Product Engineering

Product Engineering has existed for as long as we have recognised a need to anticipate the result and assure the success of product design. In other words, it is mankind's recognition of the importance of uncertainty and risk management, and of the crucial role of science (and in the case of all things that have to do with nature, natural science) and systematicism in the making of a product- with all its material and non-material aspects. Looking at the most basic definitions of engineering and design (ref. Merriam -Webster on-line), it emerges that engineering is the systematic subset of design, where nature is manipulated to be made useful to people. This is typically manifested in the design of products. People, products and science are three terms that our faculty of Industrial Design Engineering understands well. These are things we stand for. In our TU Delft, where by definition everyone designs, our focus on people and products is more explicitly manifest. This is why for us 'Product Engineering' is not just an important term to describe what we do, but also explicitly the name of a group of scientists, teachers and technicians with a mission to enhance our knowledge of this vast and rich field. In our modern knowledge-intensive and product-intensive society, Product Engineering is a field of both societal relevance and great scientific opportunity. Further information on the research and educational portfolio of the Product Engineering group can be found at our website: http://www.io.tudelft.nl/pe

C. Spitas

20-4-2011 13:00:00