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Engineering...The Future+ My Son

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redshift: Hi, I wonder if you guys would share your collective knowledge and experience and give me your thoughts on the following:- As a youngster I left school, left home and moved to Birmingham to do an engineering apprenticeship and attend college, the knowledge I aquired over the following years has helped me in all my working life. I now find myself as an OLDER dad (with no previous experience!) having to guide my 14 year old son on his important life choices. We have spent the last 14 years trying to teach him to think and act in a proper way and be self confident and self contained. He has just reached the point of commiting himself to his subject chioces at school which will determine his future education. The direction he has chosen points to a career in some form of engineering. So what I am asking is, will the engineering option be a mountain to climb in years to come in view of the continued decline of the UK,s manufacturing output or are there still plenty of opportunities for capable people? Which aspect of engineering do you see will grow fastest in years to come? He has already had a play on my Bridgeport an Harrison and was Ok doing the basics, do you think if I was to throw some cash at a CAD/CAM, cnc setup it would be beneficial or should it be left until he has a couple more years on his back? Your thoughts please Regards Dave

Swarfing: If you point him in the direction of CAD/ Cam and CNC then you might as well get him on the road to working for himself? You don't make money working for somebody else. Get him to understand the need to innovate, thats what this country is lacking. With no investment you will need to do it yourself so might as well get him going early. This is the advice i'm giving my daughter and think she understands you can rely on nobody but yourself these days :-(

Jo: It all depends upon what you mean by "engineering", you seem to be talking about aspects of mechanical engineering, there are lots of other types. Systems Engineering is very much alive and well and a growth area, software engineering has been threatened by "fred in the shed writing code" but the essence of the engineering side of software is still a key skill. Then there are specialists areas including (racing) car , aircraft, ship, and engine design to name a few. And don't expect him to continue in the same type of engineering for his life time, a good engineer will evolve and change their skills many times over their life time. For instance: I started as an electronic engineer, I then specialised in control engineering, software engineering, systems engineering and now do systems architecture. One of the great things about engineering is that it does not stand still and every day is a new adventure. The best bit is they pay you for it :) . Jo

Lew_Merrick_PE: Dave, Think on this:  Which is more important, learning to drive a particular piece of software or understanding the processes that software drives?  I started drafting with a ruling pen on linen.  (I had the kewlist psychedelic shirt in Everett (WA) in 1968 -- it was made from a ruined progressive die drawing!)  I have been using CAD tools since 1971.  I have been using CAM tools since 1973.  I have been using CAE tools since 1975.  In each case, my argument is that it is more important to understand the first principles than the software. I see it all the time -- so-called engineers who do not know the first principles of their applications.  As of two years ago (i.e. the last time I checked) the ProEngineer/CREO CAD package insisted that there was a ø.200 (inch) drill size.  There are ø.199 and ø.201 drill sizes, but not a ø.200 drill bit size in standard inch-based drills!  I first bitched about this to Parametrics Technology in 1992!  I cannot tell you how many "engineers" with whom I have worked who consider such a complaint to be mere pedantics. Learning CAD (or CAE or CAM) is merely a few weeks of applied misery.  Understanding the principles that underlie CAD (or CAE or CAM) is the work of a lifetime.  If one of the engineering disciplines is the direction your son (currently) wishes to pursue, then I would look to mathematics, physics, chemistry, and logic as the foundations that need to be laid.

DaveH: I don't know much really but one thing I do know is most of us do well at what we like doing. So I hope your son has chosen subjects he is good at and likes doing. At fourteen I think he should be playing football, cricket with his mates or whatever,  his and your goal should be to get him into university and get a degree. A degree will open all sorts of doors for him, then look at a career. That's my 2cents  :beer: DaveH

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