2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Design is a significant component of undergraduate engineering programs as evidenced by the central role it plays in both curricula and ABET assessment. While scholars and organizations have proposed a range of definitions, there remains a lack of consensus around a single, universally understood, definition of engineering design. Additionally, the ways in which engineering students conceptualize design have not been fully explored. This paper aims to fill this gap by summarizing two years of survey data where students were asked to explore their perceptions of engineering design. The data from first year and capstone civil engineering undergraduate students indicates that students’ understanding of engineering design undergoes a predictable shift over the course of the undergraduate experience. Specifically, first year engineering students emphasized creativity and prototyping while capstone students tended to highlight human-centered components including problem definition and stakeholder input.