TABLE OF CONTENTS The chapters in this part focus on evaluating the complexity that is inherent in technical practice. A young engineer often has a simplistic or even an inappropriate view of industrial activity. Real work situations are complex. Rather than simply confirm this complexity, these three chapters aim to show what it is made of.
Dominique Vinck [1]
Before embarking on a placement [2]in a design and engineering office, the young engineer does not really understand the complexity of the work awaiting him. Of course, he is ready to do complicated operations that must be dealt with at a high level of abstraction. He has also been trained to handle fairly sophisticated models and tools. He knows that he is bound to run up against difficult technical problems. Nevertheless, he has a certain number of working methods and tools under his belt that will get him out of many a difficult situation. He has the capacity to analyze problems, break them down into essential parts, and then model them. This ability to simplify things is supposed to help him get through the most complicated challenges. At least this is what he has been taught.
Yet the young engineering student still has to learn exactly how complex...
