Where we are....

I know sometimes it's nice to have a "visual" of what/who you are reading about on a blog. The first photo is the outside of the building, and the second is of our front door to the TechniQuest Associates office in Grass Valley, California. Come visit us!

Engineering Product Design -- Art or Science?

Anyone who thinks engineering is strictly a science, has never done it, or watched the process up close. Sure, engineering design is partly science -- all the math and computational part. But there's a significant part of the engineering design process that is definitely ART. That's part of both the beauty AND frustration of electronic product design.

The frustration comes from never knowing exactly how long it will take to complete a design.

It happens to the best of us. Here at TechniQuest Associates, we have had some experience with the frustrations of projects taking a little longer than we'd estimated. It was the "art" component that makes estimating how much work is involved more complicated.

The good news is that two of our current projects are coming to a close, and the clients will soon have what they've contracted us to do. Stan has been putting in very long hours to finish his project, and Scott has also been putting in lots of extra hours to make sure his client is happy, as close to on time as the "art" will allow.

How boring it would be if all there was to engineering was a set of formulas and theorems to apply, or debugging to do. The creativity that each one of our engineers possesses is constantly being encouraged and challenged, with each new project we take on. That's what sets our team apart, and I don't think they'd want it any other way.

Engineering vs Sales and Marketing

When I worked at Grass Valley Group (a major broadcast equipment manufacturer located here in Grass Valley, California) I used to hear how the engineering department butted heads with the sales and marketing departments. Engineers would complain that the salespeople "sold" features that hadn't yet been developed. Sales and Marketing complained because the engineers fought them and didn't seem to "want" to create these added features they just sold their biggest customer (never thinking that maybe what they've promised was impossible to design). There was a huge disconnect between engineering and sales/marketing.

After I left GVG, I spent a few years marketing consumer electronics products, and I witnessed the same engineering/marketing disconnect. So I learned it wasn't just the broadcast industry where this "phenomenon" occurred--it seemed to happen anywhere you had "Engineers vs Sales and Marketing."

Now that I am the VP of Marketing here at TechniQuest Associates, I am once again aware of the engineering/marketing "tension" that can occur, especially if projects are running a little behind schedule, or there aren't quite enough projects in the pipeline. But this time, I'm ready for it and I won't let it divide us. Being married to an engineer has given me the ability to see both sides. We are one big happy team, and as long as I am here, we will all continue the quest to understand the "other" side.

But I must admit those "engineering types" can be a little different.....do you agree or disagree? I'd like to hear from you.

Can't wait until "after" IBC

A bit of rain is falling today, a nice break from the heat. Anticipation is running high here at TechniQuest today, all of us anticipating the end of IBC in Amsterdam. Why, you ask? Because we have several prospective new clients who have told us they'd make decisions and commitments about new products they need help designing "after IBC."

Our pipeline is about to be very full, and we'd like nothing better!

That's the great thing about a company like ours -- we have an incredible staff of engineers with more experience than most. We also have a large group of associates we can call on when the need arises. In other words, bring on the clients -- we can handle it!

TechniQuest Associates . . .

I have recently come aboard as Vice President of Marketing at TechniQuest Associates. It's the best move I've ever made.

I've owned half the company since 2002, along with my husband and CEO, Scott Davis, but I always worked "someplace else" mostly because the timing wasn't right or I didn't have the courage to actually try working with my husband. I probably wouldn't be here right now except for the fact that my previous employer "downsized" my position right out of existence.

In hindsight, that "downsizing" was the best thing that could have happened to me!

So here I am, implementing marketing strategies and programs that have never existed...trying to get this amazing company and team of engineers on the map in the electronic product design world. It's my goal . . . my mission . . . to prove my husband was right when he asked "the best marketing professional in town" to come join our company.

There is a reason TechniQuest Associates has never really needed a marketing professional before. Since it began in 2002, there has been a steady stream of business that has never waned. These engineers are top in their field. They have all worked for Grass Valley Group, a leader in the video broadcast industry. Their collective reputations and the quality of their work continues to keep TechniQuest Associates very busy. My goal is to keep them even busier, and to expand our staff to 20 engineers.

Our website (http://www.tqa-inc.com/) has all the technical details of the great engineering design consulting services we offer. I'm writing this blog to give you the more human side of the design engineering process. (Engineers -- a human side, you ask?) Yeah, we've all heard the jokes that engineers are a different breed. I should know, I'm married to one. I got lucky -- he's more "normal" than most. Almost as normal as a marketing person!