Experimentation for Engineers

front matter

preface

When I first entered the industry, I had the training of a theoretician but was presented with the tasks of an engineer. As a theoretician, I had worked with models using pen-and-paper or simulation. Where the model had a parameter, I—the theoretician—would try to understand how the model would behave with different values of it. But now I—the engineer—had to commit to a single value: the one to use in a production system. How could I know what value to choose?

The short answer I received from more experienced practitioners was, “Just try something.” In other words, experiment. This set me off on a course of study of experimentation and experimental methods, with a focus on optimizing engineered systems.

Over the years, the ...