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Engineers in Southern California

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nornrich

Mechanical
Jun 12, 2002
194
All,

I have a general question. I remember hearing, when I graduated from college in 1992, that 60% of all engineering positions in the US, were based in Southern California. Was this true then, and if so, is this still the case?

Regards,

Rich.....

Richard Nornhold, PE
 
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Well, we all hear strange things once in a while.

California has 18% of the US population, but not likely 60% of engineers, unless you restrict the term engineer to mean EE or Computer engineer.

The high cost of housing in Kalifornia feeds back to higher and non competitive salaries, so many former Kalifornia offices are moving to lower cost areas to be competitive.
 
I think it may have been true, depending on the definition of Engineer as noted to some degree, and also on how far north you interpreted SoCal to be. In '92 there was a huge amount of chip-related engineering going on in SoCal, most of the heavy manufacturing hadn't been off-shored yet, and construction was robust. Back then I think the aerospace industry was still in full swing there?

Times have changed.
 
In 2005, Sheboygan County, WI had the highest per capita concentration of ME's in the U.S.
 
Engineers per capita ratios are higher in Omaha and Kansas City than Los Angeles.
 
It might possibly have been that at one particular point in time when hi-tech was booming and other industries were slumping, 60% of the OPENINGS were in that area. (An opening is a reflection of rate of change of positions, not number of positions).

As far as 60% of nationwide engineers working in Southern Califormia - no way.

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yeah, but silicon valley isn't even in southern california... so how big could their tech boom really have been relative to the state/nation?
 
Sorry haven't been able to log on and check responses. I think the big driver was the defense industry. If you think about all the large multinationals that were based in So Cal in the late 80's early 90's thats what made the claim believable. I am thinking about Rockwell, Hughes Lockheed, Martin Marietta, Boeing, etc. Combined with the high tech industries not supporting the defense industries....


Regards,

Rich....[viking2]

Richard Nornhold, PE
 
There was (to some extent still is) a lot of aerospace/defense in So Cal proper. However I find it hard to believe it was that high.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
 
As a SoCal based engineering guy I can say, maybe it was close to being true in the Ronald Regan defense expansion days, but not now.
Lockheed Burbank has moved out. Hughes and Rockwell are no more.
Northrop Grumman has expanded in SoCal, and Boeing has swallowed up McDonnell Douglas and part of Hughes, but a lot has moved to the southern states and Texas.

Biomed engineering has expanded in Southern California, but this doesn't cover 60%.

Hey Tick, what's all going on in Sheyoygan? Used to be mainly the paper making industry.
 
Kohler, Pentair, JL French (compressors) and all kinds of parts suppliers.
 
Tick. I started my engineering career working on paper making machines for Beloit Corp. in Beloit, Wisconsin, my home town. A lot of them went into the paper mills around the Neenah, Menasha, Appleton area. Spent most of the 1960's in various engineering jobs around Milwaukee, WI. as a job shopper.
 
I grew up in Neenah. My dad was a research chemist for Kimberly-Clark before striking out on his own. I just left Milwaukee 3 years ago, had a house in Cudahy 2 blocks from Ladish ("L.A. Dish").
 
Milwaukee's a great town, ain'a? What's new by you?

I'm presently working on a new second stage rocket motor contract for the 2012 Moon launch project for NASA.
This is putting some old Southern California engineers back to work.

I come back to Wisconsin every couple of years to visit my relatives, but only in the summer. Can't take the winters anymore. Been a Californian too long.

"I seen" that you had a rough winter last year. Too much snow, and now too much water.
So much for global warming. Explain that one to me Al Gore, 'cause I don't get it.
 
Tick, Ron

I'm out near Madison myself. If I look out my office window I can see the floodqaters that still haven't gone down.

SoCal might not have 60% of the engineers in the US, but it's beginning to sound like Wisconsin has 60% of the Eng-Tips forum users...
 
Maybe so Bruno. I was beginning to think the most popular forums were dominated by Brits, either from across the pond or expatriated.

Got to have a few Badgers don't you think?

Too bad you can't send us Californians a lot of that water, i.e. pure H2O vs beer.
 
" I was beginning to think the most popular forums were dominated by Brits, either from across the pond or expatriated"

What you sayin Ron?;-)

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