Screws & Glue: Getting Stuff Done

I have two degrees from a prestigious university, but the only part of my schooling I used when I started at Apple was fearlessness (hubris?) I learned by tackling one daunting engineering project after another in my coursework. Figure out how to catch a ball and run it 10 ft down a field using only potential energy (gravity, springs, etc.) -- alright, we can get that done in two weeks. Design an optimal shape for solid rocket fuel to maximize thrust -- okay, gimme that Matlab license. I had learned that even if I had no idea to tackle the problem when it was assigned, with a few days of concerted effort, I had a fighting chance of putting together a reasonable solution. I'm sure many readers can relate -- it's why we're engineers.

When I started working at Apple, I felt wholly unprepared. Everything about my job, from the CAD software to the process for doing a tolerance analysis, to the "right way" to run an NPI build, had to be learned. There wasn't even a list of the jargon to translate what my coworkers were saying, and no one explained what EVT, DVT, and PVT actually meant -- I had to feel those out through multiple iterations of programs.

So when I started Instrumental with a mission to enable engineering and operations teams to build better products, one way I thought I could have an impact right away was by sharing the knowledge I'd had to learn on the job or pick up in the school of hard knocks. That's what this chapter is about -- an eclectic mix of articles about the nuts and bolts (but screws and glue is more apt, is it not?) of being an engineer building world-class electronics products.