Is the lack of error codes in basic appliances an attempt to make repairs harder, or is there a deeper, safety-focused rationale here? After about five years of hard daily use, our undercabinet, no-frills GE-brand microwave oven stopped working (Figure 1). It did not die completely, as the user control panel and its keypad worked, […]
Bill Schweber Blogs
Don’t let system complexity discourage basic troubleshooting
A somewhat justified concern about damaging a complex system can also intimidate you from a basic investigation into a system problem. OK, I admit it: I avoided checking for an obvious problem due to my fear of making things worse in a high-risk situation. Fortunately, the only cost, in this case, was to my pride. […]
Why I was scared by a technical article
Sometimes what you think you know just isn’t so, and the reality is more than you care to accept. To keep up with new components, architectures, materials, design techniques, and various developments, I read a lot of technical articles written by credible authors. Usually, they are both informative and straightforward. But I recently can across […]
The “engineering” TV series I’d really like to see
Could a show dramatizing real engineering-project challenges have a chance? It’s not news that the television schedule of shows is heavily loaded with shows focused on lawyers, police, and doctors, in addition to so-called “situation comedies” (sitcoms). Let’s be honest: they have drama, personalities, action, and conflict, which are among the elements that supposedly make […]
Engineering lessons from the carpal tunnel syndrome “epidemic”
The fact that the widely touted carpal tunnel syndrome epidemic never materialized is an excellent example of over-hyped predictions meeting the reality of technology change. We are swamped by predictions of future performance and technical paths, whether it involves components, circuits, systems, markets, and, of course, even diseases. The dilemma is that some of these […]
With so many mandates, can successful designs still be achieved?
The overlap among best design practices, regulatory mandates, and project requirements may result in conflict and unachievable project results. Engineers are used to designing with respect to constraints and tradeoffs: after all, that’s what design is mainly about. If there were no such tradeoffs, getting a project completed and signed off would be far, far […]
