By
Peter Bock, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Description
Over the past decade, the author has met with directors of R&D departments in large industrial firms, who are frustrated by the lack of
coherent and consistent methodologies in R&D projects. As a direct result the author was asked to design and present a seminar to provide
R&D engineers and scientists a standard methodology for conducting coherent, rigorous, comprehensible, and consistent R&D projects. The
author also realized that this training should be included in engineering and science curricula in universities and colleges. To this
end, he designed and presented a pilot course for his department that was received enthusiastically by students who participated. This
course has now become a required course for all doctoral students in the author's department.
This book has been designed to provide
professional engineers, scientists, and students with a consistent and practical framework for the rigorous conduct and communication
of complex research and development projects. Although courses and training in research methods are common and generally required of
social science professionals, a vast majority of physical scientists and engineers have had no formal classroom training or on-the-job
mentoring on proper procedures for research methods.
Getting It Right emphasizes the comprehensive analysis of project
problems, requirements, and objectives; the use of standard and consistent terminology and procedures; the design of rigorous and reproducible
experiments; the appropriate reduction and interpretation of project results; and the effective communication of project design, methods,
results, and conclusions.
Audience:
Scientists and engineers in all fields of research and development, social scientists, and managers of R&D projects.
