EENG/MENG 4380: Mechanical Engineering Design

Standards allow technology to work seamlessly and establish trust so that markets can operate smoothly. They:

• provide a common language to measure and evaluate performance,
• make interoperability of components made by different companies possible, and
• protect consumers by ensuring safety, durability, and market equity.

Examples of standards:

• 7009-2024 - IEEE Standard for Fail-Safe Design of Autonomous and Semi-Autonomous Systems

• ASTM D1047-21 Standard Specification for Poly(Vinyl Chloride) Jacket for Wire and Cable
      

Here are a few examples of standards organizations: 

• ANSI: American National Standards Institute
• ASCE: American Society of Civil Engineers
• ASME: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials)
• IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission
• IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• ISO: International Organization for Standardization
• NFPA: National Fire Protection Association 
• NIST: National Institute of Standards and Technology
• SAE International (formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers)

Note: The library does not provide access to standards from all of these organizations. Consider using Interlibrary Loan to access the ones the library does not have. 

Identifying vs. Getting Standards

Getting a standard is relatively straightforward compared to identifying what standard you need. There are different ways to identify what standard you need to find.  

Standards Databases

The simplest way to identify standards is to look at standards databases. 

Academic Literature

Look into academic literature related to your project. They will often list related standards directly or in their references. 

What IS in academic literature:

• Notations of which standards are relevant
• Specifications of experimental apparatus
• Experimental approaches

What ISN'T in academic literature:

• Specifications of commercial products
• Well-established routine calculations or procedures

Codes: 

Some standards can be identified by looking at codes, which are minimum requirements as set by law. 

Examples:

• NFPA 70: National Electric Code
• C2-2023 - 2023 National Electrical Safety Code® (NESC®)

Handbooks:

Handbooks reference codes and standards, and give additional context to those codes and standards. Many handbooks will be combined for related standards, and can help you identify additional standards to examine. 

Example:

• The Safety Critical Systems Handbook : A Straightforward Guide to Functional Safety: IEC 61508 (2010 Edition), IEC 61511 (2015 Edition) and Related Guidance

Found or need information (e.g. articles, books, etc.) that we don't have access to? You can get it via Interlibrary Loan Details (ILL).

• Request a book or article.
• Most articles are emailed within 1-2 weeks. Books may take longer.

WTAMU students, faculty, staff, and Friends of Cornette Library (Supporting level and above) can use Interlibrary Loan (ILL) to borrow research materials from the collections of other libraries.

ILL Office hours are Monday-Friday 8AM to 5PM. Contact the Interlibrary Loan department at (806) 651-2406.

Delivery could take as little as a couple of days or as much as three weeks. See here for more information about Interlibrary Loan. Click here for our ILL FAQs. For our Interlibrary Loan policies click our Library policies section then select Interlibrary Loan.

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