Optimization, an Important Stage of Engineering Design.

Teaching middle and high school students how to weigh constraints and criteria against various design solutions in order to select the best possible solution is an important skill necessary for engineering, as well as for life. Introduction A number of leaders in technology education have indicated that a major difference between the technological design process and the engineering design process is analysis and optimization (Hailey, et al., 2005; Hill, 2006; Gattie & Wicklein, 2007). The analysis stage of the engineering design process is when mathematical models and scientific principles are employed to help the designer predict design results. The optimization stage of the engineering design process is a systematic process using design constraints and criteria to allow the designer to locate the optimal solution. In an engineering design approach, both analysis and optimization are employed before any prototype work is started. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Recently, the author conducted research to examine the status of technology education regarding the infusion of engineering design concepts (Kelley, 2008). Participants from this study revealed that technology education curriculum content currently does not emphasize optimization techniques as a part of the engineering design process. One of lowest-ranking survey items for time per typical use was the item: use optimization techniques to determine optimum solutions to problems, mean of 1.82 using a 5-point Likert scale. In the author's search to understand why technology educators have not emphasized this phase of the engineering design process to a greater degree, the author discovered that there was very little in engineering design textbooks or engineering design curriculum at the secondary level regarding optimization. One of the few pre-engineering sources that broached the subject, Engineering Your Future, (Gomez, Oakes, & Leone, 2006) dedicated only one page to optimization. However, the members of the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) have identified optimization as an important concept in engineering design (Merrill, Custer, Daugherty, Westrick, & Zeng, 2007). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NCETE members have identified three specific core design concepts important in the engineering design process and have termed these concepts Constraints, Optimization, and Predictive Analysis or COPA. The COPA concept has been used to help technology education teachers quickly identify the core concepts of engineering design. NCETE has developed some activities designed to deliver COPA in technology education. This article will focus specifically on Optimization as a way to inform technology educators about the concept and provide an example of optimization through the case of Charles Lindbergh's famous 1929 flight from New York to Paris. The author will present a historical case using Lindbergh's own words from his biography, The Spirit of St. Louis (1953), to illustrate that he used an optimization process to make design decisions about his plane and flight, which led to his success much more than just being "Lucky Lindy:' Optimization Defined One of the simplest definitions for optimization is "doing the most with the least" (Gomez, et al. p. 301, 2006). Lockhart and Johnson (1996) define optimization as "the process of finding the most effective or favorable value or condition" (p. 610). The purpose of optimization is to achieve the "best" design relative to a set of prioritized criteria or constraints. These include maximizing factors such as productivity, strength, reliability, longevity, efficiency, and utilization. (Merrill, Custer, Daugherty, Westrick, & Zeng, 2007). Engineers are often assigned design projects that require them to seek a solution that efficiently locates a design that meets the identified criteria within the given constraints. …