TRAITS OF A SUCCESSEFUL ENGINEER All of us would like to be successful in our engineering careers,because it brings personal fulfillment and financial reward.(For most engineers,financial reward is not the highest priority.Surveys of practicing engineers show that they value exciting and challenging work performed in a pleasant work environment over monetary compensation.)As s student,you may feel that performing well in your engineering courses will guarantee success in the real engineering world.Unfortunately,there are no guarantees in life.Ultimate success is achieved by mastering many traits,of which academic prowess is but one.By mastering the following traits,you will increase your chances of achieving a successful engineering career: Interpersonal skills.Engineers are typically employed in industry where success is necessarily a group effort.Successful engineers have good interpersonal skills.Not only must they effectively communicate with other highly educated engineers,but also with artisans who may have substantially less education,or other professionals who are highly educated in other fields(marketing,finance,psychology,etc.). Communication skills.Although the engineering curriculum emphasizes science and mathematics,some practicing engineers report that they spend up to 80%of their time in oral and written communications.Engineers generate engineering drawings or sketches to describe a new product,be it a machine part,an electronic circuit,or a crude flowchart of new computer code.They document test results in reports.They write memos,manuals, proposals to bid on jobs,and technical papers for trade journals.They give sales presentations to potential clients and make oral presentations at technical meetings.They communicate with the workers who actually build the devices designed by engineers.They speak at civic groups to educate the public about the impact of their plant on the local economy,or address safety concerns raised by the public. Leadership.Leadership is one of most desired skills for success.Good engineering leaders do not follow the herd;rather,they assess the situation and develop a plan to meet the group's objectives.Part of develop good leadership skills is learning how to be a good followers as well. Competence.Engineers are hired for their knowledge.If their knowledge is faulty,they are of little value to their employer.Performing well in your engineering courses will improve your competence. Logical thinking.Successful engineers base decisions on reason rather than emotions. Mathematics and science,which are based upon logic and experimentation,provide the foundations of our profession. Quantitative thinking.Engineering education emphasizes quantitative skills.We transform qualitative ideas into quantitative mathematical models that we use to make informed decisions. Follow-through.Many engineering projects take years or decades to complete.Engineers have to stay motivated and carry a project through to completion.People who need immediate gratification may be frustrated in many engineering projects. Continuing education.An undergraduate engineering education is just the beginning of a lifetime of learning.It is impossible for your professors to teach all relevant current knowledge in a 4-year curriculum.Also,over your 40-plus-year career,knowledge will expand dramatically.Unless you stay current,you will quickly become obsolete. Maintaining a professional library.Throughout your formal education,you will be required to purchase textbooks.Many students sell them after the course is completed.If that book contains useful information related to your career,it is foolish to sell it.Your textbook should become personalized references with appropriate underlining and notes in the margins that allow you to quickly regain the knowledge years after when you need it.Once you graduate
TRAITS OF A SUCCESSEFUL ENGINEER All of us would like to be successful in our engineering careers, because it brings personal fulfillment and financial reward. (For most engineers, financial reward is not the highest priority. Surveys of practicing engineers show that they value exciting and challenging work performed in a pleasant work environment over monetary compensation.) As s student, you may feel that performing well in your engineering courses will guarantee success in the real engineering world. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees in life. Ultimate success is achieved by mastering many traits, of which academic prowess is but one. By mastering the following traits, you will increase your chances of achieving a successful engineering career: · Interpersonal skills. Engineers are typically employed in industry where success is necessarily a group effort. Successful engineers have good interpersonal skills. Not only must they effectively communicate with other highly educated engineers, but also with artisans, who may have substantially less education, or other professionals who are highly educated in other fields (marketing, finance, psychology, etc.). · Communication skills. Although the engineering curriculum emphasizes science and mathematics, some practicing engineers report that they spend up to 80% of their time in oral and written communications. Engineers generate engineering drawings or sketches to describe a new product, be it a machine part, an electronic circuit, or a crude flowchart of new computer code. They document test results in reports. They write memos, manuals, proposals to bid on jobs, and technical papers for trade journals. They give sales presentations to potential clients and make oral presentations at technical meetings. They communicate with the workers who actually build the devices designed by engineers. They speak at civic groups to educate the public about the impact of their plant on the local economy, or address safety concerns raised by the public. ·Leadership. Leadership is one of most desired skills for success. Good engineering leaders do not follow the herd; rather, they assess the situation and develop a plan to meet the group’s objectives. Part of develop good leadership skills is learning how to be a good followers as well. ·Competence. Engineers are hired for their knowledge. If their knowledge is faulty, they are of little value to their employer. Performing well in your engineering courses will improve your competence. · Logical thinking. Successful engineers base decisions on reason rather than emotions. Mathematics and science, which are based upon logic and experimentation, provide the foundations of our profession. ·Quantitative thinking. Engineering education emphasizes quantitative skills. We transform qualitative ideas into quantitative mathematical models that we use to make informed decisions. · Follow-through. Many engineering projects take years or decades to complete. Engineers have to stay motivated and carry a project through to completion. People who need immediate gratification may be frustrated in many engineering projects. · Continuing education. An undergraduate engineering education is just the beginning of a lifetime of learning. It is impossible for your professors to teach all relevant current knowledge in a 4-year curriculum. Also, over your 40-plus-year career, knowledge will expand dramatically. Unless you stay current, you will quickly become obsolete. ·Maintaining a professional library. Throughout your formal education, you will be required to purchase textbooks. Many students sell them after the course is completed. If that book contains useful information related to your career, it is foolish to sell it. Your textbook should become personalized references with appropriate underlining and notes in the margins that allow you to quickly regain the knowledge years after when you need it. Once you graduate
you should continue purchasing handbooks and specialized books related to your field. Recall that you will be employed for your knowledge,and books are the most ready source of that knowledge Dependability.Many industries operate with deadlines.As a student,you also have many deadlines for homework,reports,tests and so forth.If you hand homework and reports in late,you are developing bad habits that will not serve you well in industry. Honesty.As much as technical skills are valued in industry,honesty is valued more.An employee who cannot be trusted is of no use to a company. Organization.Many engineering projects are extremely complex.Think of all the details that bad to be coordinated to construct your engineering building.It is composed of thousands of components (beams,ducting,electrical wiring,windows,lights,computer networks,doors, etc.).Because they interact,all those components had to be designed in a coordinated fashion.They had to be ordered from vendors and delivered to the construction site sequentially when they were required.The activities of the contractors had to coordinate to install each item when it arrived.The engineers had to be organized to construct the building on time and within budget. Common sense.There are many commonsense aspects of engineering that cannot be taught in the classroom.A lack of common sense can be disastrous.For example,a library was recently built that required pilings to support it on soft ground.(A piling is a vertical rod, generally made from concrete that goes deep into the ground to support the building that rests on it).Their engineers very carefully and meticulously designed their pilings to support the weight of the building,as they had done many times before.Although the pilings were sufficient to hold the building,the engineers neglected the weight of books in the library.The pilings were insufficient to carry this additional load,so the library is now slowly sinking into the ground. Curiosity.Engineers must constantly learn and attempt to understand the world.A successful engineer is always asking,why? Involvement in the community.Engineers benefit themselves and their community by being involved with clubs and organizations(Kiwanis,Rotary,etc.).These organizations provided useful community services and also serve as networks for business contacts. Creativity.From their undergraduate studies,it is easy for engineering students to get a false impression that engineering is not creative.Most courses emphasize analysis,in which a problem has already been defined and the "correct"answer is being sought.Although analysis is extremely important in engineering,most engineers also employ synthesis,the act of creatively combining smaller parts to form a whole.Synthesis is essential to design which usually starts with a loosely defined problem for which there are many possible solutions.The creative engineering challenge is to find the best solution to satisfy the project goals (low cost,reliability,functionality,etc.).Many of the technical challenge facing society can be met only with creativity.For if the solutions were obvious,the problems would already be solved
you should continue purchasing handbooks and specialized books related to your field. Recall that you will be employed for your knowledge, and books are the most ready source of that knowledge. ·Dependability. Many industries operate with deadlines. As a student, you also have many deadlines for homework, reports, tests and so forth. If you hand homework and reports in late, you are developing bad habits that will not serve you well in industry. · Honesty. As much as technical skills are valued in industry, honesty is valued more. An employee who cannot be trusted is of no use to a company. ·Organization. Many engineering projects are extremely complex. Think of all the details that bad to be coordinated to construct your engineering building. It is composed of thousands of components (beams, ducting, electrical wiring, windows, lights, computer networks, doors, etc.). Because they interact, all those components had to be designed in a coordinated fashion. They had to be ordered from vendors and delivered to the construction site sequentially when they were required. The activities of the contractors had to coordinate to install each item when it arrived. The engineers had to be organized to construct the building on time and within budget. ·Common sense. There are many commonsense aspects of engineering that cannot be taught in the classroom. A lack of common sense can be disastrous. For example, a library was recently built that required pilings to support it on soft ground. (A piling is a vertical rod, generally made from concrete that goes deep into the ground to support the building that rests on it). Their engineers very carefully and meticulously designed their pilings to support the weight of the building, as they had done many times before. Although the pilings were sufficient to hold the building, the engineers neglected the weight of books in the library. The pilings were insufficient to carry this additional load, so the library is now slowly sinking into the ground. · Curiosity. Engineers must constantly learn and attempt to understand the world. A successful engineer is always asking, why? ·Involvement in the community. Engineers benefit themselves and their community by being involved with clubs and organizations (Kiwanis, Rotary, etc.). These organizations provided useful community services and also serve as networks for business contacts. · Creativity. From their undergraduate studies, it is easy for engineering students to get a false impression that engineering is not creative. Most courses emphasize analysis, in which a problem has already been defined and the “correct” answer is being sought. Although analysis is extremely important in engineering, most engineers also employ synthesis, the act of creatively combining smaller parts to form a whole. Synthesis is essential to design, which usually starts with a loosely defined problem for which there are many possible solutions. The creative engineering challenge is to find the best solution to satisfy the project goals (low cost, reliability, functionality, etc.). Many of the technical challenge facing society can be met only with creativity. For if the solutions were obvious, the problems would already be solved