Electrical Components

Two words...Bill Gates.

Bill Gates is a business man

So was Edison.

and Einstein was no more of an engineer than Stephen Hawking.

money makers are business man... while engineers ?? always spending money to do their project(s)..

Maybe we should stop whinging...

Ok the young pretty girls want the rock god, bad boy etc...

But by the time they grow up a bit they are smart enough to realise that wasters are not a sound proposition and the engineer who, ok may be a bit quiet on the outside..but can DO Stuff and mend things and make stuff and cares about stuff is a better bet for raising a family.

Anyhow I found mine... or maybe she snapped me up when she was good and ready.

Del

itz fine by me.

One man's recognition is another man's blame.

Ask: When the poo hits the fan, am i invisible enough?

Its better to have someone that performs instead of produces...EVERYTIME!

phoenix911

Not strictly true: The actor's product is his movie, the athlete's product is superior performance in a televised event. The difference is that the actor or athlete is directly associated with his product; This is why Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and the others mentioned are famous.

I was instrumental in developing the precursor to the PAC-3 missile defense system and other critical missile programs, but noone but the people originally involved know what I did. If my name were directly tied to the product, I would be famous. Engineering doesn't work that way. So I am not even famous on my current program. We are only as good as what we are currently doing. Such is life as an engineer.

Guest,

I disagree,

any project that has worth or value, it has to perform, producing means nothing.

Producing something that does not perform has no meaning except loss and a bad experience, (Which can have value if looked upon it as a abstract)

One of many examples is this link;

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/a-12.htm

I can elaborate and discuss this more it.

bhankiii,

I completely agree with you. Actors, athletes and others are their own product. They have to 'sell' their image to the public to create demand for people to want to see them in upcoming movies. The more famous an actor is, the more likely they are to get good role offers and higher pay.

Engineers are rarely connected by image/name to their products. I have never heard someone say, "I wonder what engineer designed this product"; but I always hear "who is in this film?"

Theory: The question 'would you rather be rich or famous?' may have a little pull in this situation. Perhaps most engineers would rather be rich than to be famous, hence engineers being 'invisible' because they don't have the genuine desire to be famous. I believe it all depends on what they instinctively desire, riches or fame. People who want riches more than fame may possibly choose the career path of an engineers (I am not saying that engineers are filthy rich, but they are smart with the money they make).

So far in my limited experience, I have noticed that I was invisible to the world until something broke or went wrong. then they would come wining to me. I would fix it, they would say thank you, pay me a paultry sum and move on. I enjoy my privacy and things that don't just break. Who cares about the spotlight? We get paid better for the work we do, than so many others. I take the invisibility.

Because engineers are far more intelligent than politicians, doctors, and lawyers.

smoke and mirrors?

Technology overshadows the Tech behind it. It is a simple matter of distraction refraction...

HC

oops, forgot to log in

Because they are too smart to want the spotlight!

Reading from these comments, I am lead to believe that engineers have studied this issue and are too smart to want to be in the limelight. They recognize it for what it is: a sham.

I'm not sure all engineers are invisible and certainly at the beginning of the industrial revolution they weren't. Brunel, Edison, Bell - all these guys were very highly regarded in their time as well as in history. You get a few today. Usually because their inventions make such an impact on society.

For most of us things are a lot more humdrum. But then again our "peers" - the marketing wonks and sales types, not to mention the vast number of "upper" management - are no more "rock stars" than the engineers. They ARE a lot better at promoting themselves.

Engineers expect the facts to speak for themselves. Unfortunately they do not....

They ARE a lot better at promoting themselves..

Literally in some cases...

I think it stinks to remain behind the scenes. I see my product on the market and thanks to the uprise on web blogs I can view people sharing their opinions. When PR sends out a press release and I see all the hype it indeed goes straight to my head. It feels awesome! ..but when I brag to my friends that I'm the mastermind, they are like "yeah right!" I think corporate marketing just doesn't want such cool products to be associated with a dork like myself?

Also, who doesn't unleash their full potential because they know they will not be rewarded for it?

Most of us accept a job for a salary. That salary will increase the same amount every year regardless if we meet our goals or exceed them. If we do create that "perfect" win for the company we might receive an annual bonus. However, the corporate execs will also receive bonuses. Bonuses equal to what we would expect to make in a decade. Simply put, it's unfair!

I have had the occasion that I came up with something really awesome for the company and just about lost all credit for it. My invention made a real change in one of our product lines. When the Vice President came down asking whose idea it was, my marketing manager took the credit. (a**hole) Anyway, my head engineer was good enough to stick up for me in a meeting, gave me full credit and made sure to say that the marketing guy was an idiot. The only time I would ever want the spotlight is when someone else tries to take my credit.

Yeh every time the guy come and gives me my pay slip I say...

'I see I've got the usual bonus..' (e.g. Zero)....and he laughs...

that's funny until the dork of a CEO banks enough money in one year for any of us to retire on. Face it, there is no manager worth $14M a year. And in spite of all the marketing hoopla and personality cults there are very few Bill Gates or Jack Welch types in the world. Most are simply overpaid. At the expense of the shareholders and the engineers.

Who let all these cats in?

I heard on the radio yesterday that the average tenure of a CEO these days is 3 years.

Same question had been bugging me throughout my life. When all other professionals are recognised why not Engineers?. Is it that they have greasy hands after working on shop? or tired face with sweat dropping from our foreheads?.Are we ugly to be projected?. I think we have very poor PR, we don't shout over roof tops about our achievements.We are silent workers never bothered about public recognition. But now I think we should show the world about our talent and get recognition. Suresh Sharma.

the irony of your guest status humors me

Yes my intentions were the same to make my reply humorous. It is fate of Engineers working on the Shop Floor not the Designers like you who sit in air conditioned office. Suresh Sharma.

It's without a doubt that you have absolutely no idea of what you speak.

___________________________________________

secondly. One of the key reasons engineers are invisible is because they are just that.

While I would definitely consider myself an engineer, I like many of us here would also consider myself a variety of other titles where we hold a better than average level of competence.

It terms of engineering as a specific task... That is by and large the job of an engineer. To make an idea go from paper to reality. Not surprisingly, there are a large number of people who are competent and willing to do this specific job.

Engineers are experts at dealing with practical knowledge and their pay will often reflect this. Engineers are just one of the links in a proverbial chain that brings a new idea to market.

Within companies there are people who would fall in the category of designer.. or product developer or r&d department.. whatever.. the title of any of these people is of absolutely no importance. The only thing that matters is an individuals skill set and exactly what they are able to do with it.

To lump engineers into the same group of 'famous' people mentioned above is representative of the arrogance that is so often the Achilles heel within the corporate world and modern society.

Franklin, Edison, DaVinci, Teslsa... The list goes on. These people were engineers, artists, inventors, developers, designers, marketing professionals.. all of the above and more. If they were any less, you wouldn't ever had heard their names.

The shop floor draftsman may have the mind of Galileo, but as long as he is working a mouse for a living, he will never progress beyond that point... and click..

Beyond that, there are few engineers that could actually pass for brilliant. It's like asking why aren't products from the dollar store priced higher than a dollar?

Artist Engineers? well you have included everyone in profession of Engineers.

You are an idiot who doesn't know what is the topic. Tesla for instance was pure engineer/inventor. Edison was stupid inventor who stole other's people work, like buying a light bulb patent from the Canadian inventor and selling the idea under his own, etc.

However, the central problem today is that companies enslave engineer's brain as the intellectual property and hide inventor/engineer name. For instance you can't publish your invention under your name. Instead you must put your boss' name in front of yours etc. If you want to patent your idea your company gets dividends. For me this practice of western companies is a crime. Even more, I have heard two rumors (within two top software company), that when they invented new software the engineers/inventors were fired after finishing the development. This are the causes why engineers are not famous. In western society engineers are literally enslaved by managers who's sole role is to enslave them.

I apologize for the 'general' notions..

people are screwed in every conceivable position.. management included...

I once had to fire a person on Christmas eve? did that make me evil?

no

It was an order form above. I left that company.

a while back I took a cut in pay and lifestyle... not a big one when your already near the bottom..

I decided to work on my own and control the fate of my designs .. at my cost.. most anyone else is free to do the same.

If an engineer does not know this standard company arrangement going in.. who's to blame? the company is taking a huge financial risk on what is usually a looser design..

if you are a good engineer and being underpaid.. poorly treated or fired... who's to blame?

speak up.. quit.. ..just don't sabatoge.. the company will go down the tubes without you anyhow.. right? it had better..

if not.. why the fuss?

Edison was not a complete chump

JE in Chicago

your comment,

Engineers are experts at dealing with practical knowledge and their pay will often reflect this. Engineers are just one of the links in a proverbial chain that brings a new idea to market.

Practical Knowledge, pay reflecting this, please, you are using way to wide a paint brush here,

You may be too isolated from other engineers

hmmm ... putting thinking cap on ..... may be because most engineers don't like sales?

or we don't have the time for them because we are busy enjoying working in designing..

and because most businesses revolve around sales ..... and most CEOs come from a marketing background ... ????

But I say ... when they sell something who is going to design it and make it ???

ahhh ... it should be 50-50 importance ratio. (50% to market and sell the product and 50% to design it and make it ) ...

Engineer's don't speak of there works, that's why they are invisible.

Edison, Einstein were known later...

Its because there works SPEAKS.

Engineers aren't the only invisible ones. Most physicians are invisible (with a few notable exceptions). All nurses are invisible. The guy driving the garbage truck is invisible. What about the grocery store owner (again, with a few exceptions)? I guess I could keep going on about this. It would appear to me that one's value to society is inversely proportional to one's fame- we should be BRAGGING about being invisible...