Real-World Engineering

A Guide to Achieving Career Success

Lawrence J. Kamm

+ ®
IEEE
PRESS

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., New York

 IEEE PRESS
445 Hoes Lane, PO Box 1331
Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331

1991 Editorial Board

Leonard Shaw, Editor in Chief
William C. Guyker, Editor, Selected Reprint Series

J. E.Brittain W. K.Jenkins M.Simaan

S.H.Charap S.Luryi M.I.Skolnik
R.C. Dorf E.K.Miller G.S.Smith
J.J.Farrell III J. G.Nagle Y.Sunahara
L.J.Greenstein J. D.Ryder R. Welchel
J. D.Irwin G. N.Saridis J. W.Woods
A. C.Schell

Dudley R. Kay, Executive Editor

Carrie Briggs, Administrative Assistant
Anne Reifsnyder, Associate Editor

Copyright © 1991 by
THE INSI'ITUfE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS, INC.
345 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017-2394

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form,
nor may it be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form,
without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 0-87942-279-3
IEEE Order Number: PP0273-3

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This is the IEEE PRESS edition of a book previously published by McGraw-Hili Book Company
under the title Successful Engineering.

Library of Congress Cataloging - in -Publication Data

Kamm, Lawrence].
Real-world engineering : a guide to achieving career success /
Lawrence J. Kamm
p. em.

Rev. ed. of: Successful engineering. c1989.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87942-279-3 (paperback)
1. Engineering - Vocational guidance. I. Kamm, Lawrence].
Successful engineering. II. Title.
TA1S7.K24 1991
620'.0023 - dc20 91-2043
To Jacob Rabinow, my boss, teacher, close friend,
and severest critic
 Contents
Preface xi
Introduction xi i i

PART 1 INNOVATION AND CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

Chapter I Quantitative Design and Qualitative Design 3

Engineering Education 3
Real-World Design Process 4
Uses and Limits of the Computer in Design 4
Role of Human Judgment 5
Challenger Fiasco 5
References 7

Chapter 2 Inventing 9
Patents 9
Kinds of Inventions 11
Inventiveness 12
References 33

PART 2 PEOPLE PROBLEMS 37

Chapter 3 The Politics of Design 39

What is Politics? 39
Politics and You 40
Political Processes 40
How to Politick 42

Chapter 4 Persuasion: The Golden Art 43

Why and Who 43
How 45
Leadership 48
Why I Learned to Write 50
References 51

Chapter 5 Your Ethics 53

Morals 53
References 59

Chapter 6 Your Career 6 I

Planning 61
Understanding Yourself 61
Branch Points 61
Finding Your Job 67
Shocks You Can Get 69
What Should You Do about It? 73
For Women Only 74
S ales Engineering 74
References 75

v
vi Contents

Chapter 7 Efficient Use of Your Time 77

How to Play Office 77
How to Produce Engineering 78
Allocating Your Time 80

Chapter 8 Coexisting with Accountants 83

What Do They Do? 83
Throwing Their Weight Around 84
Auditors 85
Don't Rely on the Big Eight 86

PART 3 YOUR KNOWLEDGE BASE 87

Chapter 9 Technical Knowledge 89

Your Academic Training 90
Continuing Professional Study 90
General Knowledge 92
Commercial Components and Vendors 92
Contract Manufacturers 93
Manufacturing Technologies 93
Trade Shows 93

Chapter 10 Consultants 95
Sources of Consulting Help 95
How Do You Find a Consultant? 97
How Do You Qualify a Consultant? 98
What Are the Business Terms? 99
Lawyers as Consultants 101
Vendors as Free Consultants 102
Trade Show Consulting 103
Government Technology Transfer 103
References 104

Chapter 11 Libraries and Muse u ms 105

Libraries 105
Technology Museums 108
References 109

Chapter 12 Your Company 11 1

Engineering Department 111
Manufacturing Department 111
Marketing Department 112
Unwritten Ground Rules 113
Company Culture 113
Sources of Information 114

Chapter 13 Your Market 117

Culture of Your Market 117
Classification of Markets 118

Chapter 14 Your Competition 125

Competition in the World 125
Your Competitors 125
What Wins? 126
 Contents vii

PART 4 TOPICS IN DESIGN ENGINEERING 1 27

Chapter 15 Simplicity 129

Thirteen Ways to Keep It Simple 129
Simplicity and Advanced Technology 130
More on the Challenger Fiasco 131

Chapter 16 Iteration and Convergence to Final Design 135

Why You Should Do It Yourself 135
You, the Board, and CAD 1 36
When Do You Stop? 1 36

Chapter 17 Some Short Essays in Engineering Philosophy 1 39

Perversity Principle: Murphy's Law 1 39
Entropy in Human Affairs 1 40
To Spin on a Dime 1 40
Unforeseen Consequences 1 40
Formal Logic and Defined Categories 1 40
Parkinson's Laws 1 40
People Reliability 1 41
Conceit: The Destroyer 141
Attributes of the Successful Engineer 1 41
Study the Designs around You 1 42
Work on Yourself 1 42
References 142

Chapter 18 Prediction as a Design Process 1 43

Art of Predicting 143
Predicting What? 1 44

Chapter 19 Specifications. Codes. Standards.

Contracts. Laws. and the Law 14 5
Generic Term: Specs 1 45
Kinds of Specs 1 46
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 1 48
Common Law: Torts 1 49
Employees 1 49
Your P.E. License 14 9
Dealing with Customers 1 49
Negotiating 151
Customer's Duties to You 1 52
References 1 53

Chapter 20 The Pervasive Parameter: Money 1 55

Psychology of Money 155
Cost as an Engineering Parameter 1 55
Components of Product Costs 1 56
One-Time versus Per-Unit Costs 1 59
Your Customer's View of Cost 1 59
Some Ways to Reduce Costs 1 60
Law of Diminishing Returns 1 62
Designing for the Right Price Market 1 62
viii Contents

Chapter 21 Quantity Effects on Design 165

Basic Principles 165
Business Considerations 165
Models 166

Chapter 22 Reliability and Maintenance 169

Different Service Requirements for Reliability 169
Kinds of Maintenance 170
Disposability 170
Accessibility for Maintenance 170
Built-in Diagnostics 171
Hot-Line Maintenance 172
How to Improve Reliability 172
Testing 172
Planning for Maintenance 172
People Problems 173

Chapter 23 Models and Experiments 175

Eleven Kinds of Models 175
How to Debug 179
References 180

Chapter 24 Improving Existing Designs 181

Scaling 181
Reproportioning 183
Adding and Subtracting Features 183
Materials 183
Components 183
Manufacturing Methods 184
Performance Ratings 184
Combining or Subdividing Parts 184
Modularizing 184
Cosmetics 184
Reducing Maintenance Needs 185
Reducing Costs 185
Adding or Reducing Models and Sizes 185
Simplifying 185
Trade Names 186

Chapter 25 Design Objectives 1 87

Specifications versus Real Needs 187
Abuse Resistance 188
Environment Resistance 189
Environment Protection 190
Use Preferred Components 191
Maintainability 191
Suit OEM Components to Automation 192
Fail-Safe and Fail-Soft 193
Identify Your Company 193

Chapter 26 Entrepreneuring 195

Some Advice 196
Raising Capital 197
Your Business Plan 198
References 199
 Contents ix

Chapter 27 Designing for Automation 20 1

Automatic Part Fabrication 201
Automatic Assembly 201
Optimum Degree of Automation and Mechanization 202

Chapter 28 The Theory of Design 205

Chapter 29 The Human Interface 207

Importance 207
Simplest Rule 207
Fourteen Specific Rules and Principles 207
References 210

Chapter 30 Approximations 211

Insight 211
Seven Principles of Approximation 211
References 213

Chapter 31 Minimum Constraint Design (MCD) 2 15

What It Does 215
Basic Theory 215
An Example 216
Heavy Loads 217
Using Commercial Components 217
References 218

Chapter 32 Design for Packaging and Shipping 219

Necessity 219
Appearance 219
Protection 219
Naked Shipment 220
Sterile Packaging 220
Free Work from the Customer 221
Documentation 221
Packaging Vendors 221

Chapter 33 Nonengineering Design 223

Contract Terms 223
Home Architecture 224
Artistic Industrial Design 224
Marketing Plans 224
Business Plans 224
Proposals 224
Language 224
Administrative Matter 224
Engineering Documentation 225

In dex 2 27
Abou t the Author 235
 Preface

This book is for professional engineers in all fields. Senior engineers

who took the course on which this book is based have told me that it
filled in and organized their own experience and have recommended it
for other graduate engineers.
Its purpose is to teach you how to be successful in the real world of
engineering after you have learned mathematics, science, and compu­
tational engineering in engineering school. If I had read this book
when I graduated instead of learning it a little at a time over 47 years,
I would have been more successful, richer, happier, and all much
sooner.
For you "to be successful," I mean you:

• Produce the best designs of which you are capable

• Cause your proposed designs to be accepted and used

• Become as well rewarded as you can in money, position, and security

• Enjoy your professional life

The book tells what I have learned in 47 years of engineering and

entrepreneuring. Most of its subject matter, examples, and anecdotes
are taken from my own career. Other examples are taken from the
career of Jacob Rabinow of the National Bureau of Standards, who is
one of the great inventors of the country with over 200 patents. I
worked for him during his foray into private enterprise and learned,
and continue to learn, more from him than from anyone else I have
ever met. He has been kind enough to read the manuscript of this book
and make corrections.
The book emphasizes conceptual design rather than analytical
design because my own aptitudes and history have had this emphasis
and because I have nothing new to contribute to analytical design.
However, most of the book deals with problems which are equally the
concern of the purely analytical engineer and the engineer who

xl
xII Preface

produces conceptual designs, properly untroubled by how much they

are "inventions."
Portions of the book give you information and ideas; other portions
recommend actions I think you should take; but some portions recite
problems for which I know no clear answers (e.g., ethics). These are
presented for you to think about so you will be prepared to face them
when they appear, with fewer shocks than I had.
There are theoreticians who believe that good design can be per­
formed by a computer having a large database and an artificial­
intelligence program. This practitioner is waiting for the program to
be written which has the attributes of insight, judgment, persuasion,
will, prediction, and ingenuity which produce successful designs by
humans and which can "process" the kinds of human-behavior "data"
contained in these chapters. One purpose of this book is to encourage
you to further develop these attributes to increase your own degree of
success.
In the illustrative anecdotes, names have been concealed to protect
me from the guilty.
The book is written with the words "you" and "I" and is in as simple
English as I can write. Please do not confuse pedantic complexity with
philosophical profundity.
Design engineers work in manufacturing companies, consulting
companies, government laboratories, and university laboratories. I use
the word "company" as a generic for all these organizations.
I think you will come out of this book working more successfully
than when you went in. Good luck!

LARRY KAMM
San Diego, California
 Introduction

When you design a product you must do a great deal more than solve
the technical problems taught in engineering school. You must deal
with a great range of problems from broad concepts to minute details
together with problems which are not technical engineering at all.
You must suit the design to the peculiarities of your own company
(12) and to the peculiarities of your customers (13). (Parentheses give
the chapter numbers which discuss the subjects in detail.) You must
make your design superior to the present and future designs of your
competitors (14). You must learn all applicable general specifications
and help to develop the specific specification for your product (19). You
must research technical knowledge you do not yet have (9, 11) and call
in consultants for aid when you decide that it would cost too much time
for you to acquire certain knowledge and skills, including artistic­
design skills (10). You must choose design options suitable for the
quantities in which your product will be made (21). You must at all
phases of the design consider the costs of the product and of the design
effort (20). You must design the product to be appropriate for the
maintenance and reliability ground rules which will apply (22). You
must decide when to transfer your efforts from paper design to models
and experiments and back to paper (23). You must consider all design
objectives, not just those written in the specifications (25). You must
design quantity products to be suitable for mechanized and automatic
manufacturing (27). You must design your product to be suitable to the
humans who will deal with it (29). And you must engineer the
packaging so that it can be shipped to your customers (32).
Your design may be of a substantially standard structure or device
which is better than its predecessors because of better materials
and components and better mathematical analysis, or it may be
better because it incorporates new concepts, ideas, or inventions, or
both (1, 2).
You must produce documentation to tell your factory how to make
the product, your customers how to use and to maintain the product,

xIII
xiv Introduction

and your lawyers how to patent it and defend it from patent and
product liability lawsuits.
You may have to help design some of the manufacturing and test
equipment to produce the product and special maintenance tools and
equipment for your customer to use.
After the product has been shipped, you may have to help your
customer with problems associated with it and, unless you have done a
phenomenally good job, you will have to make design changes in the
product after the first units have been delivered.
As the product is produced, you will be called upon to make a
seemingly endless series of design changes, usually in details, to
correct design errors and to accommodate manufacturing, customer,
and vendor problems. You must face the exasperating question, "These
parts were made out of spec, but it will be expensive and time-con­
suming to reject them, so can we use them anyway?"
Finally you must accomplish all of this in an environment of people
who supervise, cooperate with, or help you (3, 4), you hope, and in
which you are furthering your career (5, 6).
The chapters in this book discuss these aspects of the real world of
design engineering and will help you to cope with them better and
sooner.