Teardown

Praxis I

The “teardown” activity was my first exposure to engineering thinking at the university level. It acted as a basis for shaping engineering thought as we were tasked with, essentially, thinking backwards. As my partner and I noticed several key design decisions such as the choice of outer material and the placement of the adjustment knob on two different toasters, this allowed us to realize some of the choices that the engineers designing this product had kept in mind. In other words, it made us think like the engineer by questioning the effects of one alternative versus another for a single aspect of the product. It is by this means did I begin to consider the effects and alternatives of a single design decision. Moreover, it introduced an important new concept that became applicable in a general sense as well, notably the questioning of the reasons behind our choices, and the consideration of other alternatives behind that. For instance, when looking to buy a mug, it becomes natural for me to think of my particular uses for it. As a tea drinker, I consider whether or not the mug was designed to be easily cleaned by having a wide mouth and if it can safely hold hot liquid for extended periods of time. I also consider whether I find it easy to hold and transport, and whether it is spill-proof, since I like to keep bottles in my backpack. Thus, this activity introduced engineering thinking, which has become natural for me to practice and has also affected my engineering design philosophy in considering effects of one alternative over others when converging towards single concepts.