/> Each time I hear that a CD, USB memory stick or camera card full of customer data goes missing, I think about how easy it is to avoid the loss by choosing fit for purpose product. Equally, every time I encounter an application in which an industrial device is brought to market containing a consumer memory product, it makes me think of the inevitable re-design when the memory product ceases to be manufactured.

Moore’s Law makes it inevitable that this re-design will happen every time. While, the use of USB sticks shows an admirably intuitive approach to design, using products out of context will not produce an adequate outcome. The only way to get the right result is to choose a memory product that is specifically produced to meet the needs of the engineering designer. There are available on the market. It isn’t their availability that is the problem, but rather a lack of awareness of their existence in the engineering design community. Perhaps it’s time for steps to be taken to spread this awareness amongst design students, so that the next generation of engineers makes fewer mistakes?