Attention engineers...What type are you and why?

[Richard Wallace]

Most of what I believe on the subject of 'who is an engineer' was well covered by others in this thread, many months ago.

I have been an engineer in training for about thirty years now. Timeline:

1972-1976 HS nerd in South Carolina (when nerds weren't cool)
1976-1977 freshman at Furman University (where there was no engineering department)
1977-1983 co-op student at Georgia Tech (during this period I worked as a 'co-op student engineer' for a total of 27 months)
1983 Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, Georgia Tech
1983-1985 member of technical staff, TRW Defense Systems, Redondo Beach (never mind what I did during this period)
1985-1990 graduate student at Georgia Tech (during this period I taught classes in electromagnetism and electric machinery, completed an NSF-funded research project under direction of my thesis advisor, and published three articles in refereed engineering journals)
1990 Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, Georgia Tech
1991-1995 Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of Missouri (during this period I taught classes in electric machinery and power electronics, co-directed a research center in power electronics, and advised and supervised eleven graduate students through their MS degrees)
1995-2006 Chief Engineer, Emerson Motor Technologies (during this period I have originated, managed, and reviewed the electrical and mechanical design of new electronically controlled motor products for a variety of applications, including several for automotive components; I have also been an engineering mentor for FRC teams in 1996-1997 and 2002-2006)

Along this path I've encountered many difficult problems, and more often than not, my attempts to solve those problems have forced me to learn things about engineering that I didn't know before.

As Al wrote earlier in this thread,

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

... a person who loves what they are doing never has to work a day in their life.

I have yet to work a day as an engineer.

[Brian C]

WOW!

An interesting exchange of ideas and viewpoints.

I have mixed feelings on this subject. While I most definitely feel that you are not an engineer without a degree and society, as a whole recognizes this as well.

I also have to say that in my experience, some of the best engineers/designers I have ever known do not have degrees. While these folks are not working as professional engineers they do have the "know how" and the ability to apply it to do whatever is required to improve a process or make something better. (and safely too I might add)

I guess my true feelings are this: The best engineers are people that can combine common sense and education and apply both to their work. Education without common sense is like a load of books on the back of a mule.

Oh, and don't forget, Dean never actually graduated from his college (WPI) with an engineering degree. Yes, I know that he has received honorary degrees but technically those don't count.

I'm not looking to bash anyone or anything here, just want to offer another point of view. Sometimes an open mind is the most important thing you can have.

[tcj103]

I agree, book smarts only get you so far.

As for me, BS in Aerospace Engineering, minor in Engineering Mechanics, from Penn State.

But my work is more software related, but on a fly by wire flight control system on a rotorcraft. While I don't do code directly, I work at the system integration level, looking at logic diagrams and addressing software/hardware integration.

Basically this means we have a computer flying the airplane, and the software that does that and detects faults is in my area, along with the components and how they perform. Failures are logged, and troubleshooting performed.

I've awlways had the aviation bug, was a pilot for 15 years, and always enjoyed playing with machines and computers. As a mentor, FIRST has always been a source of inspiration for me, since you see results so quickly. I constantly remind the students of what they're learning.

Ted

[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.

[SuperJake]

So here is my two cents:

I am a Mechanical Engineer - graduated from Drexel University with my BS. I was recruited by Foster-Miller though a connection my Senior Design adviser had. Now I work on the TALON family of robots in the Future Robotics team. I do everything from field and production support to designing the next-generation robots. I chose mechanical because I really like figuring out how things work together. I like to be able to see things, hold them in my hand, and demonstrate how they work. It is this logical thinking that gives me the ability to understand computer logic, but I can't for the life of me learn how to talk computer. As far as I can concerned: as long as the magic smoke stays inside the electronics, my job is done. My day is just like any other typical engineer, but since I don't smoke, I spend my "smoke breaks" driving robots over our obstacle courses.

<edit>
So in casual conversation, one of my co-workers and I were talking about book smarts compared to engineering common sense. He said something that I thought interesting: "If you ask someone with a lot of book smarts how to solve a problem, you're probably going to get an answer that looks like the one in the book." Take from that what you will.
</edit>

[Tazlikesrobots]

Jack of all trades...Master of none!