Will Larsen: Solving the Engineering Crisis (also a talk on Youtube). “In this talk, I hope to pull those ideas together, into a unified theory of Engineering strategy, with a particular emphasis on how you can drive strategy even if you’re not the company’s CTO.”

Patrick Newman: Engineering management checklist – looks like a good list..

More news on Boeing MCAS issues

The New Republic features an article by Maureen Tkacik on the MCAS issues for the Boeing 737-MAX. This one references many of the previous articles from other publications on topics like the outsourcing of software development and the use of DERs on the program. To me, this article breaks new ground in examining the management culture of Boeing, how things changed after Boeing purchased McDonnell Douglas, and how this affected the 737-MAX development process. A recurring theme from previous articles is how the pursuit of profit and “making your numbers” can result in safety impacts and, in this case, loss of life.

Please have a little respect for the past

I enjoy reading Philip Greenspun’s weblog, and he certainly has experience in aviation and software development. His recent post on visiting the Museum of Flight in Seattle throws quite a few digs at the US space program and people who have been a part of the effort. I worked at NASA and Lockheed in Houston from 1985-1997 on the Space Station program, and had the opportunity to work with a great group of people, both contractor and civil servant employees. Things were contentious at times (usually dealing with funding issues from Congress and the Administration), but we got the job done (flew Space Shuttles, came back from the Challenger accident, got the Space Station program back on track). I know that Philip likes to find fault with many things in the United States (and I agree with most of it), but I think he might want to stay with areas he has expertise in and not look for other ways to poke people in the eye.