Yes, good question, Beth. There are a number of forces that fall on the design engineer -- environmental compliance, collaboration, incorporating new technology, mobile access to design, design for outsourced manufacturing, increased time to market. So much for the contemplative work at the bench.
That's a really interesting point you raise, Rob. These developments are all positioned as helping the design engineer be more efficient in everything from actual design work to communication. But you're right in identifying that it definitely puts more responsiblity on their shoulders. I'm curious from our community out there what they think in terms of new tools, new responsibilities.
So many of these developments seem to put more pressure and responsibility on the design engineer: environmental compliance, collaboration sign-offs, you name it. Is this ultimately a time-saver for the design engineer or is it just one more level of responsibility?
I think that is their approach. That and the ability to test more continously throughout the design cycle as opposed to the typical method of a handoff at the end to testing, when if problems are encountered, turns out to be very costly.
This answers, or starts to answer, a question I've had for some time: as cars become increasingly dependent on processors doing tons of different tasks, how is all that code in all those subsystems being managed? Specifically, how is it all being developed and tested, and has the systems engineering approach arrived yet? This looks like an excellent start on breaking down the silos.
Nice article, Beth. If I understand this right, given this integration tool, the system being tested could be testing with other systems simultaneously so a problem between conflicting systems could be caught earlier?
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
On April 21, NASA launched a novel project, putting into orbit three satellites that employ an off-the-shelf commercial smartphone as the control system.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
0 
