SIMILARITIES TO STANDARD EXPERIMENTS

 

 

 

1 Any project is carried out in partial ignorance due to

   •   The uncertainties in the abstract model used for the design calculations,

   •   The uncertainties in the precise characteristics of the materials purchased,

       The uncertainties caused by variations in  processing and fabrication of materials and

   •   The uncertainties about the nature of stresses the finished product will encounter.

 

Indeed,  Engineer’s  success  lies  in  the  ability  to  accomplish  tasks  with  only  a  partial knowledge of scientific laws about nature and society.

 

 

2.   The  final  outcome  of  engineering  projects,  like  those  of  experiments,  is  generally uncertain.  Very oftenpossible  outcomes  are not even known and great risks may be presented which could never be thought of.

 

 

3.   Effective Engineering relies upon knowledge gained about products both before and after they leave the factoryknowledge  needed for improving current products and creating better  ones.  That  is,  ongoing  success  in  engineering   depends  upon  gaining  new knowledge.