|
Re: "trade secret" comment - don't take it back!
Posted by Raul at 2/2/2001 10:20 PM EST
Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling HS and Motorola.
In Reply to: Can I officially take back my "trade secret" comment?
Posted by Joe Johnson on 2/2/2001 9:51 PM EST:
Joe,
I guess I am the opposite. I like to try new techniques every year in some part of the design. BTW, the technique does require a mill with a sturdy cutter to perform; a simple drill press will not work well. But, once the hole is in the hub, we have been successful in using that a a pilot hole in the pits if a motor has to be replaced. We have used this technique on the Van door motor and have never had a failure of the shaft or hub. I suppose it could work on the drill transmission as well. It will certainly hold the new coupling in place much more securely than the screws.
The term "trade secrets" is a perfectly good term and should not be abolished but instead understood. It is a part of the engineering world that all high school students need to appreciate. We, at Motorola, are also taught to respect what we call "intellectual properties", but I like "trade secret" better. In fact, Dean is really sensitizing us to secrets in industry by the recent "IT" (Ginger) publicity. I say keep it and be proud of the hard work you have done in giving yourself an edge. We can all wait until you feel that you have attained new secrets and feel you can divulge your old ones. That is also what is done in industry.
: Raul,
: Very cool attachment method. I have seen this kind of
: joint before, but I have never used them. Being a
: careful person, I am lothe to use anything new if I
: know some other method that works.
: You should have heard me argue against the 4-bar puck
: grabber two years back, "Why don't we go with a lift
: again? We KNOW how to do lifts. This 4-bar stuff is
: all well and good for design classes in college, but
: what kind of troubles are we going to cause for
: ourselves if we actually try to use it? yada yada yada..."
: Anyway, knowing that Raul-the-magnificent considers
: them safe territory has put this shaft joining method
: on my short list of "approved FIRST practices" Thanks
: for the tip.
: Now for the topic of the message. I regret ever
: having used the term "trade secret" in regard to stuff
: that FIRST teams keep to themselves ;-)
: I like the term in that it conveys the idea well, but
: it seems that it has a negative connotation to most folks.
: This was quite a surprise to me because at Delphi, we
: use the term all the time in a very positive way. In
: fact, Delphi even pays $1000 to employees that submit
: Trade Secrets that are accepted by the
: intellectual property review board (the same folks that
: decide which inventions Delphi should spend the money
: to patent).
: Anyway, How do other feel about the term? Should we
: scrap it?
: Joe J.
__________________
This message was archived from an earlier forum system. Some information may have been left out. Start new discussion in the current forums, and refer back to these threads when necessary.
|