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Starting from a wonderfully succinct definition of "engineering" by G.F.C. Rogers – which is highly reminiscent of Emmanuel Mesthene's definition of "technology” (Mesthene 1970, pg. 25). – Vincenti identifies three main components of engineering and then concentrates on the notion of design. According to Rogers (as quoted by Vincenti and augmented somewhat by me), Engineering refers to the practice of organizing the deign and construction (and I (Vincenti) would add operation) of any artifice which transforms the physical (and, I (Pitt) would add, social) world around us to meet some recognized need (Vincenti 1990, p.6). One of the commendable aspects of Rogers' definition is his characterization of engineering as a practice. That is, engineering – like science – is an activity with specific objectives. Given Rogers' insight and Mesthene's definition of "technology" as "the organization of knowledge for the achieving of practical purposes" – by a series of substitutions we see that, appropriately enough, engineering knowledge concerns the design, construction, and operation of artifices for the purpose of manipulating the human environment. Vincenti proceeds to further narrow the focus of engineering knowledge to the topic of "design knowledge," by concentrating on design. It is worth quoting Vincenti's description of the design process at length because it immediately introduces an important distinction between the design as a set of plans and the design process. "Design", of course, denotes both the content of a set of plans (as in "the design for a new airplane") and the process by which those plans are produced. In the latter meaning, it typically involves tentative layout (or layouts) of the arrangement and dimensions of the artifice, checking of the candidate device by mathematical analysis or experimental test to see if it does the required job, and modification when (as commonly happens at first) it does not. Such procedure usually requires several iterations before finally dimensioned plans can be released for production. Events in the doing are also more complicated than such a brief outline suggests. Numerous difficult trade-offs may be required, calling for decisions on the basis of incomplete or uncertain knowledge. If available knowledge is inadequate, special research may have to be undertaken (Vincenti1990, p. 7 - emphasis added).
The process Vincenti describes is "task specific" and essentially characterized by trial and error, but that still doesn't reveal the general nature of the contents of design knowledge. This is case because to capture the nature of the knowledge required for any kind of task, Vincenti must invoke a detailed model which breaks that process up into both vertical and horizontal components, thereby allowing for a precise identification of what is needed when and where in the total design process. This schema is proposed for what Vincenti, calls normal design, as opposed to radical design. Normal design has five divisions beginning with the crucial aspect of any problem-solving process, the identification of the problem. Vincenti, an aeronautical engineer, draws from his own discipline for appropriate examples, but the schema is general enough to encompass a large number of design processes. For example, the design of an architectural project including sighting of the building, electrical systems, plumbing, etc., or the design of a space-based, orbiting telescope.
1. Project definition - translation of some usually ill-defined military or
commercial requirement into a concrete technical problem for level
2. Overall design - layout of arrangement and proportions of the
airplane to meet project definition.