Interdisciplinary Engineering Solutions

The complex systems we use in modern society incorporate technologies from multiple engineering disciplines. As products and equipment become more interconnected and strategic decisions are increasingly data-informed, engineering teams need to incorporate insights from a broad array of fields, including civil engineering, electrical engineering, business, and information technology. These multidisciplinary teams collaborate and represent a range of stakeholders’ perspectives to solve complex challenges.¹

This article will explore interdisciplinary engineering teams and how they drive innovative solutions.

Interdisciplinary Engineering

When engineers from different disciplines come together, they can offer fresh perspectives and break down walls. Bringing engineers from multiple fields together to work on a problem allows you to find the best solutions for each of its dimensions. Electrical engineers can design one component while civil engineers design another. Business leaders on the team can help find the most cost-effective way to bring the product to market. With each team member utilizing their own unique expertise, multidisciplinary teams are perfectly suited to address complex challenges.²

Organizational silos often separate engineers by specialty, function, or technology. However, this approach can waste time and hinder innovation. Homogeneous teams, for example, can bring more uniform perspectives to a problem and reinforce traditional habits and ways of working. They can also be inefficient in terms of time and costs.²

Cross-field integration blends expertise from disciplines such as engineering, healthcare, and environmental science. Teams reflecting cross-field integration approach problems from diverse perspectives. Working collaboratively enables such teams to save time and solicit input from multiple stakeholders early in the design process. This allows teams to iterate faster and create higher-quality products.³

Engineering and Business Integration

Multidisciplinary teams drive effective strategic decision-making by working to align technical solutions with business goals. According to global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, cross-functional teams exhibit enhanced performance.⁴

Engineers need to understand business management to drive successful project delivery. With multidisciplinary teams, product design and development can happen on multiple fronts simultaneously. You don’t need to hand off a project from one team to another to move development forward. This can significantly reduce time to market, which can give you a competitive advantage.⁵

However, these teams are more complex and require skilled management to maximize their value. For effective coordination, project managers should create avenues for clear and open communication. Providing inclusive leadership, well-defined roles, and a culture of shared accountability ensures all aspects of a project are carefully considered.⁶

Collaborative Engineering Projects

Collaborative engineering projects bring together specialists from different disciplines, such as civil engineers, mechanical engineers, and electrical engineers, to solve multifaceted challenges. To ensure effective communication and collaboration among team members, it is essential to utilize methodologies that support teamwork.

For example, one approach taken for some collaborative endeavors is agile project management, an iterative design approach that allows teams to learn and adapt during the process. It focuses on delivering maximum business value as quickly as possible and combines planning and execution, allowing a team to respond quickly to changing requirements.⁷

Because of their complex nature, multidisciplinary teams can be prone to a broader range of challenges than conventional teams. For example, multidisciplinary teams may be especially likely to experience goal confusion. As different team members may have competing priorities, it's important to ensure that everyone is aligned on the ultimate goal of the project.⁸ Strong leadership can help ensure teams attain and maintain alignment.

Another challenge teams face relates to workflow management. Experts often have their own preferred tools and software that may not be compatible with those of other team members. Implementing collaboration tools can help streamline workflows.⁸

Additionally, multidisciplinary teams may contend with communication gaps, a lack of trust, or poor conflict resolution skills. Open communication can help overcome many of these barriers. Team-building exercises and professional development workshops can also increase the cohesiveness of multidisciplinary teams.⁸

Engineering Innovation

Interdisciplinary approaches in engineering can lead to transformative innovations. For example, many types of engineers collaborate to build “smart cities”—cities that integrate advanced technologies and data-driven solutions to improve urban life. For such a project, civil engineers may work on designing buildings with sustainable infrastructure. Electrical engineers may work to build sensors that relay data to optimize traffic flows, and automotive engineers may build autonomous vehicles. Software engineers may develop integrated platforms and data-driven architectures.⁹

Similarly, multidisciplinary teams often work together on sustainability solutions such as green infrastructure and renewable energy innovations. These projects need input from various experts, such as engineers, city planners, and business leaders.⁹

In the future, multidisciplinary collaboration is poised to become standard practice, especially as emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) unlock new design and decision-making capabilities. For example, AI systems can synthesize data from fields such as climatology, ecology, and economics to help teams discover more effective solutions. Combining insights from different industries can allow teams to start with a common understanding and build on their existing knowledge effectively.¹⁰

However, there are risks to AI integration that need to be managed carefully. AI algorithms can be prone to bias and need high-quality data sets to generate valuable insights. Without careful oversight, AI output can lead to the development of faulty or incomplete solutions.¹¹ Interdisciplinary teams can mitigate those risks by bringing diverse perspectives, expertise, and problem-solving approaches to evaluating and utilizing AI output. By integrating insights from a broad range of fields, these teams are better equipped to identify potential sources of bias, assess real-world impacts, and create solutions that leverage the benefits of AI and limit its drawbacks.

Develop Innovative Engineering Solutions

An online Civil Engineering or Electrical Engineering degree from Bradley University can equip you with the skills and interdisciplinary mindset needed to drive innovation in today’s complex, fast-evolving landscape. Our practical, hands-on curriculum, taught by industry experts, will give you authentic learning experiences that translate to success outside of the classroom and can set you up to pursue a specialized engineering career path. Throughout the program, you’ll have opportunities to connect with your peers to build your network and gain valuable collaborative experiences and insights. To learn more, review our admissions process today.