Why did you decide to become an engineer? 10

[bigTomHanks]

Why did you decide to become an engineer and what was the biggest misconception that you had about what an engineer does before working in the profession?

For me I started taking automechanics at community college and realized quickly that I didn't need to pay someone to teach me how to repair cars. I also wanted to know how engines were designed but didn't know that mechanical engineering was what I needed to study until already in college.

I thought that the work done my most engineers in industry couldn't be completed without the knowledge gained in school.

 

[pmover]

i started as a young boy learning how machines/engines functioned/operated - farm machinery, etc.. I took my dad lawn-mower apart and he got really mad because he had to put it back together (dad not too mechanically inclined). Upon graduating high-school, I learned much while in USN working in boiler/engine rooms. Had enough of USN, so I worked as a boilermaker for a few years before realizing that the kind of life I wanted to have could not be supported at current income. So, I pursued college and have never looked back. I also suppose i was spurred further into ME as an uncle had 4 engineering degrees (finally obtained a PhD in ME).

as far as misconception, none really to write of as my college classes and past work experience closely coincide with current professional activities.

 

[IRstuff]

7th grade, knew which major and which college.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[FeX32]

Natural mechanical and technical inclination at a young age, along with naturally interested in science, math, and especially anything that had to do with machines, cars, planes, rockets and the like.
I started building model rockets when I was 10. Loved it, until I started getting into the nitro cars when I was 12. I studied every little piece as I love it so much. I remember trying to calculate the max speed by counting the teeth of the 2 speed gear box when I was 13. I didn't know if that's how you would do it as I was never taught it, but it made sense...haha (turns out it can be a way). I still occasionally build these little machines, 3 engineering degrees later.
Closed the deal as I was also constantly top in math and science classes.

Do what you enjoy, that's what matters. What the above indicates is that I love the field, that's all.




Fe

 

[JohnRBaker]

I was into shortwave radios back in high school (this was the early 60's so we're talking radios which 'glowed-in-the-dark') and I started to take correspondence courses in electronics and radio theory (we lived in a small town so the high school had nothing like this) with the intention of becoming an Electrical Engineer. The problem was that when I started Engineering school in 1965 I was expecting more 'electronics' that what was being offered. After a year of Delta and 'Y' circuits and phasing transformers, and a summer working as a mechanical draftsman which allowed me to watch both Mechanical and Electrical Engineers working in the real word, upon returning to school in the fall I decided to switch to Mechanical and never looked back. Over the years I've dabbled in electronics as a hobby (I've still got radios which 'glow-in-the-dark') but Machine Design became much more rewarding as a career and which of course was the foundation for my current position at Siemens PLM Software working in the R&D group developing our mainline CAD products.

As for was I ever disappointed about anything, since I had the opportunity to work summers (and even during a 2 year break between my 2nd and 3rd year when I got married) for a multi-national company manufacturing capital machinery for the food and chemical processing industries, this allowed me to not only get a head start on my career (I was given 25 months employment credit when I started full time in 1971 after graduation) I was also able to demonstrate my skills and capabilities to my future bosses while still working as a sort of unofficial co-op, so that when I did join the company full time there was no need for a probationary period so I was able to start on big projects immediately.

I wouldn't trade my technical education or experience for anything although I do tend to look at everything without as much wonder and awe as most other people do as I either already know how and why something works the way that it does, or else I know enough to spend the rest of my time trying to figure out how it does work. Of course the downside is that you're always thinking that some 'idiot' designed whatever it was that you're looking at and that you could have always done a better job yourself ;-)

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.com/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[SomptingGuy]

I enjoyed and excelled in maths and physics right from the start. The education system kind of funnelled me into engineering, without really knowing what it was about.

My first "job" involved spending 3 months at Acton Technical College, learning metalwork and other cerebral things. I really questioned whether I had done the right thing.

However, a few years later I had some University education going on and some really fascinating work placements.

I can't really imagine doing anything else these days. When a new car comes out, I want to know what's under the hood. And it's quite likely that I know the people involved.




- Steve

 

[TED7]

I don't recall deciding to be an engineer, I just ended up following the path. I grew up with the obligatory 'nack' syndrome and my father suggested I persue engineering which I never realised even existed as a job (at the time I wanted to persue being a computer games tester, cracking idea that would have turned out as).

When I asked my careers advisor at school, she suggested I take Maths, IT and Chemistry as A-Levels, she thought it horrendous that my father 'wanted' me to study Physics. I did fairly bad in GCSE maths and they wouldnt let me study it at A-level, so I found a college who said their engineering course is accepted by the particular university I wanted to attend. 2 years down the line I discover it isn't but I somehow talked them around anyway. Its a wonder I ever made it.

So I got shoved down the route by my father really, I'm glad he did, my own ignorance at the time would have led me to something really stupid.

Biggest misconception - Engineers and salespeople dont have anything to do with eachother.

Will
Sheffield UK
Designer of machine tools - user of modified screws

 

[TheBlacksmith]

Kind of like most above, mechanical inclination, always fooling with electricity and mechanical devices. One interesting thing, when I was about 12 or 13 I got a age appropriate book on engineering for Christmas. The chapter I remember most was about the steam turbines in the SS United States. And now I work at Newport News Shipbuilding, the builder of the SS United States.

 

[Mr168]

Too squeamish to be a doctor, not diligent enough about flossing to be a dentist. Heard all the astronaut jobs were taken.


The biggest misconception? That it'd be mostly technical, with no mention of politics or budgets...

 

[MacGyverS2000]

I'm not sure I started out with any engineering interest, but my father took a network management position in a different state shortly before my 8th birthday (not his field before that, he just took some classes in his spare time). I was given a little blinky LED project, the kind you solder yourself, with 12 or so components on a PCB silkscreened with an R2D2 look-alike. I was hooked, so I define that as my decision to become an engineer.

A boatload of Heathkit trainer kits, three degrees, and a smattering of coffee later, I'm now a practicing engineer.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[vthomidis]

....well that's a good question....

 

[SomptingGuy]

You could almost flip[ the question.

What would you have ended up being if not an engineer?

- Steve

 

[TheTick]

48 hours from starting as a physics major, I switched to engineering. Seemed a better fit for my career path at the time (navy).

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

I like Mr168 asnwer the best.

I'm a tad different than most. I was highly mechanically disinclined as a child (actuall, still am), but but was a stand out student in the sciences. I thought I was going to be a chemistry major in college, but then my chemistry teacher told me about his college roommate that had been in materials science and it sounded cool to me.

Additionally, if I majored in an engineering program, I didn't have to take any more foreign language classes (I would have if I had gone into chemistry).

 

[JohnRBaker]

What would you have ended up being if not an engineer?

A History professor, but Engineering looked like it paid better ;-)

While in Engineering school I had to take 15 elective credits of humanities or social studies, but only 12 credits could be in any one area of study. So I took 4 history classes and one psychology class. I'll admit that long term, what I learned in the psychology class was probably more valuable, but I enjoyed the history classes more and besides, I think it's important for people to have a perspective on the world around them and a study of history helps to provide that. Later on I discovered that there have been a lot of books written on the history of engineering and technology as well as the impact that these have had on society and the world in general, so in the end there was an intersection of sorts in my professional versus personal interests. And besides, as I've traveled the world (am up to 30 countries visited) I'm always looking for the local museums, many of which have dedicated sections on technology.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.com/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

My high school and college summer jobs REALLY made me sure that I didn't want to be a 40 year old flipping burgers, bagging groceries or driving a forklift - just to mention a few. I met way too many guys/gals just doing that!! And I knew it wasn't for me.

Plus I was pretty good with a wrench and enjoyed building things. So after much grinding and gnashing of teeth - I graduated with a BSCE specializing in structural. So that's what I do. Also have a "minor" in computer science - so I do some of that too. I always figured if I had to do the same problem more than once a week - I would just write a program to solve it for me. Has worked out pretty well.

Just remember your first two years will be just about the same for any engineering discipline. But you will get exposure to just about all of them. Then you need to make your decision. Sort of started out as an AE - then the Apollo program shut down leaving all kinds of AEs looking for jobs. So switched to SE.

Good Luck and have fun.

 

[JohnRBaker]

BTW, for the four years that I was in high school I worked as a butcher/meat cutter at a local grocery store and the owner was a guy who used to work as a draftsman at Studebaker before they closed up shop and he encouraged me to look around and to NOT make meat cutting a career but to get out of town and that engineering school was a good choice. He, along with a family friend who worked at Continental Engine was probably my biggest influencers in terms of telling me the rewards of a technical career. My father was a heavy equipment operator and had already convinced me that was not a career path he would recommend although he made a good living, but the work was hard and accidents were common (he had two near misses in 30 years).

Now don't get me wrong, having additional skills, like meat cutting, can come in handy. We save money by buying whole chickens and I cut them up myself (I can still do about two a minute if I really need to ;-)

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.com/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[ewh]

Good decision, John... my mother was a meat wrapper and my step- father was a butcher, and both suffered greatly from hand/wrist problems as they grew older. Used to get great deals on steaks and roasts a day or two beyond their sell by date though!

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]

 

[tygerdawg]

It was destiny, I had nothing to do with it.

Parents were journalists.
Oldest sister was writer/romance novelist.
Next sister got her Ph.D. in Pyschology.
Brother ran a YMCA & then became a massage therapist.

As the fourth of four kids, God gave me all the technical ability. I had "the knack", just like Dilbert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYDgncMhXw

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[patprimmer]

I was always able to fix things where others struggled and even make them better than new or even make things from scratch, especially cars, bikes, boats, trailers, tools etc but also white goods, house wiring, plumbing and general construction.

I found High School Science a breeze and wondered why people had to do extra study to learn something so obvious. Same with Descriptive Geometry (Drafting or Technical Drawing or whatever it was called at the time and place) and even the technical side of Geography.

I always knew I would end up as some sort of scientist and mechanic/engineer.

My school holiday jobs where usually detailing cars or felling trees to clear land.

My first real job was in a dyestuffs and textiles and leather finishing lab. I ended up studying textile technology/engineering and polymer chemistry, initially at trades and eventually at degree level.

Regards
Pat
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