Calling All Engineers

What type of engineer are you?

  • Mechanical

    Votes: 16 20.3%

  • Electrical

    Votes: 15 19.0%

  • Industrial

    Votes: 4 5.1%

  • Manufacturing

    Votes: 3 3.8%

  • Computer

    Votes: 14 17.7%

  • Civil

    Votes: 10 12.7%

  • Aerospace

    Votes: 16 20.3%

  • Nuclear

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • Total voters
    79
kyleb said:
Last weekend, I used a come-along, a pry-bar, a load leveler, and a couple of harbor freight straps to hang the prop for my RV-10 from the stair opening into the attic above my garage so I could mount the prop. The pry-bar spanned the joists in the attic, the come along did the lifting, the load leveler took care of the balance and clocking of the prop, and the straps hung the prop from the load leveler. It was quite the sight. Worked too.

And in my daytime job, I'm an Industrial Engineer with an MBA.
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Nice work!
......and unlike in your daytime job, no pocket protector required.;)
 
My favorite story about degrees: As a USNA graduate, my time in grade started when I became a 2nd Lt. I was assigned another 2nd Lt. to tutor through some classes. He had gone through the PLC program and was therefore being paid for service over four years-about 50% more than me. When I asked him what his degree was in, he said "Ornamental Horticulture." My reply was "Neat, you guys design all those gardens we see around hotels, estates and public buildings." He said, "No, I learned to arrange flowers at weddings and funerals." It took him five years to graduate from a school that arranges flowers. Needless to say he did not do well in the Marines despite my best efforts.
 
Degree is Electrical and Electronics Engineering, never worked in that field. Space Systems Engineer, mostly.

Ron Wanttaja
 
CC268 said:
Your a freshman? Hey don’t forget to join Tappa Tappa Keg. Great engineering fraternity.
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At my alma mater it never took us engineers two tries to tappa a keg! ;)
 
CC268 said:
Your a freshman? Hey don’t forget to join Tappa Tappa Keg. Great engineering fraternity.
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:rolleyes:

More seriously, check out Triangle Fraternity. It is a social fraternity, but is restricted to engineering, architecture, and science majors and thus can be a great help when it comes to meeting people who have been through all the tough classes you will be going through.

http://www.triangle.org/
 
flyingcheesehead said:
:rolleyes:

More seriously, check out Triangle Fraternity. It is a social fraternity, but is restricted to engineering, architecture, and science majors and thus can be a great help when it comes to meeting people who have been through all the tough classes you will be going through.

http://www.triangle.org/
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Man your just so obtuse.
 
If I was in another country I'd be an Aviation Maintenance Engineer but here in the good ol' USA I'm just an aircraft mechanic. :(
 
Started out working on EE, switched to doing an AAS in Electronics. Worked as Broadcast Engineer for a while, then designing and building long haul microwave systems. Started back in school as an Aerospace guy, but got trounced when I hit Diff E in math. Went to work as an aircraft structural assembly guy, then moved to Flight Test Instrumentation Engineering for a bunch of years. Did some time designing and building water treatment processing skids and doing CT/MRI/X-ray power tube design. Now back on the ramp as a Field and Service Mechanic. Less money, but way less hassles, stress and uncertainty about keeping the job. Been here long enough now, that I'm almost impervious to being laid off, unless they close the plant doors.
 
BSEE 1975 from Washington State University. GO COUGS!!!

First year out of college I worked as a Nuclear Engineer at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Started working in electrical fields a year later, still active (a bit, I'm retired). But, since retiring from Intel I can't call myself an engineer because I don't have a PE license. Not that the PE exam covers EMC in any way, shape or form. I've been certified as an EMC Engineer by iNARTE since they created the certification at the behest of NAVAIR back in the late 1980s / early 1990s. Means more than having a PE, but I still can't call myself an engineer because of that. Oh well...
 
Aerospace and mechanical degrees for me.

Fun fact, these two majors were the only way to get true double undergrad diplomas at Princeton (Princeton generally conferring a major diploma and a ‘certificate’ if a student pursued a second field of study rather than a double major). The aerospace + mechanical dual degree loophole was eventually removed as an option after I graduated so I am one of very few double major Princeton grads.
 
Ghery said:
But, since retiring from Intel I can't call myself an engineer because I don't have a PE license... Means more than having a PE, but I still can't call myself an engineer because of that. Oh well...
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Plenty of practicing engineers don't have a PE. I've been working in aerospace for 7 years and haven't run into a single person using a PE license. It just isn't required in many (if not most) industries.

The 1 or 2 people I met that had a PE only had it because of time spent in the construction industry.
 
skier said:
Plenty of practicing engineers don't have a PE. I've been working in aerospace for 7 years and haven't run into a single person using a PE license. It just isn't required in many (if not most) industries.

The 1 or 2 people I met that had a PE only had it because of time spent in the construction industry.
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yup.....most PE guys are Civil.
 
skier said:
Plenty of practicing engineers don't have a PE. I've been working in aerospace for 7 years and haven't run into a single person using a PE license. It just isn't required in many (if not most) industries.

The 1 or 2 people I met that had a PE only had it because of time spent in the construction industry.
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I've been in manufacturing for almost 30 years (OMG! I'm old . . . ), working for two small companies and two Fortune 50 multinationals (yes, fifty). Outside of physical plant construction, all combined to have maybe 3 or 4 PEs. I thought about it, but decided there would be no return on my effort, and pursued a Masters of Engineering instead (with a good return :cool: ).
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
yup.....most PE guys are Civil.
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Quite a few electricals too if they are involved with civil works. Although, a civil PE is a catch all. A civil can do their own electrical and structural design (within limits) if it is incidental to their own project. The only real reason to have a mechanical PE is for building HVAC work.
 
BS/MS in EE (my answer for the poll). And a BS in Computer Science. Do both every day. Took and passed the EIT. Never bothered with the PE as I wasn't going into anything with power or construction/building. Before all that, the school of hard knocks on a Trident Submarine. If I were to mount diploma's on the wall, my Dolphins would be above them all.

I also think you should allow at least 2 choices, the poll will be more correct (says an Engineer - LOL)
 
Note that many that were in the software game decades ago [me!] have no degree in software engineering (nor does, say, Bill Gates). I studied what was at the time called commercial art.
 
BS Electronics, Michigan State. Worked for a time with Industrial and Mechanical engineers, got registered in Illinois (no specialty). Worked straight embedded logic design, it was rare to have any PE colleagues. Masters degree, Computer Science, focussed on communications protocols. Worked voice and data networks. Thousands of bright, hardworking, professional coworkers; zero PEs. Eventually, did automated testing frameworks for wireless applications. No client, customer, or colleague had any idea of what a PE was.

In a way, it's too bad. A wire falls across a road, newscasters are right on it. Who designed this thing? Distributed databases crash, people are wrongfully arrested, engine control programs give bogus commands...hey, such is life. Don't like it, file a civil damage lawsuit.
 
Dana said:
Once an engineer, always an engineer. It's not a piece of paper, I've never had a PE license, it's more a mindset... or a disease...

View attachment 70052
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Just remember, Dilbert isn't a comic strip. Dilbert is a documentary.

skier said:
Plenty of practicing engineers don't have a PE. I've been working in aerospace for 7 years and haven't run into a single person using a PE license. It just isn't required in many (if not most) industries.

The 1 or 2 people I met that had a PE only had it because of time spent in the construction industry.
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I know of others who have the PE, but it had never been required in any job I've had.

Checkout_my_Six said:
The high tech stuff doesn't need a PE.....;)
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True, that.

Sinistar said:
BS/MS in EE (my answer for the poll). And a BS in Computer Science. Do both every day. Took and passed the EIT. Never bothered with the PE as I wasn't going into anything with power or construction/building. Before all that, the school of hard knocks on a Trident Submarine. If I were to mount diploma's on the wall, my Dolphins would be above them all.

I also think you should allow at least 2 choices, the poll will be more correct (says an Engineer - LOL)
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Those Dolphins are indeed a badge of honor.

I took (and passed) the EIT in Washington state just before graduating with my BSEE. It was the best time to take it as we had review sessions on campus taught by professors in the various areas to be covered. 150 questions in the morning, answer any 100. Covered "everything". In the afternoon there were a number of problems, each with 10 questions. Pick 5 problems, no more than 1 in engineering economics. The whole thing was open book, open calculator (as long as the calculator ran on batteries). We figured that if you could get the university's IBM 360/67 to run on batteries you deserved to get the EIT without taking the test. :p Took the PE exam in Colorado after moving back to California. Didn't pass and because it would have taken another trip to find out what I didn't get right, I didn't bother. I know I had better have gotten the traffic engineering problem 100% right as it was the same as one we had in a review session with just the input data changed. Colorado didn't have a PE in various disciplines, just a general PE. Never bothered with the PE in California, Oregon or Washington. As noted by Checkout_my_Six above, it isn't needed in the high tech arena (where I worked for over 30 years).
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
Are you aware that there are BSAE degrees?
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Yes. My degrees are BSAAE and MSAE. Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from THE Ohio State University, a Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institue of Technology.

BTW- Go Bucs!
 
Rcmutz said:
Yes. My degrees are BSAAE and MSAE. Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from THE Ohio State University, a Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institue of Technology.

BTW- Go Bucs!
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How nice....;)
 
Rcmutz said:
BTW- Go Bucs!
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I'm not normally a OSU fan (my wife will never forgive them for Woody Hays), but for this Rose Bowl I'm rooting for you. My two favorite teams are the WSU Cougars and anybody who is playing the uw mutts.
 
I am a nuke squared. B.S. in nuclear engineering; M.S. in nuclear engineering. Been working in the commericial nuclear industry for 21 + years. I did take and pass my PE after working for 15 years; I personally found the test to be easy with minimal studying (5 weeks).
 
BS/ME WE Now an embedded firmware engineer I like working where the software meets the silicon .I'm in Silicon Valley but my dream job is in Prescott, AZ
 
Civil/environment. Retired. Now fixing airplanes for a living (actually, it just supplements my retirement bennies).
 
Systems Architect here, specializing in storage and virtualization.
 
Crashnburn said:
BS/ME WE Now an embedded firmware engineer I like working where the software meets the silicon.
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Never did any embedded stuff, but back in my programmer days I enjoyed getting close to the metal as well. This was back when consumer 3D graphics hardware was still in its infancy, so anytime someone needed to get a few more FPS out of the engine, it always ended up on my desk. "Give it to kayoh - he's the only one here that actually enjoys that assembly s**t!"

Not an engineer, though.
 
When I was in grad school at UCF, they required all engineering degree candidates to take the EI exam. So, when I was wrapping up my MSEE I signed up for a test session. It wasn't required that I pass it, just that I take it, so I only did a small amount of prep and carried in two or three reference books.

Holy cow - people at the exam were wheeling in hand trucks full of textbooks and notebooks! How could you possibly use that stuff? On the morning multiple choice section, you only have an average of 2 minutes per question. Some take several minutes, so on the others you'd better be able to figure them out without digging through textbooks.

I made a solid passing score, but it seemed to me that the exam was more an exercise in test taking than demonstrating engineering knowledge. On many of the questions, only two or three choices would have the correct units, and one of those would have a numerical value that was two orders of magnitude wrong. If you could get the units and SWAG a ballpark answer, you had half the test already licked.

I never took the PE exam, though. In my field, it's not just that it's not required, it's downright irrelevant. And it is nearly impossible for me to even qualify for it, due to the requirement to be endorsed by several PEs who can attest to my qualifications. Heck, I only know two PEs at our place, and they've worked for me, not the other way around.

IMHO, the engineering licensing system in the US is a joke. 70 to 80 percent of practicing engineers are unlicensed, and have no requirement for it. Licensing is done by the states, and the states have no authority to regulate interstate commerce (i.e., most products) nor to regulate fields already regulated by the feds (communications, aviation, energy, etc.) nor to regulate direct activities of the feds (defense, space, etc.).

This is why you need a license to design a drainage culvert but not to design a nuclear cruise missile or an airliner.

The NSPE is largely out of touch with most of the profession, having only a small percentage of PEs as members. Yet they are responsible for state licensing exams. Hence the exams do not address the activities of 3/4 of US engineers.

Sorry, ranting....
 
Half Fast said:
When I was in grad school at UCF, they required all engineering degree candidates to take the EI exam. So, when I was wrapping up my MSEE I signed up for a test session. It wasn't required that I pass it, just that I take it, so I only did a small amount of prep and carried in two or three reference books.

Holy cow - people at the exam were wheeling in hand trucks full of textbooks and notebooks! How could you possibly use that stuff?
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Nowadays the test and a supplied reference document are on the computer - you don't bring your own stuff anymore. An organization I did some test prep teaching for required everyone to buy a paper copy of the reference, but I told them to set it aside and just use a .pdf version on their computer so they got used to searching for what they needed - knowing how to look it up on paper won't help. But, that could be one of the reasons that I no longer get asked to teach there...
 
Half Fast said:
When I was in grad school at UCF, they required all engineering degree candidates to take the EI exam. So, when I was wrapping up my MSEE I signed up for a test session. It wasn't required that I pass it, just that I take it, so I only did a small amount of prep and carried in two or three reference books.

Holy cow - people at the exam were wheeling in hand trucks full of textbooks and notebooks! How could you possibly use that stuff? On the morning multiple choice section, you only have an average of 2 minutes per question. Some take several minutes, so on the others you'd better be able to figure them out without digging through textbooks.

I made a solid passing score, but it seemed to me that the exam was more an exercise in test taking than demonstrating engineering knowledge. On many of the questions, only two or three choices would have the correct units, and one of those would have a numerical value that was two orders of magnitude wrong. If you could get the units and SWAG a ballpark answer, you had half the test already licked.

I never took the PE exam, though. In my field, it's not just that it's not required, it's downright irrelevant. And it is nearly impossible for me to even qualify for it, due to the requirement to be endorsed by several PEs who can attest to my qualifications. Heck, I only know two PEs at our place, and they've worked for me, not the other way around.

IMHO, the engineering licensing system in the US is a joke. 70 to 80 percent of practicing engineers are unlicensed, and have no requirement for it. Licensing is done by the states, and the states have no authority to regulate interstate commerce (i.e., most products) nor to regulate fields already regulated by the feds (communications, aviation, energy, etc.) nor to regulate direct activities of the feds (defense, space, etc.).

This is why you need a license to design a drainage culvert but not to design a nuclear cruise missile or an airliner.

The NSPE is largely out of touch with most of the profession, having only a small percentage of PEs as members. Yet they are responsible for state licensing exams. Hence the exams do not address the activities of 3/4 of US engineers.

Sorry, ranting....
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I hear what you're saying, but licensing is fairly irrelevant for people designing complex mechanical and electrical systems for defense contractors, since the fields in play are very specialized and you're either coming in with advanced specialized education or are being trained in the area you will be working on, and they already have QA/QC and vetting processes in place.

PE exams are heavily weighted toward civil works and code compliance, even the mechanical and electrical. The guy designing the drainage culvert may well be operating on his own.
 
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Sac Arrow said:
I hear what you're saying, but licensing is fairly irrelevant for people designing complex mechanical and electrical systems for defense contractors, since the fields in play are very specialized and you're either coming in with advanced specialized education or are being trained in the area you will be working on, and they already have QA/QC and vetting processes in place.

PE exams are heavily weighted toward civil works and code compliance, even the mechanical and electrical. The guy designing the drainage culvert may well be operating on his own.
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Very true. You emphasize my point. The design work I've done for defense systems is not even touched upon by PE exams. They're heavily weighted toward the construction fields.

In some states, though, it's illegal for non-licensed engineers to even refer to themselves as an engineer, though 3/4 of the profession practices under some sort of licensing exemption. Here in Florida, at least, engineers practicing under an exemption can use the title "engineer" if they have an engineering degree from an accredited university. That's not true everywhere, though laws prohibiting use of the title often fail in the courts.

I think a system run by the professional societies might work better, similar to what's used in England. But I'm not sure there's really any problem to be solved anyway; what we have seems to sorta work, most of the time.
 
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