Engineering Process

A team of engineers need to fix a broken panel on the International Space Station. The engineers brainstorm several solutions. They narrow down the list to two possible solutions, but they are not sure which solution will be safest for the astronauts on board.

Following the steps of the engineering process, what should the team do next?

• Put both solutions on the space station and see which one works.

• Pick one solution that seems to be the safest and put it in place.

• Make a plan to test their solutions in a controlled environment.

• Conduct research on both solutions and put one in place without testing.

Which statement is true about the engineering process?

• Engineers often need to repeat steps in the process to find the best solution.

• The first solution is always the best solution to the problem.

• Very few professional engineers use this process.

• Engineers only ask questions at the beginning of the engineering process.

What is the first step of the engineering process?

• identify the problem

• test possible solutions

• brainstorm possible solutions

• build a prototype

Which statement is true about the engineering process?

• Engineers never need to repeat steps of the engineering process.

• Most engineering problems lack design constraints.

• There are usually many different ways to solve a problem.

• The first solution to the problem is always the best solution.

After you identify an engineering problem, what are the next steps in the engineering process?

• evaluate test results and revise the solution to the problem

• test possible solutions and communicate the results

• build and test a prototype

• conduct background research and brainstorm solutions

What role did engineers play in the development and maintenance of SMAP?

• They helped to maintain the satellite, but they did not design it.

• They designed the satellite and helped to maintain it.

• They did not design the satellite or help to maintain it.

• They designed the satellite, but they did not help to maintain it.

Engineers of this type solve problems that deal with processes. They can help to develop computer programs that launch, land, and fly a spaceship. They also monitor the different computer programs on a spaceship to make sure they are communicating with each other.

Which type of engineer is this?

• chemical engineer

• biomedical engineer

• systems engineer

• civil engineer

Which statement is true about solutions to engineering problems?

• All solutions are equally likely to solve the problem.

• The best solution is always the first one that successfully passes the test.

• Engineers always know whether a solution will work or fail before it’s tested.

• Some solutions may be more successful than other solutions.

Liam’s shoelaces often untie when he plays on the playground. He plans to create a device that will keep his shoelaces tied. In his engineering notebook, Liam writes down the following statement:

Build a device small enough to put on my sneakers that will keep my shoelaces tied.

Which step of the engineering process did Liam complete by writing this sentence?

• brainstorming possible solutions

• evaluating results of a test

• identifying a solvable problem

• creating a prototype

A team of engineers wants to know if their skyscraper design will withstand different types of weather. They build small models of their design and put the models in different weather conditions. After each condition, they calculate how much damage was done to each model.

Which two steps of the engineering process are described in this paragraph?

• identifying the problem and conducting background research

• brainstorming solutions and writing a conclusion statement

• asking questions and brainstorming solutions

• creating a prototype and testing the prototype