Category Archives: Engineering

Using Data In My Framework and In Simulations

I recently wrote about how data is collected and used in the different phases of my business analysis framework. After giving the most recent version of my presentation on the subject I was asked for clarification about how the data … Continue reading

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Buggy, Design Contradictions, and TRIZ (now ARIZ)

A Tuesday session of the Project Summit / Business Analyst World conference (June 20th), featured an interesting talk by the New Jersey Department of Health’s Victoria Roza. She described methods of design and creativity coming out of a practice called … Continue reading

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The Confederation Bridge

This weekend I finally made it to my twelfth Canadian province (only Nunavut remains) when I drove across the Confederation Bridge into Prince Edward Island (see also here). The bridge is seven miles long, 40-60 meters (about 131 to 196 … Continue reading

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Order Of The Engineer

I grew up reading a bunch of popular technical magazines and always wanted to do something in that vein. Excelling in a seventh grade mechanical drawing class gave me an idea that I might become an architect but over time … Continue reading

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Solving the Right Problem

The cover of the June 2010 issue of Mechanical Engineering magazine asked the question, “Can Visionary Engineers Revive Industry in America?” Here’s the question I would ask: Did engineers break industry in America? To ask the question is to answer … Continue reading

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Artists and Technicians

A lot has been written about learning styles but there are questions about how meaningful it is and I’m not an expert anyway. I have, however, always felt that there are two opposing approaches to learning that each end where … Continue reading

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The Greatest Field Improvisation Ever

When I was working on a furnace control system in Thailand I witnessed one of the coolest feats of engineering ever. The field service guy needed to measure the flow of gasses and a manometer was nowhere to be found. … Continue reading

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How Not to Miss Things in a Discovery Process

I’ve been part of a lot of discovery efforts and have found a few ways to increase the chances of identifying all the relevant factors. I plan to discuss these only informally. Volumes of ink and electrons have been spilled … Continue reading

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Be Honest When Things Go Wrong

One of the important lessons I learned at my first engineering job was to be honest and open at all times. This was never illustrated more clearly than when a refiner disc flew apart, tore through the pressurized refiner casing, … Continue reading

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When I Knew I Was “Home”

When I was very young my family sometimes took the train from DC to New York to visit my grandparents. I still remember the swaying and rumbling of the cars and the smell of oil and a certain kind of … Continue reading

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