A design engineer is an engineer focused on the

engineering design The engineering design process, also known as the engineering method, is a common series of steps that engineers use in creating functional products and processes. The process is highly iterative – parts of the process often need to be repeat ...

process in any of the various

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

disciplines (including civil,

mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

, nuclear,

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

systems A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and is exp ...

, and

structural A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

/ architectural) and design disciplines like Human-Computer Interaction. Design engineers tend to work on products and systems that involve adapting and using complex scientific and mathematical techniques. The emphasis tends to be on utilizing

engineering physics Engineering physics (EP), sometimes engineering science, is the field of study combining pure science disciplines (such as physics, mathematics, chemistry or biology) and engineering disciplines (computer, nuclear, electrical, aerospace, medic ...

and other applied sciences to develop solutions for society. A design engineer usually works with a team of other engineers and other types of designers (e.g.

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

ers), to develop conceptual and detailed designs that ensure a product functions, performs, and is fit for its purpose. They may also work with marketers to develop the product concept and specifications to meet customer needs, and may direct the design effort. In many engineering areas, a distinction is made between the "design engineer" and other engineering roles (e.g. planning engineer, project engineer, test engineer).

Analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

tends to play a larger role for the latter areas, while synthesis is more paramount for the former; nevertheless, all such roles are technically part of the ''overall'' engineering design process. When an engineering project involves public safety, design engineers involved are often required to be licensed - for example, as a Professional Engineer (in the U.S. and Canada). There is often an "industrial exemption" for engineers working on project only internally to their organization, although the scope and conditions of such exemptions vary widely across jurisdictions.

Design engineer tasks

Design engineers may work in a team along with other designers to create the drawings necessary for

prototyping A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

and production, or in the case of buildings, for

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

. However, with the advent of CAD and solid modeling software, the design engineers may create the drawings themselves, or perhaps with the help of many corporate service providers. The next responsibility of many design engineers is prototyping. A model of the product is created and reviewed. Prototypes are either functional or non-functional. Functional "alpha" prototypes are used for testing; non-functional prototypes are used for form and fit checking. Virtual prototyping and hence for any such software solutions may also be used. This stage is where design flaws are found and corrected, and tooling, manufacturing fixtures, and packaging are developed. Once the "alpha" prototype is finalized after many iterations, the next step is the "beta" pre-production prototype. The design engineer, working with an

industrial engineer Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

manufacturing engineer Manufacturing engineering or production engineering is a branch of professional engineering that shares many common concepts and ideas with other fields of engineering such as mechanical, chemical, electrical, and industrial engineering. Manufac ...

, and quality engineer, reviews an initial run of components and assemblies for design compliance and fabrication/manufacturing methods analysis. This is often determined through

statistical process control Statistical process control (SPC) or statistical quality control (SQC) is the application of statistics, statistical methods to monitor and control the quality of a production process. This helps to ensure that the process operates efficiently, ...

. Variations in the product are correlated to aspects of the process and eliminated. The most common metric used is the

process capability index The process capability index, or process capability ratio, is a statistical measure of process capability: the ability of an engineering process to produce an output within specification limits. The concept of process capability only holds mean ...

C_pk. A C_pk of 1.0 is considered the baseline acceptance for full production go-ahead. The design engineer may follow the product and make requested changes and corrections throughout the whole life of the product. This is referred to as "cradle to grave" engineering. The design engineer works closely with the manufacturing engineer throughout the product life cycle, and is often required to investigate and validate design changes which could lead to possible production cost reductions in order to consistently reduce the price as the product becomes mature and thus subject to discounting to defend market volumes against newer competing products. Moreover, design changes may be also made mandatory by updates in laws and regulations. The design process is an information intensive one, and design engineers have been found to spend 56% of their time engaged in various information behaviours, including 14% actively searching for information. In addition to design engineers' core technical competence, research has demonstrated the critical nature of their personal attributes, project management skills, and cognitive abilities to succeed in the role. Amongst other more detailed findings, a recent

work sampling Work sampling is the statistical technique used for determining the proportion of time spent by workers in various defined categories of activity (e.g. setting up a machine, assembling two parts, idle...etc.). It is as important as all other stati ...

study found that design engineers spend 62.92% of their time engaged in technical work, 40.37% in social work, and 49.66% in computer-based work. There was considerable overlap between these different types of work, with engineers spending 24.96% of their time engaged in technical and social work, 37.97% in technical and non-social, 15.42% in non-technical and social, and 21.66% in non-technical and non-social.

In software engineering

software engineering Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...

, a Design Engineer is a person with the skills to tackle both

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

and

software development Software development is the process of designing and Implementation, implementing a software solution to Computer user satisfaction, satisfy a User (computing), user. The process is more encompassing than Computer programming, programming, wri ...

tasks. As Maggie Appleton puts it, "a person who sits squarely at the intersection of design and engineering, and works to bridge the gap between them". Some of their main tasks include prototyping and designing in code. Related terms for Design Engineers in the Software Engineering industry include: * UX Engineer * UI Engineer * Design Technologist * Creative Technologist * Design System Architect * Product Designer * Experience Designer

References

{{Authority control Design Design engineering Engineering occupations

Design engineer tasks

In software engineering

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References