Teaching engineers how to analyze problems

Unaware that a team of engineers had failed to obtain approval for any of their six proposed renovations, the author excitedly approached his first instructions, “Design a laboratory layout for an old building”. Less than two weeks into the project, he presented plant management with a new problem statement, “How do we perform the ten critical chemical tests quickly and economically” and proposed a creative location for a new laboratory. By crossing disciplines to identify the true problem and a new solution, he became their first summer intern to lead a major capital project which was approved before he began fall classes. Over the past five years, the company saved millions of dollars with his proposed laboratory. As an engineering educator, the author wants his students to achieve similar success in identifying the problem drivers and developing approaches. One of his greatest concerns for engineering students is that they learn how to assess a problem and determine an appropriate solution method. Too often students and even practicing engineers expect a problem to come with a problem type label