How difficult is your typical project – Tomorrow's Engineers Zone

Conor Tickner answered on 3 Jun 2020:

Normally a typical project for me and my team wouldn’t be too difficult, but requires a good level of technical knowledge, and there’s lots to do. It’s also important to check and double check, verify and validate everything we do, because while it may not be too difficult, it’s still easy to make a mistake.
As an acoustician or acoustic engineer, normally my work would consist of reviewing information, undertaking some sound/vibration measurements and/or doing some acoustic modelling. Gathering the predicted information, and coming up with an assessment of the effects of whatever scheme I’m working on. Sometimes though, the models can be enormous and take several weeks to build, and several days just to calculate the results. Other times, I may need to feed into the design work, recommending noise barriers adjacent to a road, for example, and I’ll then need to work with other disciplines like ecology, water drainage, and the design teams, to get to a good solution that works for everyone.
More often than not though, it’s a simple assessment like an industrial site installing a new item of equipment, and I can normally comfortably conclude that it won’t be a problem.

anon answered on 3 Jun 2020:

A typical project for me would take around 1 week from initial design to final design. Regarding the manufacture of the product the customer would advise me dates and I would check if we are available to meet their demands.

Fidel Olaye answered on 3 Jun 2020:

Every project has it’s issues and challenges but an average project for me isn’t too difficult I’d say.

Charlotte Flower answered on 3 Jun 2020: last edited 3 Jun 2020 4:41 pm

Projects can all be very different, but using engineering knowledge, it’s possible to work to find a solution. Sometimes projects can be short and solutions can be found quite quickly. For example, I’ve completed calculations for floating pontoon structures before, which can be fairly simple and therefore quick to complete. I’ve also worked on much more difficult engineering problems however, which can take many discussions with other engineers to solve. For example, when looking at the mooring of large ships, there are many factors to consider, and it can take longer to find a solution.

Asha Panchal answered on 3 Jun 2020:

Hi MattiE,
Another broad and philosophical question!
What I would say is, it is the difficult and challenging projects that are the most interesting. The good thing about engineering is you can choose to go down a path where almost everyday is different.
As you spend more time in your field you’ll become more experienced and then you will find it easier to develop solutions to engineering problems. You might have already experienced this process at school where you might carry out a science experiment. The first time you had a go you may have found it very challenging; but as you performed more experiments your confidence and ability would have grown and you would have been able to complete the task more efficiently…

Gillian Steele answered on 4 Jun 2020:

A tough question as each project can have different challenges which make it more difficult than another project. However, as I work as part of a team, if I am finding something really difficult I just ask for help. There are lots of people in my work who specialise in different things and are happy to help if needed.

Conrad Manning answered on 4 Jun 2020:

Tough question MattiE! Sometimes its the most simplest of projects (like the one I’m working on at the moment to create a velocity prediction program) that is the most complex as it involves debuging computer outputs…

Most of it though is within the realm of knowledge, it sometimes takes a bit more thinking to solve.

Ken Mollison answered on 6 Jun 2020:

Hi MattiE,
Another good question. For me a typical project is not difficult, because it involves the same tools on the same equipment. The routine is predictable and experience lets the team review the critical aspects at the best times to make sure the project completes on time and in budget and our customer is delivered the project that was asked for. Experience and common sense make these kind of projects easy.
Always projects which are not typical are more likely to become more difficult because the team has not previously experienced that particular requirement before. Rarely do they become impossible because each project is checked for do-ability before we start and sometimes we will not accept certain projects if we can show that they are not possible. “Difficult” usually means the project will take longer and will involve different equipment or solutions that we have not used in certain ways before. We would also put more review points into the programme of work to make sure that everything stays on track or we can see if there are areas that need more attention

Luke Winch answered on 10 Jun 2020:

Hi MattiE, I am a design engineer working in construction so this is something I think about all the time. Sometimes understanding the problem is very simple but the calculations are really difficult and sometimes it’s the other way around. There are so many things to consider that a problem can seem very difficult to understand but with practice you learn to make the problem simple enough to solve.

Question: How difficult is your typical project

Comments