Survival Techniques for the Practicing Engineer

Providing engineers with the tools and skills  to survive and become successful in the work place

The engineering field, both the corporate and government sectors, can be a tough place to try to navigate if you don t know the rules, risks, politics, or have a plan.  Engineering is more complex than most fields since the products and processes that engineers work on have to function correctly so that people and the environment are not damaged and customers are satisfied with the product produced all under significant financial restraints. Based on the authors 45 year career of personal experiences Survival Techniques for the Practicing Engineer fills this gap by providing engineers with both the tools to survive in work place and skills to become successful.

The book delves into the techniques young engineers can learn to find their way in the workplace. More importantly it discusses lessons learned through–out a career. These lessons should be most useful for the practicing engineer to know and to help them be successful. Survival Techniques for the Practicing Engineer features:

 Experience–based, highly realistic guidance to a cross–section of young and even established engineers  Practical guidance and acts as a handy resource so that lessons do not have to be learned the hard way with numerous errors, and costly problems Real world examples and case studies

What is a successful engineer can mean different things to different people. Being highly respected and confident, performing useful work, building things, being able to touch things you have built or repaired, solving problems, becoming a manager, enjoying a high salary, always being employed are definitions of success some use as well as working with passion. Readers of this book will now have this information early to help them through their career.

Anthony Sofronas, DEng, PE, has spent the past forty years troubleshooting field failures, designing machinery, and fixing equipment for ExxonMobil, Bendix, and General Electric. He is currently a consultant and presents seminars worldwide through his company Engineered Products. He has published forty–one technical papers and articles, along with a bimonthly column for Hydrocarbon Processing magazine on engineering case histories.

Dedication

About the author

Preface

Acknowledgment

Chapter 1: Getting Ahead

1.1 Finding Your Niche

1.2 Twenty Rules To Remember

1.3 Calculated Risk vs. Reward

1.4 Advancement

1.5 Learn From Observing Failures

1.6 Keep Good Records Of What You Have Done

1.7 Flexibility In Your Career

1.8 Your Known From Your Work

1.9 Ethical Behavior In Engineering

1.10 Humor In The Workplace

1.11 Self–Preservation When Documenting Your Analysis

1.12 Don t Be Overwhelmed

1.13 Providing Guidance To Others

Chapter 2: The Politics Of Engineering

2.1 What To Do

2.2 What Not To Do

2.3 Disenchantment With Your Job

2.4 Conducting Yourself In A Meeting

2.5 Organize And Prioritize

2.6 Do As Much As You Can For Your Colleagues

2.7 The Catch 22 Of Engineering

2.8 Arrogance, Humility, Favors And Courtesies

2.9 Be Curious And Inquisitive

2.10 Striving For Perfection

Chapter 3: Utilizing The Input From Others

3.1 Just Out Of College

3.2 Mentors And Colleagues

3.3 Interaction Between Disciplines

3.4 It s Nice To Be Appreciated

3.5 The Funny Look Test

3.6 Uncluttered Thinking

3.7 The Art Of Visualization

3.8 The Importance Of Alliances And Networking

Chapter 4: Communicating Effectively

4.1 Speaking Effectively At Meetings

4.2 Effective Writing Skills

4.3 Learn To Listen

Chapter 5: Problem Solving And Decision Making

5.1 Why Is This Section Important

5.2 Simplest Solutions First

5.3 The 80–20 Relationship

5.4 The Five Whys Used In Problem Solving

5.5 Being The Devil s Advocate

5.6 An Engineering Approach: Using The Scientific Method For Problem Solving

5.7 You Need To Know The Whole Story

5.8 Failure Analysis And Accident Investigations Differ

5.9 Why Decision Making Is Important In Engineering

5.10 Decisions On Several Choices

5.11 The Importance Of Personal Check–Lists

5.12 Confirmational Bias Or Self–fulfilling Prophecies

Chapter 6: How An Engineering Consultant Can Help Your Company

6.1 Why Use An Engineering Consultant

6.2 What An Engineering Consultant Can Do

6.3 The Cost Of A Consultant

Chapter 7: Consulting Engineering As A Career

7.1 Consulting As A Career

7.2 Compensation Will Be Less Than Expected

7.3 How Much Should My Billing Rate Be?

7.4 The Job Contract

7.5 You Must Understand The Companies Politics

7.6 Documenting The Consulting Effort

7.7 Useful Equipment For A Mechanical Engineering Consultant

7.8 Verifying An Analysis

Chapter 8: Precautions On Purchasing First Of Its Kind Equipment

8.1 Initial Design Specifications

8.2 Question Everything

8.3 Document All Changes

8.4 Assign Responsibilities

8.5 When Things Don t Work As Expected

Chapter 9: Useful Information To Consider

9.1 Types Of Equipment And Failure Loads

9.2 Cracking Of Welds Due To Cyclic Stresses

9.3 Remember To Consider All Forces And Moments

9.4 Phantom Failures: Some Failures Are Very Elusive

9.5 The Art Of Hammer Tapping

9.6 Development Of Some Simple Energy Equations

9.7 Maintaining Proficiency In Your Analytical Abilities

9.8 Safety Concerns To Be Aware Of

9.9 Should I Pursue A Patent

Chapter 10: Case Histories Using Analytical Models

10.1 Building And Analytical Model Of A Material Processor

10.2 Determining The Loads On The Processor Due To The Cutting Forces

10.3 Determining The Life Of The Processor At A Weld With A Defect

10.4 Discussion Of Failure And Potential Fix Of The Processor

10.5 Understanding The Sloshing Equation

10.6 Failure Of Agitator Coupling Bolts

10.7 Causes Of Auger Feeder Screw Failures

10.8 Temperature Of A Blocked In Centrifugal Pump On By–Pass

10.9 Heat Up Rate And Rubs On A Steam Turbine

10.10 Pneumatic Testing Dangers And Beware Of Safe Distances

10.11 Containment Of A Wrecked Internal Part

10.12 A Catastrophic Disaster

10.13 Why Are Parts Out Of Tolerance On The Production Line?

10.14 Failures Caused By An Impact Force

10.15 Design Of An Aircraft Tow

10.16 Shaft Failures And Crack Growth

Chapter 11: Benefits Of Continuing Your Education

11.1 Benefits Of An Advanced Degree

11.2 Importance On Selecting Your Academic Advisor

11.3 Difference Between An Engineer and Scientist

11.4 Benefits Of Continued Education

Chapter 12: Closing Guidance

12.1 Determine What You Want To Achieve

12.2 Most Of My Success Was Due To Others

12.3 It s Not So Much What You Do As What You Haven t Done

12.4 Become A Mentor To Someone

12.5 Remembering Those Before Us

12.6 Thoughts On The Future Of Engineering

Index