File Types

I get questions about file types often. Here are the basics -

3D: Three-dimensional files are called MODELS, not drawings. If native SolidWorks files are requested, they come in 3 basic flavors -

filename.sldprt is a PART file, a single component usually.
filename.sldasm is an ASSEMBLY file, the sldprt files assembled.
filename.slddrw is a DRAWING file, a 2D drawing created from a 3D part or assembly.

Additionally, SolidWorks will export a wide range of 3D model files for rapid prototyping, importing into CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) programs, etc. The more common are IGS, STEP, SLT, and PARASOLID. If the manufacturer you're talking to has the ability to use SolidWorks files, find out what file type and format, and these can easily be provided.

2D: Two-dimensional files are DRAWINGS. They are typically AutoCAD generated, or formatted to be imported to AutoCAD or a like software. They come in the usual 2 flavors of -

filename.dwg is a native AutoCAD drawing file.
filename.dxf is an importing standard file type for importing into various 2D and 3D programs.

Those are the usual, there are variants and lesser-used programs that import or export other types, and very many of them can be translated and used. When in doubt, ask.

When is the design done?

Design and Engineering are like two siblings who couldn't be more different, yet are capable of doing extraordinary things when they get together.

Engineering is a fairly straight-forward discipline. There may be a dozen or more ways to make something work, but usually the calculations and materials point to two or three probable solutions, and when you make one of them work, you and your client can usually agree that it's finished.

Design is tricky. The results, now matter how brilliant, elegant, and final they are in the mind of the designer, are completely subjective. A masterful design solution can be rejected out of hand by a client, their aesthetic insulted and vision forever soiled by the abomination you hand them. What happens when the client is not satisfied? Two approaches are suggested.

1. It may take convincing by other respected eyes to show that the design will have mass appeal. Poll some artists, designers, and respected purveyors of taste to convince the client to give it a chance.

2. Go back to the drawing board. The client is who you are working for, and their vision must be respected and achieved to the best of your ability.

As you would expect, there is middle ground to tread as well, if it results in the best long-term product. Another exciting balancing act, as performed by the Designer/Engineer.

Avoiding the Creeps.

There are two nemeses every designer/engineer must confront at one time or another. Constant diligence is required to deal with them, because they are insidious and wily, strangling your efforts before you even know they've arrived.

Creeping Opulence is the worst of the pair. One more good idea, an extra feature built in, soon the simple solution you designed is fraught with bells and whistles. This enemy has destroyed many a good design, and is behind the common phrase "time to shoot the engineer".

Creeping Elegance is the more treacherous. This character is actually a friend, but only up to a point. Elegance is desirable, the more you can cut away and keep function and design, the better. But streamline until it's just enough, not any more than that. There's a point at which it no longer makes sense to hold up progress looking for that last bit of trimming you can manage.

A good designer or engineer learns the early warning signs after many years of being bitten.

Strangineering is Green

Besides Design, these days with a capital D, the hot topic for businesses lately is Green, now with a capital G.

I have all the various little notes to myself that ultimately led to the formation of Strangineer Design. The very first one makes reference to setting it up green from the beginning. I've been an environmental activist since childhood and the first wave in the 1970s. Activist has connotations for some that are radical, so I'll qualify my level of activism. I've made it a point to be always aware of my impact on the environment, and whenever I can I minimize it, at that goes for my business as well.

The Strangineer office is lit by a single compact florescent, consuming all of 15 watts. The computer monitor and printer are turned off when not being used. My visits to clients and subcontractors are minimized; when necessary the vehicle I use gets either 41 or 35 miles to the gallon. Emails are backed up to another email account, rarely are they printed on paper, and while I make a physical folder for each project, the contents are rarely more than copies of contracts and some pencil sketches.

Strangineer Design was created green, and will stay that way long after the current wave of attention has died down. Hopefully by then, it will be a given with all companies.

See the Sites.

Here are a couple of interesting websites. They are relatives, and showcase new ideas in business and design.

Trendwatching is at http://www.trendwatching.com/

Springwise is at http://www.springwise.com/

I recommend signing up for their newsletters, they provide a jolt of inspiration from time to time.

While I'm making recommendations, check out the latest issue of Fast Company magazine. It features a nice spotlight article on their "Masters of Design".

The magazine's website is http://fastcompany.com/homepage/index.html

Collaboration and the NDA

The last two posts seem to steer toward a conflict. How do you hold the NDA sacred while bringing in all these experts to help on a project?

It is a balancing act, and one refined over many years of dealing with inventions and non-disclosure. The end use of the product is never discussed in detail, only so far as to explain its environment. The temperature extremes, shock and vibration, contact with other materials, and other such considerations of its end use are important to the design of the parts but don't give away the use and utility of the finished device. Additionally, since the device is a sum of its parts, dealing with different experts on different parts keep the confidentiality of the invention intact. That leaves it to me to make sure the interactions are communicated and understood without showing all the other parts in a final configuration.

It's a tricky business holding onto the NDA while getting all the pertinent info shared and the best results gathered. It requires constant diligence from the contractor, and is a talent worth seeking out. You should always ask questions about the handling of the NDA with subcontractors before handing over your invention.

The NDA is sacred.

A Non-Disclosure or Confidentiality Agreement, whichever you call it, is the essential first step in dealing with a contract designer. The protection of intellectual property is a deep subject, one I won't go deep into on a weblog, but for an inventor or entrepreneur it's something that must be addressed with an NDA right away, especially dealing with a designer or engineer who has constant contact with other inventors and companies.

Filing a patent is time-consuming and expensive. A simple NDA is quick and without cost at all, and allows the contract designer to begin the development of the invention and have it run in parallel to the formal filing.

Certainly, a business lawyer or IP attorney should be your best information on how to proceed, but make sure that whoever you talk to about your invention has signed your Non-Disclosure. Beyond that, make sure the signing party respects and takes such agreements seriously. The legal recourse is not cheap, so building a relationship with the signer and making sure the legality of the document is understood are good measures to take.

Collaboration is key.

One of the many pitfalls a contract engineer must avoid is becoming The Lone Ranger. As much as I love the quiet and focus I can achieve in my home office, I believe that every project benefits from collaboration. Getting the design out of the home office and into a discussion group makes great things happen.

I've been very active in setting up relationships with molders, toolmakers, sheet metal houses, CNC shops, etc., and doing so not to simply have subcontractors to make things, but to have experienced partners who will take designs and contribute. There's nothing like having an expert to bounce ideas off of, someone who has a passion for their work and likes seeing new things made right. The collaborative relationship turns my one-man show into an Engineering Department, and that's a benefit every one of my clients enjoys. Many heads are better than one.

More on the Name Game.

The other idea I wanted to embody in my business name, Strangineer Design, was the fact that my approach to engineering is not conventional. Very early in my career, I stumbled across Roger von Oech and his book A Whack on the Side of the Head. It's a wonderful little book about breaking free of conventional problem-solving and tapping into real creativity. Since then, I've been somewhat obsessed by the nature of creativity and what it means to the often strict discipline of Engineering.

Certainly, structural considerations, thermal performance, and the Laws Of Physics demand that rigorous processes be followed to achieve sound solutions to Engineering problems. Where possible though, and particularly before settling on an Engineering approach, all such strictness and rigors should really be ignored in order for truly creative solutions to make themselves apparent. That is also the place where the art of Design comes in, blurring the line with Engineering. Once a creative approach is identified, one that comes from a real Design perspective, a skilled engineer can apply those tried-and-true formulae toward making it a functional and robust reality. That's Strange Engineering to most people in the business, but the results speak for themselves.

News, Events, and Links

This weblog, being new, is undergoing rapid change. Be sure to keep an eye on the right-hand side of the page for new Links of Interest and other new features. One link I'd like to point out in particular - the Dexinger design agenda:

http://www.dexigner.com/agenda/

The bottom section of that page is a list of upcoming Design Events and Expositions. It seems that Design is really coming into vogue these days, and into the mass public consciousness, as it relates to the quality of life, green concerns, and how we intend to build a future. As such, many new and exciting design events and meetings are springing up around the world. If you are in the business, I highly recommend attending, or at the very least, keeping track of the range of subject matter they address. A lot of what you see, hear, wear, and use, and consequently what you will be asked to design, will be affected by the thinkers and designers that are suddenly networking at a higher level these days.

Contract has many meanings.

con-tract [v, kuhn-trakt']: to become drawn together or reduced in compass; become smaller; shrink: The pupils of his eyes contracted in the light.

A Contract business means making sure the emphasis never moves to that second syllable.

Starting a small business is always going to be a leap of faith, no matter how prepared and committed one is. One of my biggest fears in setting up a contract business was getting stuck in a rut with one or two corporate clients who paid well. It would be very easy to succumb to the need for some steady income early on in the process. The danger there is that you are contracted, but you are contracting. I didn't want to be doing the same thing I was doing for corporate employers, spending all my design and engineering skills on a single product line. The point of a Contract Design business, to my mind, is to use one's accumulated skills, training, and experience to expand.

One of the great tenets of invention is to take what already exists and apply it in a new way. I believe a great Contract Design business can be built on this principle. The trick is to find the unexpected and truly new ideas, and then apply all the great design and engineering ideas toward realizing them. These ideas are the ones coming from head-scratchers, basement tinkerers and independent inventors of the world. They're ideas from the fringe, not from corporate conference rooms. Some of them are actually scary at first, but that's usually a good sign that you're entering into a challenge, and keeping far away from that second syllable.

You can read about the run-up to my starting a Contract Design business at www.strangineer.com, there's a link called "About Strangineer" that tells the story.

What's in a name?

Strangineer. I've had people chuckle immediately, obviously getting it, and I've got people who still nervously mispronounce it after a year of dealing with me, oblivious to it having any meaning whatsoever.

I also had a bit of trouble at the beginning of setting up this business, folks intimately involved in my business plan, financing, etc., expressing concern that the name might be meaningless and confusing to some people. My answer then was "Good. There are some people who I want to confuse, and it's best if they wander off to a more traditionally-named company." That's still my answer today, and I'm happy to report that a year-plus into this venture, the name seems to be working.

My contract business has attracted very unusual projects, which was my aim and the intent of the naming. I never intended to set up a "traditional" business, and very few old-school, traditional businesses have contacted me. I like it that way. I intend to post more about the way this has worked and cite examples as we go along here.

Welcome

Welcome to Strangineering Today, the new blog from Strangineer Design LLC, authored by owner and contract design engineer, Steve Combs.

Your comments and questions are always welcome.