Engineering? Yes or no?

[jschroet25]

I was wondering what skills I need to be an engineer.You see I am very
curious and like to know how things work.I am very good at math and
also at science. I can grasp concepts quite quickly and am very
analytical I am also very creative.I am not very linear in my thinking and not very into details and also I am not very hands-on or into tinkering or anything like that. More into theory yet I still like to be practical.
My family doubts my ability to be an engineering student for three main reasons 1.I am not detail -oriented.2 I am not a hands on tinkerer.3 I am theoretical all true.However I can do details just not very well.I like know how things work and also i am very pratical as well. I also took a look at an article saying that the main skills are structural visualization and Math/Analytical Reasoning and I am very good at those!


So what do you think?
& In general what do you think of engineering?

[Buffy]

This is what I'd say to your family: "PPPPbbbbbppbbbbt!!!!" They don't know from engineering. Look there are lots of different parts to every endevour. My background is in computer science, and I can tell you there are lots of programmers who aren't very detail oriented, but they are *great* at coming up with designs. You need both. If you have nothing but detail oriented programmers, you end up with an unusable program with very few bugs. That is not an ideal.

Just follow what you're interested in. Its more important to find something you're glad to be getting up to do in the morning, than something you're simply "good at." You'll find a place where your talents work within it.

Most importantly, if someone tells you you "can't" do something, do NOT listen to them.

Cheers,
Buffy

[Tormod]

I usually don't dish out quotes but you need some motivation...

When asked about all his failed experiments, Edison said, "Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work.".

Henry Ford once said "One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do."

Do what you want to do. It will get you furthest. I work together with engineers and they are, in general like all other people, except they tend to have better insight into a lot of things related to things I have no clue about...

[paultrr]

Having worked on both sides of this over my life my one suggestion is that if you decide to be an engineer be a hands on kind of one. I've hated many a time in my life jobs where some engineer who has all this head knowledge never bothers to go to an actual job site and see what really needs done there in a specific situation. I've been working recently back in the electrical field at a new plant. We have all these blue prints drawn up by the engineers in charge and not a damn one of them bothered to check anything ahead of time about the site or what each seperate engineer was drawing up. You can ask these guys why they did anything the way they did and they will all to a tee tell you because thats what it called for. They really do not tend to care if one cannot say by the code place a light where there is a fire sprinkler. They all just drew their plans up as if they where the only one's involved. When I did engineering level jobs I tended to consider the real sitting such was going to be in and also kept up with the other guys doing other stuff there. Learn the books. But also realize that sometimes in the field one must get beyond the books a bit into real life situations.

[C1ay]

I love engineering but I can't tell how you would or wouldn't like it. That is what's important though. The drawbacks you illustrate will work themselves out if you enjoy inventing stuff. You might try making some appointments with some engineers and go visit them, ask questions and learn more about what engineering is, then you'll have a better undrstanding of your goal is engineering is what you pursue.

[UncleAl]

Engineering isn't a single entity any more than being a vehicle driver is. Driving a car going for groceries is a completely different set of qualifications from driving a motrocycle, a multi-axle truck, or a race car. What do you wish to engineer? You will need a deep and facile grasp of calculus for starters or you won't survive your second year of undergrad work.

Visit a university library. Find the Library of Congress numbers for the engineering topics that interest you. Go to the shelves, pull some books, look inside. That is what you will be doing for the rest of your life in competition with others. Is that what you want? If it sends a chill of delight up your spine you have come home. If not, do something else.