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When was the last time you challenged an 'impossible' industry assumption—and what happened when you did?

Engineering excellence lives in the space between what's technically possible and what's practically useful. This month, we explore three stories of bridging that gap: how Jon Hirschtick revolutionized CAD—twice—by focusing on what engineers actually needed rather than what industry experts thought possible; why simpler documentation systems often lead to better decisions in early development; and what the Challenger disaster teaches us about standing firm when technical expertise clashes with organizational momentum. Together, these stories reveal a powerful truth: the most impactful engineering innovations aren't just technical breakthroughs—they're solutions that fundamentally transform how engineers work.

Jon Hirschtick has a remarkable talent for identifying what engineers really need before they know they need it. In the early 1990s, he used winnings from his time with the MIT Blackjack Team to fund SolidWorks, which brought powerful 3D modeling to Windows PCs when industry experts insisted it couldn't be done. The result? A CAD revolution that made solid modeling accessible to every engineer, not just those with expensive workstations.

Decades later, after visiting customers struggling with endless installation problems, version compatibility issues, and file management headaches, Hirschtick identified another opportunity. While the business world had moved to cloud solutions like Salesforce and Google Docs, engineering teams were still passing files around like accounting ledgers. His solution was Onshape—a true cloud-native CAD platform that eliminates files entirely in favor of database-driven models accessible from any device.

The real innovation isn't just technical but conceptual. By removing file-based workflows, Onshape enables real-time collaboration where multiple engineers can work simultaneously on the same model—transforming not just the tool but the entire engineering process. "That's what's making better designs happen faster," explains Hirschtick, whose user-centered philosophy has guided both ventures: "I'm not trying to do anything bad to SolidWorks... I'm trying to do something good for the users out there."

For today's engineers and entrepreneurs, the lesson is clear: focus on solving real user problems, persist through initial rejection, and recognize when industry assumptions need challenging. After all, as Hirschtick puts it, "I can't guarantee you'll succeed. But I can guarantee that if you don't try, you won't succeed."

Listen to the full interview 👇

Your early-stage engineering projects don't need complex PLM systems to succeed. In fact, they might be slowing you down.

When I found myself juggling multiple vendors and service providers across parallel work streams during a recent development effort, our meetings were ending with more questions than answers. "I'll get back to you once I find that information" became our team's unofficial motto.

Everything changed when we implemented a simple project management tool—Notion—as our central information repository. By creating a single source of truth for timelines, documentation, and team updates, we transformed our decision-making process. Department leaders gained visibility into each other's work, meetings became forums for decisions rather than information hunting, and project momentum accelerated dramatically.

While robust PLM systems like Windchill and Propel have their place in mature engineering environments, early development thrives with lightweight approaches focused on accessibility and speed. The ideal system organizes information by workflow (not departments), balances high-level overviews with detailed documentation, and emphasizes visual elements for at-a-glance comprehension.

The true measure of success isn't documentation completeness—it's how quickly your team can make informed decisions. When team members leave meetings with clarity rather than homework, you know your system is working.

Start simple, prioritize visibility, and focus on making information work for your team, not the other way around. The best documentation system isn't the most comprehensive one—it's the one your team will actually use. Read out full article online.

We explore Diane Vaughan's seminal analysis of the 1986 Challenger disaster through the lens of modern engineering decision-making. Like my team's choice to prioritize a mature design over a flashy new prototype, NASA engineers faced the critical challenge of advocating for technical integrity against organizational pressures.

Vaughan's research reveals how NASA's celebrated "can-do" culture paradoxically created an environment where saying "no" became increasingly difficult. The infamous pre-launch teleconference—where engineers' cold-weather concerns were ultimately overridden—demonstrates how organizational dynamics can silence technical expertise. Meanwhile, the very review procedures designed to ensure safety instead became mechanisms for normalizing increasingly risky decisions.

For today's engineers, the lessons are clear: recognize when organizational factors are influencing technical decisions, create safe spaces for dissent, beware of cultures that can't accept "no," value proven designs over novel alternatives, and don't let formal processes create false security. Sometimes, our most important contribution is knowing when to stand firm and say: "We're not ready."

Read the full article here.

Engineering is about solving, innovating, and connecting ideas to make a difference. Progress is a collective effort and your curiosity is what drives it forward. Thank you for exploring the dynamic world of engineering with all of us at Pipeline Design & Engineering and The Wave.

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“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.” - Steve Jobs

In collaboration and creativity,
Brad Hirayama
Blueprinting tomorrow, today