Most/Least Interesting MechE Jobs... 6

[pavlik]

Just to get a sense of how Mechanical Engineers are doing these days.
What are the most and least interesting fields/jobs that you, Meche's, find themselves in? What do you find interesting/ uninteresting about your jobs?

I personally work in HVAC consulting. It would have been dull if not for the kind of buildings we work on.

Cheers.

 

[JoeTank]

I work in a hybrid area. I am a structural engineer, but my career has been entirely related to fabrictaed plate products used as pressurized equipment... such as storage tanks, pressure vessels, bins, silos, stacks and a bit of piping. I say hybrid as this is a practice area for structural, mechanical and civil engineers.

One neat fact about these structures is that the maintenace performed on this type of equipment is often woefully inadquate. Therefore, it is often used to failure (hopefully it fails by just leaking). So a lot of my work is related to inspection, evaluation, development of repair plans, repair oversight and documentation.

As a specialty consultant, this leads to heaps of work. Much of the work is in response to fairly intense calls for assistance at times of great need, such as an emergency shutdown. The adenaline starts pumping and the job gets done. The clients are relieved, they pay their bills willingly and all is right with the world... until next time. This is great profession!

Steve Braune
Tank Industry Consultants

http://www.tankindustry.com

 

[McCormick93]

This is a great question. I hope it draws a lot of stories...

I started out supporting plant ops & maint. at a nuclear power station. The pay was good, but the work became frustrating when rigid regulations and high costs stood in the way of any creative improvements I wanted to make. However, it's good to be skilled at finding low-cost enhancements.

I was then seduced into the high-tech world of semiconductor manufacturing. In the late 90s, it seemed there was no end to the money being spent on new construction and new product lines. Everything was so fast-paced. I travelled all over the world purchasing new machines, then got them into production as quickly as possible. The best part was solving problems for which there was no design handbook or code to go by, because no one had faced that particular problem before. It was also fun to see a whole department evolve from infancy into mature operational consistency.

Corporate financial woes finally created a vacancy for me out on the curb. I took the opportunity to get my P.E. I'm now doing facility management at a data center. It's a bit dull sometimes, but I'm learning how to deal directly with the customer. Generally, I'm glad I have jumped around some to collect various skills. I might like to be picked up by a design firm at some point, if I can convince them that my non-design experience is valuable to them.

 

[Sparweb]

I work for an aeronautical engineering consultant. We engineer modifications and repairs to aircraft and helicopters. The job is great (though it's slow these days) because I can climb around inside all kinds of different aircraft, in various states of repair, and really see inside how they work and are put together. The variety of machines I see gives me a perspective on what's universal, and what's odd about the details in any particular aircraft. I have the latitude in my job to take projects completely under my control and steer them through the drafting, testing, and approval phases with as much supervision as I want. All this, and I didn't need a degree! It's my first job out of college, and a good fit for me.

Much of this relies on effective communication with the engineers that approve everything in the end. This skill is not one of my strong suits, but one that's improved since I started, so I can chalk up many different dimensions of personal improvement due to the work I do.

Could I stay in the office late every night? Of course I could!
Do I do so, instead of bouncing my 3-year-old son around? No way!



"Simplicate, and add more lightness" - Bill Stout
Steven Fahey, CET

 

[ctopher]

I love designing something mechanical and trying to make it fit in weird cramped spaces, eg...sensors in aircraft engines (all in solids)
The most intersting/fun job I ever had was an automation engineer for production machinery in aircradt production.

 

[sacem1]

To Sparweb:
Your statement:

Could I stay in the office late every night? Of course I could!
Do I do so, instead of bouncing my 3-year-old son around? No way!

That's a perfect statement, nothing to add to it.

SACEM1

 

[MechEng13]

pavlik,

For me everything I have done has been interesting. I started out as a process engineer in the Wire and Cable industry...working on optimizing the processing conditions on rubber and plastic jacket extrusion over copper and cabled wire. Seeing the interaction between temperature and screw RPM and die and guider configuratrion.

After 2 plant closings I switched to the OEM Clutch and Torque converter market for the go-kart, utility vehicle market as a Manufacturing engineer. I designed fixturing, gages and tools used throughout the shop, and nothing was more satisfying than the operator coming to me saying the fixture solved a particularly painful or annoying problem for them.

Now I am in the Tool and Die industry as a product designer and the direct customer interaction is a whole new level of options. After 4 months it is showing itself as a new world and I am enjoying it thoroughly (sp?).

All this and I'm only 6 years removed from my BSME.

Enjoy the Mechanics of the world theres more to it than some think.

Look at the entry angle of a bowling ball into the pocket as you run off the front 9.



Alan M. Etzkorn
Product Engineer
Nixon Tool Co.

http://www.nixontool.com

 

[SusTestEng]

Most people I meet say I have one of the coolest jobs. I develop and tune suspensions on upcoming new model cars. I choose the parts, and then test on the track or ride road and change as needed. Keep in mind theese are all very secret vehicles I'm driving all the time. Everyone says it sounds great. But in the end, I go to work just like the rest of you. I put up with the same office politics you do. I get bored out of my mind when it rains (maybe that only pertains to my job). But really.... I always reply to people in ahh of my job with, "It's just work and it pays the bills." After you get past the privilage of driving a $500,000 prototype vehicle and testing it at it's limits, it is still a stressfull job with time constraints, budgets, and saftey regulations in your face at all times. I think most engineers feel similar in the US. As long as it's my job... it's only a job. I think that is why a lot of US engineers jump around every 4 yrs or so......our lives and jobs get boring.

 

[QCE]

analytical modelling of a oil reservoir
and
designing surf boards and submarines

 

[sacem1]

I think part of the bore in working is that the top brass does not take the time to credit the lower ranking engineers if they do something that increases productivity or efficiency, take this personal experience:

As a recently graduated engineer I got a job in charge of production in a brass foundry in the local plant of the US company Badger Meter (Inca Brass - Peru), there we cast 100 green sand molds a day each with 3 water meter bodies, so basicly we had 300 bodies/day.

I got the idea of rearrenging the bodies in the mold plates to fit 4 bodies in each mold in that way we would increase our capacity to 400 bodies/day.

The local top manager said "you are nuts, are you triying to say headquarters in the US have not tried that and found it is no good? Do not even try it.

Well I'm stuborn, and with the plant foreman help in our own time we made molding plates with 4 bodies/mold and started casting each day just one mold to see how it worked, well we carried very strict performance stats so one good body was remelted every day sop that we did not have a surplus one.

The day came when we where sure that what we where doing was right and cast the full run with our design plates and there we had 400 bodies in our hands with the same stats of performance than with the other 3 body/plate molds.

Well it was reported to the US headquarters, they telex a reconfirmation of what had been done, they phoned directly to reconfirm and said don't touch those plates, sure as hell the next day 2 guys came from Badger and took the plates to the US and told us to make another set for us,
well in one month time all the Badger plants around the world were using our plate design, next month newsletter said "Our engineers have deviced a new mold plate that has increased our production by 33% and so ......"

It was not said that we made that work in Peru, nor we got a simple letter of recognition from Headquarters, you know what I quit the job 3 months latter and whent on my own, that was 29 years ago and right now I do not regret having done so. (I have a 46 worker metal working factory specialized in heavy weight or large parts machinig for the mining industry and right now around 70-80% of my work goes to the States where they mostly reexport them to other countries)

They say the Japanese stimulate a lot the rank and file development, suggestions or ideas but US companies might be too much inpersonal right now and engineers like SusTestEng stated switch jobs every 4 or 5 years and the company loses what is called acumulated experience of that lost worker, I do not think that life employment is practicall neither for the company or the employee but neither is job jumping.

SACEM1

 

[SusTestEng]

"They say the Japanese stimulate a lot the rank and file development, suggestions or ideas but US companies might be too much inpersonal right now and engineers like SusTestEng stated switch jobs every 4 or 5 years and the company loses what is called acumulated experience of that lost worker, I do not think that life employment is practicall neither for the company or the employee but neither is job jumping."

Actually I work for a Japanese company! They literaly expect you to stay no matter what and they take advantage of it. They don't care if you work 80hrs a week, with no compensation past 40. After only 3 yrs at my job, I am responsible for all the tuning on every north American made car, as well as checking over the tuning of the imported cars. Have I gotten a promotion for doing this for the company, while my boss sits and reads email and has no idea what kind of work is involved, nor can he share the burden of the testing, because he doesn't have the first clue how to do my job. Most of us are just burned out and not appreciated, so we jump ship and take our knowlege to the next company and at least get paid more or get a promotion. The automotive industry in the US is really strange. Everyone seems to know everyone else and so on. This is because everyone changes jobs for promotions or new opertunities, so you end up working with everyone in the industry. Where I work, I think someone in the office has worked for every other manufacturer. Wich at times is useful, because you can ask how the other company does this or that. It seems an odd way to go about it, but it the easiest way to be promoted, and appreciated in this field.

 

[sacem1]

Hello SusTestEng:

I said "They say...." I have no personal experience working with japanese firms so you are much more qualified to comment on that.

The 40/80 hour issue is another matter the japanese are as a nation workaholics and that is a scientifical fact the point is they expect that all their worker (from any country work like that)

If you switch jobs from Ford to GM the nation does not lose your aquiered experience but if you swith to an oil rig in the Gulf then your past experience is wasted and goes down the drain.

SACEM1

 

[mgopalan]

I build oil field tools...Specifically Measurement While Drilling..

Sounds boring right? The stuff I build (and I do mean I in the singular, Im and THE Engineer in the company) has to work at 20000 psi pressures, at 350F in a hole in the ground with nasty fluids going by at 30 to 50 ft per second...all in a package no bigger than 2" in diameter...

Plus the 1000 g 1 ms shock requirement and the 20g 50-500 Hz vibrations?

Also all on battery power...

And couple this with telemetering the data up to the surface in real time...without wires or RF of any kind...

I love my job...I got into it right out of College and got my MS while I was doing it...I get to do Mechanical stuff, electrical stuff, Analog and Digital design, FEM, CFD, testing and basically everything else...very challenging...sometimes rewarding...not bad for being in my 20's...

Cant say that Im happy though...I hate the stress and politics...couple that with a boss who insists on paying me 20% less than market value in return for that stock option carrot..which is always a few months away...After 5 years of this I'm leaving sometime in the next few weeks to start my own business...

Ill still be working in the big bad oil industry, but at least Im selling my soul for profit...

MG

 

[ChadInColo]

I have been lucky enough to have good jobs without the bad ones.

While a senior in college, I was a Bio-Mechanical Test Engineer. We prepared and tested human spines in an MTS machine pre and post simulated spinal fusion surgery to judge motion impacts of the joints above and below the fusion.

First job out of college I spent 2 years designing custom interior cabinatry in the fastest private jet available for purchase. Keep in mind, sky's the limit, money no option for most of the buyers, everything was dynamically certified in the plane. I have spent more time in a $19 million than most people.

My current job is Program Manager setting up a production line for a defense article, for export no less. Building machining fixtures, set up a weld cell, both manual and automatic, budgeting, dealing with export controls, DOS controls, plus now overseeing 2 engineers. All this and I will be out of school 4 years in May, hoping to sit for my PE exam in October (definitely a big goal for myself and the company to get a PE on staff).

I wish everyone had the luck finding jobs that I have...

 

[plasgears]

See my post in "Switching Jobs."

My best job was in technical publishing on an engineering magazine. It carried greater prestige that any other engineering job I had. It involved a great deal of travel, which I enjoyed at the time. In technical publishing there is a soft conflict between graduate engineers and graduate journalists. The journalists claim to be better qualified in technical writing. I don't agree. I garnered three editorial awards in one year that were generated from reader surveys.

My worst job was in automotive actuation in which engineering managment was infected by QC types who spoke QS9000 but no engineering. They were essentially promoted draftsmen with QC training. It's like a doctor reporting to a practical nurse acting as manager. The auto industry needs to look at this very critically.

 

[svanels]

Started like maintenance engineer in an oil company 12 years ago in the 3[sup]rd[/sup] world.
After 3 months I got my first projet, the rebuild of a portable Failing drilling rig. Fresh from school with 2 mechanics, 2 welders and 2 helpers. We teared it down and rebuilded it.
I was project leader (buy the parts in the store or make purchase requests for what was not in stock, driver, draftsman, dealing with painters, machine shops, etc..., and supervising the craft). I learned a lot from these guys, and of course after the job, the two first test holes, were technically my responsibility. Means running 12 hour shifts with the drilling crew.

After that maintenance planning & scheduling, CMMS, heavy equipment maintenance, implementation, running a Refinery Operations shift during 4 years.
I have been on the maintenance side, and on the operations side, now I am back at maintenance again. I am charge of the 2[sup]nd[/sup] T&I turnaround of our refinery.

Worst job: I was assigned to a team to implement ISO QS9000, we got the certification, but imagine you have to explain paper pushers and bean counters, that you find it BS to create a procedure to instruct an operator how to use a thief hatch.




Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr

 

[onlyadrafter]

Hello,

You have to remember that one person's idea of interesting, could be another person's idea of tedium.

As can be seen from my handle, my job title is Draughtsman. However, in my current position, I have worked on a drawing board. We then purchased 2D CAD, and recently purchased 3D CAD.

We also get to use Excel, Access, Powerpoint, Visual Basic.

With the 3D package, we do solid modelling, surface modelling, assemblies, welding, draughting, animation, finite element analysis.

We are currently implementing parametric modelling, using Excel and Visual Basic for the calculations and the text file to regenerate the model/drawing.

To some this may really dull, especially taking into account that the products are not overly complicated. But i realy enjoy it, as one job may not entail using just one software package.

Because of the Parametric side, which we are hoping to put on the web allowing anyone to obtain quotes of our products instantly, the higher echelons of management are aware of our work and are really impressed with the progress.

And the pay is good!



----------------------------------
Hope this helps.
----------------------------------

maybe only a drafter
but the best user at this company!

 

[ietech]

onlyadrafter,

It's good to hear that all of the issues you posted in another thread about "frustrations" have been resolved and that you finally got up-to-date software and recognition for your efforts.

It's good to hear about something positive happening.

Keep up the good work,

ietech

 

[toolmantwo]

Question for the group:
Does anyone use both Excel spreadsheets and MathCad? If so, how do you like MathCad? We do not have MathCad.

As far as what has been most interesting job or least interesting job for me brings up some thoughts.

In most interesting group: Design of progressive dies and troubleshooting them as well as sharing ideas with other die designers. To design a new hand tool and hear positive feedback from the users. Better machine cells layout and clear instructions. The satisfactions of seeing a production person grow in knowledge and skill with my assistance and encouragement. To work with other engineers and earn their respect. Writing better instructions, and discovering new methods of training and the joy of seeing the light bulb go on in their face (I got it now). Strength testing parts and materials with some use of FEA. Using DFA to design new products. Automating work cells or just segments of the events with PLC's and other electronic controls.

For least interesting to just be the data entry person when the bills of material are entered in the production system. To handle minor engineering changes where time or budget will not allow you to make "true improvements" but just enough to keep the machinery going. Developing drafting standards (needed, but very boring and dry).

Have a productive week, John

 

[ClydeMule]

I think someone has already said it but interesting is in the eye of the beholder.

I design HVAC equipement (water chillers). It is way less interesting than a helicopter, the only thing you can see move is the condenser fan.

The interest and excitement comes from buying or making a whole pile of parts and putting them together in a way you thought of with a set of constraints. And then to actually have it all work right. Those constraints may be customer requirements, size, operating conditions, and/or cost.

It also becomes interesting when you become involved with how your product interacts with other things to become a "system."

As you grow as an engineer I think you either go deeper into optimizing the performance of a "part," or get into systems that get larger and more complex. I think you satisfaction comes from being able to go in the direction that suits you.

Clyde