How nice it seems to have an english blog.
This blog is to be used mainly for my ENG 198 class, but I will post some nitbits and whatnots whenever I feel like doing so
(The availability of internet is hardly a restriction.)
Well, off to class. Ta-ta, everybody. See you guys around, and forgive me if I ask your name over and over again, I am the zenith of forgetfulness.
I can only hope I'll forget to forget someday.
Oh, and the homework assignment.
First, let us identify the main problems. That 11 MB PowerPoint presentation in a line goes like this.
Engineers do not know how to : Ask good questions, Look up what has happened where they're interested, Ask around 'Who's who?', Know basic terminology, Know or invent new terminology, Be comfortable with foreign objects, Understand the matter at hand, Division of problems, Measure real life data, Draw comprehensive and accurate graphs, Communicate.
Whoa, looks like we don't have much here, Mr.Engineer.
I'm joking, but the lecture says that such problems are prevalent in some of today's engineers (included myself, which I totally agree) and thus becomes a hindrance in future engineerings. I agree that some of them, especially the communicating part, may be serious problems for some engineers.
The concept of the missing basics were, to be honest, a disappointment. Not a disappointment in the sense that "Oh, those aren't much of a problem, are they now?" but a disappointment in the fact that the engineers who develop the modern day and world as we know of it may come to lack such basic skills which are required in not only extraordinary circumstances, but in everyday lives and activities. (Hell, or is this proof that engineers do not have a life of their own? But I digress.) It is something that definitely needs to be improved, for not only the sake of our engineering futures, but also our everyday social life. Regarding communications, Are they not able to communicate their ideas and thoughts in the comprehensive, organized manner that the scientific society wants? Or is the problem much more complicated than that, because the expectations of such traits is much more pronounced and sophisticated that what would be required of normal beings? I will come to find what such problems may be along with my self-evaluation upon those matters by attending this class.
The concrete steps would be, I guess, will be to understand how to convey your ideas and thoughts in a direct, clear manner and identifying to whom you should communicate in such a manner, as well as keeping tabs and tracks of progress within one's work so that he/she may be in full control of the situation/lab/engineering project which may contain important information. One must be able to understand what he/she is doing before relaying the information with clarity to another being, and for that, he or she must have a good grasp on what he/she is doing. One must act with a purpose, and if it is to be for the greater, general good, then I think there are certain measures and steps that must be followed, and such documentation and declaration are one of those many things which we require to present an engineering product to the real world.
I agree with you, the fact that generations of engineers have been lacking these basic skills is a bit worrying. The thing I am confused about though is if engineers are so flawed, why then do we have all these examples of great engineering all around us in the world? Are the missing basics just a recent problem? This seems kind of fishy to me. I think maybe the answer to the missing basics is that the engineers that have been successful are the ones that were naturally skilled in the missing basics. Being perfectly skilled in all of the missing basics is very rare however, so it is good for all of us to learn them. We will be, without a doubt, better engineers. I really enjoyed the humor in your blog!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the missing basics have always been missing but rather the definition of what they are has changed over time. As said in the various things we have read and watched for this class "the time of the cold-war engineer is over and the engineering entrepreneur is here" The cold-war engineer had less use for these skills than today's engineers so back then they could be considered good engineers while lacking, what are by today's standards considered, basic and extremely necessary skills. That is why in answer to STARR's question we have great engineering all around us today. The engineers of the past were not bad but rather were held to different standards than today's engineers.
ReplyDelete-Tom Guttschow
Missing basic is necessary to learn. I agree with you why it is dissappointing to know some of the today's engineers lack such basic skills. Since most of them are needed not only for work but also a life.
ReplyDeleteOne of the question I'm thinking is whether we need some change in our class. Bring a little focus on diffrent kinds of arts. Art of design, art of composition, art of communication. They might help future engineers like us to practice some of the missing basic.
I enjoys your thought on the missing basic. But i still want to know what you want to improve on and how you want to acheive it.Looking forword for more of your blog :)
The missing basics are vital. Period. I concur when you say thats its troublesome news to realize that the majority of today's engineers lack these basics. Yes, the engineers have managed to do everything they have without being able to communicate as effectively as the society would want they to have. But in today's world, just getting our way around doesn't seem enough.
ReplyDeleteI encourage you with your self-evaluation and hope that you determine the methods you with which you are able to improve on the "missing basics".
Good Luck!!