Need more engineers

[X-Istence]

I am sure this could go in the funny farm as well, but I also believe it to be a bit more serious of a topic that merits more discussion than that what would be fostered in the funny farm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIzDN317Pc8

What are your personal thoughts on this? Does the US need more Engineers in general? As of right now it seems that schools are more focusing on business aspects. I know several high schools that are scrapping their Wood Shop and Metal Working classes and in return are offering more business oriented classes. My personal high school was all about the business classes. Accounting, Marketing, Web design, and other business courses. They just about lost all of their funding for wood shop, and the FIRST robotics team was scrapped.

 

[Geffy]

Ooh, Norsk Hydro. Thats quite a clever advert.

I'd agree it seems there is a greater focus on making "Managers" as these are somehow perceived as higher paying and more valuable careers. Also the costs involved with teaching Business related courses are much lower than those of engineering and design courses due to materials required.

If this carries on we'll have a dearth of capable engineers and too many managers to manage them.

 

[madmatt]

With more engineers out there the pay scale goes down. I would rather be in higher demand and be able to charge more. =]

 

[Dark Atheist]

so your a rip off agent then eh matt? i'd pay you cookies and i know you would be happy

 

[Geffy]

With more engineers out there the pay scale goes down. I would rather be in higher demand and be able to charge more. =]

True but then you have to work with morons more frequently. Course if you are in higher demand then more schools will start teaching your skills so then you end up with a flood of engineers. Perhaps there's an organic ebb and flow to the job market and its just luck if you manage to catch it at the right moment and ride it all the way to retirement.

 

[X-Istence]

With more engineers out there the pay scale goes down. I would rather be in higher demand and be able to charge more. =]

Ehh, that is not true. If you are an engineer and you have exceptional skill you will still get paid more than some schmuck that has just a piece of paper to say that he has an engineering degree.

Also, as an engineer if money is the only thing that motivates you, then I personally believe you really are in the wrong line of business. The problem and solving it should be the main motivation. I know it is for me, as that is the interesting part.

My grand dad owns a boat, and he recently wanted to get hood built over part of his boat so that if it was raining he could put this hood up and still be out on the water "driving"[1] the boat. The guy he found was 73 years old, and his trade was steel cables. The cables that are used in cranes to lift cargo off ships and other such things. As you should be aware, they can't make a perfectly continues steel cable, and sometimes you need just that, a loop of steel cable. He is one of about 15 people in the world that is licensed and allowed to weld these cables. These cables are used for all kinds of things, so after he is done that part of the cable has to withstand all the same pressures as the rest of the cable.

He is regularly flown all over the world and paid HUGE amounts of cash to weld these cables. However, he has told me that it is not the money that does it for him, each and every time it is a new challenge. If he makes a mistake it could cause millions of dollars worth of damage, it could cause people to die. The only reason he is still doing it at 73 is because he thoroughly enjoys what he is doing. But he is also afraid, he is not sure that there will be someone to follow him up in his trade, mainly because it is such a small niche, but also because engineering on the whole does not seem interesting to most people because they would rather solve simple problems.

I hope that the US as a whole will soon start realising that without its engineers it will not be able to keep up in the world, and who will maintain the infrastructure that is in place? Who will keep up he power lines? Who will build and design new power plants? Cars? Roads?

So Matt, it is extremely short sighted to only want money.

 

[falconguard]

Now that the incumbent faith based president is outgoing, you will probably see a major shift in monies to advance science, as to previous, the holy zealot. A lot of the money used to help out science oriented education was diverted.

Just be aware though that this is a shift that will take 8 years to realize, as with all educational strategies, whatever happens now in primary takes 8 year to reach the high school level.

 

[madmatt]

Let me be clear, JW, with no intent to insult you or anyone. When you own your company money is a key factor. There is no point to being in business unless you are running in the black. Red is a horrible color in the business world. I couldn't afford to do what I do and do it how I do it without money. It is key.

I love what I do and wouldn't give it up for anything, except if the money wasn't there for the reasons above.

 

[X-Istence]

Let me be clear, JW, with no intent to insult you or anyone. When you own your company money is a key factor. There is no point to being in business unless you are running in the black. Red is a horrible color in the business world. I couldn't afford to do what I do and do it how I do it without money. It is key.

I love what I do and wouldn't give it up for anything, except if the money wasn't there for the reasons above.

And I agree with that, I am currently starting my own corporation along with 4 other investors. Money is everything, at the same time I don't believe you will get paid less just because there are more. Especially if you are good at what you do, in the end it comes down to getting what you pay for.