Engineering Design 2: Systems Approaches for Design will build your proficiency to abstract, visualise, communicate and deliver engineering designs. ED2 is the second course in the interdisciplinary engineering design core, which situates design within the life-cycle of systems. You will undertake a project using a systems approach to design, which is a formal process for generating robust and relevant engineering designs, applicable to all areas of engineering.

During the early stages of the course, you will become fluent in the language of systems engineering for the purposes of describing a design problem space. This includes how to research and systematically generate requirements, undertake a functional analysis of a system, and create and communicate the architecture of an engineering design. You will develop skills for life-long learning by completing modules in a range of prototyping and modelling methods including visualisation, electronics and fabrication. These modules will supplement the systems approach to design, allowing you to represent an engineering design from both a systems and visual perspective.

Design Project

The major project in this course will involve a real-world engineering problem. You will be challenged in small teams to generate an engineering design using the systems approach that meets the requirements of project stakeholders in one of a range of application domain areas of systems engineering. You will apply research and design techniques to visualise, prototype and evaluate alternatives, in situations limited by available resources and imperfect information. During the project, you will develop design outcomes justified through project documentation. Finally, you will develop skills in critical reflection as a part of professional practice by connecting your experiences and learning in your project to engineering and research practice.

Engineering Design @ ANU

At ANU, students are challenged to think of engineering design at a systems-level. Over the degree, you will learn how engineering design can be used to make a positive impact on society through five domains: design, analysis, research, professional practice and teamwork. In ED2, you will connect with your learning in the foundation courses, and learn the language of systems engineering, central to the design core.