Tech Directions - February 2008 - (Page 15)

How Engineers Engineer Lessons From My First Big Engineering Project By Harry T. Roman htroman49@aol.com L ITTLE did I realize how much my first engineering project would change my career path, but, when it came, I was hooked forever on doing R&D-type engineering. Let me take you back to my first really important electrical engineering project, because while the technology I worked on back then is antiquated by today’s standards, how I engineered the project is timeless, applicable to any project today. Engineering was and still is about process. My story will give you and your students a feel for the challenges and satisfactions of a career in engineering. Back to the 1970s I was out of engineering college perhaps three years or so when my big chance presented itself. The day seemed pretty much routine, as I went about analyzing high voltage subtransmission circuit line flows and substation capacities, when our group’s senior engineer called me in for a talk. For several months I had heard him discussing a radical concept for using TV picture tubes to display circuit diagrams and then linking this I was soon to learn that any up to a computer so good R&D engineering project takes as much time to plan and engineers like me could see and analyze analyze as it takes to build. critical high-voltage circuits right on the TV screen. You should note that this Harry T. Roman is an electrical engineer, inventor, writer, and strong supporter of technology education, East Orange, NJ. was back in 1972. There was no computer CRT. Personal computers were about 20 years in the future. All the computers we knew were main-frame/mini-computers— and everyone time-shared their use through slaved terminals. The senior engineer wanted me to manage the design and development of his radical concept and would work with me on it, but the project was completely mine to lead. The project had a $300,000 budget— a large sum of money at the time. Whole neighborhood utility distribution feeders could be built for this money, and I was to try to build something never before attempted and put it into use in our company Very early on, I established a within three years. I vision for the project’s sucwas soon to learn that cess—it had to achieve cost any good R&D engineersavings and be useful . . . ing project takes as much time to plan and analyze as it takes to build. Very early on, I established a vision for the project’s success. First it had to achieve cost savings and be useful in automating our analysis of high-voltage electrical networks. We targeted improvements in work productivity of 5 to 1 as a measure of success. This we could certainly measure at the end of the project to determine whether we had hit the mark. The second major metric of success was not so easily measured. In fact, it was quite subjective. The system should make it easier for engineers to plan and understand how their electrical networks were functioning, providing a better understanding of how the networks respond to disturbances. F www.techdirections.com PRE-ENGINEERING 15 http://www.techdirections.com

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Tech Directions - February 2008 Technically Speaking Contents Direct from Washington The News Report Technology’s Past Technology Today Mastering Computers How Engineers Engineer—Lessons from My First Big Engineering Project Tips on Creating Complex Geometry Using Solid Modeling Software Press to Test—Shop-Built BJT Checker Is Easy Cable Television Technician International Technology Education Association Conference—Teaching TIDE with Pride Professional Development Opportunities Product Central Free for the Asking More than Fun

Tech Directions - February 2008

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