Weekend Journal — The Value Of School Lies In Opportunity
I’ve been pretty down on higher education lately. Rising costs that don’t seem to equate to raising educational levels, a large amount of mismanagement of funds and schools’ increasingly brazen one-ups-man-ship in terms of building larger buildings and offering unnecessary perks to students. I don’t like it. But I’m a bit hypocritical. I’m a graduate of an engineering program that taught me quite a bit, in buildings that were just a touch larger than they needed to be. Further, I encouraged my wife when she expressed a desire to go back to school this semester to try out a completely different field. So why was I ok with that? Access. In my case, access to facilities. Access to faculty capable of teaching me difficult concepts. And most importantly, access to co-ops and potential employers. Similar reasons abound in my wife’s case, though she’ll be taking many of her classes online,…
Weekend Journal — Social Capital
I threw a BBQ last night. The food and drink, though not cheap, was delicious. All of the guests complimented me on my ability to bend smoke and heat to my will and tame the fibers of a beef brisket. Really I did this because my wife decided she wanted to have a party for friends and family, but it got me thinking about the concept of social capital. Do I trade food for friends? No. Do I think giving someone a slice of brisket will necessarily endear me to them? Nope. Even if there’s lots of free beer to go along with it? Nah. Do I think good things happen when you bring people together and help cross polinate your social groups and try to find commonalities among them? You bet your brisket I do. Remember, you don’t have to have a reason to hang out with friends. But…
Weekend Journal — Vendor Relationships
This weekend I had a buddy in town who I’ve known since childhood. It was great getting to hang out with him. But in one of the great ironies of the universe, it came to pass that my best friend is also what sometimes ends up being a perfect foe for an engineer: a purchasing agent. In reality, we work for different companies and work in drastically different industries. So while there could be tension, it usually only comes up as a function of our discussions about what engineers should do and how purchasing agents should act. But on today’s topic, our contention came to a head: My purchasing friend says that I should not maintain relationships with vendors (platonic, of course). I should not allow them to buy me lunch occasionally. I should not accept sample kits from them. I should not talk to them other than in official capacities for work. I’ve written…
What’s In My Bag: Chris Gammell
We’re kicking off this week with a series of posts from our authors about what we carry around with us as engineers. We’re sure you’ll find lots of similarities and would love feedback on what you see and possibly even what you think we’re missing! I’ll start us off: Bag: Most of my work is done on a laptop these days. Therefore, I’m often found toting my entire laptop setup around with me. I wouldn’t think otherwise these days, but I know many EEs who prefer desktops because of the assumed high power processing (think MATLAB). Plus doing schematic entry and board layout often requires multiple screens. Still, I favor portability and being able to work from anywhere over a slightly faster load time of a web page or a calculation. Computer: This is a pretty standard issue Lenovo notebook from my workplace. Sure, it’s boring from the outside. But…
Ask the Readers: Do Engineers Watch Video?
***If you’re seeing this text on the front page of EB and cannot see the video, please click on the title of the post to see the individual page with the video.*** I sure hope so because the content of this post is all video! [tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gif8HRp2JWA[/tube] I turned off the YouTube comments (because I already have enough stress in my life), so be sure to drop a comment below if you have any feedback!
Weekend Journal — Dealing With Non-Optimized Solutions
I think most engineers are optimizers. Many times, this works to our advantage. In the case of a project, it means you might try and squeeze out the last bit of efficiency out of a part in your system. Or in the office, it might mean coding up a bit of software that will make your job a little easier and automate mundane tasks. But what about when it doesn’t work? What about when you have a non-optimal solution? I was dealing with this in my personal life this weekend, and I felt my engineering brain kicking into high gear. I’m going to try and replay the stream of consciousness for you below. I don’t think it will quite capture all of the thoughts that went through my head, but I think it will be enough to recognize the feelings if you have ever had them. The situation occured when…
Ask The Readers — How Much Is An Engineer Worth?
I was talking to my brother-in-law about salaries the other day. He mentioned he knew some police officers in the area that had base salaries in the $70-80K range. With the regular overtime they got policing public events like carnivals and sporting events (rough gig!), their salaries went into the six-figure range. Aside from the shock I had at my decision not to be a police officer, I caught myself wondering: How much do I think that job is really worth? Part of me thinks that the police should be paid well. They are protecting people and that’s an important thing. It’s an odd situation too, because we are in a relatively safe area. Should cops in the safer areas get paid well because they continue to keep us safe? Or should they be paid less because the area is already safe? (And for those wondering: yes, this is a suburb and…
Weekend Journal — An Ode To Power Tools
In honor of Father’s Day, I decided to try and find common ground with engineering. While not all fathers are engineers and not all engineers are fathers, they often have one thing in common: love of power tools! And so I thought I’d write an ode to those wonderful things that allow us to be the heroes we need to be (but not the heroes others deserve 😉 ). This poem is an Horatian Ode in the style of Percy Bysshe Shelley. O power tools, great utility! We salute you For in our haste we need provided brunt To drill a hole or secure a loose screw prevent our everlasting, straining grunts That is, of course, if our blades be not blunt. When questioning the project we must finish our power tools are the “how” to our “what” Though our abilities they shan’t ever diminish They ensure the…
Weekend Journal — How Much Is Your Time Worth?
I’m heading car shopping today. I’m not particularly excited about it. I’m really not a fan of spending money. I’ve written before about being a cheapskate as an engineer. I think it’s just baked into my fabric and I don’t think I’m the only engineer like that. However, there are exceptions to when I’m a cheapskate and I’ve been changing over the years. Many times in engineering, there is a huge value in paying more for something than you would deem natural. One example is shipping. Would I normally pay $100 to get a box of parts the next day? No, of course not. I’d wait and complain about not having my parts if I were ordering them at home. Would I pay a consultant to help me solve a big problem I’m having in order to get the job done faster? No, I’d strain over it at home for weeks, still…