Best resources for new hires
Best resources for new hires
(OP)
Hello,
I just started my professional career as a mechanical engineer doing primarily design work for a small aerospace company and was wondering what resources you all have found helpful that you wish you had starting your first job, making you a smarter and more efficient worker. Things such as textbooks, handbooks, websites, charts/graphs, or just general engineering concepts to know better (GD&T, shear/moment diagrams, material properties, etc.)
Any and all suggestions are much appreciated.
Thanks!
I just started my professional career as a mechanical engineer doing primarily design work for a small aerospace company and was wondering what resources you all have found helpful that you wish you had starting your first job, making you a smarter and more efficient worker. Things such as textbooks, handbooks, websites, charts/graphs, or just general engineering concepts to know better (GD&T, shear/moment diagrams, material properties, etc.)
Any and all suggestions are much appreciated.
Thanks!





RE: Best resources for new hires
Ask to spend time with other disciplines and learn about the bits where your world and their world overlap - electrical, hydraulic, powerplant, etc. If you have some idea of the problems they face then you should be able to make your design help them rather than obstruct them.
RE: Best resources for new hires
As far as a library, your first major purchase should be a copy of Machinery's Handbook. Thousands of mechanical engineers around the world refer to that book every day. Over time you will notice others that are often referenced in your profession, such as Mark's Handbook. Also, I may be an old fart but there is value to a hard copy paper book or catalog. They are easier (and more interesting) to scan than some website.
Speaking of websites, one other word of advice: ask yourself how engineers got things done before Google was the default source of all wisdom. Call somebody! I see questions every week on these forums where young engineers are asking how to use a particular product. They have been all through a company's website looking for answers, but it never crossed their mind to actually CALL the manufacturer and ask them! They have people there (called Application Engineers) whose only job is to answer your questions and make sure you get the most out of their product. they know a lot more about it than some nameless individuals on a forum.
And while I'm ranting anyway, let me congratulate you for making sure your inquiry was clear, succinct, properly punctuated and capitalized, and used proper grammar. So many of your age group tend to treat business communications like they are texting with their BFF. That approach creates very negative first impressions. Don't fall prey to it.
RE: Best resources for new hires
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The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.
RE: Best resources for new hires
forum731: How to Improve Myself to Get Ahead in My Work
forum732: Overcoming Obstacles Getting My Work Done
This type of question or 'how to be a star employee' or similar comes up quite often.
If you are going to be doing your own drawings/model based definition etc. then yes learning how to do it properly including but not limited to "GD&T" is a good idea and one many engineers don't take. There's more to 'drafting' than learning where the buttons are on a specific CAD package.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Best resources for new hires
RE: Best resources for new hires
https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Home/Home
https://www.mcmaster.com/
http://www.sdp-si.com/
https://www.carrlane.com/en-us/
https://grabcad.com/
http://www.matweb.com/
https://littlemachineshop.com/Reference/TapDrillSi...
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME463/Course%20Docu...
Hope this is close to what you are looking for.
RE: Best resources for new hires
RE: Best resources for new hires
Not all hands on the shop floor provide equal insight into problems ('that also applies to pretty much everyone else as well). Look closely at any of your products that have been in service and try to understand why they look different to brand new ones (waves in the skin, cracked or chipped paint, etc).
Keep a indexed word doc of all the interesting work you do (references, reasons, clever calculations, etc) for future reference.
Talk to the other engineers in your office some will have large personal collections of electronic design data / reference material they may allow you to copy it.
There is a lot of useful FAA publications such as AC43.13-1B
https://www.faa.gov/regulations%5Fpolicies/advisor...
AD's and SIAB provide a good source of what didn't work
https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/alerts/SAIB/
https://www.faa.gov/regulations%5Fpolicies/airwort...
Learn the the certification bases for the work you are doing and understand the how and why of it
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/faa_regul...
there is also the exemption search engine which gives one an idea of what other ways of reaching compliance are likely
http://aes.faa.gov/AES.asp
When chasing Mil spec's this is the place to start
http://quicksearch.dla.mil/qsSearch.aspx
The aircraft spruce catalogue is good value (it covers tools, hardware and so any other things).
As for text books well there is numerous lists on the web here is a couple
http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/showthrea...
http://aircraftdesign.com/books.html
If you are working with riveted structure this text book will keep you paranoid about rivets for quite a while.
Riveted Lap Joints in Aircraft Fuselage: Design, Analysis and Properties by Skorupa, Andrzej
"smarter and more efficient worker" that general means going slower at the beginning and spending more time on the concept stage and questioning all the assumptions.
RE: Best resources for new hires
RE: Best resources for new hires
Learning your companies products and the manner in which they are designed and manufactured is a chicken-egg situation. You can't learn one then the other and be done. Schedule a tour of your plant factory or best local vendors with the intent of learning which machines create which features of which parts. Before releasing a new design, schedule a discussion with those who will make it so that they can brainstorm and spitball ideas. Sometimes they will find errors, and some ideas will not be useful. But this is how designs go from marginally useful to very good.
Schedule feedback sessions with your shop or vendors to discuss parts you've drafted. Schedule the same feedback sessions with your inspection and assembly teams. They all have important contributions to offer and their needs often conflict. World class engineers are really excellent communicators who can balance these demands.
Some engineers like to make design decisions through calculations above all else. Whenever performing a calculation, KNOW the accuracy of your inputs and the effects on the output. Many hours and poor decisions have been made based on overly complicated calculations that end up being inaccurate. Many industries have limited access to direct testing. Compare real-world results to the calcs and analysis at every single opportunity.
Your college probably blasted through drafting. Tolerances and drafting practices are crucial to success and you need to learn them on-the-job. Good tolerancing is not found in a book, because it's a widely varying subject and a major point of proprietary value.
Drive your designs to use the widest possible tolerances and the simplest inspection and assembly methods. Don't re-invent the wheel until you fully understand the wheel's strengths and weaknesses.
You will find there are people with excellent questions and ideas who don't communicate in the language and style you're used to. Work the hardest to understand their point, and NEVER assume you fully understand what each other is trying to express.