The author, David D. Lyon, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He has worked in industry for thirty nine years, primarily in the fields of Project Engineering and Configuration Management. He has served as the Project Engineer responsible for several large projects in defense, space and commercial industries. He most recently coordinated the planning, implementation and integration of an Enterprise Data Management (EDM) system in a major operating unit of the world's largest aerospace electronics corporation.
Mr. Lyon has provided consulting services to clients engaged in the transition from paper based systems to electronic EDM systems
Mr. Lyon is currently the president of the Raven Publishing Company
INTRODUCTION
Practical Project provides "how-to" guidelines for both the new and the practicing Project Engineer (PE). It describes your role as PE throughout your product's life cycle, starting with the initial program planning activities and the proposal process, through contract negotiation and finalization, system requirements definition, detailed design and development, transition to production, and finally production and support. It describes the processes and tools that you will utilize to support your project coordination and control activities, including the latest Project Management PC software solutions. It then provides you with the most effective approach for performing your duties as the PE.
A section is included which discusses obstacles that you will most likely encounter as your project evolves. Advice is provided for ways to overcome these obstacles. Other parts of the book will, in both a serious and humorous context, attempt to cover the topic of how to deal with people.
The topic of what a PE is and why one would want to become a PE is addressed along with the significance of and the need for PEs in today's and tomorrow's business environments.
This book will identify 'Best Practices" for you to study so that you will have the information you need to become an effective and successful PE. Templates and illustrations are provided to support the basic instruction material.
Once you start to use the processes and tools described herein and follow the recommended approach, you should not stumble or falter the way I did when I started off on my journey to becoming a PE. Let me share with you a snapshot from my early days.
"I'm a good Project Engineer!" I remember saying this to myself as I crossed the hallway from my office to the crib where we kept parts for the prototype automobile engine hot test cell for which I was responsible. It had been a terrible day up to that point. Everything had gone wrong, despite the horrendous effort I was making. I had thought out everything, at least I thought I had. I'd covered all the bases, either while I was at work or at home during the evenings when I fooled myself into thinking I was relaxing. The project never stopped pulling at my mind. I was always worrying about something. So, with all this good work and dedication on my part, how could things be going so wrong? Too many things were going wrong.
I wasn't about to give up. I had struggled through God knows how many bad times. I couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel but I wasn't going to quit. Oh, I knew - I felt sure - that I wasn't going to last in this job, not with the way things were going. They would have to fire me, though. I was a good PE (I kept telling myself), and I wasn't going to quit. I was determined to continue on. I would just look ahead and do the next thing, and then the next, and then the next. So, I went into the crib, found the part I needed, drove over to the building that housed my prototype, and made the necessary repairs.
Now, let's skip ahead a bit - I don't want to bore you with too many personal details at this point. NOTE: Throughout this book, I will stress the importance of attention to detail and dedication to basics. These principles are an important part of the approach that will save you and your projects from mediocrity or failure and transform you into a confident and successful PE.
As you might have guessed. I made it through that day. Things got better. My prototype got built and tested (behind schedule and over budget). It worked well and paved the way for a decent production contract. I can still see it in my minds eye - a hulking machine, wrapped about with cables running off to a computer sitting in a dark corner of a big old Quonset hut style building. I have worked on many projects since that one. I got better. Now, there are less sleepless nights. My projects are better planned and executed. I meet schedules and budgets more often than not.
My purpose in writing this book is to provide you with an encapsulation of "lessons learned" from my experiences - both good and bad. I will try to present the elements of the PE discipline in a logical order so as to give you a firm grasp of the "Best Practices" to employ during your projects. Finally, I will provide you with a set of "Project Templates" that you can use to assure that you properly apply these "best practices" and also to assure that you cover all the bases as you plan and execute your projects.
Although the processes, tools and approaches described in this book are presented in the context of projects designed and developed by large corporations, I believe they can also be applied to medium and small sized businesses.
I don't claim that this book is the "be all" and "end all" for program and project management. I am sure, however, that the processes, tools and approaches provided herein can form the basis for success and outstanding performance in your PE career.
There is no substitute for diligent work and persistence in the accomplishment of any task. However, you must keep your goals in clear focus and not become like the fanatic "who redoubles his efforts even when he has lost sight of the goal".
You must "earn your success" in any endeavor. Project Engineering is no different.
