New Engineers w/ no mentors Available 5

[Gymmeh]

How it get a mentor when you dont have anywhere to look?

I have been working as an engineer where I am for a year now, only 5 months ago the head design engineer decided to retire. I was working on another programming project at the time so, I received about 3 weeks of training as a "design engineer" and youthfully jumped into the current position.

There are no other engineers here now so the only place I have to look for guidance are the head machinist and my boss (and of course the machiney's hand book and my Mech. Design book from Uni). They both are understanding of my situation, but do not go into detail needed for some decisions. Aside from keeping up with production I have had little opportunity to improve my engineering skills. Often projects will come up that I would love to jump into, where I cannot get the answer and I just tell my boss we cant do that and the customer should consider changeing design requirments. Obviously this leniency may come to an end…

Joining this forum has helped, is there any way to get real mentoring?
Or any advice regarding this situation?

 

[JStephen]

Hire the former head design engineer to work part-time on specific problems with you?

 

[EngJW]

Do you already have the engineering degree or do you need to start from the beginning? If you have any two year colleges nearby, consider taking some courses that are not necessarily engineering but things like cnc, machine shop practice, drafting, materials, quality control, and on and on. Another thing is go to the library and find books related to your work, or if you know of any, buy them off the internet. By the way, the internet may be a useful tool, but it has limitations when used as an educational device.

 

[Gymmeh]

That has been discussed with my boss but is not an option... unfortunatly.

 

[Gymmeh]

Sorry the last post was not clear,

Hireing the old engineer is not an option.

I have a BSME but there are alot of things that are just tought generaly in collage, like welding which is required in almost all of the designs here.

 

[vpl]

Gymmeh

Have you joined a professional society (such as ASME) and started going to their meetings? How about discussing with your boss the need to do on-going professional training in areas where you need to grow -- maybe one one-week class every year or so?

Patricia Lougheed

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[dvd]

I can understand your position, but consider that almost everyone in engineering is constantly working on projects that they could use a mentor's advice on. You will always be working on projects in grey areas, with no clear answer to all of the questions. You need to learn to use your best judgement and let the bosses know exactly what you know is right and what you aren't so sure about. If your boss knows what you are willing to take a risk on, then it is your boss' decision to make on whether the company is willing to take the risk. I have been working for the same company for nearly two decades and I still wish that I had a mentor. You will get ahead in engineering if you can come to terms with the real world and accept that there isn't always a perfect solution and that you can't look in the back of the book and verify that you got the right answer.

 

[GSTeng]

Gymmeh,
I was in the same position as you are when I started at my current position. I was the only enigneer in the local area for my company, therefore no mentoring. Not all metors for enigneers have to be engineers. My boss has been my mentor for the most part and is not an engineer but understand my role more than anyone and has been an excelent mentor.

You engineering degree taught you how to find the answers, either from school books, classmates or teachers. Now you need to turn those problem solving skills around to find your answrs from Code books, co-workers and bosses. The resources are different but the technique is the same.

Most of these answers will not come from other engineers unless you work in a big firm or in an environment with many engineers. You need to learn how to use the resources you have and create new resouces like enigneeing societies and other similar programs. Most of these societies have mentoring programs where you can get a mentor that specializes in your field but may not be in your geograpic area. Try seeking some local chapters in your area and join up; you company should be able to foot the bill for that at least.

Good luck.

 

[JMirisola]

To use your example:

welding which is required in almost all of the designs here.

It sounds like you're in manufacturing. Don't be afraid to go talk to the welders. They'll be able to help you determine bead style/size/length, etc. The same holds true for any other aspect of the design that you're unsure of (sheet metal bends for instance). Go talk to the people that are going to be manufacturing it. I guarantee that the ones that have been doing it for years on end are going to know as much about it, if not more, than another engineer. There can be a world of difference between what you're taught in school and real world applications.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

 

[UcfSE]

Asking personnel in the field is an excellent suggestion, but take it with a grain of salt. In my experience, they know a lot about what to do, but not much about when or why. If you worked in the field that would be great. As an engineer, the "when" and "why" become very important.

If you have no mentor, you'll have to be that much more diligent and capable, because there's no one to ask or fall back on. That means check everything three times then check it again. There's also no one to tell you to just do it "because I've been doing that for 10^6 years". That means a lot of self study, as well as doubt. It can also be a lot of opportunity for you to really find out what you're made of. Everything you know or learn will be yours; that's something to be proud of. Confidence will come, but only after you earn it. It may take a while and get pretty discouraging sometimes.

If you can deal with it, good luck. If not, you should move to a company that will have what you need.

By no mentor, does that mean you are not getting your experience working under any registered engineer? That may hurt you when it comes time to register for your license exam. I don't know if you intend to or not, but it's something to think about.

 

[apsix]

Your industry may be different, but in my structural design field I believe working under an experienced engineer when recently qualified is essential.
Getting someone in part-time or finding another job may be the only options.

 

[KENAT]

Yeah, take anything anyone on the shop floor tells you with a pinch of salt. That's not to say you can't learn from them but it's often not the whole story.

There's a fine line between knowing this though and arrogance, be careful.

While some of the best 'Engineers' I'd worked with had spent time on the floor so had some pretty poor ones.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[sms]

If they are not going to bring the old engineer back, then you need some training. Start finding some job related courses and start taking them. If you are in the US, the AWS has courses for welding. Work toward getting certified in the fields appropriate to your job. This will also get you introduced to others in your field and you may run across someone willing to mentor you. The instructors at most courses are willing to answer questions that come up after the course as well.

When I came out of school, I worked as a team lead for a bunch of NDT inspectors doing welding inspections. I knew little about welding, and even less about NDT, so I ended up doing mostly logistics and administration (boring). So I went and studied the subject. After a few years I was one of the few Level III certified NDT engineers in the group. Most of the older engineers had flunked the test over and over...

"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?" Oddball, "Kelly's Heros" 1970

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[csd72]

The steel Structures technology center runs frequent Structural welding design courses, that may be a good one for you to do.

I would also suggest that you go to your local engineering society meetings, you may meet someone there who will be happy to help you out every now and then (or offer you a job).

csd

 

[PSE]

Gymmeh,

If you had a good working relationship with the engineer who retired, see if they are willing to continue it. It will not be often that someone will offer first to mentor someone so you should be the one to ask. Just like you did with your posting here. There are thousands of mentors on this site. In effect, anyone responding to postings.

Regards,

 

[zcp]

Couple of thoughts.....

Take the retired engineer to lunch once every other week. You pay and pose a problem, then just listen.

Get your CWI. Make sure to take the prep course for the exam. Good stuff and you should be able to show the company enough benefits to justify the cost.

Online courses are great for picking up a particular subject quickly.

Hire consultants for the tougher problems and ask lots of questions.

Put 45 min per day into 'research'. Start reading and filling a 3 ring notebook with information and tips you find for issues you see coming up most often. Clip them out or print them and read 1 or 2 in the morning and 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Do this diligently for the next few years and you will begin to sound like one smart engineer.

Subscribe to Machine Design and other publications. Use it to fill your notebook.

Start an intranet where everyone can drag electronic information in the company. Then every once in a while you can go through and sort it out. Once this gets started, you will be amazed at how much your company already knows.

Dig up old designs and information and study them.

Review scrap and rework reports and field / service reports to learn the strengths and weaknesses of your products.

Attack every new problem like an engineer....gather info, write down a problem statement, sketch / FBD, research, initial calcs / postulate, calcs / proof, document and execute solution, review / revise / improve.

ZCP

http://www.phoenix-engineer.com

 

[NCDesign]

zcp a star for you

Attack every new problem like an engineer....gather info, write down a problem statement, sketch / FBD, research, initial calcs / postulate, calcs / proof, document and execute solution, review / revise / improve.

I don't know how many times I have seen people get in deep trouble (myself included) because they went straight from gather info to calcs/proof followed by executing a solution (no documentation), and topping it off by skipping the review, revise, and improve.

 

[KENAT]

Yeah, nothing like skipping the 'define the requirement' stage to set you up for failure.

review / revise / improve

I was forced to ship a prototype about 18 months ago, and then had the components for my second prototype taken for production. I never finished the testing let alone incorporate any changes to the design before being moved onto new tasks. Several have now been built and shipped.

I still get field reports about failures of this design! When I sent a message pointing some of this out along with what I thought needed to be done it was suggested by one senior staff member to my direct boss that I was trying to get myself fired!

This site is pretty good, just remember what they say about free advice.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[ajack1]

I would agree with others that guys from the field/ shop floor are a valuable source of information, but would take it further.

There relationship with engineers is similar to an engineer’s relationship with management. They are not there to see the whole picture, when they decide something is a stupid decision it may be but it also maybe done for a very good reason.

Again if in the past they have had their comments dismissed out of hand or someone else has taken the credit they may not be to keen to help you. If however you can win their trust they can be a great source of information. Treat them and their ideas in the same way as you would want a good manager to treat you and yours.

Someone who does something every day may not know why it is done, but they sure as hell know how to do it.

 

[Nuked]

Gymmeh,
In the UK the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)is available to provide mentors (you generally join as a student and progree through to chartetrship), if not in your area they can provide a distance contact who you can send monthly reports to on how your progressing and what competancies (UK Spec) you're hitting or missing, not sure if they have equivalent over there?

Ronnie

"Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired"
Jules Renard (1864 - 1910)