Engineers
are considered to be logical, thoughtful and precise with everything they
undertake. Perhaps one reason why,
everyone calls themselves an engineer. A house wife, calls herself “Domestic Engineer”. Doesn’t she organize, construct, manipulate,
manage, contrive? all used to define an engineer, as per Merriam-Webster
dictionary. So next time you boast your engineering skills, beware the docile,
and over friendly cookie baking lady has exactly the same skill sets.
There
are certain tools any type of engineer would rely upon.
(a) legacy data
(b) testing
(c) intuition
Legacy Data works while designing a family of
products. Meaning, similar shaped parts, subjected to different magnitudes of
load. Hopefully, the initial design was well engineered and optimized for material
and life cycle expectancy.
Testing historically has proven to be expensive,
time consuming, but definitive. Need to reduce design cycle time, and ability
to match quality is need of the hour. Depends on the nature of industry you are
in, testing more than a couple designs isn’t economical anymore.
Intuition to me works if you have worked in the field
for a considerable time. I have known engineers who have spent 10 years
designing a pressure vessel or a nozzle. They obviously understand, different
conditions components are subjected to. The kind of experience only years of
practice can give. Their first shot is very close, if not always on target to
an optimized design.
The
ability to test multiple concepts, improve existing designs, will define
product success and market acceptance. Be it machine design or product design,
everyone needs to tune up design process or face competition from every corner
of globe.
SolidWorks
Simulation or COSMOS are tools engineers rely upon to make sure their designs
perform optimally. There are budget / time constraints at any given moment to
ponder upon. If we prove to your management technology works, and is
economically viable will they work with us?
Rajat
Trehan
Product
Manager – Design Validation
Computer Aided Technology Inc.
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