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Human: Female engineer being given administrative duties I'm a female ME, graduated about 2 years ago and this is my first full time job out of school. When I first joined, I was given a lot of administrative tasks. I thought that was normal to start out doing, so I was fine with it until I started noticing that I was getting more of these duties than technical ones, especially compared to my male colleagues. I started pushing back and stopped doing the administrative duties, or I would delegate them as I started getting some experience under my belt and was no longer the new employee. Recently, we hired a female and male engineer at the same time. The female engineer is being handed the administrative duties without the male even being considered to do them. Now that I see what was happening to me, I don't want to see this be done to another girl. Is this normal? Should I speak to my boss about this? Assistant: This happened to me too. I am younger and not white. I got assigned alot of tasks that my older white male coworkers did not have to do. We have the same job titles and were hired at the same time. Eventually I just got tired of it and didn't do it. Took on other technical tasks and said that I did not have enough time for it. Or I did it so badly that they took it away. It was kind of a combination.	Human: Female engineer being given administrative duties I'm a female ME, graduated about 2 years ago and this is my first full time job out of school. When I first joined, I was given a lot of administrative tasks. I thought that was normal to start out doing, so I was fine with it until I started noticing that I was getting more of these duties than technical ones, especially compared to my male colleagues. I started pushing back and stopped doing the administrative duties, or I would delegate them as I started getting some experience under my belt and was no longer the new employee. Recently, we hired a female and male engineer at the same time. The female engineer is being handed the administrative duties without the male even being considered to do them. Now that I see what was happening to me, I don't want to see this be done to another girl. Is this normal? Should I speak to my boss about this? Assistant: Isn't your boss the one doing this? Honestly it depends on your relationship wirh your boss.
Human: Let’s say catastrophic sea level rise leaves a major city underwater, with only the upper stories of skyscrapers poking above the waves. What happens to those buildings? How long can a modern structure survive while submerged? I understand it would be virtually impossible (at least in the next few centuries) for seas to rise by the amount I’m talking about. But inspired by this model and Hollywood - what would happen if a modern skyscraper suddenly became an island? Would the foundation eventually give way, causing the whole structure to topple into the sea? Or would the beams corrode first? Assistant: I would suggest reading "New York 2140" by Kim Stanley Robinson	Human: Let’s say catastrophic sea level rise leaves a major city underwater, with only the upper stories of skyscrapers poking above the waves. What happens to those buildings? How long can a modern structure survive while submerged? I understand it would be virtually impossible (at least in the next few centuries) for seas to rise by the amount I’m talking about. But inspired by this model and Hollywood - what would happen if a modern skyscraper suddenly became an island? Would the foundation eventually give way, causing the whole structure to topple into the sea? Or would the beams corrode first? Assistant: The stability of foundations depends on the effectieve Soil pressure. (=Soil pressure - water pressure). It will be different between buildings, but some could start to sag, even fall over in storm winds. If the water is high enough you could lift te building because of the Archimedes effect if you don't let the water in the bottom floors. Those floors will become useless.
Human: What invention was delayed due to the wrong material being used ? I was listening to a podcast about how material science is behind every single invention and how it doesn’t get enough attention Has there been any inventions that would have happened earlier if the correct material was engineered earlier? Which inventions faced obstacles at first due to material challenges ? Assistant: Insulation and fire resistant materials got setback because of how AMAZING asbesto was ....	Human: What invention was delayed due to the wrong material being used ? I was listening to a podcast about how material science is behind every single invention and how it doesn’t get enough attention Has there been any inventions that would have happened earlier if the correct material was engineered earlier? Which inventions faced obstacles at first due to material challenges ? Assistant: the lightbulb: both tesla and edison experimented for years to find the right material for the filament to generate lasting, unwavering light
Human: Got offered a low paying engineering job wondering if it's worth accepting Hey, recent college undergrad here. I've recently received a job offer from a startup in the Silicon Valley. The job pays about $50k and I'm aware that is low for my major (B.S. in Computer Engineering) and the cost of living in the Silicon Valley. The startup is very young, I think about 2 yrs old so I understand why the pay is low. I'm currently living with my family so I don't have to pay any living expenses but will probably take up some of the bills to help my parents out. I don't have any prior internships and experience so I feel this might be my only opportunity to get some experience since most of the other jobs I applied to have rejected me. This would be my first engineering job and I'm excited and nervous if I accept the job. I was wondering if accepting this job would make sense for my situation and before I accept this job what questions should I ask the HR rep in terms vacation days, raises, benefits, etc. Assistant: If you have no other job, 50K seems okay. Even though it's in Silicon Valley, by working there you will be exposed to other companies and can more easily jump ship. Just do it and keep looking! Usually startups don't have much free cash, so they would try to give funny money (RSUs, options) to incentivize. Are you getting any equity?	Human: Got offered a low paying engineering job wondering if it's worth accepting Hey, recent college undergrad here. I've recently received a job offer from a startup in the Silicon Valley. The job pays about $50k and I'm aware that is low for my major (B.S. in Computer Engineering) and the cost of living in the Silicon Valley. The startup is very young, I think about 2 yrs old so I understand why the pay is low. I'm currently living with my family so I don't have to pay any living expenses but will probably take up some of the bills to help my parents out. I don't have any prior internships and experience so I feel this might be my only opportunity to get some experience since most of the other jobs I applied to have rejected me. This would be my first engineering job and I'm excited and nervous if I accept the job. I was wondering if accepting this job would make sense for my situation and before I accept this job what questions should I ask the HR rep in terms vacation days, raises, benefits, etc. Assistant: You won’t even be able to afford to live there on that little. You should look east coast and mid west and aim for $60k-$70k. The engineering job market is fine don’t let anyone scare you
Human: Aspiring Design/CAE engineer fearful of automation. Please help me get out of this rut. For context, I'm an undergrad majoring in ME and wish to work with composites and lightweighting. However, there is a growing fear inside of me (and growing by the day), about how automation could make design engineers redundant. Argh..I'm sorry I brought that up again. But this thought, that one day you could walk in to your workplace and be deemed unnecessary seems daunting to me. This demotivates me from doing anything productive at all, or learning anything useful for that matter. It makes me feel like I'm working up to gain a useless degree. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, automation is the way to go but that is probably out of the scope of this thread. I'd like for engineers working in the industry to maybe explain what the reality of all this is? How are design engineers adapting to all of this and what could probably hold for us in the future? Thanks so much for your time and I would greatly appreciate a candid answer from you. Assistant: Just ask Siri or Alexa a question and you won’t be that worried about AI anymore.	Human: Aspiring Design/CAE engineer fearful of automation. Please help me get out of this rut. For context, I'm an undergrad majoring in ME and wish to work with composites and lightweighting. However, there is a growing fear inside of me (and growing by the day), about how automation could make design engineers redundant. Argh..I'm sorry I brought that up again. But this thought, that one day you could walk in to your workplace and be deemed unnecessary seems daunting to me. This demotivates me from doing anything productive at all, or learning anything useful for that matter. It makes me feel like I'm working up to gain a useless degree. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, automation is the way to go but that is probably out of the scope of this thread. I'd like for engineers working in the industry to maybe explain what the reality of all this is? How are design engineers adapting to all of this and what could probably hold for us in the future? Thanks so much for your time and I would greatly appreciate a candid answer from you. Assistant: Engineers are part of automation
Human: Do most Engineers eventually go into Management ? Assistant: A lot due just because so many places have a lack of mobility once you are an established engineer. But imo it isnt worth it at all.	Human: Do most Engineers eventually go into Management ? Assistant: Nope. There are other tracks like technical leadership (project leadership) and pure technical, especially specialization.
Human: About to graduate with BS in Aerospace engineering and I feel like I don't know anything... did anyone feel something similar? 3 years of schooling, 2 of which was general ed and some foundation stuffs like static and dynamics. I'll be graduating in two quarters and I just don't feel like I know enough to be useful in real life setting. I've taken plenty of 'book courses' where we go through a text book and do problems on it. But none of them felt "real". And I felt like I just scratched the surface on a lot of topics but very few in depth. Controls? I did couple projects in matlab. Materials? Did a lot of book studies, and set through a series of lectures. Which was informative and interesting, but I don't have a clue where I'd start in a real life project. Aerodynamics? a lot of it was again book study. and I don't think real life situations will be a series of problem 10.2, 10.3 ....   As far as more concrete skills go I know Solidwork, Matlab and Python pretty well. Have done fair amount of experimental work in labs. Got my hands on machining, LabView, and such but not an expert. I missed out of FEM stuffs due to schedule conflict, which is my big regret.\. I've done one internship, but it was much more independent (little to no guidance) than I thought, and I played with Arduino to make a automated roller for 3 months. Since I had no experience with it before I struggled pretty hard, and by the time I got a hang of it the internship ended.   When I visited Boeing plant and such, I was pretty overwhelmed by how much work is being done. How much expertise the engineers have there. Of course I fully expect to have far less experience than the veterans, but I feel like I can't even contribute anything of real value. And that's scary. Because entry level engineer gets paid something like $70,000 as far as I know. And I feel like I can't produce nothing worth that much. What can I do? make a solidwork model? punch in some matlab code? write a 10 page report? I feel like I'm missing something and it's terrifying. What should I do at this point? What kind of skills can I learn in next 7 months to make me more useful? How do you deal with this sense of being overwhelmed? Assistant: Getting an undergrad engineering degree let's employer's know that you know how to think like an engineer and have a basic understanding of engineering principles. You'll be taught (or self teach) what you need to know to do your job once you start. In a large company like Boeing, you won't be truly useful to them until you've been working for at least a year. Even then, you'll barely be earning your pay from an investment standpoint.	Human: About to graduate with BS in Aerospace engineering and I feel like I don't know anything... did anyone feel something similar? 3 years of schooling, 2 of which was general ed and some foundation stuffs like static and dynamics. I'll be graduating in two quarters and I just don't feel like I know enough to be useful in real life setting. I've taken plenty of 'book courses' where we go through a text book and do problems on it. But none of them felt "real". And I felt like I just scratched the surface on a lot of topics but very few in depth. Controls? I did couple projects in matlab. Materials? Did a lot of book studies, and set through a series of lectures. Which was informative and interesting, but I don't have a clue where I'd start in a real life project. Aerodynamics? a lot of it was again book study. and I don't think real life situations will be a series of problem 10.2, 10.3 ....   As far as more concrete skills go I know Solidwork, Matlab and Python pretty well. Have done fair amount of experimental work in labs. Got my hands on machining, LabView, and such but not an expert. I missed out of FEM stuffs due to schedule conflict, which is my big regret.\. I've done one internship, but it was much more independent (little to no guidance) than I thought, and I played with Arduino to make a automated roller for 3 months. Since I had no experience with it before I struggled pretty hard, and by the time I got a hang of it the internship ended.   When I visited Boeing plant and such, I was pretty overwhelmed by how much work is being done. How much expertise the engineers have there. Of course I fully expect to have far less experience than the veterans, but I feel like I can't even contribute anything of real value. And that's scary. Because entry level engineer gets paid something like $70,000 as far as I know. And I feel like I can't produce nothing worth that much. What can I do? make a solidwork model? punch in some matlab code? write a 10 page report? I feel like I'm missing something and it's terrifying. What should I do at this point? What kind of skills can I learn in next 7 months to make me more useful? How do you deal with this sense of being overwhelmed? Assistant: Yes. You will be fine.
Human: I graduated in May 2020 with a BSME and am still struggling to find a job-any advice on finally getting that first job? Firstly, I have barely gotten any interviews, but when I do the feedback has been positive. The companies just decide to go with a more qualified candidate. I’ll be the first to admit my resume is fairly weak since I did not intern during my 4 years of school and did not minor in anything. All I have right now is a B.S. in Mechanical and a 3.3 GPA. A degree in engineering is something to be proud of, but it definitely seems to not be enough to secure a job in the field. Do you have any advice as to maybe a masters program or certification that would help build my experience? Assistant: Are you applying everywhere in the US? My first job was in the middle of bumfuck nowhere.	Human: I graduated in May 2020 with a BSME and am still struggling to find a job-any advice on finally getting that first job? Firstly, I have barely gotten any interviews, but when I do the feedback has been positive. The companies just decide to go with a more qualified candidate. I’ll be the first to admit my resume is fairly weak since I did not intern during my 4 years of school and did not minor in anything. All I have right now is a B.S. in Mechanical and a 3.3 GPA. A degree in engineering is something to be proud of, but it definitely seems to not be enough to secure a job in the field. Do you have any advice as to maybe a masters program or certification that would help build my experience? Assistant: Network, network, network. You need to have somebody introduce you. A wingman, of sorts. Send in a resume to an online portal and you're an anonymous name on a page. Have someone walk your resume in and put in a good word for you, and you're 1000x more attractive as a candidate.
Human: If you could build a manufacturing department from the ground up, what would you do? I have just taken a job with a startup as their manufacturing engineer and they currently have essentially no formal processes in place. If you could go back in time in your manufacturing facility, what are some things you wish had been done differently from the start? I really want to get things off in a good direction but I’m also pretty new to this, only being a few years into my career, so I’ve only had one other job to use as a baseline. Assistant: Map out the operational flow and you'll find all the redundancies and double handling. Good reads are The Goal by eliahu goldratt and books on the Toyota way	Human: If you could build a manufacturing department from the ground up, what would you do? I have just taken a job with a startup as their manufacturing engineer and they currently have essentially no formal processes in place. If you could go back in time in your manufacturing facility, what are some things you wish had been done differently from the start? I really want to get things off in a good direction but I’m also pretty new to this, only being a few years into my career, so I’ve only had one other job to use as a baseline. Assistant: https://youtube.com/c/PiersonWorkholding This guy has a video series about stuff he has done in his workshop! They're very inspiring lean videos
Human: MechE That Hates Coding, Is That A Problem? I have a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in aerospace and have been working for three years. In my current role in missile defense some coding ability is expected, even though I was clear I had very little, and when looking for new jobs in mech and aero it seems everything is asking for experience with things like Matlab, Python, C++, etc. I strongly dislike coding and programming. I have spent years trying to learn it and get used to it but I it very unintuitive, frustrating, challenging, and unfulfilling. When I've been asked to do it I usually fall short and can't succeed, and I feel that makes me look lazy and a bad employee, but honestly I just have a very difficult time doing it. Is this a problem for my future career as an engineer? Should I try to transition to a different field? If I want to stay in engineering and ideally mech and aero, what types of positions do you suggest I look for? Thanks. Assistant: It’s a good skill to know, but you can easily find a field in ME without it. I graduated 2018 and haven’t touched a coding program sense. My job is FEA engineer	Human: MechE That Hates Coding, Is That A Problem? I have a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in aerospace and have been working for three years. In my current role in missile defense some coding ability is expected, even though I was clear I had very little, and when looking for new jobs in mech and aero it seems everything is asking for experience with things like Matlab, Python, C++, etc. I strongly dislike coding and programming. I have spent years trying to learn it and get used to it but I it very unintuitive, frustrating, challenging, and unfulfilling. When I've been asked to do it I usually fall short and can't succeed, and I feel that makes me look lazy and a bad employee, but honestly I just have a very difficult time doing it. Is this a problem for my future career as an engineer? Should I try to transition to a different field? If I want to stay in engineering and ideally mech and aero, what types of positions do you suggest I look for? Thanks. Assistant: I’m in the same boat . I hate coding . It’s literally the worst thing engineers have to do . Yet I have an internship coming up that expects me to do some absurdly complicated coding . Not sure how I’m going 2 cope . If they need coders they should just hire a comp-sci person
Human: Are most entry level graduate jobs like this? Hey guys. Working my first role out of university. I have a masters in mech eng. I went through a grad scheme where they rotate you through a big engineering consultancy. But turns out they aren’t rotating me anymore. I’ve been stuck on the asset management team within a systems engineering team. All I do all day is excel and Visio diagrams. I’ve been here for 9 months now and that’s all I’ve done. Going through engineering drawings, finding the asset name, and then putting it on a spreadsheet. Then making a visio diagram of said spreadsheet. I mean, I wasn’t expecting to be designing a rocket ship on day 1. But I also wasn’t really expecting this. My work placement was designing knee replacements in a research lab. I actually used my skills. It was technically challenging. This? This is rubbish. Are all entry level roles like this? Getting quite frustrated Assistant: Companies sell these "rotational" programs as way to get a bunch of experience, but in reality they are a way for HR to get the manpower to fill out projects. Especially consulting where you charge the client by working hours. If you truly want to get a great rotation you have to make connections and force yourself into your next rotation.	Human: Are most entry level graduate jobs like this? Hey guys. Working my first role out of university. I have a masters in mech eng. I went through a grad scheme where they rotate you through a big engineering consultancy. But turns out they aren’t rotating me anymore. I’ve been stuck on the asset management team within a systems engineering team. All I do all day is excel and Visio diagrams. I’ve been here for 9 months now and that’s all I’ve done. Going through engineering drawings, finding the asset name, and then putting it on a spreadsheet. Then making a visio diagram of said spreadsheet. I mean, I wasn’t expecting to be designing a rocket ship on day 1. But I also wasn’t really expecting this. My work placement was designing knee replacements in a research lab. I actually used my skills. It was technically challenging. This? This is rubbish. Are all entry level roles like this? Getting quite frustrated Assistant: Not all entry level ones. In a rotational scheme in a huge company though? Yeah, a lot of them are. Especially entry level systems engineering.
Human: What does it really mean when you see "Not For Lifting" on a chain, hoist, hook, clevis... I am an ME and have, almost, zero knowledge when it comes to lifting devices. Now, I understand that a plastic chain should not be used for lifting - obviously - but what about these steel chains that are rated at 4000 lbs that have a disclaimer stating, "Not For Lifting"? My assumption is that it is suitable, yet not rated for lifting and this is the companies way of protecting their ass by adding this disclaimer... Assistant: Don’t lift people with it, and don’t lift over people with it.	Human: What does it really mean when you see "Not For Lifting" on a chain, hoist, hook, clevis... I am an ME and have, almost, zero knowledge when it comes to lifting devices. Now, I understand that a plastic chain should not be used for lifting - obviously - but what about these steel chains that are rated at 4000 lbs that have a disclaimer stating, "Not For Lifting"? My assumption is that it is suitable, yet not rated for lifting and this is the companies way of protecting their ass by adding this disclaimer... Assistant: It depends on the component a lot of the time. But as you said, it does come down to liability. In my experience it either means it's not designed to safely hold or lift a human (like a light duty pulley or a winch which only pulls in one direction) or it means it does not have certification often speced (like some ASME standard for rigging components).
Human: How much will having a color streak in my hair affect my chances in getting internships? So earlier today, my friend gave me a gift card to a hair place to get my hair dyed because she knows I've really been wanting to get a purple streak in my hair for a while. Her gift is so sweet and so thoughtful, so I couldn't tell her that the reason I haven't done it is because I've always been worried about how it would affect my image when trying to get an internship or job in the engineering field. I'm a sophomore in college studying Aerospace Engineering. My dream job is one with NASA and I've been trying to get a summer internship with them. I'm concerned about how it would affect that. I would just really like some advice on how big of an issue this could potentially be. It wouldn't be anything super drastic, just kind of a deep purple streak across my bangs, or something similar. Thanks! Assistant: NASA employee here. It will have zero effect on your chances of getting an internship.	Human: How much will having a color streak in my hair affect my chances in getting internships? So earlier today, my friend gave me a gift card to a hair place to get my hair dyed because she knows I've really been wanting to get a purple streak in my hair for a while. Her gift is so sweet and so thoughtful, so I couldn't tell her that the reason I haven't done it is because I've always been worried about how it would affect my image when trying to get an internship or job in the engineering field. I'm a sophomore in college studying Aerospace Engineering. My dream job is one with NASA and I've been trying to get a summer internship with them. I'm concerned about how it would affect that. I would just really like some advice on how big of an issue this could potentially be. It wouldn't be anything super drastic, just kind of a deep purple streak across my bangs, or something similar. Thanks! Assistant: I worked at NASA and have color streaks in my hair. It was a non-issue.
Human: How important are cover letters when applying for engineering jobs? I’m graduating this spring and I’m wondering if cover letters are as important in a more technical field like engineering. I know in some ways they can set you apart from other applicants but I was hoping to get some insight into if they’re more of an added bonus or a necessity. Assistant: When I was desperate, yes. Today, with 7 years of experience, heck no. I don't even apply to jobs. Recruiters come to me.	Human: How important are cover letters when applying for engineering jobs? I’m graduating this spring and I’m wondering if cover letters are as important in a more technical field like engineering. I know in some ways they can set you apart from other applicants but I was hoping to get some insight into if they’re more of an added bonus or a necessity. Assistant: Used the same cover letter and just swapped out the company name each time.
Human: Why would a bridge be built like this? One half is an inverted version of the other half. I'm probably not using the right terminology. https://www.flickr.com/photos/114582387@N06/31056877820/sizes/l/ On the far half you have all those steel parts above the bridge and on the near half it's basically the same set-up but upside down/under the bridge. Assistant: A few possibilities: -needed clearance for boats on one span, too expensive to do on both -one side needed a retrofit and the new way was cheaper or better -the different ends had different abilities to support the superstructure -trains only go in one direction, so the second span will only be loaded when the first is as well -contractor read the drawings upside down	Human: Why would a bridge be built like this? One half is an inverted version of the other half. I'm probably not using the right terminology. https://www.flickr.com/photos/114582387@N06/31056877820/sizes/l/ On the far half you have all those steel parts above the bridge and on the near half it's basically the same set-up but upside down/under the bridge. Assistant: Clearance for water traffic
Human: Why does it seem a large portion of windmills are not spinning? Hi, Occasionally I will drive by a windmill farm and notice several of them aren't spinning. Care to explain to a layman why? Are they that prone to breakdown and failure? Are there limitations on how much energy is to be produced at specific times? If such a question has been asked before, mods feel free to point to the URL and lock the thread. Thank you. Assistant: A lot of the time there is no demand for the power. You can easily shut down a wind turbine but not a coal powered plant.	Human: Why does it seem a large portion of windmills are not spinning? Hi, Occasionally I will drive by a windmill farm and notice several of them aren't spinning. Care to explain to a layman why? Are they that prone to breakdown and failure? Are there limitations on how much energy is to be produced at specific times? If such a question has been asked before, mods feel free to point to the URL and lock the thread. Thank you. Assistant: Blades are probably tilted if ones in the same orientation are spinning. This is done for various reasons, maintenance I imagine being the main one.
Human: What makes someone worth hiring internationally? I have a few friends that by this point in their careers have moved abroad (some to Canada, a few to the EU), often quite easily because they are very accomplished software engineers with impressive resumes. I often hear "Come join us in Canada/NL/etc, it's great!", but I don't have the resume that makes an international move so easy. I have a bachelor's degree in M.E., a couple years of experience in telecom product design, no "impressive" jobs on my resume (no Tesla, Ford, NASA, etc.) and some basic Mandarin proficiency (HSK1 and slowly improving, so still a very long way from anything resembling fluency). What can I realistically work on to make myself attractive to foreign companies, if I ever did want to move abroad? Is going back to school (and/or going to grad school in the "target country" to get a foot in the door) the only/best way? Assistant: International recruitment is more about a lack of local resources than about the quality of you as a candidate. If the local market is saturated they will never bother to get someone from overseas. Likewise, if there's no engineers going round, they will take any old shite and fly you half way across the world for the privelege. So the trick is to work out where in the world is having a boom and simultaneously a shortage of staff.	Human: What makes someone worth hiring internationally? I have a few friends that by this point in their careers have moved abroad (some to Canada, a few to the EU), often quite easily because they are very accomplished software engineers with impressive resumes. I often hear "Come join us in Canada/NL/etc, it's great!", but I don't have the resume that makes an international move so easy. I have a bachelor's degree in M.E., a couple years of experience in telecom product design, no "impressive" jobs on my resume (no Tesla, Ford, NASA, etc.) and some basic Mandarin proficiency (HSK1 and slowly improving, so still a very long way from anything resembling fluency). What can I realistically work on to make myself attractive to foreign companies, if I ever did want to move abroad? Is going back to school (and/or going to grad school in the "target country" to get a foot in the door) the only/best way? Assistant: If not internationally known, be known to rock the microphone
Human: How long do you think until we have automated drafting? Seems like something someone should be working on. As an addition to some CAD software, smart software that can take a complex part and create a comprehensible engineering drawing for it. Obviously there would need to be caveats like adding machining methods, which tolerance method you'd use, defining features based on what spec you're using. But it seems like something that could be done today. At the very least it could be smart enough to add some basic dimensions (pun not intended) and then the drafter can add the more nuanced pieces. If I had more software experience I might try and write that Assistant: Any Parametric modeling software (Solidworks, Inventor, NX...) can do auto layouts and auto dimensions for you. If you are really proactive on how you dimension and constrain your sketches while building the model the auto dimensions might be only partially useless. PMI data which lets you add tolerances and machining data right in the 3D model is kind of pushing things away from even needing a 2D drawing anyway. Or at least a full layout with dimensions and tolerancing.	Human: How long do you think until we have automated drafting? Seems like something someone should be working on. As an addition to some CAD software, smart software that can take a complex part and create a comprehensible engineering drawing for it. Obviously there would need to be caveats like adding machining methods, which tolerance method you'd use, defining features based on what spec you're using. But it seems like something that could be done today. At the very least it could be smart enough to add some basic dimensions (pun not intended) and then the drafter can add the more nuanced pieces. If I had more software experience I might try and write that Assistant: My former employer had something similar to this. We would design and build large modular systems and after it was modeled they had some proprietary software where we could set module boundaries and it would generate all the fabrication drawings, piping isometrics, cable runs, structural drawings and details. It wasn't perfect but it saved a lot of time.
Human: Do you think your job can be automated in the next 50 years? Im especially interested in EE and CE opinions on the matter as Im enrolled for one of them and concerned about future job prospects Iv heard lots of different things on the subject. For example a friend of mine claimed that anything not RF isnt hard and easy to automate while claiming CE is a safest bet there is. Seems like a load of hyperbole to me but who knows. What does reddit think about impact of automation on their respective fields of engineering? Assistant: Automation engineer... Seems unlikely.	Human: Do you think your job can be automated in the next 50 years? Im especially interested in EE and CE opinions on the matter as Im enrolled for one of them and concerned about future job prospects Iv heard lots of different things on the subject. For example a friend of mine claimed that anything not RF isnt hard and easy to automate while claiming CE is a safest bet there is. Seems like a load of hyperbole to me but who knows. What does reddit think about impact of automation on their respective fields of engineering? Assistant: Hah! The joke's on them! My job is so hard that I can't even do it!
Human: Has anyone worked with close friends? I work at a very small consulting company. I introduced the owner of the company to one of my close friends (a fellow engineer, I've known since college. He was initially a roommate and became a very close friend). The friend is currently on the job hunt, having told my boss this, he was impressed by friend's technical knowledge and is considering offering my friend a job. If my friend joined up, we would work largely on different projects, but collaborate together on occasion. The friend and I have concerns that working together would strain the friendship. Being engineers we are stubborn, while respecting one another's talents and skills. Has anyone worked with a close friend? How has it ended? Assistant: > The friend and I have concerns that working together would strain the friendship Why do you think so? Especially if you'd only be collaborating on occasion?	Human: Has anyone worked with close friends? I work at a very small consulting company. I introduced the owner of the company to one of my close friends (a fellow engineer, I've known since college. He was initially a roommate and became a very close friend). The friend is currently on the job hunt, having told my boss this, he was impressed by friend's technical knowledge and is considering offering my friend a job. If my friend joined up, we would work largely on different projects, but collaborate together on occasion. The friend and I have concerns that working together would strain the friendship. Being engineers we are stubborn, while respecting one another's talents and skills. Has anyone worked with a close friend? How has it ended? Assistant: Yeah, had multiple college friends including my best friend who was my college housemate work in the same department at my first company. Three of us (best friend and another college friend) shared a rental house for four years until we started splitting off doing different things. It works fine. Try to avoid working on the same projects when possible, and when you are on the same stuff just be mindful. It can work fine, even great.
Human: Elon Musk is talking about "solarizing" Puerto Rico. What could be the problems of a large-scale solar power grid? I say "power grid" but there doesn't need to be one (I suppose that in this case solar is attractive because it doesn't need a grid so you are spared the cost of rebuilding it). If you have hundreds of independent solar-powered clusters, what problems could eventually arise, say like ground loops or phase differences? (Article that prompted my question). Assistant: I believe a big issue is building an entire solar grid in a year with grant money and then having to replace it all simultaneously in 25-30 years when the life of the panels is up but without any grant money.	Human: Elon Musk is talking about "solarizing" Puerto Rico. What could be the problems of a large-scale solar power grid? I say "power grid" but there doesn't need to be one (I suppose that in this case solar is attractive because it doesn't need a grid so you are spared the cost of rebuilding it). If you have hundreds of independent solar-powered clusters, what problems could eventually arise, say like ground loops or phase differences? (Article that prompted my question). Assistant: Biggest problem is meeting the 4878 MW of installed power plants already. At ~300W per panel all of Puerto Rico would need 16.3 million solar panels, at $200 per panel a net investment of 3.3 billion dollars, plus the sunk cost of the existing plants.
Human: I know you can back drive linear actuators when there is no power but can you “forward drive” it too in the same way? Assistant: Back drive just means ‘move the motor with the output’ it doesn’t imply a direction. If an actuator can be backdriven it can be moved in both directions.	Human: I know you can back drive linear actuators when there is no power but can you “forward drive” it too in the same way? Assistant: It really depends on what kind of linear actuator you're talking about. Some linear actuators driven by motors cannot realistically be back driven without power.
Human: If you where to pick, what one would you choose to be the best engineering to specialize that uses your hands the most? Assistant: Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering, then find a job at a small to medium sized automation company. Working at smaller companies can get you more hands on work in general due to smaller headcounts and less specialization.	Human: If you where to pick, what one would you choose to be the best engineering to specialize that uses your hands the most? Assistant: This is 100% dependent on your career path.
Human: How long did you stay at your first job? I've been out of school and working for about 3 months and I don't see myself staying with this company for very long for a few reasons. I'm not sure I like my role within the company and I'm not really enjoying what I'm doing, and I don't want to be materialistic, but the pay isn't great. How long did you stay at your first job before moving on, if ever? Assistant: Couple of years. Scoot if it's not for you and your have something better lined up. Just avoid burning bridges and omit this one on your resume. If anyone ever asks about it, say you were young and dumb and took a job without really researching it. Lesson learned.	Human: How long did you stay at your first job? I've been out of school and working for about 3 months and I don't see myself staying with this company for very long for a few reasons. I'm not sure I like my role within the company and I'm not really enjoying what I'm doing, and I don't want to be materialistic, but the pay isn't great. How long did you stay at your first job before moving on, if ever? Assistant: 8 months as a "contracted intern", they refused to give me a full time position despite that I was clearly operating above the level of an intern. I left at the first opportunity to have a full time benefits position. Been there for almost 5 years now.
Human: Fellow engineers, what are you best personal projects? Whether it's something like a simple DIY test equipment or a full functioning robot, any personal project you are proud of relating to your field. Assistant: I'm an aerospace engineer, but I tend to gravitate towards outdoor work instead of field related. I've added a garden, some landscaping, and have done a lot of work on my deck for fun. The garden was the most enjoyable. I guess the closest hobby I have that is related to my field is using a smoker. I like to think about the fluid dynamics behind the air flow. Edit: It has the added benefit of creating tasty meat.	Human: Fellow engineers, what are you best personal projects? Whether it's something like a simple DIY test equipment or a full functioning robot, any personal project you are proud of relating to your field. Assistant: I volunteered on my son's First Robotics team this past winter. They were a rookie team, just me and the teacher, and maybe five kids. And we won at one of our events and went to the district playoffs. Any engineers here with kids in highschool/about to go into high school, I really recommend you get involved in First Robotics. It was a great experience I got to share with my son.
Human: How the pandemic has led to changes in communication at your workplace? I'll start first. More meetings. We only had one board room and maybe one empty office so people really limited their meetings. Now it's whenever people feel like, before/after business hours, during lunch, triple booking, several hour long meetings. I can hardly find a time where I can 100% focus on completing my experiments. How's your experience? Assistant: We "worked from home". AKA no one actually did any useful work. Meetings moved from conference rooms to WebEx. Which was terrible enough on its own. But then our wonderful "IT department" decided to really shit on our faces by replacing WebEx with this utter shitshow Microsoft calls "Teams" shortly after. Overall, "communication" went from bad to worse.	Human: How the pandemic has led to changes in communication at your workplace? I'll start first. More meetings. We only had one board room and maybe one empty office so people really limited their meetings. Now it's whenever people feel like, before/after business hours, during lunch, triple booking, several hour long meetings. I can hardly find a time where I can 100% focus on completing my experiments. How's your experience? Assistant: We use zoom meetings more often between plants instead of traveling an hour to go there. Mostly business as usual since we came back from lay off last May 2020.
Human: Anyone with experience working for Engineers without Borders? I'm in my 30's returning to school and am studying environmental engineering. I'm interested in Engineers without Borders for the chance to help out communities and travel. I was wondering if anyone here has had experience working for them and what you think? Assistant: I went to a meeting. There were a few students and like 3 graduates. It seemed it's more for mechanical or environmental engineers. They talked about doing water transportation stuff and home building which is cool and all, but I'm computer engineering. Not much for an EE or CE or CS major in my opinion.	Human: Anyone with experience working for Engineers without Borders? I'm in my 30's returning to school and am studying environmental engineering. I'm interested in Engineers without Borders for the chance to help out communities and travel. I was wondering if anyone here has had experience working for them and what you think? Assistant: Definitely give it a go. Can be very competitive to get positions overseas. Meet up with your local uni chapter, and if there isn't one, start it.
Human: Engineers who did a master's then went back for a PhD, did the master's accelerate the PhD? Both if you went back to the same school or a different one. I.e. if PhD would normally take 5 years, and you did a master's, would that then make the PhD take approx. 3 years? Assistant: Ha. I did my masters and my advisor offered for me to stay on for a PhD. I completed my masters in two years I thought initially 3 more year is doable and then he said 5-6 years and I laughed and left for industry. Newp.	Human: Engineers who did a master's then went back for a PhD, did the master's accelerate the PhD? Both if you went back to the same school or a different one. I.e. if PhD would normally take 5 years, and you did a master's, would that then make the PhD take approx. 3 years? Assistant: At my alma mater we had for students going straight from their undergrad to their PhD where they could count their first 33 hours of courses to get a non-thesis masters. If you went from masters to PhD then 30 credit hours would be applied.
Human: My friend was complaining about his wireless mouse jumping all over the screen and not registering clicks. After removing his chinese knockoff iphone charger from the wall outlet a few ft away, the problem went away. Is this iphone charger safe to use? Assistant: They ain't expensive. Get a good one and sleep better.	Human: My friend was complaining about his wireless mouse jumping all over the screen and not registering clicks. After removing his chinese knockoff iphone charger from the wall outlet a few ft away, the problem went away. Is this iphone charger safe to use? Assistant: Do you have any other information, even if it seems unrelated at first? I can't yet see how this could be connected.
Human: Does anybody have access to (or source for) a small piece of Cobalt chromium Molybdenum alloy for a project Hey all, I realize this is unconventional but have hit some dead ends. My girlfriend is undergoing a major surgery and getting an implant consistenting of UHMW, co-cr-mo, and titanium screws. I've got sources of UHMW both as solid and dyneema, and titanium is easy to get... Does anybody have a small scrap or know where to get a small piece of Co-cr-mo? I want to make her a pendant necklace or desk thingy using all her new "cyborg" materials. Assistant: You might be able to get an actual one of these implants that was rejected during manufacturing for some quality control issue (a flaw from machining or the like). I know someone who got a bunch of quality-control-reject implants donated for use in a display on bio-compatible materials. Try contacting the company that makes the implants, or another implant supplier.	Human: Does anybody have access to (or source for) a small piece of Cobalt chromium Molybdenum alloy for a project Hey all, I realize this is unconventional but have hit some dead ends. My girlfriend is undergoing a major surgery and getting an implant consistenting of UHMW, co-cr-mo, and titanium screws. I've got sources of UHMW both as solid and dyneema, and titanium is easy to get... Does anybody have a small scrap or know where to get a small piece of Co-cr-mo? I want to make her a pendant necklace or desk thingy using all her new "cyborg" materials. Assistant: /r/machinists might be able to help. If you got real lucky, they might even have a reject part for you.
Human: What implications do new technologies like 3D printing have for physical security and professions like locksmithing? I just learned my employer holds a patent on the keyway we use in my facility. Obviously this has great advantages for physical security. Does 3D printing currently threaten this, i.e. is it possible yet to scan and recreate a proprietary key within the correct tolerance, or will it likely be in the near future? Assistant: It doesn't make much of a difference. If you have access to the key to scan it, you can reverse engineer it in any number of ways and a copy could be made any number of ways as well. If a criminal is going to the trouble of copying a key rather than brute forcing their way through the lock, there were like 20 ways to do it before 3D printing.	Human: What implications do new technologies like 3D printing have for physical security and professions like locksmithing? I just learned my employer holds a patent on the keyway we use in my facility. Obviously this has great advantages for physical security. Does 3D printing currently threaten this, i.e. is it possible yet to scan and recreate a proprietary key within the correct tolerance, or will it likely be in the near future? Assistant: Some related resources 3d printed Keys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk68Xib0Rac Try searching for similar keys here, just in case. Thingiverse.com Defcon talk on security on doors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YYvBLAF4T8&t=2535s Defcon talk on social engineering and pen-testing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsVtHqICeKE
Human: What was it like getting your master's degree while working? I'm considering a part time professional master's degree program. My company will pay for it, and it is a valuable degree. But I know it's gonna suck working full time while taking a class or two every semester for 4 years. Anyone who has done this: how much did it suck? How much did it help your career? What did you have to sacrifice, and would you do it again? Assistant: >how much did it suck? For moments it sucked a lot since occassionally I would get extremely busy. Especially when a project or paper was due. >How much did it help your career? Allowed me to change industries at a higher pay. >What did you have to sacrifice, and would you do it again? Time and health. Maybe.	Human: What was it like getting your master's degree while working? I'm considering a part time professional master's degree program. My company will pay for it, and it is a valuable degree. But I know it's gonna suck working full time while taking a class or two every semester for 4 years. Anyone who has done this: how much did it suck? How much did it help your career? What did you have to sacrifice, and would you do it again? Assistant: I thought it was easy. Classes weren't hard but they did involve more work that was at least interesting for the most part. The hardest part was trying to do school work instead of going to do something else. My degree was all virtual classroom style at a major university in GA.
Human: Science fiction is full of walking tanks, but would there be any advantages of legs over wheels/tracks? Assistant: For their size they can handle rougher terrain. I think this is one of the motivating factors behind the development of Boston Dynamic's Big Dog. However I think when you get to the size of a tank then the need to get over relatively larger obstacles is much lower.	Human: Science fiction is full of walking tanks, but would there be any advantages of legs over wheels/tracks? Assistant: Can't be stopped by dragon's teeth) or czech hedgehogs. Much harder to stop with anti-tank trenches.
Human: Is Aviation Fuel usable in residential power equipment? Regular automotive gasoline contains ethanol, which attracts water and can cause corrosion, and limits the life of the fuel in the equipment. Non-ethanol fuel is only available near me at airports, so I was wondering if I could use any forms of that in my power equipment? (small-engine ICE, in a snow blower, lawn mower, leaf blower, etc.) I wouldn't want to use leaded variants (AVGAS 100 or 100LL) but 100UL and JET A1 (kerosene) are available and don't have lead. TIA! Assistant: Do you live near boating? Any boat is going to run 91 which is ethanol free	Human: Is Aviation Fuel usable in residential power equipment? Regular automotive gasoline contains ethanol, which attracts water and can cause corrosion, and limits the life of the fuel in the equipment. Non-ethanol fuel is only available near me at airports, so I was wondering if I could use any forms of that in my power equipment? (small-engine ICE, in a snow blower, lawn mower, leaf blower, etc.) I wouldn't want to use leaded variants (AVGAS 100 or 100LL) but 100UL and JET A1 (kerosene) are available and don't have lead. TIA! Assistant: I put AVGAS 100 in my weekend go fast car. It gets me an extra tenth and it smells soooo good.
Human: Can anyone offer some advice in changing my career path as an Application Engineer in the Water/Wastewater Industry? I work as an Application Engineer for a pump company that mostly specializes in the wastewater industry. We also do a lot of work with treatment plants and potable water booster systems as well. I am trying to figure out my next career move as I feel like it is time for a change and there is no room for further advancement in the company I work for. I have worked for this company for about 5 years now and was hired right out of college after completing my Civil and Environmental Engineering Degree. I have thought about changing fields, but haven't decided anything concrete. I work on electronics projects as a hobby and one of my favorite aspects about my current job is the electrical aspect of working with control panels, VFDs, motors, etc, so maybe something in the electrical field may not be out of the question. On the other hand the water industry seems like a good industry to be in right now as engineers in this field seem to be in high demand. I feel like I may have forgotten about 80% of the things I learned in college since graduating which I feel might be a problem going forward. I am not sure what I need to do to prepare before I start searching for another job. About the only thing I know for sure is that I want to move far from where I live right now (South Florida), ideally somewhere near the Pacific Northwest. Even if I don't change industry I do not want to look for another job as an Application Engineer. I would rather look for a position where I could do more design type engineering rather than application engineering. Since my only professional experience is working as an Application Engineer am I pretty much going to be stuck in this role? Any advice on how I can break out of that role? Is there anything I should do before I start my job search and start sending out resumes? What other suggestions do you have for someone in my position? Also, for what it's worth, I passed the FE Exam in Florida in the Fall of 2012. Assistant: The easiest way I've found to change locations without transferring inside a company is to build a network at the location you want to move to so your network can help you find a job. Do this by attending conferences and career fairs in the area you want to move to.	Human: Can anyone offer some advice in changing my career path as an Application Engineer in the Water/Wastewater Industry? I work as an Application Engineer for a pump company that mostly specializes in the wastewater industry. We also do a lot of work with treatment plants and potable water booster systems as well. I am trying to figure out my next career move as I feel like it is time for a change and there is no room for further advancement in the company I work for. I have worked for this company for about 5 years now and was hired right out of college after completing my Civil and Environmental Engineering Degree. I have thought about changing fields, but haven't decided anything concrete. I work on electronics projects as a hobby and one of my favorite aspects about my current job is the electrical aspect of working with control panels, VFDs, motors, etc, so maybe something in the electrical field may not be out of the question. On the other hand the water industry seems like a good industry to be in right now as engineers in this field seem to be in high demand. I feel like I may have forgotten about 80% of the things I learned in college since graduating which I feel might be a problem going forward. I am not sure what I need to do to prepare before I start searching for another job. About the only thing I know for sure is that I want to move far from where I live right now (South Florida), ideally somewhere near the Pacific Northwest. Even if I don't change industry I do not want to look for another job as an Application Engineer. I would rather look for a position where I could do more design type engineering rather than application engineering. Since my only professional experience is working as an Application Engineer am I pretty much going to be stuck in this role? Any advice on how I can break out of that role? Is there anything I should do before I start my job search and start sending out resumes? What other suggestions do you have for someone in my position? Also, for what it's worth, I passed the FE Exam in Florida in the Fall of 2012. Assistant: With your experience I forgot to add the manufacturing industry.
Human: Need Help on choosing major; I am interested in machines , electronics, engine, power, electricity, mathematics, physics, programming, which major would be the best for me? I am a final year highschool student and am really confused in what I should pursue a bachelors in. Assistant: Controls combines many of those elements and fetches a higher salary than mechanical or electrical. You have to be a pretty smart cookie though.	Human: Need Help on choosing major; I am interested in machines , electronics, engine, power, electricity, mathematics, physics, programming, which major would be the best for me? I am a final year highschool student and am really confused in what I should pursue a bachelors in. Assistant: Most Engineering programs will have some sort of "Intro to Engineering" course the first year. You will get to work on assignments in many different areas. This will help you figure out which direction you want to go.
Human: Does anyone else feel the "Tech Culture" isn't serious? I live around the NY area working as a engineer (6 years into my career). Every so often when I feel as though my talents are going to waste, I browse the internet looking for tech jobs in the city. I'd like to go work for one of these startups, but I always get the feeling that they're more fluff than anything. It doesn't seem like the start up companies are really doing anything breakthough. It just looks like they're making toys. Where are the people pushing the state-of-the-art, creating new ways feed populations, working to clean up pollution, develop space travel, creating new energy sources. It's more like: hey look at our new restaurant app! Look at our 555 timers blinking LEDs! Raspberry Pi! Print your own wrench out of plastic! Gimmicky... I suppose its a way to make money, but it doesn't feel serious enough for me. Do I have it all wrong? Assistant: In my somewhat limited experience, the NY area is not a hotbed of technology entrepreneurship. A hotbed of culture and art, yes.	Human: Does anyone else feel the "Tech Culture" isn't serious? I live around the NY area working as a engineer (6 years into my career). Every so often when I feel as though my talents are going to waste, I browse the internet looking for tech jobs in the city. I'd like to go work for one of these startups, but I always get the feeling that they're more fluff than anything. It doesn't seem like the start up companies are really doing anything breakthough. It just looks like they're making toys. Where are the people pushing the state-of-the-art, creating new ways feed populations, working to clean up pollution, develop space travel, creating new energy sources. It's more like: hey look at our new restaurant app! Look at our 555 timers blinking LEDs! Raspberry Pi! Print your own wrench out of plastic! Gimmicky... I suppose its a way to make money, but it doesn't feel serious enough for me. Do I have it all wrong? Assistant: Can I come work with you? I feel the same. I have this deep pitted feeling it is us that needs to define tech culture.
Human: Career progression: getting a PhD vs going into industry at entry level What's the career progression like for working at large established companies when you're starting at entry level? I've heard a few people say that they are going to get their PhD because you can either do that or work for company for \~10ish years to get to the same place (or sometimes there's just glass ceilings put in place). I'm interested in wearables which is maybe sort of niche (I only really know that the big tech companies hire for it, and most require at least a Masters). I have a job offer for an entry level position in wearable instrumentation (it looks like mainly just debugging hardware): when I think about what I want to do long term it's more than just debugging hardware (I'd be more interested in the design/conception more so than just troubleshooting what already exists). I know usually you can either advance up management or try and stay on the technical side, but how does that actually work, and if you did take a entry level role somewhat adjacent to what you actually wanted to do, how did that end up for you and where are you now? If I'm interested in staying more so on the technical side, more so on the design specifically (or making my own stuff), does a PhD make more sense than just entering entry level and working my way through? I'm just not sure what the endpoints are for either career path (PhD vs nonPhD) if I know I want to work in industry, maybe my own company. People who didn't get a PhD, what stuff are you working on now compared to what you originally intended and do you wish you had gotten a PhD, and for people who did get a PhD and go into industry, same question but flipped. My friends will frequently bring up "oh while you're getting your PhD I'll have earned XYZ amount while you're that far behind" which is true, but I'm not looking to get a PhD for the money, but rather so I can work on the problems that I want (at my school almost all the engineers just go into consulting, which is fine, but not really what I'm looking to do). My own background: I'm a senior mechanical engineer looking at going to graduate school for electrical engineering. I have a few interviews I'm in the process for right now, but I've already been accepted to a few graduate schools (tuition paid, with a small but livable stipend). I'm most interested in VR/AR/wearables/haptics, more so towards the hardware side than just the CS side, so I'm trying to figure out if an advanced degree is really worth it / required. Big caveat being I don't know that much about any of those topics at this moment, as I haven't had any classes or projects specifically in those areas. Coming from mechanical I frequently hear that at places like Lockheed/Raytheon, the PhDs design everything and everyone else does the fabrication / failure analysis / GD&T / etc. which I don't know how true that is or if it generalizes to other fields. Assistant: In civil engineering, a PhD has little value in the industry. Maybe in structural engineering, if anywhere. Otherwise, I think that time would be better spent in the industry. Iirc, my first employer told me my masters degree gave me an extra $2000 per year. Not necessarily the best investment strictly in monetary terms.	Human: Career progression: getting a PhD vs going into industry at entry level What's the career progression like for working at large established companies when you're starting at entry level? I've heard a few people say that they are going to get their PhD because you can either do that or work for company for \~10ish years to get to the same place (or sometimes there's just glass ceilings put in place). I'm interested in wearables which is maybe sort of niche (I only really know that the big tech companies hire for it, and most require at least a Masters). I have a job offer for an entry level position in wearable instrumentation (it looks like mainly just debugging hardware): when I think about what I want to do long term it's more than just debugging hardware (I'd be more interested in the design/conception more so than just troubleshooting what already exists). I know usually you can either advance up management or try and stay on the technical side, but how does that actually work, and if you did take a entry level role somewhat adjacent to what you actually wanted to do, how did that end up for you and where are you now? If I'm interested in staying more so on the technical side, more so on the design specifically (or making my own stuff), does a PhD make more sense than just entering entry level and working my way through? I'm just not sure what the endpoints are for either career path (PhD vs nonPhD) if I know I want to work in industry, maybe my own company. People who didn't get a PhD, what stuff are you working on now compared to what you originally intended and do you wish you had gotten a PhD, and for people who did get a PhD and go into industry, same question but flipped. My friends will frequently bring up "oh while you're getting your PhD I'll have earned XYZ amount while you're that far behind" which is true, but I'm not looking to get a PhD for the money, but rather so I can work on the problems that I want (at my school almost all the engineers just go into consulting, which is fine, but not really what I'm looking to do). My own background: I'm a senior mechanical engineer looking at going to graduate school for electrical engineering. I have a few interviews I'm in the process for right now, but I've already been accepted to a few graduate schools (tuition paid, with a small but livable stipend). I'm most interested in VR/AR/wearables/haptics, more so towards the hardware side than just the CS side, so I'm trying to figure out if an advanced degree is really worth it / required. Big caveat being I don't know that much about any of those topics at this moment, as I haven't had any classes or projects specifically in those areas. Coming from mechanical I frequently hear that at places like Lockheed/Raytheon, the PhDs design everything and everyone else does the fabrication / failure analysis / GD&T / etc. which I don't know how true that is or if it generalizes to other fields. Assistant: Get the PhD if you can. You’ll be starting out on the right foot.
Human: Systems Engineers, what is the best way to become proficient with Doors? For an upcoming project I will likely be tasked with using Doors to track requirements, etc. I have a few coworkers that have used the tool in the past, but no one that is a subject matter expert. Can any one with experience recommend any books, online training, in person training, etc? Assistant: If you don't already know the answer to "Why Doors", or more generally "Why do we need this," you should read ISO 29148. It is about processes and information used for requirements engineering. It's definitely helped me figure out how to understand requirements better and explain what requirements should be to others.	Human: Systems Engineers, what is the best way to become proficient with Doors? For an upcoming project I will likely be tasked with using Doors to track requirements, etc. I have a few coworkers that have used the tool in the past, but no one that is a subject matter expert. Can any one with experience recommend any books, online training, in person training, etc? Assistant: this sub should add a /r/systems_Engineering link to their "related subreddits", to increase discussion of systems in that sub.
Human: Any hiring managers on here? Curious as to what you all look for So I'm in the market for an engineering job in the US and I'm curious what hiring managers look for. My degree was in Biological Engineering which is kind of a jack-of-all-trades (perhaps more aptly put, jester-of-all-days) degree and am not having success in pulling jobs. At this point, I'd work in anything, but in case I need to go back and add to my resume, what types of things do you all look for? Is it a graduate degree that makes the difference? Certifications (LEED, EIT, PE)? General work experience? Likeability? What makes more impact? Thanks for your time! Assistant: I look for success, accomplishments, achievements, experience Not just a list of software and courses S.T.A.R. is your friend. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/star-method-resume https://www.zipjob.com/blog/star-method-resume/ https://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/resources/resumes-impact-creating-strong-bullet-points	Human: Any hiring managers on here? Curious as to what you all look for So I'm in the market for an engineering job in the US and I'm curious what hiring managers look for. My degree was in Biological Engineering which is kind of a jack-of-all-trades (perhaps more aptly put, jester-of-all-days) degree and am not having success in pulling jobs. At this point, I'd work in anything, but in case I need to go back and add to my resume, what types of things do you all look for? Is it a graduate degree that makes the difference? Certifications (LEED, EIT, PE)? General work experience? Likeability? What makes more impact? Thanks for your time! Assistant: Hiring manager here, run entire engineering team for a manufacturing site. Send me your resume and I can take a look and give some feedback. A biological engineer is very specific, but I saw you list some courses that could be more broadly applied…