

In fact, it istheeducational goal of all engineers to continue to learn both processes(rulesabout how to solve problems) and products (hardware and softwarecomponents).As the engineer becomes more experienced, he or she has a largertoolbox fromwhich processes and components can be selected.The hardest step for most newengineers is thefirst one:where to begin?We begin byanalyzing the problem to create a set ofspecificationsand constraints in the form of a requirements document.

When young engineers begin theirfirstjob, they are sometimes surprised to see that education does not stopwithcollege graduation, but rather is a life-long activity. Creativity will still be required in selecting thepropercomponents, making small changes in their behavior (tweaking),arranging themin an effective and efficient manner, and then verifying the systemsatisfiesboth the requirements and constraints. Most of the time, however, theengineer can solve even complex problems by building the system fromcomponentsthat already exist.

Design ExampleSome problems are so unique thatthey requirethe engineerto invent completely original solutions.
