Engineering fails - template

Template Overview:

This will be the template for the engineering fails page. Those who write for this site may choose to deviate as much as they please while sticking to the intended goal of the site. 

What is that goal you ask? To educate both new and old engineers on problems spanning all industries. My father, a licensed engineer himself, always repeated the well-known saying: "Good judgment comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgment." With a collection of stories coming out each day, a bored engineer will be showered with a wealth of experience to learn from.

With every position I have held, there has always been a seasoned engineer who took the time to explain why I should do something. This was usually followed up with a (now) laughable result of a poor decision. Due to the recent pandemic, and the move to hybrid or remote work, this website hopes to bridge the widening knowledge gap. Ideally, this will give an idea of day-to-day failures engineers experience, along with how they tackled the resulting problem. These should be more personal or unknown stories than those currently available on the internet. Although the tragic events of the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse are a great case study for engineers, there is also a great amount of value in understanding how zeroing your part off of the wrong hole ended up making your rectangle look more like a dinosaur.

In order to communicate this to the prospective reader, a modified version of the much-lauded S.T.A.R. method will be used. For those who are unfamiliar, the S.T.A.R. method stands for Situation, Task, Analysis, and Result. It will be used as follows:

Situation: 

The situation will be a brief overview (1-2 paragraphs) of the problem you encountered. If you have a photograph, it will be much appreciated. 

Task: 

Describe what failed and why. Was it operator error? Did someone use the wrong k factor on their Euler's buckling equation? Did the fresh out of college cost engineer decide he could use a bearing with a similar part number from another manufacturer without checking the max axial load it could take? Give a detailed description of what went wrong.

Action: 

Describe what steps you and your team took to correct the problem. A free-body diagram or other basic description of the problem would be useful here. The idea is to bring in the engineering equations/concepts you would have wanted to see in the first place. While you can go anywhere on the internet and see pictures of broken items, this lacks the foundational knowledge that the reader is looking to grasp. Including that you used the transverse shear stress equation in a bending load problem helps the reader connect the theory to the real-world application.

Result: 

This is where you tie everything together. How did the fix impact the product? If there is a colorful joke you want to include, this is the place!

Other information:

Editing:

Are you not great at writing? No engineer is, that is why we invented spell check! The author of the website will proofread any submission and check it for grammar issues. No other content corrects will be made as long as the post is safe for work.

An about me section:

This can include your name, industry, title, and hobbies. Feel free to share as much as you want in the third person.

Why am I doing this:

This has been a passion project idea for me for a while. In light of all the new engineers coming into the zoom workforce, I thought it would be a great time to launch something like this.

Do writers get paid for these articles:

Yes! Please contact eric@engineeringfails.org to discuss payment. The minimum for each article will be $16 and increase with experience and depth. These articles aren't intended to take more than an hour to write, so it is a good way to make beer money.

Will the website always look like this:

No, I am working on putting together a professional blog page. I am currently attempting to gather enough articles that I can start releasing one a day by the time the website is complete.

Can I post something from work or university:

Please check with them first to make sure your post does not contain anytime technical information which is not intended to be disclosed. If you are unsure, feel free to speak in board terms as allowed by your respective institution.

Where do I submit my article:

Please reach out to eric@engineeringfails.org with your desired topic for the article and any questions you may have.

About me:

I am a mechanical design engineer in the aerospace industry. I have always had a passion for helping to cultivate new engineers and coach them through their careers. When I'm not stuck behind a computer, I'm probably running, backpacking, and mountain biking.