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46 Engineering Fundamentals
Records are kept on a piece of paper, or they
may be written on an easel or whiteboard so
the whole group can see, Figure 3-6. Some ideas
are recorded using words, and others require a
simple sketch. The ideas are recorded so they
can be examined and evaluated at a later time.
The members of the group communicate any
idea that comes to their minds without evaluat-
ing the idea at the time. Outlandish ideas and
outside-the-box thinking are encouraged. There
is no criticism or critique of any ideas at this
stage because the goal is to get as many ideas as
possible on paper and allow the team members
to build on each other’s ideas.
See Workbook Activity 3-2 to practice brain-
storming with your classmates.
During the idea generation stage, record
keeping is very important. Many ideas are
brought up very quickly, and it is important that
records be kept so ideas are not lost or forgotten.
In engineering design, many of these ideas require
drawings to adequately describe the concepts,
Figure 3-7. Detail drawings are not made at this
point. Simple sketches are usually made to record
and communicate ideas so they can be refi ned
further in the solution creation step.
Figure 3-6. 
This whiteboard is being
used to brainstorm
different ideas concerning
the need for new lockers.
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Figure 3-7. 
These sketches will be refined further in the solution
creation step.