Question for PE's with own practice or freelance PE's 5

[boome006]

To the PE's out in the work force, either with their own practice, or at very small firms (Structural Engineering Field): When encountering an issue or problem that you require direction and help, and no co-worker or employee can help surmount the task, where do you go for help? What resources would you use, or who would you reach out to?

Are there engineering forums like this that you mostly go to? Memberships to certain groups? Websites? Books? Reach out to colleagues in the business?

Thanks for any responses.

 

[WinelandV]

1) While on the elliptical machine or between sets of weightlifting, I use my tablet read pretty much every word that is written on the structural engineering general discussion forum. This really doesn't take very long because there's just not that much activity here, much to my chagrin.

I don't follow every sub-forum here, but based on the number of MVP's that post on this forum, I'd venture to say this is one of the more active ones on the site.

 

[KootK]

I don't follow every sub-forum here, but based on the number of MVP's that post on this forum, I'd venture to say this is one of the more active ones on the site.

That is massively the case. I've seen data after a fashion. Structural is the most active forum and by a considerable margin. Whatever advertising revenue this site generates, it's structural getting that done. We built this city. And, fittingly, we are now it's primary inhabitants. Frankly, I feel that this is a testament to the kind of people that we structural engineers are: intellectually curious & generous with our time & energy, perhaps to our detriment. Other kinds of engineers are great too... just, clearly less so.

 

[Enable]

I’ll echo my colleagues and say that you use whatever resource you have available.

For me, I feel lucky that I have some significant human resources at my disposal. However, even with that (which not everyone has, sadly) I honestly believe that eng-tips has become my number one resource in the past year. It’s not just about seeking answers to your own questions, which is obviously super helpful in and of itself, but for me the true power of eng-tips is that it provides a glimpse into the mind of many talented engineers dealing with a wide variety of problems.

I don’t participate in many threads but I generally read them all - even those well outside anything I would ever touch. I do this because seeing the thought process of endowed engineers (….technically ), and how they attack a problem, makes me a much better engineer in turn.

So, go eng-tips!

BTW this place is also extremely humbling, which is another great attribute, at least for me. As a contractor I probably see way more designs than most engineers on this board, and many of them can be found wanting to put it mildly. It takes a toll and naturally leads to habits of intellectual arrogance. This place smacks me in the face to remind me that,

A) there are actually talented structural engineers out there, and
B) there is soooooooooooooo much I don’t know (which is awesome)

 

[OHIOMatt]

I have a small firm, with a trusted engineer that works with me. Aside from that, and before he came aboard, I developed a network of trusted associates. When we have issues as you describe, we bounce ideas off of each other. This works well, but the keys are to keep your circle small, give as much or more than you ask, and validate. In my case, I worked at a large firm for a period of time, and you got to know the engineers that you trust. During the 2008 recession, we all went different ways. We have stayed in touch over the years, and developed a good profession friendship and support group.