The project engineer

In the following chapter, which takes the viewpoint of economic analysis, we will outline some of the difficulties faced by the project engineer in quantifying the value and efficiency of his contribution to the project. 

Irrespective of the difficulties, they are part of the context in which he must live and be able to demonstrate his competitive value. The first problem of so doing is to establish the goals in relation to which his performance will be measured. 

We will discuss three basic forms of contract under which the engineer may work, and some of the consequences in terms of how work should be conducted and its effectiveness judged. The first is the lumpsum turnkey job, in which the contractor has total responsibility to build a plant that complies with a specification, within an agreed time-frame. This is in many ways the least frustrating way to work, because the contractor is free to choose his approach to the work, and how to structure and optimize his inputs to arrive at the most economic end result, consistent with technical acceptability and completion schedule. 

An essential challenge in controlling the work is to maintain absolute clarity about the scope of work and the plant specification. It is not uncommon for clients to want the best of both worlds, to want to control the engineering of the plant in accordance with their ongoing 

Develop and obtain client approval for comprehensive design criteria and design approval checklists before doing any other work. Try to ensure that design criteria and checklists contain only clear requirements and no debatable issues, that is, no words such as best practice , optimum , or vibration-free , which are likely to lead to controversy through lack of quantifiability. 

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Oppenheimer. Like the Chicago-based scientists before him, Oppenheimer and his researchers often clashed with Groves and the project engineers, who preferred to compartmentalize and control information about the project rather than exchange it freely among the scientists. At Los Alamos, Oppenheimer s approach prevailed. 

As applicable, the project engineering contractor and the system supplier/ integrator can expect to participate on the project validation team at the appropriate time. The purchasing/contracts groups may also be involved and play a key role in administering contractual validation activities and documentation. 

The following information has been supplied you by the projects engineer ... 

Preliminary Report Review report prepared and provided to the Project Engineer at the immediate conclusion of the study review meetings. 

All the design errors show up in consiruelion. The Project Engineer/ Project Manager should correct them on site, it will give him a certain humility. 

Estimating, Cost Control, and Scheduling - The work in these areas will be the bare minimum and the project engineer would perform it. 

The proposed estimating and control procedures are not intended as substitutes for the detailed and sophisticated methods normally employed by contractors and propounded through the commercially available computerized programs for project management and control. They are intended to be tools to help the project engineer/manager evaluate project alternatives or monitor contraetors estimates and progress reports with limited in-house resources. 

In the summer of 1991, FMC Corporation asked me to prepare a Project Execution Guideline for the project engineers assigned as project managers for... 

A large pocket of loose sand extends from the ground surface to a depth of 42 feet. The site is to be used as a warehouse for machinery parts. The project engineer (you) has ehosen dynamic compaction for soil treatment. Prospective bidders have requested guidelines for acceptable equipment for compaetion and for field testing. In response what do you write ... 

All the engineering contractors followed essentially the same approach to the project. Engineering was done on a task force basis where personnel were assigned full time to the project on an as needed basis. Most engineering management and supervisory personnel were on the project throughout the duration of the engineering effort. 

In planning a new process plant or an extension the project engineer should make a quick price estimate of the required boilers so that he can... 

The project engineering department furnishes the piping analyst special requirements for all utility and auxiliary systems which are not shown on the process flow diagram. 

Those responsible for the project engineering of such a plant, who often have access to less than 50 % of the information on the chemistry to be performed later due to the reasons mentioned, can come up with only one recommendation if they seriously wish to meet the demand for a design for the worst possible case leave the lid off the reactor. The lack of practicability of this proposal, not least due to the violation of other process safety engineering principles, does not need to be elaborated any further. 

The time required for this phase varies quite widely from project to project and depends on many factors. Delaying tactics are not appropriate here, since capital is required (e.g., for keeping the test plants running). However, after the preplannning permission has been granted, generally by the responsible division of the company, at least 3-6 months are required to prepare the necessary documents. If possible, the potential project leader, who will later share complete responsibility for the project with the project engineer, should also be chosen in this phase. 

The project team, consisting of the project leader and the project engineer, must be chosen. Th are responsible both for working out and implementing the project. Together with the support of experts, where necessary, they are responsible for ... 

A clear and specific set of objectives must be established at the beginning of every simulation project. These objectives should address the questions to be answered by the project engineer using the simulation tool. Issues to consider include ... 

If samples are extruded, the project engineer can better assess the need to obtain another sample before drilling to the next sampling interval. 

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