An Engineering Mindset

A vast majority of design automation roles start from engineering. That approach makes sense, right? Engineers know the product. Engineers know the manufacturing processes. Engineering has all the rules committed to memory. Engineering is driving the CAD system to finalize the design and ultimately push it into production.

From our very first engineering classes, it is engrained in us that we get it all on paper. The full design. All the features, materials and manufacturing processes. FEA, quality check, multiple people down-stream looking at the design to try to catch errors as soon as possible. Why? Because as soon as metal is cut, that’s it. Yes we can do rework, but that’s expensive. Sure we can scrap and start over, but that is even worse. As a mechanical engineer, getting all of the requirements up front is a great mindset. As a software engineer, getting all the requirements and stage-gating when all the initial steps can be crippling.

Creating something and getting it out to people in order to gain feedback on its use, quality, and future enhancements is key. Unfortunately that goes against everything engineers have been trained, through education and experience, to do in order to do their jobs well. So what is one to do? We need to retrain our brains. We also need to help retrain the brains of those around us in manufacturing, as they have a very similar mindset. Focusing on getting your application or tool out there that is simple and engaging in order to improve buy-in and return on investment quickly, is necessary for progress.

Whether we want to admit it or not, we are all artists. There is a creative process at play whether we are aware of it or not. We need to embrace that concept and get to work. In the words of the late Steve Jobs, “Great artists ship.” So get to it.