Members of the Project Team ^[1]

The members of a project team will vary of course, depending on the project on which the team is working. In a generic sense, the following leaders may serve on the team:

1. Project manager: The project manager is the coordinator, the leader, the administrator, the motivator, the heart and brains for the team, and the soul of the project. If the project is successful, the project manager is the hero. If the project fails, the project manager is fired, or at best is assigned to another project.

2. Lead project engineer: The individual in charge of product design and development, with responsibility for functional analysis, specifications, drawings, cost estimates, quality/reliability, engineering changes, and documentation is the project engineer.

3. Lead manufacturing engineer: The task of this engineer is to ensure the efficient production of the product or process that has been designed by the project engineer. This includes having the responsibility for manufacturing engineering, design and production of tooling/jibs/fixtures, production scheduling, and other production tasks.

4. Contract administrator: The administrator is responsible for all official paperwork, keeping track of customer changes, billing, questions, complaints, legal aspects, costs, and other matters related to the contract authorizing the project. Not uncommonly, the contract administrator also serves as project historian and archivist.

5. Field manager: For projects involving...