[MrForbes]

I have a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Mechanical things always interested me....I recall fixing the transmission in a toy Jeep I had when I was about 7 years old, and when I was a little kid I always used to (and still do) stare intently at junk cars I see when driving around. My brothers got into electronics when I was about 10, I did a bit too, but never really understood the magic of transistors...instead I preferred to build model cars. When I was 14 I took apart the engine in an old car we had, and rebuilt it. All through high school I worked on the neighbor's cars, from minor stuff to engine and transmission overhauls, and did an engine swap in my truck when I was a senior. Since I had always been good at math and science, it seemed natural to go into engineering school after high school...and I had part time jobs at a salvage yard, then a transmission shop, to help pay my way.

After I graduated I ended up working at Ft Huachuca as an "electronics engineer", which involved a lot more paperwork than engineering (although I did get to have fun travelling around getting the SATCOM equipment working). When I finally got promoted to first level management, it became not fun at all, so I quit (my wife is also an engineer, and supports us). Since then I've worked on cars and raised the kids...and the only work I've done that approaches "real" engineering in that time, has been helping the robot team design and build a robot this year!

As a side note, my brothers both dropped out of engineering school before completing their degrees, and both are very knowledgeable and skilled electrical engineers--I call them that even though they don't have the paper, they really do know what they're doing, math and theory and all.