Keith Whelchel

My engineering process, when broken down, is a simple series of loops. I begin by gathering the project information such as: requirements, specification, timeline, customers, etc. I then take all the information and attempt to simplify it into a core set of problems. In many cases this requires gathering more information about the core problems that are determined.

 

Once a set of core problems has been determined I move to analyzing my available resources. With an understanding of my resources I can then move to making an outline of my plan for developing a solution. In many cases this is where most of the design time is spent. I have found that if I take the time to come up with a fully developed plan of action that I avoid running into mistakes later that could have been caught with a little forethought. Once I have a plan of action I will analyze my available resources again to see if I can relocate resources or request resources to increase the success of my solution.

 

Once I have a fully developed plan of action I will then move to developing my solution. This would include any calculations, research, or iterations that are required to come up with an effective solution. There are times when problems will arise while developing the solution. If this happens then I will often need to loop back to the beginning of my process and quickly run through again to ensure I am on the right track in my solution.

Once I have my fully developed solution I can then move to the presentation phase. I use this method because of the thoroughness which is incorporates throughout the process of problem solving. In the end I feel confident that my solution effectively incorporates the given specifications of all parties involved.