Andrew Motes - Every Engineer Should Know This!

Every Engineer Should Know This!

Copyright, February 2015, Dr. R.Andrew Motes, AM Photonics

Rio Rancho, NM 87144

USA

www.amphotonics.com

All rights reserved. No part of thisbook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronicor mechanical, including e-mailing, printing, or photocopying withoutpermission in writing from the author.

Table of Contents:

Until I was an adult, I didn't know what an engineer was. Ijust assumed that anyone with that name in their job title was a train driver.Neither my high school counselor, my physics teacher, nor my math teacher everexplained it to meI suspect that they didnt even know what engineers do. Itwasn't until after I became a missile electronics technician in the US AirForce that I learned about engineers, and I became one only because I wanted acollege degree and the Air Force was giving scholarships for engineeringschools.

In college I learned that I was born to be an engineer. Ihad the aptitude for, and the desire to build and design thingsall kinds ofthings. My father was a sharecropper and couldn't afford to purchase toys forme and my siblings so I designed and built my own. I think I enjoyed designingand building them just as much as playing with them. That should have been thefirst indication that I was born to be an engineer.

What I learned during my engineering career was that havingan aptitude for engineering and a love for the work was not enough to besuccessful in industry or government. If you really want to be successful,there are many other things you need to know and do. However, the cost of doingthese other things may be too high for you to accept; some were for me. In thisbook I give you the benefit of my many years of experience as an engineer andmy observations of what it takes to be either successful and/or happy in yourcareer; the two may not always be compatible. Even if you find the costs aretoo high, you will at least understand why others are getting higher pay andmore promotions than you.

This book contains the information you need to know but isnot normally taught in engineering schools. Youll find a few formulas foreconomics here, but no engineering formulas. In this book Ive written aboutthe lessons that took me a lifetime to learn. I learned them the old fashionedway: by trying and failing, by observing others, and by listening to oldengineers who were willing to give me advice. Now Im the old engineer and Imoffering my advice to you. Maybe I can save you the trouble of learning theselessons the hard way.

I've written this book in conversational English withcontractions, first person pronouns, and active voice. For some reason, most Engineersonly know how to write with passive voice and it makes me want to vomit. I'vealso included humor where appropriate to make the book more entertaining. Idon't want you to use this book as a sleeping pill; you already have engineeringbooks for that purpose. The life of an engineer can be interesting, exciting, andhumorous, so I describe some of my strange and funny experiences. I hope youboth enjoy the book and learn from it.

A country's wealth and power are now defined by itstechnology. If your country has modern, leading-edge technology, your militaryand your industry will be strong. Also, your housing and civil infrastructurewill be robust. In short, your standard of living will be high. If your countrydoes not have lots of high-quality engineers, your country will be weak andpoor.

Based on my logic, engineering is the World's most importantprofession. Some would say that the medical profession is the most important. But,where would medicine be without high-tech diagnostics equipment and medicalinstruments designed and built by engineers?

Like both the medical and law professions, in the USA, theengineering profession is regulated by state law. It's illegal to practiceengineering or to advertise your engineering services if youre not a licensedengineer. So why is it that even trash collectors use the term "Engineer"in their job titles? It's because we don't police our own profession like the lawyersand medical doctors do. If we did, we'd be wealthy just like they are. By notpolicing the engineering profession we show disrespect for it; therefore, itsnot regarded with respect by others.

Large companies like Boeing Corporation know better than toput "Engineer" on the business cards of their technical staff, unlessthose people are licensed. They've been burned by a few good engineers who hadthe courage to submit those infractions to the state Attorney General's office.We should all refuse to allow others to use "Engineer" in their jobtitles unless theyre licensed. As a result, our profession would benefit tremendouslyand our salaries would be higher.

For over thirty years I've maintained my engineering licensein multiple states including Arkansas, Colorado, and New Mexico. Last year Ilet them all lapse because the companies I've worked for dont care. My licensenever got me even an extra penny of salary. Much of this is because I normallywork for the federal government and they couldn't care less if engineers arelicensed. Normally, the federal government has more bureaucracy than stategovernments. This is one exception to that rule.

Please do your part to increase public awareness of and respectfor our profession. Well all benefit from it.

Remember the guy who barely squeaked through engineeringschool? He's the guy who always asked for your help on his homework and the guywho always called you at midnight to ask questions. Well, he's probably yourboss now. How did that happen?

The answer is simplehe went to work as an engineer andcouldn't design his way out of a paper bag, so he purchased a pair of knee padsand started kissing butt. Heres the way it works: in meetings with the boss hewill pontificate for hours on end with perfectly-correct sentences strewn withtechnical buzzwords but say absolutely nothing. When he's through pontificating,the boss next to you will lean over and say: "Wow! Isn't he smart?"How do you respond to that? You can't say the butt kisser's oration was wrongbecause he didn't say anything of value. And, you can't ask what the heck thebutt kisser just said because it makes you look like an idiot. Then, when youcome in the next day, the butt kisser is your new boss.

I've seen this happen more times than I can count. It worksand it happens so much that in the engineering profession we call it revengeof the D students. For those of you from other countries that use otherforms of performance grading in universities, a D is a barely passinggrade in the USA.

I once heard a story about a mathematician who created acomputer program to form correct sentences with lots of mathematical buzzwords.He used it to write a mathematical journal article and submitted it to aprestigious journal. The referees approved it without a single correction: theycouldnt understand what the paper was about and were too embarrassed to sayso. He was able to pad his resume with lots of publications using this method.Butt-kissing engineers use the same technique. The rest of us need to speak upand call it what it is.

Are you cut out to be an engineer? Based on my observations,children that enjoy taking things apart or repairing things around the housewill grow up to be great engineers. That's because they have the knack for ittheywere born to be engineers.

There's a Dilbert cartoon video going around the internetthat describes this knack for engineering (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMzfgnTted0).In this video Dilbert is a child and his mother has taken him to the doctor foran examination because she suspect there is something wronghe keeps takingthings apart and building other things from them. The doctor explains that hecannot examine Dilbert because his EEG (electroencephalography) machine inbroken. Dilbert immediately starts repairing it. The doctor observes him for afew seconds then explains to his mother that its worse than he expected.Dilbert's mother begins to panic as the doctor says, "He has the knack. Hewill be an engineer for the rest of his life." The video ends withDilbert's mother in tears.