Being Successful As an Engineer

William Henry Roadstrum

Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2003 - Architecture - 246 pages

This text is designed to help the young engineer make the transition from student to practicing professional. It provides experience-based suggestions and helpful warnings to guide new engineers in taking the first steps to successful project leadership and group management. Contents include: Chapter 1: What Engineering Is; Chapter 2: The Engineer; Chapter 3: The Project and the Project Team; Chapter 4: Project Control; Chapter 5: The End Product: Drawings and Reports; Chapter 6: Problem Solving; Chapter 7: Laboratory Work and Experiment; Chapter 8: Design; Chapter 9: Manufacturing and Quality Control; Chapter 10: Research and Development; Chapter 11: Studies; Chapter 12: Systems; Chapter 13: Proposal Work; Chapter 14: The Project Engineer; Chapter 15: Human Relations in an Engineering Organization; Chapter 16: Engineers and the Marketing Function; Chapter 17: Professionalism, Self-Development, Education; Chapter 18: Creativity; Chapter 19: The Engineering Manager.

Contents

• What Engineering Is: 1
• Your Own Personal Profit Motive: 3
• The FivePart Engineering Cycle: 4
• Engineering Is Creative: 5
• Engineering Rests on an Extensive Technological Base: 6
• Engineering Work Is Project Work: 7
• Dont Be a Responsive Engineer: 8
• Operations Auxiliary to Engineering: 10
• Suggested Readings: 11
• The Engineer: 14
• Is Engineering a Trade or a Profession?: 16
• Scientists and Engineers Are Different: 19
• Engineering Specialties: 21
• Computers versus Engineers: 23
• Summary: 24
• The Project and the Project Team: 25
• Why Projects?: 27
• A Typical Small Project: 28
• DaybyDay Project Operation: 30
• Conditions for Effective Group Work: 33
• Your Individual Problem With a Group: 35
• Good Project Team Practices: 36
• Poor Project Team Practices: 37
• Project Control: 38
• What Project Control Is: 39
• The Three Parts of Control: 40
• PERT Example: 48
• Control Support by Outside Croups: 56
• Control Your Projects by Looking Ahead Not Back: 58
• Good Engineering Practices for Control: 59
• Poor Engineering Practices for Control: 60
• The End Product Drawings and Reports: 61
• Dont Dodge Paper Work: 62
• Draftsmen: 64
• Good Drawings: 65
• Engineering Reports: 66
• Report Writing and You: 67
• On Large Projects: 68
• How to Do it: 70
• Good Engineering Practices on Reports and Drawings: 71
• Problem Solving: 73
• What Is an Engineering Problem?: 74
• How to Solve Engineering Problems: 77
• Importance of Generalizing and Extending Results: 78
• The Solution versus Iteration: 79
• Are You a Problem Hobbyist or a Problem Solver?: 81
• Good Engineering ProblemSolving Practices: 83
• Laboratory Work and Experiment: 85
• Laboratories in Industry Are Different: 86
• The Judicious Combination: 89
• Notebooks: 90
• Your Technician: 91
• Some Good Laboratory Practices: 93
• The Biggest Timewaster: 94
• Good Engineering Practices in Laboratory Work: 95
• Design: 97
• Best Design Optimum Design: 98
• Design Constraints: 100
• Where Do Design Ideas Come From?: 103
• Design Efficiency: 106
• Nonoperational Constraints: 108
• Design Reviews: 111
• Good Engineering Practices in Design: 112
• Poor Engineering Practices in Design: 113
• Manufacturing and Quality Control: 114
• Production Considered as Flow: 115
• Production and Business Success: 120
• Production Functions: 122
• Quality Control: 123
• Trouble Shooting: 124
• Good Engineering Practices in Manufacture and Quality Control: 126
• Poor Engineering Practices in Relation to Manufacture and Quality Control: 127
• Research and Development: 128
• Scientific Research and Engineering Research: 130
• Probabilistic Nature of Development: 131
• Conduct and Control of Development Projects: 133
• Dont Be Conservative in Research and Development: 136
• Poor Engineering Practices in Research and Development: 137
• Studies: 138
• How to Keep on the Track: 139
• Control of Study Projects: 140
• Study Reports: 142
• Good Engineering Practices in Study Work: 143
• Systems: 144
• Systems and Complexity: 145
• Expanding Your Engineering Outlook: 146
• Organizing a Systems Project: 147
• The Systems Group: 149
• Two Approaches to Systems Work: 152
• Systems Engineers: 153
• Some Special Systems Tools and Ideas: 154
• Good Practices in Systems Engineering Work: 156
• Poor Practices in Systems Engineering Work: 157
• Proposal Work: 158
• You May Get the Job: 160
• Control Is Easy: 161
• Keep It Simple: 163
• Good Engineering Practices in Proposal Work: 164
• Poor Engineering Practices in Proposal Work: 165
• The Project Engineer: 166
• Where a Project Engineer Fits in: 167
• Practical Relations with Your Manager: 170
• Some ProjectLeading Techniques: 172
• Leadership and Delegation: 176
• Good Practices for the Project Engineer: 178
• Human Relations in an Engineering Organization: 179
• Economic Motivation and Fulfillment: 180
• Threats against Selfimage: 181
• Line Service and Staff: 184
• Communication: 186
• Relations with Your Boss: 189
• Human Relations Problems Never Change: 192
• Good Engineering Practices in Human Relations: 193
• Poor Engineering Practices in Human Relations: 194
• Engineers and the Marketing Function: 195
• What Is Marketing?: 196
• Finding the User or Customer: 197
• Subdivisions of Marketing: 198
• Engineers and Customer Contact: 201
• Dont Fall into This Trap: 203
• Challenge in Technical Marketing: 205
• Good Engineering Practices in Relation to Marketing: 206
• Professionalism SelfDevelopment Education: 207
• Professionalism: 209
• Personal Development: 213
• Reading and Study: 217
• Professional Societies: 218
• The Status of Engineers: 220
• Good Engineering Practices in SelfDevelopment and Professionalism: 221
• Poor Engineering Practices in SelfDevelopment and Professionalism: 222
• Creativity: 223
• Creative versus Eccentric: 224
• Can You Learn Creativity?: 225
• Some Fundamentals: 226
• Breaking Through: 229
• Good Engineering Practices in Connection with Creativity: 231
• The Engineering Manager: 233
• The Managers Daily Work: 234
• Budgets: 239
• Managers Rewards: 241
• Summary: 242
• Index: 243

Bibliographic information

• Title: Being Successful As an Engineer; Kaplan Trade Series
• Author: William Henry Roadstrum
• Publisher: Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2003
• ISBN: 0793185475, 9780793185474
• Length: 246 pages
• Subjects: Architecture / General; Business & Economics / Human Resources & Personnel Management; Business & Economics / Project Management; Study Aids / General; Technology & Engineering / Engineering (General)