Engineering Design Process vs. Scientific Method: Key Differences Explained

Science fair students are often confused about whether their projects should be framed as hypotheses or as engineering builds. The scientific method seeks to answer a question about how something works, typically by running a controlled, repeatable experiment. The engineering design process aims to solve a problem by building and iteratively refining a design until it meets set criteria. Standards such as the Next Generation Science Standards pair these approaches, with asking questions as the science practice and defining problems as its engineering counterpart. A simple test is to check how a project ends: an explanation backed by data points to science, while a working device with performance data points to engineering. Major competitions like Regeneron ISEF judge the two approaches against separate rubrics.