Quote:
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Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII
I have been bashed repeatedly on my team for saying this so I wonder if you will agree:
"Last year we tried building something that was beyond our means. We didn't poses the resources or the know-how to achieve what it was we wanted to build. As a result, the end-result was a disaster."
"Do we dare build something as complex this year? Build it because we shall learn from the experience? Or, should we learn from our mistake last year and pursue a simpler design? Maybe we won't learn as much from the simpler design, but hey! At least we've learned from our mistakes!"
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I am not Ken Wittlief, but I do agree with you.
Engineering is all about drawing upon past failures to prevent future ones. This is how we, as human beings, learn. You did this as a child, learning how to walk. You do this as an adult, learning how to make your way through the world.
After realizing that the complexity of last year's design was beyond your team's means, the best engineering decision your team can make is to go for something simpler next year. While some members of the team may claim that designing too complex will be a learning experience, it is not a good model for the real world of engineering. A good engineer recognizes design limitations (the more complex a project is, the more time and resources it demands), and stays within those limitations. One can't go over budget or miss the deadlines.
Your team has limits too, whether it is time, money, or people. All teams do - and each team should recognize those limits in order to be successful and minimalize the stress on each of the members.
And remember, many times, the simple design is the best design. You will be less constrained, and less likely to break down. An elegant, yet simple design is good material for judges awards - many of the award winning designs from my old team were fairly simple mechanisms.
Good luck!
-- Jaine