Criterion Functions and th Role of Values in the 标准的功能和价值观中的作用.docVIP

Criterion Functions and the Role of Values in the Engineering Design Process Engineering Ethics Assignment Optimization is essential to engineering design. It seeks to adapt engineering artifacts to particular goals and values, maximizing intended benefits and minimizing undesirable consequences. Prior to WWII optimization was often confused with efficiency – the maximization of output with respect to input – and treated as an inevitable consequence of proper application of the design process. Methods were developed and deployed for maximizing efficiency, but optimization was not treated explicitly. After WWII it became clear that optimal designs were not necessarily the most efficient. Engineers searched for mathematical methods to objectively establish optimal systems, and it was discovered that mathematical models of engineering systems cannot ignore values. Various methods now exist for representing design solutions mathematically. Such representations are known as “criterion” or “objective functions.” Such a function represents a solution as a sum of the various design criteria, ci, multiplied by a weighting coefficient, wi. Each wi is assigned a numeric value on an arbitrary scale with each step on the scale representing the relative importance of that criterion with respect to the other criteria. As Thomas Woodson notes, such methods reveal the overriding importance of values and subjective decisions as part of the design process. As we look behind the scenes, we find major influences on decision-making coming from the individual’s own value system, from that of his organization, and from the culture, as well as from the technology. (Introduction to Engineering Design, 204) The engineer must take responsibility for making such criteria explicit, assessing them, and making appropriate decisions. If not, deleterious implicit assumptions may remain unanalyzed and dominate a design solution or, what may be equally as bad, someone less technically qualified will