.

Overall, all the professors came to a common ground in their attitudes to design. It can be concluded that there is no right answer to real engineering design but only the least bad way to solve it. One have to be critical minded when solving design problem. This course has given me a broader view of real engineering and its fascinating insights and challenges.

The Challenge of Design™