Your Engineering Mentor

"I expect we've all had engineering mentors."

Not all. Only lucky ones have.

Rest of us learn through own mistakes and costs.

Well we've all had good mentors and I'm sure a couple of bad examples that taught us what not to do.

I'll stay on the positive side.

My greatest mentor was the executive VP at a a steel company. I was business development manager before him, became headof Quality and development under him.

Prior to working for him, I had worked for mostly bureaucrats and politicians who worried about style, and appearannces rather than substance. This guy was frightening in his ability to shrug off the B.S. He was direct, doctrinaire and opinionated, and damn near always right. no one knew of any person who had survived as his direct report for longer than 2 years, he wouldn't fire them, they'd just quit. None would challeng e him except me. I thought it was fun, he waould fight like hell, and then hed break out a big grin and we'd move on. every body else in the room would be close to ill...I worked for him for 8 years, longer than any one, ever had. He had more secretaries than murphy brown. He had a photographic memory, a 3 meter rolodex of business contacts, and knew everyone by name. We fought many battles, and solved many many problems. but I never gave him any report longer than a single page. If i ever gave him a report with a staple, he'd tear off the back pages and throw them out. "If you can't get it on one, page, your thinking isnt clear." $25 million dollar capital infusion from our wall street investors based on one of my single sheet writeups based on a single design of experiments experiment in our rolling mill.

He would walk into a room and you could hear everyones stomachs turnover.

I thought it was great. I knew what he wanted, I was free to do what I needed to do, he had my back, and I was doing his job, freeing him to help the CEO.

But my best friend described him best, "anyone who rides really well" he said, "knows how and when to use the spurs."

Not as "magical a story' as yours del, but this guy was magic to me.

milo

"If you can't get it on one, page, your thinking isn't clear."

Exactly!

(ok , for the sticklers out there, with maybe the proviso of adding the word summary)

Same with the way some people tell a story....I find I'm sitting there thinking...

'Can we get to the point? we can add the detail later...'

Nice one, he sounds tough but fair.

As a reply to #2. I think a mentor can just be an influence in a small area of work or life...they don't necessarily have 'MENTOR' writ large on their forehead.

In my example I was the junior in an electronics lab, I looked up to all the guys, but he stood out, he could be gruff but was funny and full of experience...I don't s'pose for a minute he thought of himself as a 'mentor'.

I think it's good to remember people..maybe it's the only 'immortality'..

"It pays to learn from one's mistakes. Leaning from others' mistakes is a lot cheaper."

Howzat?

Ironically, my mentor, Camille Peele, was a 50yr Engineer from Louisiana. He was a self taught Engineer and master machinist. There was literally nothing he could not build or design. He designed and built his own shotgun. He went into the woods, got his own White Oak trees, stripped them, and made baskets old school. With all his knowledge and abilities, I was amazed to find out he was dyslexic. In his earl days his parents were told he was dumb and to not expect much out of him in life. He drew using the old drafting board and we would re-draw into CAD for him. The only thing he knew about a computer, it was white. He would dimension on the board, hitting tangents, and be with in 0.001" of the computers. He could measure with a steel 6" rule, and be with in 0.001". He was a classic joker and story teller that could keep people laughing all the time, but serious, when the need arises. He would set trot lines for cat-fish in his old canoe and come home with 150lb average. His largest haul was a 62lb channel, which he landed by himself in this canoe. The knowledge I got from him, in all areas of life, was priceless. He is retired now, if his teachers only knew the changes he made Engineering wise and life wise. He was a God fearing Mormon, and if in heaven there is no cat-fishing, he'll have a hard time being happy.

Nice one possum, he sounds like a great guy.

I love the juxtaposition of engineering 'feel' vs analysis, most of us need a bit of both.

My brother left school with just O level art, he worked as a taxidermist for the Natural History Museum for a long time, he restores old underlever shotguns, has done engraving for Holland & Holland and is currently working for Rolls Royce handling the leather parts. I'm a bit more academic, but he certainly has 'the touch'.

Del

I learn a lots of what not to do from fellow engineers.

Learn a lots of what to do from guys in the shop.

Pineapple

I'm a little jealous! I worked for a professional engineer for several years in order to fulfill my requirements to take the PE exam myself, but poor ol' Ron couldn't engineer his way out of a wet paper bag. I learned dang near everything I know about engineering by working hard at it.

My dad was an engineer, and I grew up with him teaching me things most other kids didn't get to learn. As a result, I was amazed at how much other people didn't know by the time I reached high school.

Unfortunately, Pop had a massive stroke when I was 14, long before I really knew enough to do engineering work, but if I had an engineering mentor, he would have been the only one.

P. S. Thanks for asking a question which made me think to give Pop the credit he deserves.

Cheers,

Funny things Dads...

When I was 16 I bought this old Vespa scooter that wouldn't go, I asked for his help.

Instead of just making it work, he had me take it completely to bits, everything...control cables, wiring harness..right down to the bare monocoque body. We even took that down to bare metal! He taught be the escallating techniques to apply to stubborn parts to separate them and much more besides...a colleauge of his gave me an old manual, and I slowly put it all back together with his help. It took me ages to get a good visualisation in my head of how that clutch worked.

It was all hand painted with celuose paint and the finish was better than all the other kids (sprayed) scooters.

He was no fool, by the end of it, he knew I had a safe vehicle, and I'd learned a good foundation in mechanics...It was my only really good Dad & Son time.

He's still alive but spent too much time drinking scotch and watching cricket 'cos he had a silly idea that he'd die at the same age as his Dad...He wasted a good 20 years like this, and now his health really is failing.

Still wadda ya do eh? kids and parents nothing but trouble!

Glad to have been of service, nice story, shame about his stroke.

Del