Engineering — What You Don''t Necessarily Learn in School

From Mechanical Engineering Magazine:

<<As young engineers progress in their careers, they begin to understand that there is far more to being an outstanding engineer than they might have thought during their days as an undergraduate. In fact, some of the things they need to know weren't necessarily learned in school. And this is understandable, given the relatively short time spent in school and the significant differences between the missions of academe and industry/government.

This paper focuses on twelve vital aspects in engineering that are usually learned after graduation but can make the difference between success and failure in one's engineering career. To succeed, engineers must: learn to be business oriented; expect tough, multidisciplinary  problems; learn to work and network in the new multicultural  and multi-national environment; understand the differences between academe and industry; learn to differentiate all over again; understand the values and culture of their particular company or organization; be open to ideas from everywhere; have unyielding integrity; make their manager a success; support their university and technical society; have fun; and most importantly, manage their careers. Each of these aspects is discussed in detail.

In my particular job, I have the pleasure of interacting both with a large number of young engineers just beginning their careers at GE and with a lot of students at universities who are working towards their engineering degree. These are exciting times for them, and rightly so. I try to assure them that they have chosen a career path that can lead to great satisfaction.

Quite naturally, this interaction often spawns discussion about careers and the question invariably arises, "How can I succeed in engineering?". I wish I could give them a mathematical equation whose solution would guarantee their success. But I know of no such equation. I have, however, gained some insights about succeeding in engineering that my fellow engineers and I have learned over the years. I offer twelve insights, explained in detail in this paper, and hope they will be beneficial in helping young engineers focus and manage their careers.

These insights are not just 'one manager's opinion'. As expressed in the Acknowledgements, I had this paper critiqued by many of my colleagues in industry, academe and government, including chief technologists and senior engineers at the three major aeroengine companies, GE, Rolls Royce and Pratt and Whitney. There was overwhelming support from industry for the validity of these twelve insights.>>

The link below is to the rest of the online article:

<a href="http://www.memagazine.org/contents/current/webonly/webex812.html">http://www.memagazine.org/contents/current/webonly/webex812.html</a> Received on Wed Aug 27 21:41:00 2003