I think one of the most forgotten issue about computers and
softwares are that they are productivity tools, ie., nothing short
of a drafting table and other drafting tools, and for engineers are
paper, pencil calculator or the antiquated slide rule. Computer
outputs still have to conform with the industry's standard.
As designers, the outlook is that we are communicating our ideas not
only to our peers but also to our clients and clients' fabricators.
We as designers are in the communication business whether we like it
or not.
- In PipingDesign@yahoogroups.com, Christopher Wright
<chrisw@s...> wrote:
>
> On Jun 24, 2005, at 2:25 PM, Paul Bowers wrote:
> > The adoption of computers and software was the
> > singlemost biggest (pardon my French) change for engineering in
> > history.
> > Feel free to argue with me about this.
> Computers made a huge change for engineering--arguably for the
better,
> but that's not a foregone conclusion. The engineering function
really
> hasn't changed, but more engineers are doing what drafters and
> engineering assistants used to do. This isn't altogether bad--
preparing
> your own reports and doing your own 'board work' can be a good
thing,
> provided the quality of the design work doesn't suffer. Trouble is
that
> it's putting newbies without the organizational and communications
> skills needed to be good designers, because schools don't teach
> organization or communications or even first principles of design
all
> that well. The management assumption is that CAD or FEA does all
that
> stuff now. But it doesn't. Engineers used to learn the practical
parts
> of their jobs from more experienced staff, but experienced staff
has
> been going away for quite some time, I think because management
thinks
> that the tools make the engineer, not the other way round.
>
> > What is so wrong with being "in the trenches" past the age of 40?
> Nothing at all. It just doesn't happen very often.
>
> > Is it status? The perceived peer pressure to "have people
working for
> > you"?
> Neither. It's a fact of corporate life. You don't get 'ahead' as
an
> engineer, just as a manager. My experience is that somewhere
between 40
> and 50, engineers tend to veer toward a management track. I didn't
and
> I'm very happy that it's worked out that way, but I know a lot of
> people who went down the other path and in doing so lost most of
their
> engineering skills because that didn't use them.
>
> Christopher Wright P.E. |"They couldn't hit an elephant at
> chrisw@s... | this distance" (last words of Gen.
> .......................................| John Sedgwick,
Spotsylvania
> 1864)
> <a href="http://www.skypoint.com/~chrisw/">http://www.skypoint.com/~chrisw/</a>
Received on Sat Jun 25 00:42:00 2005