Reverse engineering canvas (REC): a visual tool for supporting reverse engineering activities

To enhance the quality of teaching activities related to Engineering Design, reverse engineering activities were suggested to help students construct engineering design knowledge, especially identification and understanding of product functionalities by the immersion in the factual intricacies of existing products. However, the implementation of these activities presents many downsides as the use of reverse engineering processes in a linear and compartmentalized fashion. To make reverse engineering an integrative and effective learning activity, an accompanying visual tool canvas is proposed in this work. It communicates and develops a more holistic view of the features and solutions offered by the product studied. This reverse engineering canvas (RE Canvas) encompasses eight blocks that map the essential elements of the teardown activities and is intended to help students identify and understand functionalities of the product studied to turn them into new creations. To test the relevance of the RE canvas, an experimental test was carried out with our engineering students. Some results are illustrated to help understand its logic and rationale. Mainly, the canvas has enhanced the benefits of reverse engineering activity by making it more understandable, integrative, and inviting to both iteration and redesign. The proposed RE canvas is a contribution to the development of competency-empowering tools that strengthen the design skills of engineering students.