Establishing Design as a Discipline in Civil and ...

Opening Address

Establishing Design as a Discipline in Civil and Environmental Engineering Mary Kathryn Thompson

[email protected] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, Korea

Abstract: Design is considered to be a sub-discipline in many engineering fields which hire dedicated design

faculty, organize design research and education communities, run deisgn conferences and publish design journals. Design as both a professional activity and a research field is at least as important in civil engineering, where changes to infrastructure and the built enviornment have far-reaching and long-lasting implications for society, the economy and the environment, as it is in other engineering specialties. But design has never been considered a discipline in civil and enviornmental engineering in the same way that it is in mechanical and aeronautical engineering. This paper briefly outlines the current status of design in civil and environmental engineering and other disciplines and some of the challenges for establishing design as a discipline in CEE.

Keywords: Design, Research, Education, Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Introduction

Design is a Discipline

Although design is a critical part of civil and environmental engineering, it has typically been housed within each of the civil domains, shrouded by analysis, pushed aside by standards and building codes, and unable to cross the disciplinary boundaries as it was meant to do. Yet, many of the greatest challenges that humanity will face in the 21st century will require civil and environmental engineers to design creative and innovative solutions that will radically alter our infrastructure and the built environment. This paper briefly outlines the current status of design as a discipline in civil and environmental engineering and other disciplines and and some of the challenges for establishing design as a discipline in CEE

Design is often considered to be a discipline with its own departments and degree programs. These are usually organized into "schools of design" like those found at Harvard University, Carnegie Mellon University, Parsons School of Design in New York City and the Rhode Island School of Design. These institutions offer programs in fields such as architectural design, communication design, fashion design, industrial design, interior design, product design, and urban design. Design in this context is usually more closely related to art than engineering, and creativity is often emphasized over rigor.

Design is a Sub-Discipline in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Defining Design

Design is considered to be a sub-discipline within many engineering fields, with its own faculty, research and education communities, conferences and journals. In mechanical engineering, this is reflected in the activities of professional organizations such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). ASME International has a System & Design Group with a Design Engineering Division. The ASME Design Engineering Division has six associated journals, including the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, and co-hosts the annual ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences. In addition, ASME offers 3 society awards, 2 division awards, and 9 technical committee awards for design (ASME 2011). A similar trend can be seen in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The AIAA has a Design Engineering Technical Committee and a Multidisciplinary Design

The term design means different things to different people. Thus, any discussion of design as a discipline must begin with a definition of design. In this work, design is defined as a "human activity which combines resources (knowledge, skills, experiences, creativity, tool, materials, etc.) to meet a need, accomplish a goal, or create an artifact" (Thompson 2008). This definition does not exclude art or artistic endeavors but it does emphasize the fact that design is a purposeful activity. Design research is fundamentally interdisciplinary and often addresses the designer, the designed artifact, and those for whom it as designed. Nobel Prize winner Herbert Simon referred to design research as the science of the artificial (1996)—as opposed to the study of the natural sciences— implying that it is an equally valid and valuable field of study. 1

First International Workshop on Design in Civil and Environmental Engineering, April 1st-2nd 2011, KAIST

construction, operation, maintenance and research in support of sustainable development." But even within these institutes, design is rarely present. The only ASCE Institute to have design-related sub-committees is the Structural Engineering Institute. Example of these committees include: Aesthetics for Design, Concrete Bridge Design, Design of Engineered Wood Construction Standards, and so on. Even its two most general committees—Methods of Design and Special Design Issues—are still very specialized. The stated purpose of the design methods technical committee is to “interpret and disseminate information on new and existing methods of steel structures and to stimulate research and publication of technical papers in this area." There are no dedicated ASCE awards for design. The only opportunity to reward outstanding achievement in design is through the Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement in design, construction, government, education, and management. OPAL nominees in the design category must be "practitioners who are directly changed with hands-on design projects." Nowhere are the contributions of civil designer researchers considered. There is no ASCE Journal of Civil Design or its equivalent. There are no ASCE design conferences. And there seems to be no point at which design crosses the boundaries of the technical divisions in ASCE (ASCE 2001). This trend is reflected in the structure of civil engineering departments across the world. Most traditional CEE departments have a structural engineering division, an environmental engineering division, and a geotechnical engineering division. Many others also include mechanics and materials, transportation systems engineering, construction engineering and project management, architectural engineering, coastal and ocean engineering, and water resources management and engineering. Sometimes a systems division which focuses on network optimization may be present. But there is never a design division. This trend also affects civil design education. The subjective nature of engineering design makes design education challenging in all fields. However, design education in civil engineering is particularly difficult because of the scale and complexity of the problems involved. Unlike mechanical engineers, civil engineering students cannot start with problem definition, go through the conceptual and detailed design stages, and complete a build-and-test cycle in a single semester. As a result, CEE design subjects often become thought experiments, analysis projects, or optimizations problems. In some cases, civil "design" courses are design courses in name only. For example, courses on the design of concrete structures cover topics related to concrete (contents, properties, etc.) and structures (beams, columns, slabs, etc.), but not design in the context being discussed here.

Optimization Technical Committee which co-hosts the annual AIAA/ISSMO Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference. The AIAA also offers a number of design-related awards (AIAA 2011). The importance of design in mechanical engineering is reflected in the structure of its academic departments. One of the seven research divisions in the MIT Mechanical Engineering department is dedicated to "Design, Manufacturing and Product Development." Of the 19 faculty members associated with that division, 7 work primarily in engineering and product design. The MIT ME department offers 18 undergraduate and graduate level courses related to design. Three of those courses (2.007: Design and Manufacturing I, 2.008: Design and Manufacturing II, and 2.009 The Product Engineering Process) are required to earn a bachelor's of science in mechanical engineering. In addition, graduate students in the ME department are required to take 3 qualifying examinations from 11 categories including design. The two design-related qualifying exams are "Design" and "Mechanical Elements & System Design" (MIT 2011). The status of design-as-a-discipline in mechanical engineering is also reflected in the variety of engineering design textbooks which are available. Popular texts include Genrich Altshuller's 40 Principles (2005); Nigel Cross's Engineering Design Methods (2008); Clive Dym's Engineering Design: A Synthesis of Views (1994) and Engineering Design: A Project-Based Introduction (2009); Otto and Wood's Product Design: Techniques in Reverse Engineering and New Product Development (2001); Pahl and Beitz's Engineering Design: A Systematic Approach (1995), Nam P. Suh's The Principles of Design (1990), Axiomatic Design: Advances and Applications (2001), and Complexity: Theory and Applications (2005); Ulrich and Eppinger's Product Design and Development (2008); and Voland's Engineering by Design (1999).

Design is not (Yet) a Discipline in Civil and Environmental Engineering In contrast, design has never been considered a discipline within civil and environmental engineering. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) does not have any technical groups or institutes dedicated to design. Design is mentioned in the mission statements of a number of the ASCE Institutes. For example, the Architectural Engineering Institute's mission is to "serve the building community by promoting an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to planning, design, construction and operation of buildings and by encouraging excellence in practice, education and research of architectural engineering." Similarly, the Transportation & Development Institute's mission is "to promote the interdependence of transportation, land development, and the environment, while uniting the disciplines of planning, design, 2


The prevalence of capstone design courses and core courses in civil and environmental engineering is increasing. For example, MIT requires 1.101 and 1.102 Introduction to Civil and Environmental Engineering Design I and II for all students, and 1.013 Senior Civil and Environmental Engineering Design for students in the 1C (civil) and 1E (environmental) tracks. The National University of Singapore requires a capstone design project (CE4103: Design Project) for all civil engineering students. Students at Texas A&M university must take one of four senior capstone courses (CVEN 400: Design Problems in Civil Engineering; OCEN 407: Design of Ocean Engineering Facilities; CVEN 456: Highway Design; and CVEN 483: Analysis and Design of Structures) depending on their chosen specialization. And National Taiwan University began offering an elective capstone course in 2010. However, this does not necessarily indicate that the department faculty members are comfortable offering these courses. It is still common for capstone courses to be listed in course catalogs but not taught due to a lack of faculty members who are able to do so. I mentioned this to a civil engineering colleague at a top US research university who replied "We don't know how to teach design in civil engineering either, but we try to do it anyway." One obstacle to increasing the number of civil design courses offered is the lack of civil design textbooks, particularly those that teach design process and theory. In Introduction to Design for Civil Engineers by Narayanan and Beeby (2001), a total of 9 pages out of 196 are dedicated to design and the design process. The rest of the book covers mechanics and strength of materials. A Systems Approach to Civil Engineering Planning and Design by Jewell (1986) is a little better. It spends the first 47 pages on design and the design process before dedicating the remainder of the book to optimization. Design and Operation of Civil and Environmental Engineering Systems by ReVelle and McGarity (1997) goes straight into domain specific modeling and optimization, skipping the design process entirely. And Ying-Kit Choi's Principles of Applied Civil Engineering Design (2004) focuses exclusively on engineering drawings, technical specifications, and cost estimation. In the absence of an understanding of what it means for design to be a discipline within CEE, design has been replaced by related subjects that are well defined and better understood. There do not seem to be any general civil design texts which serve the same role that Pahl and Beitz, Ulrich and Eppinger, Dym and Little, Voland, and others play in Mechanical Engineering.

misunderstood, and occasionally mislabeled. When design research is not housed within the technical disciplines in CEE, it is often found under the label “sustainability.” There is no question that design and sustainability go hand in hand, particularly in civil and environmental engineering, but they are not the same. The fact that design research is not recognized as such has kept the civil engineering design researchers separated from other design research communities, even as research communities interested in sustainability grow. Researchers interested in design and various aspects of the design process can also be found in construction management, operations research, and in the systems division of civil engineering departments. Many of these faculty members are aware that they are doing civil design research and are in contact with their counterparts in other design fields, but generally do not volunteer this information because it is not understood or valued in the context of promotion and tenure.

Civil Design Research is Welcome This discussion is also not meant to imply that civil design research is unwelcome. A number of general design research journals, such as the Journal of Engineering Design, Research in Engineering Design, and Design Studies, will accept civil design research. A number of design conferences, like the CIRP Design Conference and the International Conference on Axiomatic Design, will accept civil design research, particularly if the methods used come from that community or the paper's contributions are applicable to engineering design in general. Educational conferences, like the American Society of Engineering Education's Annual Conference, will accept civil design education papers. They can be presented either in the civil engineering education track or the design education track. And many civil engineering conferences will accept design papers as long as the work has an application or case study that is relevant to one of the conference themes. But there is currently no journal or conference dedicated to or offering specific sessions for civil design research. As a result, civil design researchers are scattered across many technical disciplines within civil and environmental engineering, with no infrastructure to unite them.

Establishing Design as a Discipline in Civil and Environmental Engineering The First International Workshop on Design in Civil and Environmental Engineering is intended to address the issues described above. During the workshop, participants will explore what it would mean for design to be a discipline within CEE, what it means for design to be a discipline in other areas of engineering, and the implications for interdisciplinary design in cooperation with other fields such as

Civil Design is a Hidden Discipline The discussion above is not meant to imply that design is not present in civil and environmental research. Instead, its purpose is to acknowledge that design research in CEE is decentralized, often 3


architecture, urban planning, industrial design, product design and more. It is hoped that this workshop will lay the foundation for a civil design research community and improved understanding of engineering design, increased design research, and improved design education within civil and environmental engineering.

(Available online at: http://meche.mit.edu. Accessed January 2011). Narayanan, R. S. and Beeby, A. W. (2001) Introduction to Design for Civil Engineers. Spon Press, Taylor and Francis Group, London and New York. Otto K. and Wood K. (2001) Product Design: Techniques in Reverse Engineering and New Product Development. Prentice Hall, Upper

References

Saddle River, NJ. Pahl, G. and Beitz, W. (1995) Engineering Design. Springer-Verlag, London. ReVelle, C. and McGarity, A.E. (1997) Design and

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Available online at: http://www.aiaa.org. Accessed January 2011). The American Society of Civil Engineers (Available online at: http://www.asce.org. Accessed January 2011). The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Available online at: http://www.asme.org. Accessed January 2011). Altshuller, G. (2005) 40 Principles Extended Edition. Technical Innovation Center, Worcester, MA. Choi, Y. K. (2004) Principles of Applied Civil Engineering Design. ASCE Press, Reston, VA. Cross, N. (2008) Engineering Design Methods: Strategies for Product Design. Wiley, West Sussex, UK. Dym, C. L. and Little, P. (2009) Engineering Design: A Project Based Introduction. John Wiley and Sons, New York. Dym, C. L. (1994) Engineering Design: A Synthesis of Views. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Jewell, T. K. (1986) A Systems Approach to Civil Engineering Planning and Design. Harper and Row, New York. The MIT Mechanical Engineering Department

Operation of Civil and Environmental Engineering Systems. John Wily and Sons, New

York. Simon, H. (1996) The Sciences of the Artificial. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Suh, N. P. (2001) Axiomatic Design: Advances and Applications. Oxford University Press, New York. Suh, N. P. (1990) The Principles of Design. Oxford University Press, New York. Suh, N. P. (2005) Complexity: Theory and Applications. Oxford University Press, New York. Thompson, M. K. (2008) Lecture Notes, KAIST ED100: Introduction to Design and Communication. Ulrich, K. T. and Eppinger, S. D. (2008) Product Design and Development (4th Edition).

McGraw-Hill, New York. Voland, G. (1999) Engineering by Design. AddisonWesley, Reading, MA.

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