2. Engineering design and scientific research

The text of this chapter is mainly based on the work of Roozenburg and Eekels 1 (1995) but adapted to make it suitable for the purpose of this book.

Wind Tunnel Test

Human beings function in two domains: the domain of material reality and the domain of the mind. Despite the intense interaction between the two domains, two main directions can be distinguished, namely a process from the outside to the inside (from the material reality to the domain of the mind) – a process that we call “knowledge acquisition” – and a process from the inside to the outside (from the domain of the mind to the domain of the material reality), which we call “technical action”.

The opposite reasoning directions of design and research

The process from the outside to the inside is directed towards knowledge of the world. The process from the inside to the outside is directed towards change of the world. In the former process, science plays the main part and technology has possible (but often) a supporting role. In the latter, technology plays the main part and science has (also often) a supporting role.

Scientific research occupies itself with the existing real world and with our representation thereof in factual statements. Engineering design, on the other hand, occupies itself with a not yet existing, but (hopefully) feasible world, or worlds. Designing is the construction of possible worlds in which the design product or process could appear and function. There is but one actually existing world, but there are many possible worlds. Possible worlds exist only in the domain of the mind. A flawless design process can thus take place entirely in the domain of the mind. But a flawless empirical research process cannot. In this process, there must be an interaction between the domain of the material reality and the domain of the mind.

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1

Roozenburg, N.F.M. and Eekels, J. (1995). Product Design: Fundamentals and Methods, Wiley.