At the time work on this book began I was responsible for managing the continuing education programs for the technical staff of Cummins, Inc., in Columbus, Indiana, USA. My colleagues and I at Cummins had the good fortune to have our work honored with the first Glenn L. Martin Award for Corporate Leadership in Continuing Engineering Education, presented by the International Association for Continuing Engineering Education (IACEE).

Shortly after the award was presented at the IACEE conference I was approached by John Lorriman of Knowledge Associates, and asked if I would consider writing a book. My acknowledgements must begin with a hearty thanks to John for the vision for this book, and his helpful role as Series Editor for the Institution of Electrical Engineers throughout the project. As the manuscript proceeded several others at the IEE provided guidance, and were faced with the task of converting my scrawling into a presentable text. My thanks go out to Robin Mellors-Bourne, Publisher, Roland Harwood, Commissioning Editor, and Diana Levy, Production Editor.

The support and encouragement of Cummins Inc. was also very much appreciated. I especially wish to thank Jerry York, my colleague during the time that many of the ideas described in this book were developed. His work and ideas are greatly reflected throughout the book, and his review of the manuscript was invaluable. Others at Cummins to whom I am indebted for their encouragement, input, and permission to use the various examples include Jean Blackwell, John Wall, Roy Primus, and...