To most aspiring engineers, a test lab is a place where parts are tested against a specification and the results are black or white.

 

This week, Pawl expores the various shades of grey, the politics and the ethics of test labs...

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The very day we started college it struck all of us guy engineers.  As we walked into our first class surrounded by oil stained hands and stone temple pilot t-shirts we asked ourselves: Why are there mostly men?

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Today I was referred to as an "expert" in my field. After a split second sense of pride, I remembered that all my colleagues, customers and suppliers ...

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Prior to January 18th 2011,whiskers grew on your cat and face. Now they grow on intricate electronics in your car. Tin or Sn whiskers are an odd ...

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I once walked into the service line at Walmart while some looser ahead of me was returning a broken fishing rod. I was curious to what questions the y...

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Auto magazines like to use the title "designer" in the context of "Sang Yup Lee - The designer of the 2010 Camaro, moves to VW" or "AndreaPininfarina,...

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Forget statistics and Taguchi's method for design of experiments. Quality engineering is about dealing with crappy parts and angry customers while you...

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You get to the office 5 minutes late. You don't feel guilty. You were in till 11:00pm last night. There's 3 paper coffee cups and a red bull in the bin. For a position as lowly as the product engineer you are lucky to have a large desk. Looking at it, you know that you don't stand a chance of winning the top 5S work cell and the $20 'home depot' voucher that comes with it.

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Benchmarking - It's hammer time

In order to align ourselves with the latest styling trends and engineering innovations, automotive car manufacturer and suppliers often engage in benchmarking.


Benchmarking typically involves buying a competitor's product, analysing it's performance and then the fun bit starts: stripping it down. For us geeky engineers, this provides a nearly orgasmic experience as the products' layers are slowly and quasi-sensually peeled away. Ohhhs and ahhhhs follow.

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Opel Ampera styling cues

Something always intrigued me about the styling of the new Opel Ampera (European brother of the Chevy Volt), though I struggled to place what that something was. Then this morning, as I was tending to the Japanese maples, the neighbourhood falcon squawked above me and it clicked...

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Design Engineering: the real word

Every time I interview a spring chicken that tells me how they dream of becoming a design engineer, it reminds me how 35 years ago, I had the same aspirations. I used to see myself as being the next Otto Diesel, Ma Jun or Elias Howe within a year of starting my new job designing square boxes for electronic modules.

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Read more about Pawl's process improvements and his pants...

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GM's Website: What's wrong with waste?

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This week, Pawl puts on his quality hat and dispenses advice about reaching the pinnacle of perfection for paltry parts.

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This week Pawl exposes the sinister world of spare parts sales.

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This week Pawl takes a look at an automotive role that is more than a cog in the wheel. Program managers are the linchpins that hold the wheel in place...

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This week Pawl lectures us on the 10 habits needed to weave and weasel our way to the top

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This week Pawl turns to Doctor Seuss for advice on how to survive a 'hang-up.' Can be applied to faulty pedals, door mats and bankrupcy protection.

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This week Pawl quizzes drivers on their ability to name Lincolns

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In the dreamy world of quality engineering, PPAP (pronounced "pee" as in urinate and "PAP" as in the cancer test) means "Production Part Approval Process" or in simple terms, how to get a part approved for use on a mass produced car.

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This week, Pawl puts on his economist hat to question the root cause of Toyota's declining sales

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Pawl describes the horrors of the post recession auto industry

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This week, Pawl describes the pains involved in selling to China...

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This week, on a rare positive note, Pawl takes a look at what makes auto design engineers tick.

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Learn how to tap into evil corporate wealth one engineering change at a time...

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This week, Pawl dispenses advice on how to convert stressful work into a free trip across the continent.

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This week, Pawl kaizenizes his grandpa's pick-up truck.

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This week, Pawl wonders if two consecutive mishaps with rechargeable batteries are a bad omen for things to come with battery powered cars.

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Never ever put ribs and radii on parts before a design review meeting. Here's why:

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A quality engineer walks into the office in the morning. His desk is old and has some permanent coffee stains on it. Besides his telephone and a picture of his pimply wife, it is void. His chair is exacly where he left it the day before: perfectly centered in the middle of his desk. He has a marker on his chair to help him line it up perfectly. He learned that trick in 5S training and feels superior to everyone else because he's the only guy who does that.

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