My friend is an Electrical Designer. She says Engineers take credit for her work. Does this happen a lot?

Question

My friend does electrical drawings in Autocad, and designs power and control circuits for the oil & gas industry. She does most of the circuit design and grounding, material specifications, and all the drawing packages for big projects.

She says she is going to change careers because engineers take all the credit for work and ideas the designers come up with.... unless there's a problem. Then it comes back to the designer.

Is this common in engineering?

Answer 1

Yes, if the investigating team detected there's technical problem, the engineer is fully responsible on this. If there's big problem that it cause death or injuries to others, they will face the penalty.

Answer 2

I am an AutoCAD electrical designer in the commercial building industry. I do the work and a licensed professional engineer signs and seals the drawings. By law, in the State of Texas I cannot be responsible for the design. The professional engineer has to review and assume responsibility for the design/engineering. This is just the way it works for the publics best interest. I don't know if the electronics industry works the same, but I would suggest that your friend invest in a bachelor's degree so she can become an engineer and get credit for her own work.

Answer 3

The CAD group in our company never does any true electronic design, they would never be asked to do any true electronic design. They are called "designers" because they do pcb layout (board design).

If your friend is actually doing circuit design, then she must have some electrical engineering skills. What she may be doing is some of the very simple stuff -- similar to if a surgeon asks his/her operating room nurse to "close up" -- because the engineers don't want to 'bother' with it.

There is another possibility: the company is too cheap to hire degreed electronic designers for these tasks, and leaves the signoff to the PEs (professional engineers).

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Answer 4

Yes, it is the source of my frustration at my current job. In some places there is a serious "college boy"attitude wherein it is difficult to be taken seriously, and even though you may be the only one around who can solve a difficult problem, you are always under the direction of some engineer who gets the credit. I cannot get my own projects, instead my boss directs his engineers to get me to solve their problems rather than give me the problems directly. Once done of course, it becomes their accomplishment. Really fuggin irritates the hell out of me and is why I'm looking for a new job. I have been here 18 months, and can see I have no future here.

Answer 5

Its really not a common pratice. When she said they take credit I dont understand because a CAD specialist always has their initials on every engineering drawing are they stealing her design concept or claiming they did the actual CADing?

If its something that bothers her so much I will not say to change her career...I will advice her to speak with and EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) If her company offers one or if comfortable...bring the issue to table informally..Becasue she must be good to be a victim of theft and believe me if she runs from one fight she would only leave to fight another....my2cents.

Answer 6

Do you really think Thomas Edison personally invented all those items? He had an army of engineers working for him, but his name went on all the patent applications.

Is your friend "inventing" new ideas? Or is she doing the grunt work of applying known technology for the specific application?

Ultimately the engineer (boss) is in charge and is responsible for the final product. In some disciplines they can be held personally accountable.

Answer 7

Isn't your friend also an engineer since she can do the electrical drawings in Autocad?