An industrial case study: Identification of competencies of design engineers (original) (raw)

Viability of competencies, skills and knowledge acquired by industrial design students

International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 2020

Many Industrial Design professionals in Spain have difficulties when it comes to getting a job related to their field. They also have difficulties incorporating into the labor market as what they have learnt as students does not correspond with the demands of the labour market as far as industrial designers are concerned. By using a nationally representative survey sample of 195 professionals and 36 companies, this paper analyzes competencies, skills and knowledge acquired in Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development Degree, as well as the requirements of the labor market in order to check if this degree has correctly been adapted to the spanish workplace. Results shows the acquired skills' level is not bad, as a general rule, but this does not mean the labor market needs are fulfilled. There are even more differences between what has been learnt and what is demanded. There is too much content as far as variety is concerned that is generally not demanded by companies. Other demanded knowledge and skills are not taught at all or in a scarce and an insufficient way. This research invite engineering educators and businesses to collaborate redefining skills, competencies and knowledge correctly by transforming the degree's academic plans.

An analysis of professional skills in design: implications for education and research

Design Studies, 2002

Experimental evidence on the design skills and professional behaviour valued by design practitioners and managers is presented and reviewed in the context of an operational model of the design process. Implications for design education and research are discussed. In the light of this discussion a procedure advocated by many educational researchers for assessing the quality of university education is critically examined, and found not to meet the needs of professional disciplines. k c 1 Burns, J, Barclay, I and Poolton, J 'A structured methodology for implementing concurrent engineering' in C J Backhouse and N J Brookes (eds) Concurrent Engineering: What's Working Where, Gower Publishing, Aldershot, UK (1996) pp 166-169 2 Smith, R P and Morrow, J A 'Product development process modelling' Design Studies Vol 20 No 3 (1999) 237-261

Design engineering competencies: Future requirements and predicted changes in the forthcoming decade

This paper seeks to address omissions in previous research by identifying a future competency profile for design engineers. A three-phase methodology using both quantitative and qualitative methods was employed. A competency profile for the future design engineer, 10 years hence, was generated. The profile consisted of 42 competencies divided into the following six competency groups (in descending order of criticality): personal attributes, project management, cognitive strategies, cognitive abilities, technical ability, and communication. Furthermore, non-technical competencies were forecast to become increasingly important in the future. Results were discussed with reference to their implications for the design engineering industry.

The Engineering Design Competency

Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association, 2011

There is increasing global competition for better product and process functionality, higher quality, lower costs, and other considerations including energy and environmental challenges. This trend requires that Canadian industry be more innovative and responsive in order to stay competitive internationally. The Canadian capability in Engineering Design is at the core of our ability to achieve this goal. At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, we must improve the capability and capacity of engineering graduates so that they are capable of leading innovation, and converting research results into value-added products and services. This paper addresses the engineering design competency, identifies needs in engineering design training, and describes directions for the design content in engineering education programs.

Identifying the Design Engineering Body of Knowledge

Ds 31 Proceedings of Iced 03 the 14th International Conference on Engineering Design Stockholm, 2003

This paper describes the body of knowledge needed by engineers doing design and it presents a framework to address these needs for technology-based industries. The duality between the factual knowledge-base which engineers acquire through formal university education and the experiential knowledge-base which generally is lacking in most present-day curricula is examined. This duality is paralleled in other professions including law, dentistry and medicine in that each requires the student to acquire a body of analytical and factual information as well as a sense of how to actually practice the profession, a portion of the body of knowledge that we call "know-how". For example, medical students must learn how to give an injection using a hypodermic syringe or create an incision using a scalpel. Young dentists must learn how to drill a tooth and beginning lawyers must learn how to handle the protocol and pressure of a courtroom confrontation. Similarly, for mechanical design engineers to be complete professionals, they must know more than the science and analytical methods that are taught in university programs. They also need an innate feel for machinery, precision measurements and manufacturing methods, as well as a range of professional practice issues. Finally, we describe how we are developing know-how in our Automotive Engineering students at the University of Windsor.

The role of knowledge and experience in engineering design

Proceedings of the International …, 2005

This research aims to understand the importance of different types of knowledge to engineering and to understand the number of years of relevant experience required to become an expert in these types of knowledge. The findings of this research contribute to the education and the training of engineering designers, and to validating classifications of knowledge proposed in literature. This paper describes the findings from an empirical study carried out with engineers in managerial roles. Their views have been collected and analysed and are presented in this paper.

Five Capabilities of Design Engineers: Towards understanding the transdisciplinary competencies

Proceedings 2019 Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA-ACEG19) Conference, 2019

Today there is a growing emphasis on responsible engineering design, which commits its practice to sustainable, ethical, equitable outcomes in the broader societal level. For engineers involved in the design, development, and implementation of existing and emerging technologies, such responsibility requires skillfulness on multiple fronts, for example: facilitating the integration of cross-disciplinary expertise and knowledge; translating a detailed problem understanding from its sociocultural settings into technical requirements; and negotiating requirements and priorities with key internal and external stakeholders. In order to understand how design engineers access, acquire, and effectively utilize knowledge outside their technical disciplines, especially pertaining to the human and social contexts of the design problem and designer practice, an online survey and in-depth interviews were conducted with professional engineers. The paper discusses potentially important design engineer capabilities that engineering educators should consider. We welcome discussions and feedback on our ongoing work.

How Industrial Design Knowledge Differs from Engineering Design Knowledge

A Grand Day Out Empathic Approaches to Design, 2008

That knowledge plays a meaningful role in product development is largely undisputed. There is, however, no agreement about which kinds of knowledge are relevant for the disciplines involved. Obviously, there are differences between the knowledge required by industrial designers and by engineering designers. This paper aims to describe knowledge which is needed in the early stages of design processes. Driven by an educational problem referred to in the paper, several aspects of design knowledge are discussed in contrast to engineering design knowledge. This paper does not develop a cohesive model of design knowledge. But the aspects help developing a method for easier knowledge evaluation in early stages of the industrial design process.