Reverse Engineering and Redesign: Courses to Incrementally and Systematically Teach Design

Abstract

A variety of design-process and design-methods courses exist in engineering education. The primary objective of such courses is to teach engineering design fundamentals utilizing repeatable design techniques. By so doing, students obtain (1) tools they may employ during their education, (2) design experiences to understand the "big picture" of engineering, and (3) proven methods to attack openended problems. While these skills are worthwhile, especially as design courses are moved earlier in curricula, many students report that design methods are typically taught at a high-level and in a compartmentalized fashion. Often, the students' courses do not include opportunities to obtain incremental concrete experiences with the methods. Nor do such courses allow for suitable observation and reflection as the methods are executed. In this paper, we describe a new approach for teaching design methods that addresses these issues. This approach incorporates handson experiences through the use of "reverse-engineering" projects. As the fundamentals of design techniques are presented, students immediately apply the methods to actual, existing products. They are able to hold these products physically in their hands, dissect them, perform experiments on their components, and evolve them into new successful creations. Based on this reverse-engineering concept, we have developed and tested new courses at The University of Texas, MIT, and the United States Air Force Academy. In the body of this paper, we present the structure of these courses, an example of our teaching approach, and an evaluation of the results.

A Review of Practical Design Integration Methods for Existing Engineering Curriculum

“…This hands-on design integration method emphasizes reflective practice and fosters integrative design thinking 29 . Studies show that reverse engineering also contributes to increased retention rates of engineering students 29 .…”

“…During this process, "a product is predicted, observed, disassembled, analyzed, tested, 'experienced,' and documented in terms of its functionality, form, physical principles, manufacturability, and assemblability" 29 . It has been argued that traditional methods for teaching engineering design are compartmentalized and do not encourage reflective practice.…”

“…It has been argued that traditional methods for teaching engineering design are compartmentalized and do not encourage reflective practice. Reverse engineering addresses these issues by revealing the design process in an incremental fashion and demanding reflection and observation during product redesign 29 . Similar to how a student can understand and solve engineering homework problems by working backwards from the solution, reverse engineering enhances students understanding of the design process through product disassembly and redesign 29 .…”

“…Reverse engineering addresses these issues by revealing the design process in an incremental fashion and demanding reflection and observation during product redesign 29 . Similar to how a student can understand and solve engineering homework problems by working backwards from the solution, reverse engineering enhances students understanding of the design process through product disassembly and redesign 29 . This approach has been shown to foster integrative design thinking and increase retention rates of engineering students 29 .…”

Designettes in Capstone: Characterizing the Impact of Early Design Experiences on Students' Capstone Education

“…5 Some schools have a separate course in design methods. 6,7,8,9 This would then be followed by either a one or two semester capstone course. Other schools integrate the instruction in design methods or processes into the one or two semester capstone experience.…”