Pre-requisite: 70650
Most engineering products form part of a system which can be broken down into sub systems, assemblies and components. A considerable amount of design synthesis and analysis has to be done on the system as a whole before a product or process design specification can be drawn up. It is therefore important that the engineer is able to recognise what forms a system, a subsystem and a component, and how the performance of the whole system is affected by the performance of its constituent parts. In systems design, the engineer considers the widest implications of a product, project or process at the design stage, including not only the technical interactions of the various subsystems, but also the political, sociological and socio-economic implications. This unit leads the student to an understanding of the philosophy and methodology of the design process in the context of systems which embrace political, sociological, economic, technical and ergonomic aspects. It then provides practice through assignments and workshops in developing the student's ability to discern the relevant factors and design accordingly, to interact within a design team, and to communicate ideas and concepts through oral and written presentations. An essential skill for the design engineer is to be able to work across disciplines and therefore often have to "learn" new specialisations. In this unit the student is introduced to a number of specialist topics not covered elsewhere in their course of study.