Elsevier

Design Studies

Volume 26, Issue 2, March 2005, Pages 123-153
Design Studies

Design engineering competencies: future requirements and predicted changes in the forthcoming decade

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2004.09.004Get rights and content

This paper seeks to address omissions in previous research by identifying a future competency profile for design engineers. A three-phase methodology using both quantitative and qualitative methods was employed. A competency profile for the future design engineer, 10 years hence, was generated. The profile consisted of 42 competencies divided into the following six competency groups (in descending order of criticality): personal attributes, project management, cognitive strategies, cognitive abilities, technical ability, and communication. Furthermore, non-technical competencies were forecast to become increasingly important in the future. Results were discussed with reference to their implications for the design engineering industry.

Section snippets

Selection of future time horizon

The company under study primarily manufactures aerospace products with an average timescale of four years from initial design to initial production. Furthermore, the company had a relatively full order book and was therefore relatively financially stable for the short-term future. It was therefore felt that a five-year horizon would be too short. Looking 20 years ahead was considered too speculative. Consequently, a 10-year future time horizon was selected as most appropriate.

Overview of three-phase methodology

The current

Phase 1 – Preliminary interviews

The company in which this research was conducted has a six-stage design process. Phase 1 interviewees had recommended focusing on three particular stages when exploring the future competencies, namely: Stage 1: Preliminary Concept Definition; Stage 3: Product Realisation; and Stage 5: Service Support. It was felt that these three stages offered sufficient contrast to be of research interest. The interview data also identified likely changes in each of these stages over the next 10 years.

Several

Discussion

The six competency groups to emerge from the final analysis contain a mixture of both technical and non-technical competencies, as suggested by previous research examining the future requirements of technical roles (Plonka et al., 1994, Rifkin et al., 1999). Unfortunately, neither Plonka et al. (1994) nor Rifkin et al. (1999) assessed the importance, or criticality, of the competencies they identified. In our research this was done, and interestingly the technical ability competency group was

Conclusion

The present study sought to identify a competency profile for future design engineers. Forty-two competencies were identified, divided into the following six competency groups (in descending order of criticality): personal attributes, project management, cognitive strategies, cognitive abilities, technical ability, and communication. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that the future design engineering role may be changing. Although technical competencies are forecast to remain equally

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