Hybrid Methods for Engineering

In Hybrid Methods for Engineering, you'll learn ...

• A hybrid approach to solving engineering problems where the benefits of one method are enhanced by using another method
• Hybrid methods and their applicability
• How the problem-solving process evolves from a simple equation-based approach all the way to a hybrid technique

Overview

Preview a portion of this course before purchasing it.

Credit: 3 PDH

Length: 53 pages

It has been proven philosophically that analyzing and synthesizing elements of existing knowledge, with the purpose of continuously recombining them in new, creative ways, is key to achieving societal progress.

This course introduces a hybrid approach to solving engineering problems where the benefits of one method are enhanced by using another method, or the drawbacks of one technique are mitigated by using elements from other approaches. This methodology utilizes the engineers’ solid technical background acquired in school and throughout their careers to maximize their ability to solve more types of technical and non-technical problems.

Using a common, practical problem, the course shows how the problem-solving process evolves from a simple equation-based approach all the way to a hybrid technique. Additionally, several examples are shown to suggest how this approach can be used to increase the applicability and flexibility of a given method:

• Financial Management + Fuzzy logic
• Multi-Criteria Decision Making + Delphi Analysis
• Axiomatic Design + Design of Experiments
• Waterfall project planning + Agile project execution

The theoretical material and examples introduced in this course suggest the limitless possibilities that this approach can generate. This course enables engineers to recognize opportunities for augmenting the benefits of one method with other methods (or relevant elements of other methods), thus increasing the tools’ flexibility and utility. After taking this course, engineers should be better prepared to attack problems that would otherwise have been very difficult to solve, impossible to solve, or just discarded.

This course will help engineers, project engineers, manufacturing engineers, quality engineers, and engineering managers expand their problem-solving abilities and find solutions to problems that have been previously considered too complex or have just been discarded.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the general features of problem-solving methodologies, including levels of problem understanding, problem characteristics, and the predictability of outcomes.
• Compare how problem-solving methodologies apply across levels of flexibility and usability, including rigid, alternative rigid, adaptable, tunable, and combined methods.
• Explain hybrid methods and their applicability.
• Describe the process of combining methods to enhance their applicability in a hybrid engineering technique.
• Explain the process of combining elements of methods to enhance their applicability in a hybrid engineering technique.
• Illustrate the applicability of hybrid methods using several examples.
  • Explain how a fuzzy logic approach can extend the applicability of Altman’s Z-value statistic when a multiparameter equation expects values within rigid boundaries.
  • Describe how a Delphi analysis can improve the accuracy of a weighted sum method used for multicriteria decision-making.
  • Explain how a design of experiments method can improve the focus of an axiomatic design engineering process.
  • Describe how combining waterfall project planning with agile project execution can increase the likelihood of project success.

Certificate of Completion

You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 15 questions. PDH credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.