Job Searches

A product development engineer is dealing with new material. With the Case IH company there is always new designs to be tested. The motto that they have  says “Power to the Ground”. This means that they are striving to put more power from the engine to the ground than any other tractor company, which is what you always want.

Case was founded in 1842 in Racine, Wisconsin building threshing machines. By 1886 they were the number one producer of steam power tractors. They are now a worldwide company and keep expanding their locations. Case always puts the customer’s needs first and this is why they have so many repeat buyers.

At this job they are looking for qualified sophomores, juniors, and seniors in college. The listing asked for a self-motivated person that could work with limited supervision. Since they put these key words in the job description it is important to use these words in the cover letter and the resume. It is imperative because most of the resumes go through a scanner that look for buzz words and are not read by people to see your qualifications. Going into an interview I would prepare for questions that would include specific words from the job posting. An example would be “tell us a time when you demonstrated self-motivation”. So to prepare for a call back I would go back through the key words so I could think of an example of how I demonstrated them.

Group Work

In the mechanical engineering field you end up working on a lot of projects together. In the field I am most familiar with (agricultural field) there are a lot of big projects. When dealing with big project, like a tractor, you may have as many as 100 different engineers working on the same project. With this many different people working on the same project, you need to work together as a team and do a lot of collaborating. According to the University of the Arts there are some key things that you can do in a group to help your group to succeed. First off make sure that that your whole team is on the same page and has the same goals. Second make sure you keep a good team dynamic. Whether you like the people you work with or not stay positive. Thirdly while scheduling meets you need to keep in mind that not everyone can make it to every meeting. If someone does miss a meeting you need to keep them informed and up to date. Fourth work efficiently as a group that way you can get a lot of things done and not waste anyone’s time.

We worked together in a group on a website redesign project and we implemented all of these key points. The first thing we did was exchange information so we could communicate effectively. Next we figured out what we wanted to do and what everyone’s job was and when we wanted the due date to be. Finally anytime we got together we worked hard to get tasks done as quickly as possible and still do high quality work.

We decided to work on the website because we felt it could use some improvement. The changes we made were all for the customer. We asked questions to people about what they thought about the site and how usable it was. From that information we changed the site to make it more user friendly and hopefully it will bring in more customers which is what every business has for a goal.

Usability

Usability
The definition of usability given by Usability.gov is a testing of a product or service by representative users. There are many different ways to test a product or a how to manual. There is the way where you give them the product and they try it out themselves. You can give the test subjects the list and walk them through the steps. Finally there is the way where you give them the list of steps and walk away so they can figure it out themselves, then come back later and ask them if they had any questions.

My Test
During the testing of servicing a chainsaw I used three main questions. The first one asked if my instructions were clear enough to follow. The second question I asked was whether I put in enough steps in the instructions. My final question I asked myself whether the test subjects would understand the terminology I used. The people I tested were people in my class and also a couple of my friends. All of the people I tested were mechanical engineers and they all had prior experience with chainsaws.  To test the people I gave them the instructions and then walked away so they could figure them out for themselves and because I won’t be there to answer questions in the real world. After administering the test I found that I needed to explain the parts of the chainsaw better and add a few more intermediate steps. In my video I used what I learned for my testing and tried to really explain everything I was doing and why I did it. I also did steps slowly so it was easier to follow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teke7x0Guak&feature=youtu.be

Innovation

New Way to Drive
In 1868 the first tractor was built and it ran on steam engine power. Then the diesel engine took over about 100 years ago and tractors haven’t fundamentally changed too much since then. One thing that has changed significantly in the past 100 years is the technology in the tractors. I am going to focus on the GPS technology.

How does the GPS work
There is a receiver on top of the cab of the tractor that sends and receives signals from satellites. As the tractor moves up and down the fields it is constantly sending signals so the satellite knows where on the field you are located. Some tractors have an auto steer where the tractor drives itself up and down the field. Other tractors just have a monitor where it shows you where “straight” is and you steer the tractor yourself.

How This Helps
The point of using a GPS (global positioning system) is to utilize the entire field to get the most yields. The GPS also helps with fuel economy because with the guidance you aren’t going over anything twice.

AGCO "GuideConnect"

Other Options
There is an option for field plotting where you map your field. You take the GPS and drive around the outside of the field and it records the boundaries. Once the edges are found the software can find the most efficient way to work and plant the field.

AGCO has developed “GuideConnect” which is a type of GPS where you operate one tractor and another tractor follows you without an operator. How this works is it uses the GPS system with added position sensors so the tractor stays a certain distance back and a defined distance off-set. With this innovation you can do twice the amount of field work with only one operator.

The Future
It is hard to believe that 620 horse power tractors will be driving down the fields with no one operating them but it could happen sooner than you think. In Japan they are working on a computerized GPS system that can drive itself and also control all the other tractors functions. If this happens it would revolutionize the farming industry. 

Review

I wrote three blogs for my English 321 class at North Dakota State University. My first blog was about my mechanical engineering field, the second one was about an ethical dilemma in my field, and my third one was about writing in my field. In this blog I would like to talk about what technics I used and how I implemented them in my blogs.

Tone of the Blog

During my blog writing I read a lot of posts by other people. I found that depending on their target audience, the writing style was very different. The blogs that were written by professors and experts in the field are much more precise and usually have more figures in the writing. Whereas if a journalist writes about a subject that he or she is not familiar with the writing seems to be easier to read. It is also written vaguer because the author doesn’t know all the technical terms.

When I was writing my blogs I tried to write them informally so anyone can understand them and get something out of them. I also tried to make them semi-professional and give the readers accurate information about engineering.

Repetition
 This means to use the same words throughout your blog to convey a strong message. I used this in my writing, especially the word “engineer” because that was the common theme I wrote about.  In my blogs I also use the same design in all of them to be consistent. I used bold headings before every different subject and tried to space my paragraphs the same to keep things clean.

Alignment
The right alignment can really change how a blog reads. I went with a block style of alignment.  I used new paragraphs to separate different topics and ideas in the blogs. I liked this because it seemed to organize my blogs, which makes them easier to read.   I didn’t want to put all my ideas in one paragraph because it would be too much to take in at one time. White space it a good thing to have in a blog so I tried to put the right amount in mine.

Proximity
Proximity is all about how you group things together in your writing. If you have one topic you are talking about in the top of the blog you want to finish that topic before starting a new one. You don’t want to talk about a subject once and then talk about the same subject later. I tried to use proximity in my blogs by grouping all my topics together.

C.R.A.P.

Writing in the Field

One Invention, So Many Engineers
Engineering has been around since the beginning of time. Whether it was called engineering or not, there have always been problem solvers. The first person who made changes to the spear or bow and arrow was an engineer. The first huge engineering machine was the steam engine. Thomas Savery was credited with this invention. It changed everything about how people lived their lives and it made life much easier. In the “The History of the Steam Engine” the author, who is not named, writes about the improvement to the steam engine made by Elijah McCoy. He made a lubrication cup to oil parts while the engine was still moving. Robert Fulton then made a boat around the steam engine which revolutionized water travel in America. This is just an example of one invention and how many people affected it and how much it affected the world.

Current Engineers
Some other big names in engineering are Philp Condit the CEO of Boeing who is also a mechanical and aeronautical engineer.Steve Wozniak worked for the apple company and Bill Nye worked for Boeing before becoming the “science guy”.

 Writing in the Field

I worked at AGCO in Jackson, MN in the dynamometer room. While there my mentor was Caleb Bashore a test engineer. He has worked at AGCO for two years and he has had some experience at CAT before that. As I was interning under him I realized how much writing being an engineer requires. Before every test there is a request you receive from a design engineer telling you what they want you to do and what machine they want to proceed on. After reading that you must email the design engineer back and tell him with you think, any problems you see, and a list of the instrumentation you will be using. While running the test you have to write clearly what is going on and any information  you are recording without the computer. If anything breaks on the machine you must write down what happened, what part failed and how you think it can be fixed. Then you write a PBR which is a part request form for ordering the failed part. After the test is completed there is a report you write about what broke, what information you recorded, the end result, and what the next step is if the run failed.

I interviewed my mentor Caleb Bashore and asked him what he did for writing at his job. Since I worked with him for a summer and did a lot of the same writing, he told me the exact same thing I just said said about all the writing in the field. He did talk about writing emails. He said it is very important to know who you are emailing and their personality. If you are writing to someone who is always serious at work you need to write that way. If you are writing to someone who is a little bit more laid back then you can put some “fun” in your emails. Caleb also said that when you are writing reports editing and labeling are very important. The design engineers can’t change the reports, so you as the test engineer need to put in everything they need.

Phone Tapping

Listening in
There has been a lot of talk about the government phone tapping scandal in the last year. I agree that is was a terrible thing to do and not tell anyone about it. On the other hand I can kind of see why they did it and I think there are definitely two sides to every story.

When it Started
Throughout the years there has been phone tapping scandals throughout the world, beginning in 1890 with the invention of the first telephone recorder and up to the present day US government recordings. Owen Fiss wrote in “Even in a Time of Terror”  that in 1934 congress passed a law for it to be illegal to  tap any conversation between unknowing parties. In 2001, following 9/11, George W. Bush called for a “War on Terror”; once he called for this the NSA could tap phone calls. They were listening for buzz words like “bombs" and other potentially dangerous words.

The main debate about this subject is whether or not the NSA should be able to listen or whether it should be against the law. I feel like they should be able to listen to our phone calls if they are only listening for are buzz words. Anything else they hear should be kept secret and the recordings erased. However, if they are listening to entire conversations without a reason, I think that goes against the War on Terror policy. In my opinion the only reason that they should have for listening is if there are a known terrorist or associated with one, mentally unstable, or if they are looking up incriminating affairs online like “how to make bombs”, etc.. Sean Kerner writes that the NSA can look through the camera on your phone and computer to see what you are doing. If they are doing this spying through electronics I do not agree with it and it goes way over the line.

My Side
I feel that if the NSA wants to listen to people’s conversations, there is nothing wrong with that. If you are doing nothing wrong and the conversations they are listening to are not being released into the public you have nothing to lose.

Mechanical Engineering

Engineering in a Nutshell

How can you tell someone what a mechanical engineer is and what they do in just one blog entry? Well I am going to give it a shot. There are a plethora of fields that a mechanical engineer can go into, not to mention the many different jobs that are in the many  fields. Mechanical engineering  jobs range from heating and cooling to weaponry experts. For mechanical engineers, our job in short is to design new parts, make the parts and then test them in the field.

The Job
The designs (for new parts and machines) and testing jobs each require a little bit of a different person. If you are looking to go into design engineering you need to keep a few things in mind. First off you have to like looking at a computer screen and being in an office because that is where most of your time will be spent. Second, you need to be able to problem solve when it comes to designing and try to think of things that no one else has thought of, some of the greatest things we have today seemed very “silly” when they were designed. For any of the engineering branches you need to keep the customer in mind, and this is especially relevant in designing new products. You are making parts for the customer so if you make an item that no one can use, no one wants, or it makes the task harder, you are not doing your job and will not be very successful as an engineer.

From talking with and meeting some professionals in the field there are a few things that I think are common between all mechanical engineers. First, I think that most engineers are interested in making the world a safer and better place. By designing and testing higher quality and safer products we make the world that much better. Most engineers like to solve problems (no not just math problems) but real everyday complications. There is nothing that feels more accomplishing then figuring out a dilemma to help someone.

Values of an Engineer
To be a good engineer there are certain values that you need to have, especially when designing. While designing parts you don’t just make them as fast and cheap as possible because many people can get hurt from your rushed work. The company you work for may push you to use the cheapest material and make the parts low quality..  If you know people may get hurt by your weak parts you need to step up and say no to making the part this way because  someone may be injured. There is also the part of the job where if you are working for a company (whether testing or designing) and you are making something that is secret you need to keep that to yourself and not tell unauthorized people. This could have a very bad effect on your company and could also give the competitors a leg up.

Something to Ponder
Without mechanical engineers this world would not be the same. Imagine if everything mechanical was taken out of this world.  Some examples would be, any vehicle, appliances, tractors, equipment, and the list goes on. People use things all the time that somewhere along the line a mechanical engineer designed, made, or tested. According to Teaching Tomorrow’s Engineers the mechanical engineering field is always changing and will hopefully be able to keep up with ever growing 

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