20: Worry Often

Worrying about your design will make you better.   You will be better able to prioritize which part of the project needs more attention and hopefully this worry comes prior to construction so it can be corrected if needed.  James Gorden in his book Structures writes:

When you have got as far as working drawings, if the structure you propose to have made is an important one, the next thing to do, and a very right and proper thing, is to worry about it like blazes...it is confidence that causes accidents and worry that prevents them."  [Gorden]

In Henry Petroski's book Remaking the World, he states:

Many engineers see to have spent so many sleepless nights while their designs were progressing from the back of an envelope through increasingly complex nd detailed calculations anddrawings to the realization in an artifact upon whose safety the lives of so many depend.  If engineers do sleep, it is often with a pad and pencil nearby.  They are there to record not dreams, but nightmares, nightmares about collapses and explosions to be checked upon waking against the realty of a design.  And it is a good thing, for otherwise there might be more tragedies than we can imagine." [Petroski: 1997, 68]

21: Draw 1 to 1 Scale

Plato believes what is central to the production of beautiful artifacts is one’s ability to understand the nature of measure (what we now may think of as proportion).  The engineer, according to Plato, must know the nature of measure or proper portioning of structures (artistic as well as scientific).  “Basic to any art, is the art of measure without which there can be no art at all.  For to know the proper size of a column, proportion of a window, the proper organization of language in a poem, is to command the art of measurement.”  Measure then for Plato, is essential to quality and is the fundamental principle that defines quality.  “There are accomplished men, Socrates, who say…the art of measurement is universal, and has to do with all things.” (Plato, Statesman 285b)  So if we think we succeeded in the proper form by creating something well proportioned, how do we know we are right?  How do we judge quality? Drawing 1 to 1 will help you make a better design decision on a particular component of a project.   Try drawing a 6x6 wood post on paper with the joist hanger, or a L4x4x5/16 steel framing angle with bolts to scale.   See if the bolts will fit and get into the code on bolt length (shank, threads, TC bolt tips, etc).   Drawing 1 to 1 will help you better understand proportions and with that, you will be able to use your intuition on the member size.

Here is an example of something we do in the office (comparing HSS members for columns on an 8 1/2 x 11)...

22: Buy Samples of Typical Structural Components

Go to Home Depot and buy structural components (and ask a fabricator/builder).  These items should be in your office while you design on the computer.   Having the material in your hand is the best way to proportion members later on the computer.  I recommended:

• Wood Sizes (2x4, 2x6, 4x4 and 6x6 minimum, 1 foot length is fine)
• Joist Hangers and Hurricane Ties  (Several Sizes)
• 8" CMU (1)
• #3 and #4 Rebar (1 foot length is fine)
• An Expansion and Epoxy Bolt
• Also ask a local fabricator for a foot of a W12x19
• Shear Tab and Clip Angle  (5" Wide x 3/8 tab and a L4x4x3/8 angle,1 foot length is fine)
• 3/4 dia A325N and A325-TC and 7/8 dia A490 bolts
• Ask a concrete inspector for a 8" dia. concrete cylinder.
• Get all the typical nails and screws (8d, 10d, #12 etc)
• Etc

Display these proudly in the office for all engineers to see.    These real samples are vital to be able to make informed structural design decisions.

23: Build Physical Models

The computer will never replace the importance of a physical model out of cardboard, balsa wood, paper, glue, etc.   Architects build these all the time, we should too.

A design can be borne by art and uncertainty more than by science and certainty.   Isler created the thin concrete shell, a pillowcase shape, when he viewed burlap hanging over rebar.  The artist Kenneth Snelson developed the tensegrity by playing with sticks and strings.   The artist, Ai Wei Wei created the bird’s nest form used for the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics by looking at one.  Bucky Fuller created the geodesic dome through sculpture and play.   He fooled around with stuff like triangles made out of spaghetti, not math.   The inventor Theo Jansen is the master of amazingly lifelike kinetic sculptures without math or science.  Math and science rarely contribute to the creation of the design (there are very few exceptions).    So why are we engineers not making stuff in school?   Who knows!

24: Feel and Flex Materials with Hands

Mathematical abstraction or physical laws are secondary to the primary feel (direct apprehension) and intuition of structures.   If you don't believe me, please read from our greatest engineers like Peter Rice’s An Engineer Imagines, Eduado Torroja’s The Philosophy of Structures, or Pier Luigi Nervi’s Structures (or Maillart, Torroja, Eads, Eiffel, Schlaich, Isler, Sobek, etc). Pier Luigi Nervi, one of the greatest structural engineers of all time, put it this way in has seminal work Structures (1956):

The pre-eminence given to mathematics in our schools of engineering, the purely analytical basis of the theory of elasticity, and its intrinsic difficulties persuade the young student that there is limitless potency in theoretical calculations, and give him blind faith in their results.  Under these conditions neither the students nor teachers try to understand and to feel intuitively the physical reality of a structure, how it moves under load, and how the various elements of a statically indeterminate structure react among themselves.  Today everything is done by theoretical calculations.  That student is rated best who best knows how to set up and solve mathematical equations... the mastering of structural knowledge is not knowledge of those mathematical developments which today constitute the theory of structures.  It is a result of a physical understanding of the complex behavior of a building, coupled with an intuitive interpretation of theoretical calculations.  [Nervi, 1956]

Nigel Cross, widely recognized as the leading figure in design research and teaching, summed up the importance of intuition this way in his book "Designerly Ways of Knowing" (2006):

Conventional wisdom about problem-solving seems often to be contradicted by the behavior of expert designers. But designing has many differences from conventional problem-solving.   Empirical studies of design activity have frequently found intuitive features of design ability to be the most effective and relevant to the intrinsic nature of design.  [N. Cross, 2006]

The way we think and feel about structures is more important than the abstract mathematical models or analytical techniques we use when solving problems.  Hardy Cross, our brilliant developer of the moment distribution method, once said:

Design involves sound judgement as well as stress analysis; and judgement is more important.  [H. Cross cited in Addis, 1990: 72]

I recently read an article on "The Genius of Steve Jobs" by Walter Issacson (Oct 30, NY Times) regarding the importance of intuition:

Steve jobs success dramatizes an interesting distinction between intelligence and genius.  His imaginative leaps were instinctive, unexpected, and at times magical.  They were sparked by intuition, not analytic rigor... he didn't study data or crunch numbers but like a pathfinder, he could sniff the winds and sense what lay ahead...when he  wandered around India after dropping out of college, (Jobs said) "The people of the Indian countryside do not use their intellect like we do, they use their intuition instead.   Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect."  [Issacson; NY Times Oct 30, 2011]

25: Don't Not Do It

“Just do it” from Nike is fine but it seems to be about finishing something you need to finish, not necessarily because you want to finish ("Just do it" is similar to avoiding procrastination).  So that isn’t enough.  “Don’t not do it” is about doing something you want to do but are afraid (worried because it is different, or maybe slightly embarrassing, or risky, etc).  It may be already finished or easy to finish but you are scared.   These are the things you need to do.   If you purge these mental roadblocks, you will benefit yourself.  You will never be “better than the rest” if you don’t allow yourself to complete something because of worry or risk – you will be the rest.  Don’t be the rest.  Don’t not do it.

"Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear." [Norman Vincent Peale, author]

26: Take a Welding Class

Why should engineers weld?   Because we design welds, and actually doing welding will help us understand and possibly design them better.  We need to understand the tools and the lingo (for example, saying "MIG" is more common than than engineer's GMAW). Here is the MIG welding machine:  The gases, argon and CO2, in the GMAW method create the shield to protect the weld wire from the atmosphere.Try finding a local workshop or welding class in your area.   Use an oxy-acetyline torch to cut through steel or bend steel, then use grinders to cut or smooth the edges.   Use a steel chop saw and sander, or a sand blaster to clean the mill scale.  Weld joints together using stick or MIG welding, adjust the voltage and wire speed to determine how to lay down quality welds.  Weld butt joints, t-joints, even flare bevel groove joints to determine which method and electrode orientation is best.   Create a sculpture, add and weld pieces to it.  Even bolt members together or learn how tap plates (drill holes and add threads).  If possible, use a plasma cutter and add letters to your sculpture and cut curves.

Here is a alien-robot I created at a recent welding workshop...

Here I am practicing GMAW:

Here is a jig I used to be able to cold-bend a piece of 1/2 bar...

I learned that welding poorly is really easy, and welding well is incredibly hard.  You won't be a welder after a couple classes, but you will certainly understand welding a bit better, and with this understanding you will become better at designing and inspecting welds.

27: Sketch Poorly and Sketch Often

Drawing quick sketches is essential to being able to make informed engineering decisions.  Drawings help us determine which elements are relevant and which may be safely ignored.  These daily hand sketches are needed to help us make subtle discriminations about proportion, member orientation, constructibility, connectivity, etc. So we need to sketch and sketch often, but do we need to sketch well?  (For this debate, well = pretty).  Does the sketch need to be nice looking with straight lines and perfectly to scale?  No.  Or should they be those cool architect type with soft and purposeful squiggly lines?  No, don't be cool - that is a waste of time.   Also don't show hand drawings to anyone where you focused on making them pretty instead of making them clear and useful.  Should they be on fancy black paper?  No.  They can be on any paper and with any pen.

The sketch can and should look like a 6 year old's drawing.  If you are better at drawing, of course, don't degrade your sketch by following this advice - but if you are average, don't be intimidated by others who waste their time making pretty sketches.  You need to sketch anyway, and all the time, constantly.  This is the most important action we do.  Sketches should only meet one criteria - they are to be useful to you and your team to communicate a design and to help with decision making about the design.  Feel free to sketch well as a hobby - by all means - add water color even, but for daily engineering, sketch poorly and sketch often.

Here is a sketch I did today that is too pretty but serves as an example of what we should constantly be doing prior to, or along with, using the computer...

28: Email Well (Less Words, More Pics)

As a design community we email poorly - way too many words, not enough pictures/sketches/details/screen shots.   It is still the coordination tool of choice today, but there isn't one way to email.  Add lots of screen shots! Here is a bad email...

"Erik,  On grid line 8 east of wall A, near the dining room wall, there is a post that needs to be moved 6" to the north.   Remember, north is to the left on the PDF set you have.  Sincerely, Bobby Cantemail"

Here is a good email...

29: Stand instead of Sit

Add a standing desk to the office (or ask for one!).   Engineers typically spend 80%-90% of their time in an office sitting in front of a computer.  Not much we can do about this, but adding a standing desk to the office as an optional work location can help mix things up...where you can go and work while standing and stretching.

We added this work station with a desk with adjustable height   We also have the option of leaning back on this FOCAL bike seat we bought - which is between sitting and standing (like the comfortable kitchen counter at home).   As an aside, this should be obvious by now in 2013, but all engineering work stations should have 2 monitors each a min 23 inches (24/27 preferable) so you can work on BIM on one side, calcs on the other.