Designing Engineers
| Author/creator | Bucciarelli, Louis L. Author |
| Format | Electronic |
| Edition | Reprint |
| Publication Info | Cambridge : MIT Press |
| Description | 230 p. ill 22.300 x 014.900 cm. |
| Supplemental Content | Full text available from eBooks on EBSCOhost |
| Subjects |
| Series | Inside Technology Ser. |
| Summary | Annotation The products of engineering design are everywhere, but who or what determines theirform and function? Their surfaces are usually cold, seemingly objective, as if they existed outsideof history of the technologies that are so much a part of our lives. Written by a practicingengineer, Designing Engineers yields clues to this mystery by probing deeply into the everyday worldof engineering. In doing so, it reveals significant discrepancies between our ideal image of designas an instrumental process and the reality of design as a historically situated social process thatis full of uncertainty and ambiguity.Designing Engineers describes the evolution of three disparateprojects: an x-ray inspection system for airports, a photoprint machine, and a residentialphotovoltaic energy system. In each case, we are taken through the hallways and into the meetingrooms of the company to watch over the shoulders of engineers as they engage in the manifoldindividual and collective work that goes into designing a new product.Louis Bucciarelli was aconsultant to one project and participated in the design process for the other two. In all threeprojects he examines both object - the way participants understood how things work - and process -the way they go about designing. What he learns is that engineering design is a social process thatinvolves constant negotiation among many parties, not just engineers but marketing people, researchscientists, accountants, and customers as well.One of the strengths of the book is the wayBucciarelli uses the very language of engineering discourse to uncover the many levels at whichnegotiation takes place. Designing, it turns out, is as much about agreeing on definitions as it isabout producing "hard" artifacts. |
| Access restriction | Available only to authorized users. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web |
| Genre/form | Electronic books. |
| ISBN | 9780262522120 |
| ISBN | 0262522128 (Trade Paper) Active Record |
| Standard identifier# | 9780262522120 |
| Stock number | 0262522128 00015994 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Resources | Access Content Online | ✔ Available |