The most important set of rules in Product Development Modern Design Engineering Tools by Michelle Pillers, P.E. Product design is an evolving process. Dr. McCoy s comment from Star Trek-The Motion Picture, Engineers just love to change things, is true.
Design engineers know that perfection is hard to achieve on the first go around.
In the past, this cycling through the different phases could take considerable time and resources. Fortunately, new tools are now available so that design engineers can go through the design process more quickly and efficiently than ever before. The result - better design. Because of advancements in computer technology, computer aided black box FE Modelers are becoming common place. It is important that the person doing the modeling and analysis understand the science behind FEM and FEA, the difference between linear and non-linear analysis, and how to do the necessary engineering backup calculations and tests by hand to ensure the results are valid.