Off Spec "Whatever You Can Get Away With" Needs To Be Taught As Part of Formal Engineering Education

Dear Bret Cahill:

It must have been too long since you were in school. That is

*exactly* how every class is set up. Exams are based on going places where you don't know you are right (or even if the instructor solved it right).

David A. Smith

It needs to be highlighted in a _dedicated_ course.

Bret Cahill

Well, it's not only exams. The Univ. of Okla. School of Industrial Engineering has a required Senior Design class that puts students out in local industry. The students are assigned a problem at that facility. They are required to research the problem and come up with a set of solutions. They then have to present the solutions to the management of the company, and if approved, implement the improvements/ solutions. This has lead to several breakthroughs and improvements in processes. It is just one small way to help teach students problem solving skills.

Bret:

Brighter engineers already know that =93whatever you can get away with=94 also can lead to big trouble.

It=92s already taught. See the article from back in 2000 on =93Put It in the Drawing and Make It Like the Drawing=94 which you can download at:

Pittsburgh Pete

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You might want some adult supervision.

.imrtest.com/cms/repository/media/ArticlePutInDrawing.pdf

At one place in Florida, hydraulic cylinders ran just fine on a milky looking mixture of oil and water. At the same place indoor flourescent lamps with the old 700 volt ballast didn't short out under a stream of rain water.

Stuff like that is really useful to know in the real world.

Bret Cahill