Trapped at Berkeley

Anyone who has ever worked on an engineering project is familiar with the endless number of specifications that can be submitted by a client. Sometimes the specifications have a crucial bearing upon project design, and other times the specifications are absolutely meaningless and have no bearing upon the project scope.

Lately, the number of specifications falling into the latter category has increased. I think clients are becoming lazy and not bothering to only submit specifications that apply to a certain project. Rather, it seems as if they just want to submit all the specifications they have available and hope that somebody on the other end will figure out which ones actually apply. Nobody seems to care about boiling down the specifications into what is important, and clients get all upset when some crucial detail they have buried in their mountain of specifications is accidentally overlooked. Furthermore, the sheer number of specifications often leads to contradictory information, puzzling both sides and delaying a project’s design.

As a project manager, I wish clients would produce a list of their most important or unusual specifications and rank them as crucial, flexible, or just a request. While I understand that this may be more initial work for the client, I think it’ll save them a lot of time and headaches in the long run. Having a priority list ensures that crucial details are addressed early in the design phase, keeping everyone happy.

I wrapped up an FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) yesterday and learned something new during the inspection: the use of PTFE ‘Teflon’ tape on instrumentation joints is generally banned in oil refineries because the tape can tear off inside a pipe and accumulate at a valve, increasing the chances for equipment failure.

For those who haven’t done much plumbing, PTFE tape is an inexpensive, white, plastic tape that is commonly wound around pipe threads to enhance the sealing of a joint. It also acts as a lubricant of sorts, which can be a big help when disassembling a pipe joint at a later date. Teflon tape has become a staple of the plumbing industry and can be found at any respectable home improvement store. Heck, as a general rule of thumb, I always put Teflon tape on a metal pipe joint just because there wasn’t really harm in doing so in the household — it didn’t harm the pipe, and it ensured a more secure seal.

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This winter and New Year has been more turbulent than usual, and I’ve lost contact with a lot of friends and possibly upset some others. Work has also been keeping me on my toes, so I haven’t been able to keep up with all my contacts and volunteer work.

It seems that things are finally beginning to settle down, so I’m going to try to move forward and mend fences: check up on the people I care about, re-establish friendships, devote some time to helping others, and get back into my cycle of rock climbing and exercise.

Through a family friend, I was able to get a position of an engineering firm near my house in Southern California. I’m currently working as a project manager of sorts, acting as the glue that holds the company, clients, and vendors together. It’s a pretty interesting job, gives me something to do while I’m off from school, and allows me to put my three years of Berkeley chemical engineering education to use while I’m off from school.

It’s been a real learning experience for me these first few days on the job, especially as I learn about the level of safety and reliability that goes into engineering design and peruse the overwhelming number of specifications that cover every single detail.