Engineering projects are often designed differently from "normal" science projects.  The following information from the Intel ISEF website is provided to assist students and teachers in planning engineering projects. 

In addition to the ISEF information, Science Buddies has an excellent, detailed discussion of engineering and programming projects which can be found on the Science Buddies website at

http://sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_engineering.shtml.

From the Intel ISEF Student Handbook:

http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/document/hbk2010.pdf

“Scientists try to understand how nature works; engineers create things that never were.”

An engineering project should state the engineering goals, the development process and the evaluation of improvements.  Engineering projects may include the following:

1. Define a need or “How can I make this better?”
   
   
2. Develop or establish design criteria (could be more than one)
   
   
3. Do background research and search the literature to see what has already been done or what products
   already exist that fill a similar need.  What make them good and what makes them weak?
   
   
4. Prepare preliminary designs and a materials list.  Consider costs, manufacturing and user requirements.
   
   
5. Build and test a prototype of your best design.  Consider reliability, repair and servicing.
   
   
6. Retest and redesign as necessary. Product testing.
   
   
7. Present results.
   

Engineering Goals

from the Intel ISEF Judging Guide

http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/isefitems/JudgingGuide.pdf

1. Does the project have a clear objective?
   
   
2. Is the objective relevant to the potential user’s needs?
   
   
3. Is the solution: workable? acceptable to the potential user? economically feasible?
   
   
4. Could the solution be utilized successfully in design or construction of an end product?
   
   
5. Is the solution a significant improvement over previous alternatives or applications?
   
   
6. Has the solution been tested for performance under the conditions of use?