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Posted by Matt Wilson [96.226.41.46] on Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 01:20:00 :
In Reply to: well said and common throughout industry posted by dan m [108.39.155.138] on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 21:54:50 :
Unfortunately, it is too common in industry. I agree that a great number of graduating engineers don't even know the basics of hands-on work, and they should. Every engineer should be trained in the basics of this stuff.
There is something else that is common throughout the industry, though, and that is the notion that engineers are supposed to be machinists and welders when they come out of college. It must be understood that in the end, this is NOT the function of the engineer any more than it is the function of the tradesman to perform engineering analyses and tests.
While we are talking about wish lists, quite honestly, there are times when it would make engineers' lives a lot easier if tradesmen and shop floor workers had some basic engineering training, but I doubt much of that is going to happen either. Engineers are not going to cross over and learn hands-on things unless they have a personal interest or a requirement at work or school, and tradesmen are not going to go out and learn higher math, engineering and physics principles unless they happen to have an interest or a need.
Working at General Motors in the early '90's, I remember hearing the shop floor workers declare how surprised they were that maintaining heat treat parameters to within close tolerances was actually important, and not just some engineer's wet dream. They had just attended a mandatory basic metallurgy class.
There is a great lack of understanding on both sides regarding each other's functions and responsibilities.