Editing Engineering (section)

===Problem solving===
[[File:Booster-Layout.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|A drawing for a [[steam locomotive]]. Engineering is applied to [[design]], with emphasis on function and the utilization of mathematics and science.]]
Engineers use their knowledge of [[science]], [[mathematics]], [[logic]], [[economics]], and [[empirical knowledge|appropriate experience]] or [[tacit knowledge]] to find suitable solutions to a particular problem. Creating an appropriate [[mathematical model]] of a problem often allows them to analyze it (sometimes definitively), and to test potential solutions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/47499-what-is-engineering.html|title=What is engineering?  |last=Lucas |first=Jim |website=Live Science |date=August 22, 2014|language=en|access-date=September 15, 2019|archive-date=July 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702140957/https://www.livescience.com/47499-what-is-engineering.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

More than one solution to a design problem usually exists so the different [[design choice]]s have to be evaluated on their merits before the one judged most suitable is chosen. [[Genrich Altshuller]], after gathering statistics on a large number of [[patent]]s, suggested that [[compromise]]s are at the heart of "[[level of invention|low-level]]" engineering designs, while at a higher level the best design is one which eliminates the core contradiction causing the problem.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theoriesaboutengineering.org/genrich_altshuller.html|website=Theories About Engineering |title= Genrich Altshuller's Theory of Inventive Problem Solving |access-date=September 15, 2019|archive-date=September 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911220432/http://theoriesaboutengineering.org/genrich_altshuller.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Engineers typically attempt to predict how well their designs will perform to their specifications prior to full-scale production. They use, among other things: [[prototype]]s, [[scale model]]s, [[simulation]]s, [[destructive testing|destructive tests]], [[nondestructive testing|nondestructive tests]], and [[stress testing|stress tests]]. Testing ensures that products will perform as expected but only in so far as the testing has been representative of use in service. For products, such as aircraft, that are used differently by different users failures and unexpected shortcomings (and necessary design changes) can be expected throughout the operational life of the product.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/engineering-design-process/engineering-design-compare-scientific-method|title=Comparing the Engineering Design Process and the Scientific Method|website=Science Buddies|language=en-US|access-date=September 15, 2019|archive-date=December 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216191107/https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/engineering-design-process/engineering-design-compare-scientific-method|url-status=live}}</ref>

Engineers take on the responsibility of producing designs that will perform as well as expected and, except those employed in specific areas of the [[arms industry]], will not harm people. Engineers typically include a [[factor of safety]] in their designs to reduce the risk of unexpected failure.

The study of failed products is known as [[forensic engineering]]. It attempts to identify the cause of failure to allow a redesign of the product and so prevent a re-occurrence. Careful analysis is needed to establish the cause of failure of a product. The consequences of a failure may vary in severity from the minor cost of a machine breakdown to large loss of life in the case of accidents involving aircraft and large stationary structures like buildings and dams.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.asce.org/forensic-engineering/forensic-engineering/|title=Forensic Engineering {{!}} ASCE|website=www.asce.org|access-date=September 15, 2019|archive-date=April 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408165523/https://www.asce.org/forensic-engineering/forensic-engineering/|url-status=live}}</ref>