False Bill of Sale 6

[UtilityLouie]

I'm just wondering what everyone else thought about this thought:

When you're in school and have math, logic and science aptitude, you get pushed toward engineering or sciences.

Now, at least where I'm at, it seems that the engineering career has nothing to do with math or science --- maybe 10% of the time. The other 90% of the time my job requires written and verbal skills. I'm somewhat lucky because there is spell and grammar check in MS Word - maybe not here if there are any errors and have the gift of gab. Is anyone else out there running into this?

I know this may be just someone getting older and grouchier just wanting to start something up, but... Why trick kids into thinking that they can actually work in the areas of their strengths (and likes) and then crapping them out with a career that actually requires skills they need to develop(and in all possibility dislike)?

Why make engineering students take Calc 1 thru 3, diff. eqs., linear alg., etc. if you're not going to be using anything other than a spreadsheet for the rest of your career?

I'm glad I started out and had to do heat loss calcs by hand and had to use the psyc chart. Now it's so automated by software, bosses want the engineer to delegate those tasks to a designer, have you do a cursory review and write "cover your butt" letters and proposals all day long.

Just carpin'... anyone else want to complain?

 

[UtilityLouie]

I'll admit that some of my complaints probably come from there not being a large number of engineering jobs in my "neck of the woods". This kind of makes my complaints not have teeth.

I live in one of those areas that's losing industry. Here's what I feel like: the engineer's engineer has left the area along with the jobs that were calculation or experimental based. All that's left are younger guys that want to do true engineering and stay in this area(I feel I fall into this category) and the older engineers/managers that turned into paper pushers or bureaucrats because they either lost the skills or never really had them.

What happens? True engineering skills are not as valued as being able to "follow the bureaucratic process". So paper pushers are promoted, true technical abilities - not so much.

Maybe my only real problem is not being willing to relocate. My whole extended family is here and I don't want to get away from them.

 

[SomptingGuy]

UtilityLouie,

One field of engineering that's often overlooked is NVH. Test, measurement, analysis, simulation all in the same day. Plus there's loads of cool things like eigenvectors, complex numbers, fourier analysis, expensive equipment...

I moved on when the learning curve started to get flat, but for several years it was a blast.

- Steve

 

[Twoballcane]

I feel your pain brother. To excite your engineering muse, check out these sites and see if you can answer the questions to yourself or to the poster if you feel comfortable. But, these are some engineering problems being solved by engineering methods.

http://www.eng-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?pid=391

http://www.eng-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?pid=384

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[HgTX]

I don't calculate much. I do use a lot of "gut feel" and common sense. And the basic strength of materials concepts that go into my gut feel and common sense were built upon statics, and physics, and calculus.

I do believe there needs to be more emphasis on writing and speaking skills in engineering programs. I say drop a literature requirement in favor of a tech writing requirement or three.

Some fields of engineering require more communication than others, but in any field (even math or physics) you have to be able to communicate your results to someone else.

Hg

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