Questions for Mechanical Engineers

[Jacob Paikoff]

I am doing a project for one of my PLTW classes that invloves interviewing some engineers in the field I am going to enter. As you can see from above I would like to be a Mechanical Engineer.

I am looking for a couple of professional engineers that would be willing to answer the following questions:

1.Why did you become a Mechanical Engineer?
2.Where did you go to college and what is you highest level of education?
3.Where do you work?
4.What is your job description?
5.Do you enjoy what you do?
6.What is the most interesting project you have ever worked on?
7.What advice would you have for a student studying Mechanical Engineering?
8.What do other Mechanical Engineers in your company do?
9.What are the most important qualities of a Mechanical Engineer?
10.How many other types of Engineers do you work with and what types?

When you are done please either post your answers in this thread or PM them to me.

Thanks,
Jacob Paikoff

p.s. This project is due at the end of this week.

[jspatz1]

Originally Posted by Mechkrunch

I am doing a project for one of my PLTW classes that invloves interviewing some engineers in the field I am going to enter. As you can see from above I would like to be a Mechanical Engineer.

I am looking for a couple of professional engineers that would be willing to answer the following questions:

1.Why did you become a Mechanical Engineer?
2.Where did you go to college and what is you highest level of education?
3.Where do you work?
4.What is your job description?
5.Do you enjoy what you do?
6.What is the most interesting project you have ever worked on?
7.What advice would you have for a student studying Mechanical Engineering?
8.What do other Mechanical Engineers in your company do?
9.What are the most important qualities of a Mechanical Engineer?
10.How many other types of Engineers do you work with and what types?

When you are done please either post your answers in this thread or PM them to me.

Thanks,
Jacob Paikoff

p.s. This project is due at the end of this week.

Jacob,
I'll be happy to help you out with your assignment. Lots of my team members and my own son are in PLTW classes. I am a mechanical engineer since 1983, and all of my work has been with machine design.

1. I became a mech. engineer because I love to build and create things that don't yet exist. Of course I have the standard love of science, but what I really love is designing something that is only an idea, then making it a reality.

2. I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas University, 1983.

3. I worked for 17 years doing machine design for both AT&T and for Hallmark Cards. I now work for myself (and coach FIRST robotics.)

4. Designing and overseeing the construction and start-up of new manufacturing machines and systems, and modifiying and improving existing equipment.

5. I love what I do. I can't imagine life without building and creating new stuff. I regularly get to see something I have designed move and work for the first time, and it is always a thrill.

6. I was part of a R&D team that created an entirely new approach to producing greeting cards at Hallmark. Can't say much about it but it was a very interesting project. However, helping build FRC robots is right up there as most interesting also.

7. Don't pursue this career unless you have in you that genuine love for science, technology and creation. Without that, it would just be a job. And if you do have it, don't do anything else, because anything else would just be a job.

8. Some mech. engineers I worked with oversaw broader production issues, rather than designing specific hardware themselves. They were my customers, and I tried to provide the equipment they needed to do their job and make their processes successful. Other engineers were managers or supervisors of people or projects. I myself prefered to work with the nuts and bolts.

9. Being creative and imaginative are first, then having that love for science and technology. You must also be patient, determined, and persistent, because the problems you tackle have probably already been worked on by someone else. Of course you must be smart, but that can be learned, the other stuff can't.

10. In my job I worked mostly with electrical engineers, but also chemical and material. Electrical engineers did the control systems for the machines I designed, so we worked closely. Occasionaly chemical engineers were my customers for equipment that did chemical processes, or material engineers specified the conditions of the process.

Hope this helps.

[IKE]

Originally Posted by Mechkrunch

I am looking for a couple of professional engineers that would be willing to answer the following questions:

Just a quick question Professional Engineers can mean something different than persons that are trained and paid to be engineers at a Company. Are you looking for responses from P.E.s or just persons that do engineering for a living?

[Jacob Paikoff]

Originally Posted by IKE

Just a quick question Professional Engineers can mean something different than persons that are trained and paid to be engineers at a Company. Are you looking for responses from P.E.s or just persons that do engineering for a living?

I am looking for people that work as engineers. Professional engineers was put in to differentiate between some one paid and a college student majoring in M.E.

[jspatz1]

Originally Posted by Mechkrunch

I am looking for people that work as engineers. Professional engineers was put in to differentiate between some one paid and a college student majoring in M.E.

I briefly wondered the same thing myself, then decided you meant what you said, professional engineers with a lower case "p" and "e".

[Ivan Helmrich]

Jacob,

Now that the PE thing is cleared up.

1. I started out studying chemistry in college. At about 2.5 years in, I got a co-op job in a chemistry research lab at another school. I determined that I didn’t have the love of the subject that the “real chemists” in the lab did and I had to regroup. I had always loved designing and building “stuff” so I just decided to formalize that and switched majors. Best academic decision I ever made. Another huge influence was the early space program. I was born in 1957 and in the ‘60s, the engineers seemed to be the ones who did the magic.

2. I have a BSME from Boston University, 1980.

3. I work at Hallmark Cards, Inc.

4. I’m a product development engineer. I used to be a machine design guy but now I work with greeting card designers and others to expand the definition of what a greeting card is.

5. I love what I do. I work with interesting people, I’ve had the chance to travel all over, I regularly get to do something creative at work and best of all, someone else pays me and pays for the materials to do the kind of stuff I’d do in my basement anyway. That’s not to say every day is perfect, but I have way more good days than bad.

6. There is no specific best project, but the types of project I really enjoy are the ones where the solution isn’t obvious. By nature, I’m not well equipped to grind through stuff I already know how to do. The other big win in a project is to be able to work with a customer to help execute their vision.

7. As a mentor, I’ve recently had the chance to give this advice: Don’t let yourself get behind in school. Go get tutoring if you feel you are slipping. An employer might ask you about your GPA, but they won’t ask if you sought extra help. If they do, it’s a trick question, they want to know how well you use your resources.

8. Machine design, packaging design, paper mechanics, management.

9. An ME really ought to be able to love the work. The pay is OK but there are easier ways to make more money. Another really important quality is to be able to communicate to non-engineers. For the first few years, you can get by on technical skills, but after that, communication becomes a real key to being successful.

10. I work with electrical, industrial, chemical, and computer engineers. I’m sure I work with a few folks who have some of the more specialized engineering degrees as well. One thing to know, some of us get sidetracked by interesting fields of study. I’m an ME but I’ve done circuit design, programming, optics design and manufacturing engineering. If you have a wide range of interests, mechanical engineering is a great place to start.

I hope this helps.

Ivan

[jspatz1]

Wow....two engineers from Hallmark posting on the the same Chief Delphi thread. That's pretty amazing considering the limited number of engineers from Hallmark.

[Ivan Helmrich]

Jeff, Maybe Hallmark just sends out good engineering vibes.

[Jacob Paikoff]

I would like to thank everyone who responded. This has really helped me get some incite into the world of mechanical engineering.