John Paff, PhD, Engineering Technology Manager, Spectra-Mat, Inc.
“…a terrific introduction into the realistic experimental workspace and data analysis for new engineers and scientists.”
Len Mahoney, PhD, Unit Process Engineer, Avago Technologies
“A thoughtful and approachable problem solving primer has long been needed for new engineers which combines core experimental principles used in engineering, science and applied statistics.”
Diana Hagerty, Project Manager at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
“…enables the wisdom of mastery by providing key understandings and methods that are at the heart of an experimental discovery mindset.“
Saman Choubak, Ph.D., Senior Research and Development Engineer at PepsiCo
“As I was going through the pages, I realized that the book mirrors my own experience. I wish something like this had been available when I was starting out."
Pavel Nesladek, Ph.D., Member of Technical Staff, Advanced Technology Mask Center
“…plenty of methods, required for successful experimentation and process development in modern companies.”
Noël Kreidler, Career Development Counselor, Santa Clara University
“The material is presented in an exciting, real and sometime humorous way by using stories, sharing life experiences and revisiting discoveries of the great scientists throughout history. As someone who has been responsible for recruiting new engineers fresh out of college, reading this book should be a prerequisite for being hired.”
David Trindade, PhD, Fellow and Chief Officer of Best Practices, Bloom Energy
“An easy to understand and enjoyable to read introduction to the important concepts of variation, measurements, and statistical design of experiments that will give readers creative tools to discover invaluable insights into the solution of complex scientific and engineering problems.”
Karen Copeland of Boulder Statistics
“This is a must read for new engineers who are transitioning from school to the workplace. For seasoned problem-solvers this book provides a great refresher and new insight into being better experimenters.”
Jeremiah Pender, Ph.D., Sr. Engineering Development Manager, Applied Materials, Inc.
“This book is a wonderful overview of problem-solving strategies, experiment design and data analysis needed to succeed in a world driven by constant discovery. This text should be required reading for all newly hired engineers and a welcome reference for those of us who have worked in this industry for many years.”
Nathan Saxton, Facilities Operations Manager at Banner Health
“Your book has bridged some of the gaps between an engineering education and practical application of skills that are demanded by industry. I just wish it had been required reading prior to taking any lab courses at U of Arizona.”
Volker Kraft, Sr. Academic Advisor at JMP / SAS
“One of my favorite titles for Engineering students—highly recommended!”
About the Book
Problem Solving for New Engineers
This book brings a fresh new approach to practical problem solving in engineering, covering the critical concepts and ideas that engineers must understand to solve engineering problems. Problem Solving for New Engineers: What Every Engineering Manager Wants You to Know provides strategy and tools needed for new engineers and scientists to become apprentice experimenters armed only with a problem to solve and knowledge of their subject matter.
When engineers graduate, they enter the work force with only one part of what’s needed to effectively solve problems —Problem solving requires not just subject matter expertise but an additional knowledge of strategy. With the combination of both knowledge of subject matter and knowledge of strategy, engineering problems can be attacked efficiently. This book develops a strategy for minimizing, eliminating, and finally controlling unwanted variation such that all intentional variation is truly representative of the variables of interest.
Book Excerpts
“Experimentation build experiential muscles that no amount of reading what others have done can give us and that no one can take from us.”
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“One of the biggest problems we face as we try to solve the big problems of the twenty-first century is not the lack of data but data chaos.”
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“As scientific investigators developing the ability to spot potential sources of inadvertent variation is not only valuable but essential to ensure that any work we present, publish or share otherwise is repeatable.”
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“Unintentional variation will happen in experiments. Therefore, a solid experimental protocol is a good (and necessary) insurance policy against mistakes.”
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“Measurement is considered the hallmark of human intellectual achievement.”
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“Systematic variation may be a result of a measurement system or experimental method, but random variation is an inherent part of any data point.”
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“Humans in general really have trouble with randomness.”
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“The outcome of a well-designed, well-executed experiment is a mathematical model that provides a relationship between the inputs and outputs.”
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“Once we have data, that’s when the fun begins.”
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“The most common experimental strategy in use in the physical sciences today remains one-factor-at-a-time experimentation. …The problems faced in medicine, internet searches, shopping and science are complex and multidimensional. The many variable problems of or real world require that we be able to experiment and analyze the results for more than one factor at a time.”
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“Both in the lab and in industrial environments, experimenters will have limitations on their most valuable resources: money and time.”
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“Our curiosities lead us toward a deeper understanding of the world inside us, around us and beyond us.”
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“Replication of experiments is a wonderful way for us to discover for ourselves what others before us have discovered.”
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“As investigators, we want to create experiments to answer our questions and address our curiosities.”
Book Reviews
“…a terrific introduction into the realistic experimental workspace and data analysis for new engineers and scientists. A one-stop overview of experiment planning, execution and data reduction will be a beneficial stepping off point to anyone entering into the laboratory.”
—John Paff, PhD, Engineering Technology Manager, Spectra-Mat, Inc.
“[This book] cultivates the rich landscape between human creativity and ingenuity, which motivates the scientist and engineer, and the rigors of applied experimental practice.
“A thoughtful and approachable problem solving primer has long been needed for new engineers which combines core experimental principles used in engineering, science and applied statistics. In academic settings, such subjects are still taught as parts of course work across disparate disciplines. But in contemporary industry, their combination becomes a mandatory core skill set and is key to success in the technical quality and communication of any engineer's creative endeavor.
“Her passion for experimental investigation and its teaching is strongly evident as she traverses a subject matter that might take years of academic and industrial practice for an engineer to integrate and master.”
—Len Mahoney, PhD, Unit Process Engineer, Avago Technologies
“[This book] enables the wisdom of mastery by providing key understandings and methods that are at the heart of an experimental discovery mindset.“
—Diana Hagerty, Project Manager at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
“As I was going through the pages, I realized that the book mirrors my own experience. I wish something like this had been available when I was starting out."
—Saman Choubak, Ph.D., Senior Research and Development Engineer at PepsiCo
“…plenty of methods, required for successful experimentation and process development in modern companies.”
—Pavel Nesladek, Ph.D., Member of Technical Staff, Advanced Technology Mask Center
“The material is presented in an exciting, real and sometime humorous way by using stories, sharing life experiences and revisiting discoveries of the great scientists throughout history. As someone who has been responsible for recruiting new engineers fresh out of college, reading this book should be a prerequisite for being hired.”
—Noël Kreidler, Career Development Counselor, Santa Clara University
“An easy to understand and enjoyable to read introduction to the important concepts of variation, measurements, and statistical design of experiments that will give readers creative tools to discover invaluable insights into the solution of complex scientific and engineering problems.”
—David Trindade, PhD, Fellow and Chief Officer of Best Practices, Bloom Energy
“Buie provides insight into problem solving and experimentation that is far beyond what is found in a typical textbook. This book provides the framework for how statistical tools and experimental strategies learned in the classroom fit into the laboratory and onto the production floor. This is a must read for new engineers who are transitioning from school to the workplace. For seasoned problem-solvers this book provides a great refresher and new insight into being better experimenters.”
—Karen Copeland of Boulder Statistics
“This book is a wonderful overview of problem-solving strategies, experiment design and data analysis needed to succeed in a world driven by constant discovery. This text should be required reading for all newly hired engineers and a welcome reference for those of us who have worked in this industry for many years.”
—Jeremiah Pender, Ph.D., Sr. Engineering Development Manager, Applied Materials, Inc.
“Your book has bridged some of the gaps between an engineering education and practical application of skills that are demanded by industry. I just wish it had been required reading prior to taking any lab courses at U of Arizona.”
—Nathan Saxton, Facilities Operations Manager at Banner Health
“One of my favorite titles for Engineering students—highly recommended!”
—Volker Kraft, Sr. Academic Advisor at JMP / SAS
“This book is the right tool for building a robust process. 5 stars!”
—Amazon reader, Jamal P.
“This book should be read once before starting an engineering degree program, and again halfway through the degree. The book sets a student off on the right path.”
—Amazon reader, Brandi S.