Why do you like to design machines?"It is the pitting of one's brain against bits of iron,metals, and crystals and making them do what you want them to do.When you are successful that is all the reward you want."
Albert A.Michelson
Is design an art form only to be practised by those gifted with its talents,or is it a regimented discipline that can be learned?Virtually everything that humans do involves altering the environment around us, which is essentially what design is all about; thus every individual possesses the ability to design to some extent.While there are few Mozarts in the history of the world, there are numerous musicians who play his music and enable us all to enjoy it.Each person must identify the area in which he feels promise, and must do the best job he can.It is true that there is only one queen bee in a hive,but without the workers even the queen cannot survive.In other words be careful of your ego and always strive to improve your abilities.It is very difficult to teach people how to become creative design engineers because everyone thinks differently.There are often no clear solutions to a problem.Historical knowledge can also often be a powerful tool to help demonstrate how creative ideas are formed.Systematic methods of analysis and synthesis can be formulated to aid in the development of ideas,however these methods have often been blamed for stiffling creativity.A good design engineer often uses systematic methods of analysis and synthesis in order to evaluate wild and crazy conceptual ideas generated during the initial creative phase of problem solving.
How can creativity be stimulated and enhanced?Perhaps if this question could be answered with the help of an equation, a computer program could be written that could design anything.Good design engineers usually think in terms of pictures instead of in terms of equations or IF THEN ELSE logic.Often, it seems as if daydreams are an inner manifestation of the creative urge within all individuals.The task of the design engineer,therefore is to install enough reality into his or her memory to enable daydreams to produce useful solutions to real problems.One must also be able to keep a mental catalog of available building blocks and mehtods in which they can be manufactured and put together.The database must be kept open, so as not to preclude the development of new building blocks, while taking care to keep abreast of new teclnologies.
A design engineer must also become good at identifying problems.Once a problem is identified,it will usually lead to an unending barrage of creative thought and analysis.High priced consultants do not necessarily solve detailed problems, they identify the problems for others to solve.Identifying a problem requires careful detective work.In adition to solving and identifying problems, the design engineer must also learn to identify what the customer really needs,which is not necessarily what the customer thinks that he or she needs.This requires interaction with marketing research groups, customers, and manufacturing personnel on a continuing personal basis.
To keep his or her mind tuned, a good design engineer must always ask: "How does that work?" and "Why does that catch my eye?" regarding everything that he or she sees in daily life.This will help to develop a feel for the needs and wants of people and the ability to make a realistic assesment of what is technologically feasible.It will also help the design engineer to develop a feel for color, form, texture and proportion.By being observant, patient, and optimistic, a design engineer will become aware of what people buy and use.If the design engineer notices fault with something, chances are that others will too, and thus money could be made by correcting the fault.Opportunity only knocks for those who listen, and it is hard to hear the knocking when the music is turned up too loud.
In addition, although each engineer must understand the physics of operation of the machine, he or she must realize that the design process is itself a precision dynamic dynamic system.If each engineer understands the structure of the design process and what other members of the team have to do, he or she will be less likely to cause problems that adversely affect the project.Once attidudes such as "why should I bother with this detail because someone will catch it" become established, competitiveness is the next thing to be lost.Design engineers must feel a personal love for their work and the work of the team.
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