New directions in engineering education: developing creative and responsible product design engineers

New product development has been described as an industry that requires the integrated skill sets of both Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering. However, designers typically lack the technical depth and analytical skills of an engineer, whilst engineers lack the design acumen and user-centred approach of the industrial designer. This lack of cross-discipline synergy may result in inefficiencies and missed opportunities, and be detrimental to the new product development process. Design and engineering faculties now recognise the need to train graduates who are more suited to cross-disciplinary roles in product design. One such approach is the new engineering discipline of Product Design Engineering (PDE), an engineering qualification that results from the integration of industrial design and mechanical engineering curriculum. The pedagogical integration of these disparate professions has potential to lead a new direction in engineering education, by fostering creativity, introducing vital social and environmental agendas, expanding learning opportunities through design project-based learning and developing human-centred design acumen. This research examines the product design industry and identifies key graduate attributes for engineers engaged in new product development. It discovers critical areas of concern in engineering education, establishing the need for new engineering pedagogy. It also explores the integration of design into engineering curricula as a means to enhance the product design capabilities of engineering students. The research then investigates the emergence, impact and relevance of the Product Design Engineering pedagogy, as an appropriate response to both the expectations of new product development industries, and the educational reform mandated by global engineering regulatory organisations. This research, as the first examination of the Product Design Engineering paradigm, represents an original contribution to knowledge in respect to identification, analysis and documentation of an emerging global trend in engineering education. It makes an argument for the inclusion of design and creativity curricula in engineering education and validates Product Design Engineering as an appropriate response to industry and regulatory expectations.