oliver2-44 9,870 #26 Posted 16 hours ago I have to take up for some Engineers I worked with. They were really down to earth, hands on and could deal with reality. A woman engineer I worked with was so excellent in theory and hands on application. But I also worked with a some that just never got past the text book. They had lots of theory but couldn’t put it to work. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kpinnc 12,525 #27 Posted 14 hours ago 1 hour ago, oliver2-44 said: I have to take up for some Engineers I worked with. I should probably also clarify my comments: I am an engineer myself, and no one gives me more grief than I do! My grandfather was the king of making fun of himself. I guess I try to do the same. Ad a kid, I would get embarrassed when I did something stupid and got caught. As I've gotten older, I figure it's more fun to laugh like everyone else does! Side note- my gramps believed Wiley Coyote was literally created in his image. I've found over the years that this too, appears hereditary. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adsm08 2,181 #28 Posted 13 hours ago 3 hours ago, oliver2-44 said: I have to take up for some Engineers I worked with. They were really down to earth, hands on and could deal with reality. A woman engineer I worked with was so excellent in theory and hands on application. But I also worked with a some that just never got past the text book. They had lots of theory but couldn’t put it to work. 1 hour ago, kpinnc said: I should probably also clarify my comments: I am an engineer myself, and no one gives me more grief than I do! My grandfather was the king of making fun of himself. I guess I try to do the same. Ad a kid, I would get embarrassed when I did something stupid and got caught. As I've gotten older, I figure it's more fun to laugh like everyone else does! Side note- my gramps believed Wiley Coyote was literally created in his image. I've found over the years that this too, appears hereditary. I've known lots of engineers who were really great guys. As a mechanic I just tend to not get along with them professionally. I like to say that the biggest difference between the engineer and the mechanic is the math. The engineer can do a bunch of math and say "this should or shouldn't work". The mechanic can't do any of the math, but we know just by looking at it if it's going to work or not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kpinnc 12,525 #29 Posted 12 hours ago 39 minutes ago, adsm08 said: I like to say that the biggest difference between the engineer and the mechanic is the math. The engineer can do a bunch of math and say "this should or shouldn't work". The mechanic can't do any of the math, but we know just by looking at it if it's going to work or not. I can absolutely understand. And I have also done both jobs as well. When I did aviation maintenance I remember the tech support engineers as being some of the smartest folks I'd ever met. Our Martin Marietta engineer was a dang genius. Some others were morons that were too dangerous to handle complex tools like a hammer or wrench... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,814 #30 Posted 9 hours ago 6 hours ago, oliver2-44 said: some Engineers I worked with. They were really down to earth, But I also worked with a some that just never got past the text book. They had lots of theory but couldn’t put it to work. I was doing troubleshooting on electrical systems of a coal powered power plant under construction in Wyoming about fifty years ago. The coal grinder that would take small boulders and grind them down to dust to be injected into the boiler turned at 1/2 RPM. The engineers used magnetic pick-up devices on most rotating equipment and had done so no this grinder. I spent the better part of two days working with a young book-smart engineer before he became convinced that a shaft moving that slowly wouldn't generate an instantaneous pulse. He finally let me weld a short piece of angle iron to the shaft that would operate a snap action microswitch. To his credit, when he was praised for his accomplishment he gave me credit for it. We worked together on some other problems that cropped up and became good friends. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites