I believe that I would like to follow a similar path as some of our classmates. I would like to be an engineer during the first stages of my career to get a hands on understanding of the duties and responsibilities. Later I would like to move into management, but still have a heavy involvement in the engineering field. This is because managers…[Read more]

I have seen similar situations in my experience. Often times the fear of termination and disagreeing with the higher ups forces employees to keep quiet. This is an issue that is continuing to increase and can cause a great deal of issues down the line for employee moral as well as the company’s throughput. An unreported issue may lead to great…[Read more]

That is a great question Talha! I believe our classmates shared some great reasons for why this might be. In addition to the aforementioned reasons including feeling stagnant, no longer receiving praise or finding new and exciting projects, there seems to be another major reason. That is growth. Growth in position, title, status, responsibilities…[Read more]

I have been in a similar situations Roberto. One one of my projects as an intern I was assigned to a team of 5 with 3 engineers and 1 other intern. Due to the urgency of another project the second intern was pulled from my project team, leaving a great deal of additional responsibility on each of the members. This was of course difficult, but the…[Read more]

I feel that often times projects, or at the very least what we learn from them can carry over. I was an intern at a biomedical manufacturer that produced intra-aortic balloons for counter-pulsation therapy. In my training I learned a great deal about the device and was able to carry my knowledge over to a course where we modeled physiological…[Read more]

You bring up a great point Talha. Depending on the product or service you are procuring a certain standard must be met by the vendor. For a critical component, one that will be part of the implanted device, the supplier must meet industry and OEM quality guidelines in order to be purchased. However, there may be a plethora of items that are low…[Read more]

My experience has been similar. It seems that a great deal of the process is rushed and results in having to repeat steps. I believe if these processes were completed adequately, it would save a great deal of time and changes. However, because of changing requirements this is difficult to do right on the first iteration. Establishing better input/…[Read more]

That is a great example jvv6. I have also come across many situations in which a risk was avoidable and minor changes to design or process were able to resolve the issue. However, there are also many situations in which this is not a feasible option. In which the level of risk needs to be lowered to an acceptable level.

Like a few of our classmates mentioned, design reviews are typically more relaxed. I had the opportunity to sit in on a few design reviews during my time as an intern. In most cases the suggested changes had already been given to the managers beforehand and the requested changes made. This is not to say that there were no additional changes, but…[Read more]

Any necessary change to the design or documentation must go through COs. The purpose of ECOs and any change orders is to properly document the proposed changes for traceability purposes. These COs are then reviewed and sent to the various departments for approval. These changes may undergo amendments based on the input of other departments if…[Read more]

I agree gingeranderson. Though suppliers are on the PMs mind from early on, these should be given serious consideration during the execution phase when the necessary items are finalized. This helps to reduce iteration and the need to qualify suppliers unnecessarily. I believe the purpose of putting this so late in the execution phase is to avoid…[Read more]

I agree with your approach tn58. Having a personal relationship with members of the team is extremely important. This will better allow for comfortable communication in which members will be more honest when requesting time off. This will also make assessing and resolving any issues the members have more easily possible if there is mutual respect…[Read more]

PMs face a great deal of challenges in a project. One of the most occurring and difficult to deal with in my opinion is employee conflict. When team members are not willing to perform their duties due to internal conflict among themselves it leads to project delays and many other issues. This is also often a question asked in interviews to…[Read more]

Though no one likes to miss milestones, as many of our classmates mentioned, I agree with your statement. Milestones do serve as checkpoints to ensure the project is on track. In my senior design class where we are currently working on a year long development we encounter many issues that may delay or even cause us to miss milestones and this…[Read more]

You make a great point jp582. Since often situations, simulation and real life, are time sensitive it is of utmost importance that the team is entirely caught up and act as soon as possible. This ensures that there will be time to offer various proposals in the case the initial does not succeed. It is also important that all members contribute in…[Read more]