Hey, long time no see, I’m coming up with blanks trying to find some engineers. I need to find a few engineers to answer a few questions, and give contact information (name and email).
Info: I’m in an MME 101 (ethics and the engineering profession), and I have to do a paper that researches our intended majors/desired careers. For the last section of this, I need a few engineers to give their personal responses to a few questions. It doesn’t matter what field you’re in to complete it, I just need some engineers who are willing to do it.
The questionnaire:
a) What is your position title, product(s) description, and how long have you been an engineer?
b) What is a typical day like? What are the four or five tasks you spend the most time on?
c) What are the best and worst things about your being an engineer?
What kinds of engineers are you looking for? My dad was an automotive engineer. But around here, we have mostly electrical engineers. Two very different animals.
a) software engineer (but I was in public works/building before)
been active since 1977
right now working with physicists on a telescope…
b) no typical day! most time spent on dreaming (I am paid to imagine, invent and implement), task number 2 programming, task number 3 debugging, task number 4 trying to understand what THEY want… (may be it’s the other way round)
c) best thing: not being a manager in a suit; worst thing: brain still trying to work while you are supposed to be on vacation
Innovation and design engineer (BS in mechanical engineering). I design soft goods (and the hardware that goes with them) for powersport OEMs. (I make fancy backpacks, dufflebags, and enclosures).
I generally answer emails for 30 minutes to an hour every morning. Then throughout the day I’ll try to spend my time designing products. I am frequently interrupted by production issues (we make things here! USA!) which I have to fix. I do a lot of CAD work. I also spend quite a bit of time making my own prototypes. I do some sewing and a lot of work in the shop with metals, plastics, and foams. More time than I like is spent on paperwork.
Best thing is designing new products. Its pretty awesome to design something and then see it somewhere out in the world as a finished product. The worst things are paperwork, and dealing with other peoples mistakes.
Be creative and strive for excellence. Ask a lot of questions. Take the difficult classes.
At least when it’s my problem I have the feeling that I’m taking responsibility for my own problems.
Also, when I make a mistake I know the history behind it. When someone else makes a mistake I have to learn the entire history behind it before I solve the problem.
