InspireME Seminar - Jim Shaver, Willowview Consulting

Somebody Still Has to Build It: A mechanical engineer's path from mechanical design to program management

We spent six months building a fully waterproof aluminum enclosure for a field computer. It survived two hours outside in a Georgia hurricane without losing internet connectivity. Then the customer saw it for the first time and asked, "Why isn't it in a Pelican case?"

This talk follows one mechanical engineer's path from mechanical design to systems engineering to program management, across food-processing automation, defense technology, and medical devices. It argues that building the system is not the end of requirements gathering, it is requirements gathering, and that every design team benefits from someone who has actually built things.

The InspireME Series explores topics of interest in Mechanical Engineering for the Boise State community.