Gathering Information Elec 163 Introduction to Electronic Design Professor Tim Johnson

Thinking about Information The Role of Information in Design Types of Information Information Resources Personal Knowledge vs. Intuitive

Role of Information in Design What is it that I’m designing What are the regulatory requirements What is known about the design parameters Verification of design parameters

Types of Information Technical How it works in practice and theory Where to find out the above Stimulation Recent work in the field Mistakes, errors, and problems Economic What does it cost to make? What can it be sold for? Acquisition The role of vendors Becoming an OEM, Original Equipment Manufacturer

Forms of Technical Information Basic knowledge about the design components Books Dictionaries Encyclopedias Handbooks Internet

Research Results Current knowledge about the design components Periodicals Journals Magazines Conferences Technical Reports

Where can we find everything mentioned ? a. At home? b. At school? c. On the Internet? d. At a “technical” library?

Once we find the Information… Read it Digest its meaning Look at it applicability Question its assumptions Theorize

Acquiring Personal Knowledge Testing Basis for understanding Implementation Verification Repeatability or Reliability Variances

Quality in Research Records What you did How you did it Results you observed

Quality in Research Conclusions Analysis Conjecture Why something happened Further investigation References

In Summary, A Design… Asks for innovation Requires creativity Needs a lot of work Says a lot about who you are Says a lot about your team

Your Task… What do we know about regulatory requirements for soldering irons? Find out and submit a memo to your manager. Summarized the information learned and state your sources.