Principles of sustainability to create viable systems

Approaching a critical problem and seek smart solutions using knowledge of science and technical skills is what defines the profession of an engineer. The profession focuses on issues faced while developing infrastructures and mechanisms that increases efficiency of human labour. However, delivering any solution that just eradicates the problem is not enough for most of the time in real life. Every technical problem initially seems to have a very simplistic solution which can be considered as a temporary repair. Here engineers come in the aid to offer more smart approach addressing all the related factors to the problem and affordable solutions and seeks an optimised solution. This problem-solving approach also includes projecting consequences of possible solutions and identifying related risks and optimising the design of the solution to make it more sustainable. A professional Engineer is expected to take economic, social, and environmental impacts in account and optimise the systems to develop it to a viable solution which satisfies the requirements of all the associated stakeholders and mitigates the related risks.

This reminds me of my first experience working as a professional engineer in my internship. Throughout my internship at Sonder Design PTY LTD I mostly worked on designing companies’ flagship product Sonder E-Ink Keyboard. I was mostly assigned with responsibility

of prototyping different suggested designs of the keyboard.

But the very first task I was assigned during my tenure was to recommission

a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine that would later be used to prototyping. This CNC machine was sitting idle for a long time in the workshop of the incubator the start-up company was based on as it was decommissioned before due to malfunction. Concerning the limited capital and assets, our company decided to recommission it. Due to shortage of staff the company could only afford one engineer working on the recommission of the machine.

As it was my very first task as a professional engineer, I had to determine my approach as a professional engineer getting the best outcome using the limited resource

s available for the company in provided time-frame. Besides, it was not only a troubleshooting and repairing task, rather the CNC machine needs to be developed and bring it to a condition where it ensures following all the commissioning protocol of the precinct and satisfies the standards of the institution. So, I went through an exhaustive research process to find out all the factors that lead the incubator to put the machine offline. In this quest, a through study of decommissioning reports and the manuals of the machine from the institution’s archive was lead me to find out lack of safety features and few malfunctioning parts were the main reason to shut it down in the first place. Then in my inspection of the machine I found out the machine was also customised by the supervisor of the workshop and did not have a detailed documentation as he was the only operator of the machine as well. So, I contacted and convinced the workshop supervisor to collaborate with me to develop a detailed documentation of the customised parts of the machine. Moreover, as he was an expert on CNC machines his advice on choosing different parts required to repair was very useful for me as a young engineer.

After repairing the existing issues on the machine, I took a step forward to design a platform for the machine to make the best use of the provide limited workspace. I incorporated different safety features in the platform including a transparent acrylic to isolate the machine while operating. Also, I installed limit switches in few key positions to notify human contact to the machine while operating. I used the existing mechanism of limit switches for the axes of the CNC machine and extrapolated the idea to ensure safety using existing feature of the machine.

Looking back while I was handed over the task, I realised the importance of the detailed documentation, as I struggled and lost a great deal of time to figure out different mechanisms of the machine due to lack of documentation. So, I recorded of every step I took to troubleshoot different issues of the machines during the process and developed a manual for the machine alongside. Funding constrains on the re-commission project forced me to evaluate and optimised my design decisions. For example, to isolate the machine from human contact while keeping the operation visible ideally glass walls could be used. I decided to use transparent acrylic to ensure durability of the structure while reducing cost of the material. Taking economic, technical, and environmental factors in account helped me to be successful in recommission the CNC machine satisfying time and fund constrains.

Another incident that I can reflect was working in the prototyping team of the E-keyboard. As the prototyping was on initial stage and we were only testing viable mechanism and aesthetics of each design, I stepped up and produced the prototypes using wood for the external case instead of aluminium, which saved us a great deal of expense on the prototypes which would just eventually be useless after a single presentation. This spontaneous decision was praised by the CEO alongside the whole development team as thinking economically in developing stage is very crucial for a growing start-up company.

Aforementioned experiences taught me how to use my technical skills alongside my interpersonal skills to manage challenges in workplace. Most importantly, preferring sustainability over a quick temporary repair while approaching a problem was a unique lesson that I learned from my work experience. This reshaped my problem-solving approach towards my later projects at university as well. I believe this will be an asset for me to establish myself as an engineer who can deliver sustainable technical solutions in my future engineering career.

What is regarded as sustainability and a viable system is very unique to each company, but with my time as an intern at Sonder Design PTY LTD I have discovered and learned ways on how the efforts of an individual could be so significant in contributing to a more sustainable workplace