Harmony. The members of any good design team should fit together like fingers in a glove: They need not lose their individual identities to work well together.
Inventiveness. Engineers are as creative as inventors. Engineers just call their inventions designs.
Judgment. Not all aspects of engineering can be quantified. Among them is judgment. This comes with experience, and it enables an engineer to make the right choice when there are no easy numbers to serve as guides.
Know-How. Technical skill, also known as know-how, is a wonder to behold, whether in analysis or design.
Lessons Learned. The old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," applies to things made by people as well as to the people themselves.
Mind’s Eye. This term has been used frequently by engineers to refer to their nonverbal visualization of concepts and designs. James Nasmyth (1808-1890), the Scottish engineer who invented the steam hammer, wrote at the time of its conception, when he sketched it out in his notebook, of "having it all clearly before me in my mind's eye."
Neatness. Neatness always counts. A cluttered design, like a messy desk, can give an impression of disorganization. It may be a false accusation, but why risk it?
Over-design. What overeating does to a person, over-designing does to a product.
Prototype. Nothing can be more beautiful to a designer than an ugly prototype that works.
Just as really attractive people are able to usually get the benefit of doubt, so too do attractive devices have the user trying to look for what is right rather than what is wrong. Should not be the case, but it is.
Not long ago, I judged a student engineering project at my alma matter. One team of students had the task of coming up with a solution to a manufacturing problem. (This was a "real world" project sponsored by a local company). The solution they ultimately came up with, I thought, was a pretty good one.
Prior to hitting upon this solution, they came up with a number of other interesting ideas; however, these ideas were unworkable within the constraints of the manufacturing process.
When I asked the students about some of these rejected ideas, their response was basically, "Well, it was a good idea, but the company didn't like it for some reason, so we had to come up with something else." They didn't seem to be willing or able to think critically about the constraints of the process - or why something which might otherwise be a brilliant idea might not work in a given context.
Given that being able to think intelligently about the constraints of a system is one of the most important outcomes of an engineering education, I graded the students down for this.
(For what it's worth, they won the competition anyway).
This slimming down the design has been a slow process for me to get a handle on. I will still at times go for a beefy look just because I want that look and not because the added strength or weight is important to the final function.
"Failure. This thing that designers want most to avoid should always be first and foremost in their mind. Otherwise, how could they design against it?"
I will allow that this includes 'Failure to design saftey in first'... Always at the top of my list.
The comparison between over-design and over-eating is appropriate. There are hundreds of wristwatches, mobile phones and even PCs that are larded with extra features and software that seem to serve little purpose other than to cause unnecessary complexity. Someone needs to offer a class, "Slim Fast Product Design 101."
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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