This book evolved over the course of writing a book on engineering practice and professionalism, engineering design, and more generally commercial(ization) engineering. As I wrote the approximately 20 chapters that eventually became a pair of companion books, the content of this book was written in bits and pieces along the way. It was a separate project, even more personal than the companion-book project. But this side project also connected to the subject matter of the companion books in that it drew on learning accomplished through the struggles of my design/development/commercialization engineering business. As I approached completeness of the companion books, I decided this side piece might be a good addition as the Closing of the second book, Math to Mettle: Supporting, Selling, Struggling, and Surviving in the Practice of Engineering Design.
I had opened up in my writing of the companion books to share personally with the hope that others might benefit from my experience, the good and more so the bad and the ugly; the latter are where most of my/our learning takes place. That second-book Closing — the side piece/project — would bring a focus on surviving and thriving through struggles, presented in the context of the subject matter of the books — engineering and design with and for real people, in the real world, far beyond the technical aspects of engineering and design as typically taught. These non-technical matters normally necessitate a steep learning curve for that engineering student once he/she hits engineering practice.
As you know from the title of this book, that second-book Closing was a faith-based perspective; it contrasted with the Closing of the first book, entitled A Game Against Reality: Engineering Practice and Professionalism in a Physical World Inhabited by Humans. That first-book Closing looked at surviving from a non-faith perspective by way of topics like exercising care when trusting others in the profession, fear and its counter (courage), hangin’ in there when things just aren’t working, and the all-important “always keep learning.” Good and relevant stuff, but my intended Closing to the second book, which is what you have here in Chapter 2 onward, hit a more foundational element — God’s absolute provision of resource and protection as we survive and, better yet, thrive.
But, as indicated by this book’s sub-subtitle — “from the life and mind of an engineering educator and entrepreneur” — I think business as much as I think engineering these days, if not more so; while I cannot rightfully claim much conventional success in business, I can claim piles of learning and perhaps an opportunity or ability to be a teacher or coach at the very least. With my business or commercial mindset, I seek to deliver as much value as possible to those I serve — customers, end-users, and other stakeholders in general. I was including the faith-based content since I believed it might help even a few readers, though I also realized that most would not care and just ignore it. But as a business-y guy, and even as an engineer in the spirit of what we call DFMEA — design failure modes and effects analysis — I was not ignorant of the potential that including a faith-based element might turn some people off. That turn-off could constitute a failure in reaching that audience segment, readers who could otherwise benefit from 92% of the total content. With that as the potential failure mode, its effect would be lesser market impact and sales.
As we always do in engineering, we test our product before unleashing it on the marketplace. With the prototype in the hands of an initial audience, the market spoke. And from there, this book was born, and the story of what happened as the market raised a voice became a part of this book as well. That story is the new Closing of Math to Mettle, and Chapter 1 here, verbatim as it is in that book written to that engineering audience; the original Closing, that side project/piece, follows in Chapter 2 onward. In other words, if you want a glimpse into some of an engineer’s world which also serves as the story about how this book came into being, then read Chapter 1. If not, and you want to jump straight into the meat indicated by the book’s title, skip to Chapter 2.
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