Do you use a "design notebook" of any kind? For one of my classes, I'm required to keep a notebook where I list all the activities I've been doing toward designing a medical device for a senior project. The professor has implied that the notebook is fundamental to the design process, and I was wondering how that works in the real world. Also, do you often use a formalized design process?
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
If you are working on something novel that could have intellectual property/proprietary /patent implications it is an absolute necessity. The number of engineers working at that level of R and D in real life is probably quite small.
I don't do design so I don't know how much an ordinary design engineer uses one.
AJ
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
My best friend (in Mechanical) had to do something similar for his senior design project, though I didn't for aerospace.
Similar to BannaOj, I don't actually do much in the way of R&D, and I don't actually keep an official notebook myself, but it is definately helpful to keep some sort of running notes on what's going on with your project(s).
You have to understand that many engineering projects last for many years, so it can be important to be able to look back and say "oh yeah, back 3 years ago we did this analysis" or to put together status charts. I know that on any given day all I have in my head is what I'm actually working on, but then I'll have to throw together a summary of everything we've been working on in the last quarter or something like that.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
I kept several notebooks like that in school. One for my senior design project, one for my PCB class project, and one for my controls project.
Now, not so much. But I'm not really doing the kind of design where that would be necessary or even beneficial.
I do, however, keep books like that for personal projects.
Posted by HollowEarth (Member # 2586) on :
I am not an engineer, but I am a chemist and we science types keep noteooks. I'll note that I'm not in industry, but can't imagine working without keeping some sort of record of what I've been doing.
Some considerations: 1.) it has to be bound, Pages sewn in. Perferably it will have numbered pages too. (This prevents you from removing pages on purpose or by accident.) Your notebook should be a complete record, of successes, mistakes and failures.
2.) Only write in ink, preferably black. Watch out for water soluble inks. (Blue ink, the other possible choice, doesn't photocopy as well as black.) (If you're using chemicals, watch your writing period. You don't want a stray drop of acetone to erase your work.)
3.) Don't scribble things out. If you make a mistake, cross it out with a single line. Depending on the possible uses of the notebook (ie patents, IP) you may also need to date and initial each cross out.
4.) Date your work.
5.) Keep your notebook as you go. Don't try to do hours of work and then try to write it up, do it as you go. (Its way to easy to miss things if you don't.)
6.) You may want to leave a bunch of pages blank in the front of your notebook for things like a table of contents, addresses, phone numbers etc.
There are other possible things to note as well, but they almost all come down to keeping a complete record. You should try to write down some thoughts and main points of conversations that you've had, especially if you don't think you'll remember them. Your notebook shouldn't be a chore, it should help you work.
And most importantly, don't let the meaningless formating and stupid useless rules they force on you when keeping a lab notebook for a class taint your idea of what should go in there or how it should look. Most of those rules are to make grading easier, not make the notebook more helpful.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
As a research technician I kept a notebook. We all did. Every notebook was numbered, and we had to have all our entries signed and witnessed.
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
I don't, but I'm a freshman and we haven't done much yet.
--j_k, who is glad that there's only four more years until he's officially an 'engineer.'
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
I kept a notebook for my senior project.
On larger projects at my job, we keep a folder, with subfolders for all the individual components of that job. It's kind of like keeping a notebook.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
At work I am required to keep a notebook, seperate one for each project. I am not an engineer, but a designer who works with them. It is dated for each day, and filled with sketches and names in addition to project notes.
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
All jobs at my company have a separate file. The larger jobs get accordian style files with a lot of subsections like smitty's. The really big jobs end up with many accordian files kept in banker's boxes.