Why are engineers so cool?

11. We don't say much, and when we do talk it's usually only among other engineers. That's what makes us so very cool.

Steffio,

Thanks for the compliments. Are you planning on becoming an engineer? What kind?

Unfortunately we are only suggesting the solutions to improve our world, if you want somebody to muck it all up you just add politicians.

We are cool because we are the cucumbers of the real world. We are right, you know we are, but a bit odd at the same time. If that does not sound like a cucumber I don't know what does. Oh yeah, cucumbers work best when cool There you have it from a cucumbers mouth.

Now go back and do your homework, if you are anything like my daughter you like to wait until last few minutes and than it is panic stations.

Hello steffio

Some Engineers are Refrigeration Engineers, that's why they are so cool.

Kind Regards....

I'm sooo cool I've been beating the women off me all my life. I also tell the most outrageous fibs .

Actually now I'm in my 50's I'm officially cool . My daughters friends said she thought I was cool and she wished I was her Dad...'cos I made her a boomerang . I felt very smug and appreciated, so making things is good...
I do have to admit some of the 'girls' I've worked with did enjoy having a go with my Chinese Repeating Crossbow... 'cos girls don't get to play with the fun stuff . I think one of 'em pretended she was shooting her ex
Del

Engineers also Rock!

Who do you think designed this? Yep, an engineer...

Actually Les Paul invented that. He also invented the multi-track tape system. He was a hell of a Jazz guitarist.

Orpheuse

Actually, Les Paul did his first multi-tracks in wax on a Cadillac flywheel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul

He probably never took a class in differential equations, but he was a pretty good seat-of-the-pants engineer.

Last year I downloaded "How High The Moon" from Rolling Stone.

After nearly sixty years, still a great listening experience!

Have you heard any of his work with Dina Shore? Well worth a listen.

He was completely self taught, but then, transistors were tubes. He was such an amazing, intuitive inventor, it boggles the mind - and Google's the browser.

orpheuse

In my most humble observations good engineers are like symphony conductors. They know the big picture, the 1000' level, with the worker bees down on the ground making it happen.

An engineer I admire told me that his job was to "know a little about a lot - but not a lot about any thing", that was my job.

I feel that a successful engineer has a gift but is also open minded enough to surround him/her self with a talented support group and listen to them when they say "that won't work - but this will".

Now are we going to play "what we don't like about engineers"?

Now are we going to play "what we don't like about engineers"?

Just ask the Acountants

And politicians....please can I have the politicians , yeah?

How about Managers & CEO's.

Do we draw straws or scissor, paper, rock.

[totally unrelated picture]

A different sort of engineering.

Accounting.........boooo...hisssss

I've taken the intuitive to always, always, always refer to accounting as "The Evil Empire" in meetings or on conference calls which gets me scowl looks from the bad guys but it make the good guys day.They just turn their heads away and cough or look up at the light fixtures and grin.

The Engineer is cool because her AND she are the strong right arm of the Scientist who turns the scientist's dreams into reality. The Scientist discovers God's rules and the Engineer takes God's Rules and Makes them work. A Scientist discover the action/reaction rules and the Engineer made the engine work; your automobile engine, your jet engine, and your rocket engine. The Scientist discovered atomic energy, the Engineer built the atomic power plant ( and is working now to make it safer). Note, too, that some Scientist are Engineers and some Engineers are Scientist.

Engineer takes God's Rules and Makes them work.this is why,this is why Engineer mean so much ....evolution and Engineer go together .

An engineer is someone who can take a common bit of household rubbish and explain to others

what it did,

what it could be,

what it is possible for it to become,

Why its in the rubbish bin,

what went wrong with it,

what will become of it,

what will replace it,

etc... etc.... etc...

Even though everyone else has lost interest in it after he opened his mouth...

John

An interesting fork in the discussion might be, what we all think makes a good engineer.

FWIW... in my mind a good engineer is one who can see connections between things and events and know what should come next. A bad engineer is one who can do this but not realize when he or she has fixated on the wrong thing to come next.

Seriously steffo, Get the best education you possibly can. Stay in school as long as you can, apply yourself, get really good grades. Always be working for that next degree.

Education gives you wings.

Pursue what interests you, worry about the money later.

What is cool? Who is cool? Who defines cool?

If you allow others to rate you as cool, you are not truly cool. Cool is not influenced by popular opinion, because popular opinion can change. Also, if you allow others to define you, you leave yourself open to being manipulated into doing something uncool. If you do that, you are not cool, you're just a fool.

Engineers don't do that, and that makes them cool.

Don't allow anyone to define you as cool. If you're cool, they'll recognize it.

"what IS it exactly that makes you guys so dam cool??"

Because panicking doesn't solve problems and engineers solve real problems.

Engineers are aware of the details. Car show...Rolls P2. Spent 15 minutes studying, admiring, in awe of the bell crank arrangement at the lower end of the steering column. Or was it just my fascination with shiny objects.

What a great thread!

I too, believe engineers are cool. Nerdy at times but that is more a reflection of the audience than the "players". Here's what I think makes engineers so cool.. Most often, it is a contrast between those with and those without the dreaded "Lazy Brain". And don't be fooled, just because a person has a technical position, does not, by any measure, indicate a non-lazy brain. I learned my core engineering techniques many years ago in the US Naval Nuclear Propulsion program.. My first esposure to engineering standards was the environment fashioned by Admiral Rickover. He tolerated nothing less, in terms of safety and operational standards, than double the proficiency ( or twice the civilian published acceptable "limits" ) for the personnel and systems he oversaw. We learned the concept of "Verbatim Procedural Compliance" because "the program" did the homework and kept the documentation current. There was simply not a situation where an operator might do or not do something other than following, step-by-step, the specific documentation. Operators were expected to understand the concepts and refer to the documented procedures to insure no "details" were overlooked. OK, it was important on many levels to maintain absolute control of the reactor systems. Some, common sense.. ( not a good idea to melt a reactor in a port where millions of innocent civilians might die ) Also, though.. some more political motivations - Not a good idea to release a miniscule and completely harmless amout of "sligtly radioactive" coolant in some Japanese harbor. So.. long story short.. The Admiral insisted that his program be the best in the world by a factor of 2 ( at least ).

That's where I began to understand that pretty much everything is understandable and expainable. Sometime since, I learned that many engineers have the same fear and percieved aversion towards "mental work" as those we usually just classify as "Lazy" with regard to physical work. You're lazy or you are not and that is what will qualify you as a "cool engineer" < or not >.

Engineers believe in the scientific method and fear no question. There is no right or wrong for engineers. There is just a "works" and a "does not work". Engineers and the managers that trust them are responsible for the really important choices that shape our functional civilization.

It's really cool to be able to examine "ANYTHING" and feel confident that you can understand both the good and not so good about it.

BTW, I consider an engineer someone who understands how to adapt and solve problems.. Not someone that managed to get their name on a diploma.

Should I have started by saying "Don't get me started"?

Good luck with your qwest to learn how to be a good and effective engineer.

Sayjak

Just don"t tell the engineers, They have to be able to get their heads in front of the computer screen. Doh we already heard,

Reality: idiots can have a good idea and geniuses can make mistakes;

advices is not a take it or leave it option, judge each part on its own merits;

understand the dynamics of a situation or your solution will not be optimum or may be worse;

on safety would it pass the test of your family or friends using or living there?

2 bits from

Brad

I think engineers are cool because we get to play with the best toys. And, if we don't like the way the toy works we 'hack' into it and change it so it does what we want it to. That is Way cool .

I have this on the best authority. I fixed my 2 year olds toy and she looks at me like I'm Moses: My 12 year old keeps telling me how 'WAY cool' what I do is.

For me, after spending the day teaching myself my 3rd career, I look forward to fixing the munchkin's toy. It's, you know, cool !

Orpheuse

I don't know about "cool", but many engineers do (for a living) what they'd also do for a hobby (if they had more time and lots of money).

Everyday brings them new challenges that may involve maths, physics, chemistry, accounting, clear thinking or essay writing. They can be shy, egotistical, terse, messy or obsessive and yet people still need them, trust them and pay them to build stuff.

If you're that way inclined (and remember it can't be cured) then join us cos it's FUN.

However, if you're not creative and don't really care how the world works, then go for the money and study accounting.

Different challenges are use to involve for subjects in tactics to use the better with quality of essay writing that make the better use for the student. lot of work is use to build different stuff at a affordable rate.

There was a book out years ago called something like "Super mambo chicken".

It described people who (among other things) filled disused mine shafts with huge amounts of petrol, LPG, heating oil and then lit the whole mess. The resulting flame would shoot hundreds of meters into the air.

The assumption of the author was that these people were idiots. All the engineers I know, when told about the stunt said "Cool, where can we do it too"

Found this on the following site: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/humor.htm#hum019

You may be an engineer...

• If Dilbert is your hero.
• If you stare at an orange juice container because it says CONCENTRATE.
• If you want an 8X CDROM for Christmas.
• If you can name 6 Star Trek episodes.
• If the only jokes you receive are through e-mail.
• If your wrist watch has more computing power than a 486DX2-50.
• If your idea of good interpersonal communication means getting the decimal point in the right place.
• If you look forward to Christmas only to put together the kids' toys.
• If you introduce your wife as "mylady@home.wife".
• If your spouse sends you an e-mail instead of calling you to dinner.
• If you can quote scenes from any Monty Python movie.
• If you use a CAD package to design your son's Pine Wood Derby car.
• If you have used coat hangers and duct tape for something other than hanging coats and taping ducts.
• If, at Christmas, it goes without saying that you will be the one to find the burnt-out bulb in the string.
• If you window shop at Radio Shack.
• If your ideal evening consists of fast-forwarding through the latest Sci-Fi movie looking for technical inaccuracies.
• If you have "Dilbert" comics displayed anywhere in your work area.
• If you carry on a one-hour debate over the expected results of a test that actually takes five minutes to run.
• If you are convinced you can build a phaser out of your garage door opener and your camera's flash attachment.
• If you don't even know where the cover to your personal computer is.
• If you have modified your can-opener to be microprocessor driven.
• If you know the direction the water swirls when you flush.
• If you own "Official Star Trek" anything.
• If you have ever taken the back off your TV just to see what's inside.
• If a team of you and your co-workers have set out to modify the antenna on the radio in your work area for better reception.
• If you ever burned down the gymnasium with your Science Fair project.
• If you are currently gathering the components to build your own nuclear reactor.
• If you own one or more white short-sleeve dress shirts.
• If you have never backed-up your hard drive.
• If you are aware that computers are actually only good for playing games, but are afraid to say it out loud.
• If you truly believe aliens are living among us.
• If you have ever saved the power cord from a broken appliance.
• If you have ever purchased an electronic appliance "as-is".
• If you see a good design and still have to change it.
• If the sales people at Circuit City can't answer any of your questions.
• If you still own a slide rule and you know how to work it.
• If the thought that a CD could refer to finance or music never enters your mind.
• If you own a set of itty-bitty screw drivers, but you don't remember where they are.
• If you rotate your screen savers more frequently than your automobile tires.
• If you have a functioning home copier machine, but every toaster you own turns bread into charcoal.
• If you have more toys than your kids.
• If you need a checklist to turn on the TV.
• If you have introduced your kids by the wrong name.
• If you have a habit of destroying things in order to see how they work.
• If your I.Q. number is bigger than your weight.
• If the microphone or visual aids at a meeting don't work and you rush up to the front to fix it.
• If you can remember 7 computer passwords but not your anniversary.
• If you have memorized the program schedule for the Discovery Channel and have seen most of the shows already.
• If you have ever owned a calculator with no equal key and know what RPN stands for.
• If your father sat 2 inches in front of your family's first color TV with a magnifying lens to see how they made the colors, and you grew up thinking that was normal.
• If you know how to take the cover off of your computer, and what size screw driver to use.
• If you can type 70 words a minute but can't read your own handwriting.
• If people groan at the party when you pick out the music.
• If you can't remember where you parked your car for the 3rd time this week.
• If you did the sound system for your senior prom.
• If your checkbook always balances.
• If your wristwatch has more buttons than a telephone.
• If you have more friends on the Internet than in real life.
• If you thought the real heroes of "Apollo 13" were the Mission Controllers.
• If you think that when people around you yawn, it's because they didn't get enough sleep.
• If you spend more on your home computer than your car.
• If you know what http:/ stands for.
• If you've ever tried to repair a $5.00 radio.
• If you have a neatly sorted collection of old bolts and nuts in your garage.
• If your three year old son asks why the sky is blue and you try to explain atmospheric absorption theory.
• If your lap-top computer costs more than your car.
• If your 4 basic food groups are: 1. Caffeine 2. Fat 3. Sugar 4. Chocolate.

It's OK, guys, we're all in it together. And my kids (the youngest is 26, but, hey, they're still MY kids!) call me the Enginerd. But whoever said we get to play with the best toys was right on. And one reason we are so cool, spoken of early on, is that we LIKE to teach other people how to do what we do, and most of us assume that anyone CAN, they just have to want to. I tutor Middle and High-School Science Fair students, and when they ask me what I get out of the time I spend with them, I tell them two things. One, I get to spend a lot of time with really cool kids (engineers to be) and Two, I'm eternally curious, but don't have time to explore and experiment to learn what I want to know, so I talk them into doing it, and learn from them. Ten students and me makes eleven times as much knowledge for each of us as any one could get alone. And that, too, is what makes engineers COOLLLL!! Micah

You may be an engineer...

if the first piece of electronic equipment you bought for yourself says 'Heathkit' on it... and you still have it.

If your 4 basic food groups are: 1. Caffeine 2. Fat 3. Sugar 4. Chocolate.

But in overtime it turns to Mountain Dew and Peanut M&Ms. Can sustain warp speed for up to 110 hrs. ( personal record before hallucinations overcome reality)

That is the only score I'll admit 5th Amendment invoked.

Brad

My "MOON" rock thanks you!