What are the Core Engineering Skills? 13

[spggodd]

Hi Guys,

I have been asked to prepare a presentation 5-10 slides with the topic: "What are the core engineering skills?".

I was wondering if I could get your opinions as this forum obviously represents a wide range of engineering fields and disiplines and I may pick up on some areas that I'm missing out.

I was going to take 2 slides for the title/end & references, 4 slides for technical skills and 4 slides for soft skills etc.

Thanks in advance
Steve

 

[tbuelna]

No. 1- Understanding that your primary function is to make sure your work output produces a profit for your employer in return for the salary you are paid. If you are producing a net profit for your employer you are an asset, if not you are a liability.

Nothing else really matters. So do whatever you can to make yourself an asset to your employer, rather than becoming a liability.

 

[CELinOttawa]

No.Number 1 must always be "Remember your obligation and the prime ultimate duty of care to the unsuspecting public."

There is plenty of room for the profit motive at #2.

 

[cry22]

1. Love of what you do.
2. Approach problems as if they were your problems, not the client's. You will always come up with the better, safer, solution.
3. Think of it as if it were your money, not the client's. You will always come up with the most cost effective solution. Remember, necessity is the mother of invention. When you do look at it as your money, you will develop critical and creative thinking.

And I love the one who said "Make a decision" above - in street English: "put your money where your mouth is".

 

[loki3000]

i don't use next to no mechanics/ math at work (to those above that mentioned it)

 

[jagad5]

Able to communicate
Able to learn, relearn and unlearn - Life-long learner
General knowledge of math & physics
Specific knowledge related to your field
Able to reach a conclusion when data is available
Able to make a decision when data is insufficient to reach a conclusion
The ability to make defensible assumptions so that a decision can be made.
Depending on the consequences of failure, the ability to handle the pressure of being wrong (I make jet engine parts, and could kill 500 people at once, if the 747 misses the apartment building at the end of the runway.) Some people called this confidence with a mixture of respect for Mother Nature/humility.

Doug

 

[VoiceOfTheBook]

Personally, I feel that the "skill" most important to my professional development and work is resourcefulness. If you know what you don't know, you'll be ahead of most know-it-alls already. Support that with resourcefulness - knowing where to find the support, information, data, calculations etc. - and there is very little you should encounter that is entirely out of your reach.

A wise man once said, "A man's grasp should exceed his reach." Great, you can calculate the resistance of resistors in series... So, you'll freeze when you see resistors in parallel?! No. Go beyond, know where to look and who to ask; chances are, someone's been there before!

LiftDivergence summed it up too: every engineer stands on the shoulders of everyone in their field that came before them.

 

[CELinOttawa]

1) Preventing, proscribing, catching, eliminating (as well as cajolling others out of their likehood to cause): DEATH, INJURY, FINANCIAL LOSS, and all other forms of Real Property TORT on the unsuspecting public.
2) Getting paid for 1.