Ask The Readers — Give Me An “A”!
No, this isn’t about grades. I got back from Maker Faire last weekend on Monday. It’s a festival dedicated to science, engineering, ingenuity and creativity. Really it’s a bunch of nerds like me hanging out, showing off their projects and selling their kits and wares. It was amazing. But the thing that struck me most was the native integration of artwork with all of these technology projects. Art and technology have an interesting co-existence. Some people call it “design”, like how “Industrial Designers” are the ones that draw up cars and other items to make them prettified for consumers. Engineering is sometimes the underlying skill set for many types of art, as well. In general though, the forward facing part of a product is the last concern of engineers; really it’s the first thing that consumers see in a product, it’s actually quite important. And all along the way, when…
Ask The Engineers: How Do You Unplug?
This week I’m on my (belated) honeymoon in Hawaii. As I’ve written about before (on my wedding day, no less!), my wife is a wonderful person to put up with my engineering ways. This time, I’m actually writing this post in advance, because I’m attempting to unplug and relax while I’m away. No, not completely. I’ll be in pretty much constant contact with the outside world if necessary, though the plan is to unplug as much as possible. Baby steps, y’know? However, my first big decision was not to take my laptop with me. While I’ll still have access to email and Twitter and the rest of those time-wasters out there, it will be on my phone. And you know what is much easier on my laptop than on my phone? Writing substantial emails and doing work. So I likely won’t do either. In essence, I’m just making it a little…
Office space…or lack of it
Have you ever felt like walking back to your desk was like running a gauntlet? Walking through rows of cubes where everyone is eyeing you as you walk past? And then when you get to your desk, you’re in a mock prison cell with a couple other people. Inevitably, one of them gets a phone call and starts chatting up the person on the other end. And your stuck listening and not being able to concentrate on your work. If you’re in a situation like this, it turns out that your company may be wasting some good money by sticking you there. The New York Times recently ran a piece called The Rise of the New Groupthink. The article discusses how creative people are often introverts, need to have real private areas where they can work alone, uninterrupted. How often do you have that situation at work? It turns out…
Weekend Edition: Where Do You Do Your Dreaming and Thinking?
I have a strong interest in the creative side of engineering. Some would say this doesn’t even exist, since engineering is at most times closer to a science than an art. And when you’re in the thick of developing a product, it’s often times troubleshooting and process improvements (both being very important, in their own right). Even in the “artistic” side of engineering, a lot of the process is trying out your ideas and iterating on them. But I still think that initial seed of an idea is quite important, regardless of how little of total time it might take (1-2% maybe? It can’t be much). Being able to work through an idea or two in your head or smash other concepts together is all that’s required to get started on a project. But when do people really come up with these ideas? In The Shower — You’re standing there,…
What the World Needs Now
The above graph is from a Pew Research Center report on the American public’s global focus. More and more see China as the world’s leading economic power. David Leonhardt at the Economix thinks we have an irrational awe of China. He points out major innovation (GE, GM, Apple) has all occurred here and that 25% of Americans have college degrees compared to 5% of people in China. Several of the commenters tell Leonhardt where he’s missing the point: the reason for this “awe” is simple enough and is NOT irrational. jus as in the stock market, what matters is THE DIRECTION AND SIZE of growth, not simply the CURRENT situation. the world is moving very fast, and anyone who simply rests on their laurels or worse, goes backwards will not remain in a good spot for long. in this case, china is VERY deserving of their “awe”. the ability of…
Do You Prefer To Work On Projects On Your Own?
I don’t! I know I’m not the most stereotypical engineer out there. I’m social (somewhat). I’m talkative (on my radio show at least). I don’t wear a pocket protector (sometimes). I haven’t whispered sweet nothings to my calculator (lately). But this whole idea of working on your own? Without being able to bounce ideas off of friends and c0-workers? Holy hell! That’s a nightmare! I recently started consulting for electronics work. It’s always outside the scope of my day-job (and sanctioned by my company) but still involves being an analog electrical engineer. The people/companies that need work done though often need one engineer, not an entire department! So the struggle I face, and one that many before me have likely also faced, is that of solitude! “But Chris! I thought engineers loved solitude!” Well, a lot of us do. I mean, I do too. But not when going over a…