Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
42 Engineering Fundamentals
Ethics
Ethics is a system of values based on what is
right and what is wrong. To behave in an ethical
manner is to do the right thing and be honest at
all times. Engineers must conduct themselves in
an ethical manner. Their primary concern at all
times has to be the safety and well being of the
general public. They must also tell the truth, be
honest about problems they discover, be good
stewards of the environment, make decisions and
conduct themselves according to accepted stan-
dards, work on projects in their area of expertise
only, and strive to meet the needs of their custom-
ers and employers.
Engineering Design Process
The engineering design process is a series
of systematic steps that helps guide engineers
from the identifi cation of the problem to the best
possible solution. Each step along the way is criti-
cal to ensure all information is taken into account
and that all ideas are considered. Each engineer
might choose to use his or her own specifi c steps,
but all engineers use some sort of design process.
A common engineering design process using
six steps is shown in Figure  3-3. The six steps
include problem defi nition, idea generation, solu-
tion creation, testing/analysis, fi nal solution or
output, and design improvement.
Science
The Scientific Method
Similar to the engineering design process, the
scientific method is a series of steps used to solve
problems. However, because the goal of the scientific
method is not to design or create solutions, the steps
are different from those of the engineering design
process. Similar to the engineering design process,
a scientist may need to repeat steps in the process
to achieve the desired results. The scientific method
can be used to answer scientific questions and sim-
ple, everyday questions.
The following are the common steps of the sci-
entific method:
1. Ask a question.
2. Research to form a hypothesis.
3. Experiment.
4. Gather and analyze data.
5. Form a conclusion.
The first step in the scientific method is typically
to ask a question. Instead of defining a problem, you
ask a question based on observation. As an example
of an everyday problem, you observe the milk carton
in your refrigerator is stamped with today’s date. Your
question is, has the milk gone bad?
The next step in the scientific method is to do
research to form a hypothesis. A hypothesis is your
prediction of the answer to your question. In this
example, your research could be looking at the date
on the carton or checking to see if the milk has a
sour smell. Because the date on the milk carton is
today and not yesterday, you predict that the milk is
still good.
Once you have formed a hypothesis, you must
experiment to discover whether your hypothesis is
acceptable. Scientific experiments can be simple or
complex. In our example, a simple experiment to test
your hypothesis is to taste the milk. Your experiment
will yield data, or information. Gathering and analyzing
these data is the next step of the scientific method.
After you have experimented and have your
data, you can form a conclusion. In the milk example,
the experiment was to taste the milk. If the milk tastes
fine, your hypothesis was correct, and you can con-
tinue to drink the milk in the carton. If the milk tastes
sour, your hypothesis was disproved, and you know
to dispose of the spoiled milk.
This simple example of potentially spoiled milk
shows the common steps of the scientific method.