The fate of Mechanical Engineers 14

[flowdude]

To all,<br><br>I am sure there are alot of engineers who have the experience level (3+ yrs in design) that I do and would like to know the answers to these questions.<br><br>&quot;What is the fate of mechanical engineering? There are many different areas for mech-e's (HVAC, Packaging, Hydraulics, Drive Systems, etc...) which do YOU think will become important in the future? I invite the veterans to answer/debate this issue.&quot;<br><br>I ask this question because after 3+ yrs of working I feel I need to know the direction to take my career so that after 20 yrs I do not look back and think &quot;Hmm.. I should have done the other thing..&quot;. I know the answer is not easy. I am not looking for a &quot;You gotta do what you like son&quot; answer either. I would like to know exactly what is going in each field and what the future holds for the field. Maybe you can shed some light or even point out a direction. <br><br>Any help on this subject is appreciated...<br>Blurry Eyed and Bushy Tailed

 

[EngineerBSME]

Flowdude, good question. What value is ME? Is it BS?
The answer is in your question, &quot;Go with the Flow, Dude&quot;

Nanotechnology sounds mechanical to me. Check it out with Newt Gingregh at his web site. It definitely has a future with very little past and no long history of competition.

An embarrasment to BSME is to relegate combustion engineering to the environmental or civil engineering department. Combustion engineering, although technically unchanged from creation, has declined in expertise since the invention of a. the IC engine which has not seen a major improvement since initial conception and b. fossil fuel combustion which has declined in expertise since the advent of the word &quot;environmental&quot; c. decline of nuclear technology because of the military application d. decline of aerospace engineering because of political financial reductions
Wake up ME's. Recent testing proves that fossil fuels can produce power in an environmentally manner with virtually zero air and zero LOI solid effluents. Electric generation with coal is being produced as we speak that is cleaner than natural gas. The method is to simply maintain the correct fuel/air mixture from lightoff through the tail pipe or smokeless stack. Problem is the word stiochiometry has been misapplied. Sivilian Engineers think it means add 100% air at lightoff of the combustion process. BSME should realize it means &quot;continue to add the correct amount of air during the complete conversion process from a solid piece of fuel until completely converted to single elements.&quot; NOT A SINGLE COMPOUND CAN BE ALLOWED to pass through the tail pipe or smokeless stack. REDUCE EVERY SINGLE COMPOUND TO AN ELEMENT. For fossil fuels, conversion to compounds (NOx, CO, HxO) consumes energy. Power generation should release energy rather than consume.

 

[GregLocock]

&quot;REDUCE EVERY SINGLE COMPOUND TO AN ELEMENT. &quot; So if I'm burning pure hydrocarbons your recommendation is that I should exhaust pure carbon and pure hydrogen? Doesn't sound like much of an energy source to me. I'm pretty sure they got together because it was energetically favourable...

Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[EngineerBSME]

gregclock (automotive)
I assume you would likewise conclude that any racecar automobile that injects nitrous oxide into the combustion chamber runs backwards!!

 

[GregLocock]

No.

Please could you explain your theory as requested.

Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[BobPE]

EngineerBSME:

I always wondered how they get those cars to reverse!!! As an environmental engineer, I better get checking if the compounds get put together in reverse and if that makes them harder to break down than compounds put together in forward.....

BSME's are suffering the same fate as all the rest of us engineers, we are making ourselves useless through infighting and nonsense. People see us as freaks of industry and choose to discount our skills at every step of the way....

BobPE

 

[ponnatha]

To all,
Lets define career first. What we want out of career?
Job satisfaction? Money? Employment till we die? Feeling of having everything under control?

I want to do something of my liking when I get fifty which is definetly not 9to5. Not for money to live.
I want to use my thirties/forties to earn money. So I see what feeds me with more money next 10 to 15 years. Off-shore oil field does I gather. Technology of deep water working. MEs got lot of specialised courses in that field (one can look at google for web sites). Next is bio-engineering. We MEs can fit into these seamlessly.

Guys! whether you are with me or not post me with latest in the above fields.

 

[Karl47]

One thing not yet mentioned - try to work in an area not likely to be exported to a third world country (unless you want to go there!). My &quot;generalist&quot; engineering position will be sent to India in a year or two due to cost reasons. I suspect more of the same in the next 5+ years.

Being a specialist may or not make a difference - depending on the industry.

 

[BobPE]

Karl47:

Just curious since you seem to work in industry, if PE's were reguired in the US for what you do, do you think your position would go to India. It's a complex question that we talk about a lot in here but it seems to have serious consequences with people careers, like yours, in industry.It seems like industry likes the freedom of the industrial exemption and you bring to light another reason why, money..

Good luck with your job, I hope it doesn't make it to India..

BobPE

 

[PSE]

BobPE

With international reciprocity agreements for Professional Engineers, having a PE would not necessarily mean the position would stay in the US. A &quot;PE equivalent&quot; in India might still get the position. Try as we might, economics will decide the future of more careers compared to licensing.

http://www.usciep.org/what_is.shtml

Regards

 

[BobPE]

PSE:

I have yet to see international reciprocity and believe me, I doubt it will happen here in the USA for some time if at all. I know there have been talks with respect to NAFTA, but just talks. States will not recogonize foreign PE's or equivalents without first completing the reciprocity requirement of that state. A PE equivalent is in the imagination of industry so that they don't have to deal with us engineers. The beauty of the PE is that economics has very little to do with the public health and safety, it only comes into play after a design meets the requirements of the public health and safety. Industry is backwards, economics first, lawyers second, public health and safety third, engineers last......

Our first step is demanding that American Designs be the responsibility of American PE's. The message is getting out to the public, but unfortunately, it's a complicated message, and industry exploits this fact.

Sorry for getting on my soap box, lol.....
BobPE

 

[jscumm]

take ur mech engg. to manufacturing management and explore urself &quot;the secret of living happily ever after&quot;.

Jon S