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Mechanical 'Ability '

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Yes, I know... Calling yourself an "Engineer"... is not automatic Boost into being All Knowing....
Well even studying engineering isn't the Golden ticket to Knowledge either....

Well my across the Street neighbor was about 6 years older than I..
He was studying to be an engineer...Eventually became an engineer with P.E. certification and license..
But while he was studying... He blew up 4 Cars!!!!
Every one of them, blown engine due to NO OIL!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes Mechanical knowledge can be Taught... Learned...... But not Always Understood or Applied Correctly!!!
 
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I worked as a coop in the middle of my Junior year. I worked for an architect engineer in the controls department. It was a good experience to understand what engineers really do. As a mechanical, I started doing logic diagrams to determine what the right actions to take when different sensors indicated an issue. Then one summer, I worked on the electrical side of the department where they translated the logic diagrams into the point to point wiring diagrams that went to the construction site for construction. I was surprised to find out that the electricals did not always do what the mechanicals had designed. They couldn't, relays would not work that way. I brought it to the attention of my boss and it went up the line. They decided some senior people needed to review the situation. In most cases it made no difference but in a few we had to change things. Anyway, coop programs are a great way, I think, to prevent new engineers showing up on their first job with no experience doing real engineering work. I made technicians pay which was better than any summer job I had found. The employer got a person to do entry level work relatively cheaply. Plus a read on whether they wanted to hire the person.

Engineers are used to being the smartest person in most classrooms. Some really struggle when they get to college and in engineering classes the room is full of people about as smart as they are. Hurts their inflated egos. But being "book smart" doesn't always translate into being able to do high level "real work". Some are really short on people skills. They display their inflated ego to everybody and don't recognize when people are trying to help them. Some think anybody without the same educational background has little to contribute. That sort of engineer doesn't progress very far in their career. When I was working as a coop, I learned that the draftsmen (this was before CAD) were pretty good at error checking what I gave them and if I listened they would just tell me what they found and I could fix it - or point out why it was OK. They liked somebody listening and I made fewer mistakes apparent to my boss.

I think one of the neat things about engineering is the way that in most states you can be a licensed engineer without an engineering degree. The test you have to pass is difficult even for degreed engineers but if you can pass it, you get licensed (and if you do not pass you are not licensed despite your degree).
 
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LOL, I informed a architect that he designed a closet door that opened into the closet and hit the back wall of the closet. He actually had to come to the job site to see if I knew what I was talking about. I think that common knowledge plays a huge part in everything. Things have a logic to them and if something seems illogical then it probably wont work. I once stopped to help some college students that had a flat tire. They did manage to put on the spare but they put it on backwards. Common knowledge seems to be a uncommon thing nowadays.
 
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Old joke. A generator the size of a city block stopped working. A guy was hired to diagnose the problem. He arrived and walked around the generator several times until he stopped and drew a big X on it. He then handed in his bill which was $10,001 dollars. When he was asked what the bill was for he replied, one dollar for the magic marker and ten thousand for knowing where to cut open the generator case.
 
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I had a friend who was a PhD in aeronautical engineering with NASA, mostly at the Langley Research Center, a brilliant guy, but a West Va country boy at heart. He had a sign on the wall of his mountain cabin, "If it appears to be working perfectly, the engineering isn't complete", a testament to our need to tinker! He was involved in the early moon projects, and ended with the space shuttle, working well into his 70's. A group of young engineers had finished some work on a door to the shuttle escape module, and were going to great lengths designing a container to place it in to ship. Buddy (my friend) said, "boys, it's just a door, go to Sears and get a refrigerator box and put it on the truck to Edwards!" Ever the practical mind.
 
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Mike’s “It ain’t got no gas in it” reminded me of my first-semester electronics instructor...a grizzled old military man who at some time in the distant past did in-home electronics repair. He got a service call from an elderly woman whose TV had gone out. By TV I mean a CRT and an era when that initialism meant only cathode ray tube. Anyway he arrives and she takes him to the TV and then saunters off to the kitchen. He promptly reaches behind the TV to unplug it before opening up the case, only to find the cord lying limp on the floor. He plugs it in and sure enough the TV is working fine. So rather than point out the woefully inadequate troubleshooting effort of the customer, he proceeds to unplug it and take the case off and dust off the the flyback transformer and other parts, bring it back up and adjust the picture potentiometers and such, button it back up and charge her the minimum service call.

Moral of the story, make sure you got some gas in it.
 
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nervoustrig said:
Mike’s “It ain’t got no gas in it” reminded me of my first-semester electronics instructor...a grizzled old military man who at some time in the distant past did in-home electronics repair. He got a service call from an elderly woman whose TV had gone out. By TV I mean a CRT and an era when that initialism meant only cathode ray tube. Anyway he arrives and she takes him to the TV and then saunters off to the kitchen. He promptly reaches behind the TV to unplug it before opening up the case, only to find the cord lying limp on the floor. He plugs it in and sure enough the TV is working fine. So rather than point out the woefully inadequate troubleshooting effort of the customer, he proceeds to unplug it and take the case off and dust off the the flyback transformer and other parts, bring it back up and adjust the picture potentiometers and such, button it back up and charge her the minimum service call.

Moral of the story, make sure you got some gas in it.
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This remind me of the first computer I purchased through Best Buy in 1995. I had a service contract with Compact and I called the service line after I failed to get the PC to work once I got it home.

She was very nice but asked me to check the receptacle, I told her it looked fine and she asked me how many plugs were in it. "Hmmm" I said in reply and promptly plugged in both the monitor and PC power cords.

I am a pretty good sport and love jokes and she picked up on it and walked me through the setup and dial-up. After it was working she told me to press the "ID 10 T" key. I sure was.... :p
 
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Much respect to engineers who can take a concept and turn it into a functioning machine or bridge, dam, etc.

However as an auto mechanic, It seemed as though the engine/transmission guys would ask the body/frame guys how big the engine compartment was and if the compartment was 36" x 36", the engine/transmission was 35.9" x 35.9". ;)

As an Aerospace Machine Shop Inspector, the lack of time engineers spend properly applying tolerances leads to a great deal of manufacturing cost. I've been told by more than one engineer that tolerancing was the last thing they did after drawing and by that time they were ready to be done with it so they just set the tolerances tight to cover their a##. When a +/- .005 tolerance is applied to contour radii of a pocket that only meant to lighten a part, it adds a lot of machine time and cost when it isn't necessary and will not affect form/fit/function. Just because you program a CNC machine to cut a certain size, doesn't mean it will be exactly that size due to many variables. Once the tolerances are tight, you have to slow things down and add multiple passes sometimes to get the correct size. Every second counts in production.
 
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Eric H. said:
However as an auto mechanic, It seemed as though the engine/transmission guys would ask the body/frame guys how big the engine compartment was and if the compartment was 36" x 36", the engine/transmission was 35.9" x 35.9".
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Reminds me of the story...

To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
 
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nervoustrig said:
Reminds me of the story...

To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
Click to expand...
To the practicalist, there is a definitive answer to the question. It depends on whether you are pouring or drinking.

If you are filling the glass, it is half full because it was empty when you started.
If you are drinking from the glass, it is half empty because it was full when you started.
 
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It wasn't a lot of practical experience but a required course for Mechanical Engineers a long time ago when I was in school was a lab class where we made a vise I use on my drill press. We sand cast the body and moving jaw, machined these parts, turned a screw, broached a hole in a cast handle for the screw, machined steel jaws and assembled the vise. At the end we could "buy" ours for $5. I was pretty poor in school but I still found the $5 and am glad I did. The aluminum was mainly recycled airplane parts so the vise is durable. Another part of the same class had us making a few welds. I still can't weld very well but I can stick things together when I need to. It's better if engineers actually talk to the people building what they designed if at all possible. But any hands on experience is better than none.
 
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