Where has Engineering Gone In The Last 5 Years 2

I Don't think much engineering has gone anywhere. It continues to grow and I think that while it could have changed a lot due to all the new fancy tools and talk of outsourcing, it really hasn't.
cad and solid modeling and fea have improved and become more common, but they are hardly the cornerstone of the industry that people thought they would be. It still seems to be up to engineers to create solutions, and isn't that what we have always done?

Luck is a difficult thing to verify and therefore should be tested often. - Me

"If you live in Asia or India, you might find yourself awash in opportunity! "

Yes, we're engineering products that will be manufactured in SE Asia, South Africa and China. That really took off about 3 years ago.

"Engineering in 5 years time will tend to evolve into a more "mainstream" professional position. "

Nope

" Gone are the days of "Engineers, Doctors, and Lawyers" representing the "top of the totem pole" of professions. "

Wasn't true in the past , doubt it will happen.

"(Many) Engineers in the future will likely be more diverse, more generalized, and subsequently less paid. Some contributing factors of this situation have been the lack of public understanding of the "engineering profession", lack of a protective professional organization, and the deemphasis of the value of Professional Certification."

Want cheese with that?

"Industrial Exemption opens the field of engineering up to a great many more (capable!) persons, but at the same time stretches the encompassing boundaries of what is considered "engineering". We all tend to agree there is a big difference between our "engineering" jobs and the local Sanitation "Engineer" who muscles trashbags for a living."

Yes we all agree. Is anyone seriously confused by this nomenclature?

"The challenges all of us face in Engineering during the next 5 years will be:

1. Continue to press (and utilize) communications technology. The advent of the Internet has supplemented our professional lives in an absurd fashion, as proven by this website,
Couldn't do my job (as in designing stuff for the other side of the world) without it. Why is this absurd?

"5. Encourage young people to become engineers. The world is often far short of good analytical thinkers with common sense. The "best and brightest" have been identifed as moving outside the field of engineering, so the burden is for us to actively recruit. "

Why would I recruit competition? Why not let the free market sort it out?

Cheers

Greg Locock

SIGlease see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

I agree that engineers will become more diverse, more generalized, and subsequently less paid (except the few that are specialized in a important subject/field).
There are a lot of engineers today that are not very artistic and can not visualize a design by themselves. They need to work in groups to help each other work out a concept.
This is not everywhere, but is growing. Managers know this and are slowly replacing older employees with interns because students generally learn to work together in groups.
I think engineering will always be needed, but will become more diverse than anything else.
Similar to the economy, engineering jobs come and go. Our next generation of engineering students will see the benefits of the next generation of space travel and new technologies.

Chris
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i reckon we've lost 5 years worth of "old codgers" who knew why they did things a particular way, and gain 5 years of new guys, who think they know, but are really only copying the previous designs, 'cause they worked.

but then isn't always the way ?

"4. Standardization. Will the metric movement of now 30 years win any ground? A question of the ages."

Nope. Not if the non-metric posts on this site are anything to go by.


- Steve

The inflation adjusted price of oil was around $32. It has topped at over $140 and now retreated to $90-100. This may be one of the single largest factors causing a gross shortage of engineers in Alberta and the unprecedented level of activity. This shortage has resulted in, I believe, more interest in outsourcing to foreign countries as well as implementation of more CAD systems to try and speed up the design process with less experienced individuals. Ask me again in 5 years if I like it.

EJL

"Will the metric movement of now 30 years win any ground?"

I think there is a chance it might, but not until the generations X and Y are retired.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
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ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
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With only about 3 years since graduating, I am certainly not an authority on the matter. However, I'll throw my hat in anyways and you (readers) can determine the merit...

As far as the metric system becoming world-wide... I have known a number of high school physics students that think I am nuts when I tell them I much prefer the english system to the metric system. However, when they argue with how much simplier the metric system is than english, I ask them "If there's something on a shelf 3 meters high, do you need a stool to reach it?" I haven't found one (high school student remember) that could answer without stopping to think about it. So I think the "metric movement" is still alive, but I haven't seen any major steps taken (ie posting speed limits in USA in km/hr) and doubt they will anytime soon.

In working with engineers with more experienced engineers, they do seem to have a wider range of knowledge. This could be simply due to their experience, but I suspect part of the issue is with more specialization. As the tools of design (including software, electric components, mechanical mechanisms, and everything) become more advanced, I get the impression that individual knowledge is being narrowed toward a specific industry or position. I think it is becoming more likely that a person could make a career doing stress analysis of structures (by hand or FEA) and not be able to size a hydraulic pump.

Just my impressions... MechEng2005

In my world, it is going down the total-safety-complete-lack-of-common-sense lane. With all the economical implications that has. (Yeah, I still run with scissors)

<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying ” Damn that was fun!” - Unknown>>

"(Many) Engineers in the future will likely be more diverse, more generalized"

I somewhat disagree. If you are a generalist you have zero value in the eyes of the decision makers because someone in India or China with more education than you have is willing to do your job for $6000/year. In this global economy where cost is king, engineers need to bring more to the table (at least in U.S. and other high paying countries) if they expect to be employed.

It all doesn't matter in the US anyway. We'll become a 3rd world country soon enough.


Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
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The metric system is world wide, it's just that one or two countries haven't recognised that fact yet.

The US is going metric inch by inch.

Sorry, an old one courtesy of checkerron

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

spongebob: beg to differ: being a specialist narrows your work possibilities and makes you more likely to be the victim of a recession. Good generalists can find work even in slow times. Being a generalist doesn't mean you stop learning: it just means you avoid getting yourself labelled as "belonging" to one industry or another and hence having your fate tied to the economics of that particular industry.

What's happened in the past five years? Locally in Canada it seems that was old has become new again. We've had an oil and resource boom. People are starting to retire from positions that have not been available to fresh grads for nearly a generation- but that's just starting. Energy efficiency and alternative fuels research shelved since the 1980s has seen a resurgence. Manufacturing has trickled away to places with lower labour costs. And Canadian engineering immigration rates have finally sagged from their absurd 2001-2003 peak, such that only about half as many engineers immigrate to Canada as we graduate locally every year. That's still FOUR TIMES the rate it was in 1991, but it's an improvement.

A map of countries that use the metic system. Sad really.

But think of the economic hardship in Liberia and Burma if we switch, what about the children, and the cute kitty cats? We can't abandon the Burmese and Liberians, and their kitty cats

Luck is a difficult thing to verify and therefore should be tested often. - Me

In the UK we allegedly changed many years ago. So I go into my local grocer's and buy a 586ml carton of milk and 454g of margerine. Strange numbers, surely round numbers would be easier to work with.

Our speed limits are all based on mph, a unit that shouldn't be recognised. Similarly all road distances use miles/yards/feet. On the other hand, petrol is sold in litres.

We have a long way to go.

- Steve

Sompting, I nearly posted the same thing, and then thought that maybe things had changed since I left;-)

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently?

Metric info:


Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
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ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
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