How to Solve an Engineering Problem

1. Write down the information that's available
2. Sort it in a useful order
• Design data is useful information in the wrong form. Use it to derive requirements.
  
• Requirements? A requirement isn't a requirement unless someone is paying for it!
• Constraints? They look like requirements, but they can't be fixed with more money.
3. Outline an approach
4. What are the missing pieces in your approach? Define what you don't know.
• What don't you know you don't know?
• "We don't anticipate any unforseen problems."
• There's very little that you can't know. Even the fractional quantum Hall effect has been figured out.
5. Get needed information or make assumptions
• Calculate
• Estimate
• Experience
• Research
• WAG. A Wild-Ass Guess can be surprisingly accurate
6. How long do you think it will take? If you've never done it before, multiply by pi.
7. Attack the problem (do some math, build a prototype, etc...)
8. Repeat!