Electronic Design Engineers Designing New Products

Question

I am really interested to know where you get ideas from for your new products. Does it come to you in your sleep or is it something you've seen on the market that you adapt to make better or is it something you like the idea of and try to make a reality - say like a new invention?

What are the stages of a new idea and how long would you say it took from design stage to actual manufacture of product? What are the positives and what are the 'pain' points for you in designing and developing new ideas?

Obviously, working as an Account Manager at Farnell I sell these products to you all - however I would love to have a more indepth understanding of your 'pain & pleasure' when creating new products.

Please feel free to leave me a post or 2 and if I can help in any way please feel free to contact me if you dont already have anyone looking after your account here at Farnell.

Have a great day...................

Catwell · Accepted Answer

Lesley,

I use the following major programs regularly when designing:

SolidWorks

AutoCAD

Multisim

OrCAD

Altium

I do have a Farnell account. In fact, I recently ordered some parts from the element14 store. Not to sound like a salesman, but the element14 store had the best prices on some parts I needed.

Cabe

Catwell · Answer

Lesley, Ideas come from everywhere at all time. ● One of my major project ideas came from playing video games. (Still a work in progress at the moment.) ● Another life changing idea came from the need for a tool in manufacturing. (About 3 months to complete and offer publicly.) ● Once I was inspired just looking at a device, came up with an idea and designed it in 20 minutes. I then sent it off to be manufactured. One of my most popular products. (Total time from idea to completion, 30 minutes.) ● Design and brainstorming (I do not like this term, but use it for the lack of a better one) sessions lead to lots of innovation. I am currently working on a few new products in this session, baby step, type way. (3 months in the works.) ● Inspiration from dreams? Absolutely. Another, more lofty goal I had came from a dream. (Work in progress here too, can not do everything.) ● Inspiration comes from everywhere. I was driving home recently and had a great idea. (Again, a work in progress. I have spent about 30 minutes working on the idea so far.) The list could go on and on, but I will stop here, for now. Cabe

Catwell · Answer

Lesley, Your question inspired me. I remembered an effort by Argonne National Labs that is packed with inspiration, serendipity, and innovation I found out about recently. So, I wrote a post about it. See, it really comes from everywhere. Cabe