I would prefer to be an engineer and then transition into a manager role once I’m more experienced and have more knowledge of how the industry I am working for works. I first want to be an engineer working in the industry because that will give me a more technical background because of working directly on the products. Once I’m more com…[Read more]

I’m not too surprised by these results, but I thought fair pay would be higher than just 32%. Some people of talked to wanted as much pay as possible, but I guess it varies from person to person. For me, what I want the most is exciting and challenging work and being recognized/valued & respected. Exciting work will motivate me to actually want t…[Read more]

I think Americans are putting in more time for a variety of reasons. Some could be because they are motivated to work on the project and are “workaholics”, others because deadlines are coming up and they need all the time they can get, some because they need the overtime money. There are plenty of others reasons but I think these capture the maj…[Read more]

I guess for me the challenge and the reward is what motivates me to complete a project. The challenge aspect is important to me because it brings fun and excitement to the project. It engages me to research, brainstorm, ask questions, and gets me going because I’m learning new things. If there was no challenge I would probably just ease my way t…[Read more]

For a class project in my undergraduate studies, I had to research plastics for use in the product we were designing. Plastics we researched included polypropylene, mylar, polyethylene, etc. I learned a great deal about different kinds of plastic and their specific properties, such as modulus of elasticity, tensile strength, melting point, and…[Read more]

In my opinion using the same supplier for two different products doesn’t fully satisfy the dual source requirement. While yes it does provide an alternative product in case the primary one isn’t available for whatever reason, but the problem for me is that it isn’t from a different supplier. There could be situations where the supplier is closed o…[Read more]

One of the project I worked required us to use specific captive bolts. The shoulder length, tread size, knob type, etc. all had to be a specific value. I researched companies for a while until I found one. That produced exactly the screw I wanted. Along with the procurement team we contacted them and were able to get a few samples, which were used…[Read more]

From my experience working at my current company, during the closing phase we have a few tasks that need to be done. Close up any loose ends with our vendors, typically ensure that they have the most up to date designs of the product. Make sure logistics are reviewed and are good to go. Our documentation team will complete various reports like…[Read more]

I’m with ks629 on this one. EV is only one part of the project and represents only one aspect of it. Any EV estimate whether under budget or over budget will need to be accompanied by something to back it up and see where the estimates are coming from. By understanding where the origins of the estimate are coming from then you as a project m…[Read more]

Increasing project risk should be avoided as much as possible. In the mini-sim example, decreasing the animal experiment time would be very bad. From these studies we will see how well the product performs and observe any negative reactions that the product can potentially cause. If we decrease the time we may miss something important that could…[Read more]

I agree with srg36 and hc255 view that they are important parts of a project but may not necessarily be the absolute most important. They are only one part of a large process when developing a project. Still, the items you mentioned information distribution, solicitation, source selection, and managing vendor relations are important but to get…[Read more]

During one project I was on at my company, the WBS wasn’t executed well. One particular mechanical engineering team was overloaded with many tasks, the other teams had a more reasonable workload. The reason for the overload of tasks was because of what that team specialized in, which this project saw a lot of what they did best. Delayed progress a…[Read more]

One of the project I worked on at my company, we had to include anchoring brackets with a new server rack that we built up to show to our customer for their opinion and approval. We got a shipment from our vendor for the brackets, however upon inspection we discovered that the clearance slots in the brackets were not long enough and didn’t line u…[Read more]

As a PA with an uncooperative member of the team, I would try to get some one on one time with them to figure out the situation. As others have mentioned there could be an underlining reason why they are unresponsive, whether that be personal reasons or work related. Once the situation is assessed and the details are out, I could work with them on…[Read more]

I agree with all the points that everyone in this thread has mentioned so far. The planning phase will down the foundation of how you will tackle the project. A poorly executed planning phase may cause the project to fail, face issues such as delays, or will downright not be profitable at all for the company which cause layoff or much more. So…[Read more]

On one of the project that I was a part of, there came about an issue with air dams not being compatible with our new server racks. Air dams are used to restrict air flow from underneath the rack and we had made a “universal” one that was to be compactible on all of our products. Our customers made it clear that all racks shipped to them had to…[Read more]

I had experienced a change in PM once in my career, and the resulting events were similar to what jlw23 had mentioned. We had a get up to speed meeting with the new PM, which I attended with my team lead. In this meeting, all team leads discussed the current status of their tasks. The new PM was quickly filled in on how the project is progressing,…[Read more]

At my current company, the design review meetings are overall pretty calm as we work together on establishing any potential changes based on feedback or simulation data. Sometimes the meetings involve having a conference call with the potential vendor to allow them to give feedback based on their capabilities and experience. There will be…[Read more]

There are many different things that could happen that will cause pitfalls. As you mentioned team members taking time off is one such circumstance that could occur that may cause a pitfall. In Dr. Simon’s lecture, he also mentioned not accounting for risks, holidays, other projects, and estimating way off as some ways that a pitfall can occur. S…[Read more]