Quote:
Originally Posted by Sisterg975
Thanks SO much for the enlightened discussion!
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I agree!!!!
To Derrick..... You Rock!!!
Not so much because I totally agree with all your points, but because I LOVE the passion and clarity with which you presented them. You've come a LONG way buddy!!!
My own point of view...
Our team's Engineering Notebooks could afford to have MORE Engineering in them... Some more calculations, analysis, testing, results and projections. No question.
Having said that, if a team is not comfortable/able/ready for that, then there is still a LOT of value recording all that other usefull stuff (Photo record of designs, field trips, business plans, community outreach) just because these are all things that an excellent Engineer should be concerned with.
Too many Engineers (like myself) are not prepared to transition from Basic Engineering to Project Management or Starting their own Businesses because they did not get any training in the Use and Business application of their basic craft.
Does a Engineering Notebook stuffed with other related information stand up as a "pure example" of what an Engineer should produce while doing Engineering? No. But is it a great exercise in Product development? Sure is...
So...
Will it guarentee a Think Award win? Maybe not. But is it a valuable outcome of the FTC program? *I* think so.
In our own experience (at regional competitions anyway) the Judges tend to see that. At the national level the competitionn is much tougher, so the more "Pure" Engineering Notebooks seem to do better.
Phil.