If you are an Engineer....?

Question

Can an engineer please answer these questions? Thank you so much! It may be long, but I greatly appreciate it!
1)What company are you employed in and what kinds of products/services are produced there?
2)What is your present position? What path did you follow and how long did it take you to get there?
3)What are your likes and dislikes of your work?
4)What specific things have occupied your time during the past week?
5)Do you use a personal computer in your work? How often and for what tasks? What software is most useful to you? Do you use a CAD program?
6)What kind of writing do you do on the job? How is this writing important?
7)What kind of public speaking/presentations do you do on the job? What aids do you use in your presentations? How do you prepare for a presentation?
8)Do engineers in your company work alone or in teams? If teams, what different areas/backgrounds do team members come from?
9) What skills do you think are most important to success as an engineer?
10)What sort of tasks might be given to a new engineering graduate who begins working in your company?
11)If you were going to hire a new engineer just out of college, what specific attributes/background would you be looking for in the successful applicant?
12)Do you think the school you graduate from is very important in finding your first job?
13)What specific advice would you offer to first year students to guide them toward success in engineering study?

Answer 1

1)What company are you employed in and what kinds of products/services are produced there?

>>An aerospace/defense company. We design and build electro-optical sensors (cameras) that operate in different wavelengths, such as medium wavelength infrared, as well as common color TV wavelengths.

2)What is your present position? What path did you follow and how long did it take you to get there?

>> Systems engineer. No particular path was taken. To paraphrase of a famous answer from Lincoln, it took me from the time I graduated from college til now to get to where I'm at.

3)What are your likes and dislikes of your work?

>> Math and science, they actually pay me to do this!! Don't like management work.

4)What specific things have occupied your time during the past week?

>> Mostly analysis of various problems of interest, such as the range performance of various sensors. Assessing the feasibility of using a new technology in our products.


5)Do you use a personal computer in your work? How often and for what tasks? What software is most useful to you? Do you use a CAD program?

>> Yes, a PC. Every day, for mathematical analysis, writing reports, proposals, etc., for creating presentations. Microsoft Office-->Word, Powerpoint, Excel, as well as Mathcad, Matlab, image analysis programs.

6)What kind of writing do you do on the job? How is this writing important?

>> Proposals, required to get contracts so that the company stays in business

>> Reports on analyses or other tasks to document the results

>> Specifications for components so that the product is fabricated and tested to meet its ultimate requirements

7)What kind of public speaking/presentations do you do on the job? What aids do you use in your presentations? How do you prepare for a presentation?

>> Mostly technical presentations using Powerpoint plus a smattering of digital videos. All programs mentioned earlier are used.

8)Do engineers in your company work alone or in teams? If teams, what different areas/backgrounds do team members come from?

>> Both. Small projects can be handled by one or two people. larger projects require all disciplines, electrical, mechanical, software, systems, etc.

9) What skills do you think are most important to success as an engineer?

>> Depends on the engineer. Some projects require in-depth knowledge, while other projects require broader knowledge and "big picture" people.

10)What sort of tasks might be given to a new engineering graduate who begins working in your company?

>> Depends on the discipline. EEs might get a small portion of a circuit to design. MEs might get some sort of subassembly to design, etc. Systems engineers usually start off with writing specifications.

11)If you were going to hire a new engineer just out of college, what specific attributes/background would you be looking for in the successful applicant?

>> Ability to think through problems. Being able to answer questions and problems without resorting to textbook answers.

12)Do you think the school you graduate from is very important in finding your first job?

>> It can be. However, your grades and course load are probably more critical. A 4.0 GPA from a mid-level school is obviously going to weigh more than a 2.0 GPA from a top school.

13)What specific advice would you offer to first year students to guide them toward success in engineering study?

>> Work hard, get good grades. Find summer jobs that have relevance to your major, even if you have to work for less or no money. The experience is invaluable. Make sure that you get a good spread of theoretical vs lab work.

Answer 2

I'm going to answer some of your questions based on my 22 years in engineering, rather than my particular current position. My current position is somewhat unusual, so my past experience is more relevant.

Likes: Enjoy the technology I work with. Enjoy being creative about problem solving and creating improvements. Proud of being able to do things easily that many would consider difficult. Dislikes: Some specialties are geographically limiting (automotive? Better like the midwest!) Technical track is often limited. Management and marketing make the bucks.

Writing: ABSOLUTELY a critical skill. You must be able to write a concise and clear document, with accurate spelling and correct punctuation. Your question is written fairly well, so I don't think you will have much trouble with this. Writing is important on a personal level because what you write, and how you write it, will weigh heavily in the recognition you receive from your superiors. From a professional perspective, you will be conveying technical information that others rely on. If it isn't clear, accurate, and professionally presented, your audience will not trust you and will look elsewhere to satisfy their needs.
Public speaking: Similar to writing. You may have to lead project teams, present design reviews, give status reports to management and/or customers. Getting comfortable with public speaking will help your career. The most important thing in presenting is to NOT LIE. If you do not know something, say you don't know, but you will find out. Then find out, and follow up with the person who asked. Never make up an answer.
Most important skills: Common sense. Ability to use common sense to channel all that math and science towards a rigorous solution to a problem. Logical thought process. Willingness to make mistakes, to be wrong, and to admit it when you are. Objectivity. Data driven, not opinion driven. Tenacity. Can-do attitude. Quality oriented.
New hire: Would generally like some hands-on skills in a related area. Someone who understands the nuts and bolts a little, not only the math and science.
First year student advice: Try to understand the concepts behind your studies. Understand what a derivative and an integral MEAN, not just how to solve the problems. Try to see the parallels between many of the basic formulae. Embrace the liberal arts courses. You'll be a better engineer if you also have some appreciation for literature, music, and art.

Answer 3

1. I work at a company that makes nuclear detection systems. These systems detect gamma and neutron radiation.

2. I am Vice President of Engineering, but I also still perform electronics engineering design. I have been an engineer for 20 years, and the path that I have followed consisted of obtaining a BSEE, going to work at McDonnell Douglas, obtaining my MSEE while working, and moving through several companies.

3. I still enjoy designing new electronic instruments, especially using FPGAs and digital signal processing techniques. I dislike having less time to do this as more of my time is consumed with meetings.

4. The past week...3 days of integrated baseline review meetings with our customer.

5. I use a PC in my work. I use it for drawing schematics, running Matlab, running Xilinx ISE software, running Microsoft Office (especially Powerpoint, Word, and Excel).

6. I have written patent descriptions, scientific papers on our work, monthly reports, and proposals for new business. It is important to communicate effectively as an engineer.

7. There are three kinds of public speaking I have performed. First, there are reviews with our customer which require preparing Powerpoint presentations which summarize the technical progress and status for several projects. Second, there are impromptu discussions with various visitors such as investors and bankers who are brought through on tours. Third, I have given scientific papers orally at conferences on our work. This also makes use of PowerPoint presentations.

8. We work as a team. Each of us does "our thing" with very little supervision. I usually perform analog and FPGA design (the front end for the radiation sensors), another engineer provides firmware for a microcontroller, another engineer acts as manufactureing engineer and handles getting the PCB layout complete and BOM completed. We have mechanical engineers for packaging, several physicists for determining the detector geometry and material as well as algorithms. There are also software engineers that write application software and GUIs for our instruments. Technicians in the company also help the engineers build boards and cables.

9. The skills that are important include math and ability to communicate. At least these have been important for me.

10. That depends on the areas of interest of the new grad. I would likely assign the engineer support roles at first such as helping refurbish detectors that have been returned for upgrading so that they can learn our system architecture before being given purely design tasks.

11. I would look for interest and coursework in electronics, both analog and digital. Exposure to FPGAs and firmware would be a plus...self-motivated with a desire to actually practice electronics engineering are important.

12. No.

13. Work hard and learn the material. As you get the humanities and other required coursework "out of the way" and get into the engineering courses, you will find many of the concepts, math, and theory tying together in a really logical way. Try to do well on your grades and really try to find a portion of the field that you really enjoy. Take as many classes in that area as you can. If it is fun and a hobby for you, it will be much easier and you will enjoy it more!!