Ultimate Screw-ups
Poor contacts stop model trains on the track
Glen Chenier
12/23/2010 9:47 AM EST
Engineer comes up with a clever fix to electrical contacts to keep model trains running smoothly
I remember seeing a system advertised that used high voltage to generate a plasma at the contact ...
Valve jam poses near-disaster for EEs
Alan Stummer
12/14/2010 8:53 AM EST
EEs learn that knowledge and experience in electronics does not translate into hands-on experience in other fields.
You are lucky that this didn't end in something worse than just cold oil gushing out you guys. ...
Three months' design work in four weeks
Dwight Bues
12/10/2010 8:19 AM EST
Engineer scurries to make up time adding a missing feature to a display generator
Um, OK. I think I can clear up a couple of points here. I DID get recognition from Management: ...
Mix-and-match dc-to-dc converter design
Bruce Carsten
12/3/2010 8:28 AM EST
Extreme cost-saving measures in a voltage converter design lead to high rate of returns with a diode blown to smithereens
Good story, and nice design work. Sounds like you were stymied by my pet hate - the bean counters!
Where there's smoke, there's a bad design
Dwight Bues
12/3/2010 8:11 AM EST
Thermal mismanagement wreaks havoc with an avionics display dumping lots of heat
I had the opportunity to repair high-power audio amplifiers used in high-end systems, that used ...
The case of the calendar screw-up
Karen Field
11/24/2010 7:08 AM EST
A calendar gets the dates mixed up.
I have to presume the calendar's designer had two "Ex's"...one born on 23 November and one born on ...
First data's in the register, then it's not
Dwight Bues
11/10/2010 8:34 AM EST
An engineer designing a VME bus-based interface card repeats an earlier mistake and remembers why you should always read the manual
Even when specs define all supported configurations and features, you need to verify with ...
The top-secret prototype that went missing
11/3/2010 8:14 AM EDT
How did a customer get his hands on a new, top-secret computer before its official release?
When I read the following error list depicted in the video, reafirms my conviction that we engineers ...
The case of the mismarked diodes
David Ashton
11/1/2010 8:18 AM EDT
Mismarked diodes create extra work for engineers and lead them to the conclusion that an engineer should never assume anything
every I was very encouraged to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this special read. I ...
The engineering consultant who didn't do his job
WIlliam Ketel
10/21/2010 7:08 PM EDT
A consultant’s sloppy lab work leaves engineers mopping up after him to produce an absolutely repeatable signal source
I think the title of the article doesn't seem to match the body of the article. Given that the ...



