Today was my first day of classes. I had ENG (engineering) 198. It is an introduction into engineering class. The class's goal is to teach engineering students some skills that will be basic skills in their career, but are neglected as classroom topics. Professor Goldberg thought this was a problem, so he set out to fix it by making this class. The basic skills include: asking good questions, labeling concepts and objects, modeling things well, breaking a big problem into many smaller, easier to handle, problems, physically taking measurements, visualizing in the mind, and communication.
My reaction to these basics that are missing, also known as the missing basics, is it is a very good idea. Communication is a skill necessary skill for everyone, but especially engineers. Most people talk about objects around them, but engineers talk about things that aren't in existence yet. It only exist in their mind so they have to be able to effectively take the picture in their mind and put it into a form so other people can understand what they are envisioning, but if the engineer is not able to picture this new object or concept is their mind very well, then communicating that object or concept to someone else is going to very difficult or impossible. Going along this is being able to model things well. Drawing pictures or having 3-D models of what they are trying to tell someone is one of the best ways to communicate. They also need to be able to label all the parts and functions of their model so there is no confusion.
As another engineer listening to these ideas, they need to be able to ask good questions so they fully understand and completely picture what someone is trying to tell them. If they feel overwhelmed by this concept, they should be able to take one step at a time and make the problem easier to handle. Understanding one thing at a time is much easier than trying to learn 20 new concepts at once. When building this object, the engineer needs to know how big every part is and how much space their object will take up. If they build something that is 3 feet long, but the space is only 2 feet long, then they have a problem. If even one of these skills is missing, working can be very difficult; if all seven concepts are missing, it is almost impossible to do the job they have been hired to do.
I feel I need to work on my ability to ask good questions. To improve this skill, I plan to find a structure or object everyday and think of 3 questions about why it works. I also need to work on my ability to measure objects. To fix this, I will measure 2 objects a week and then look up how big they really are and see how accurate my measurement was. Whenever I have an idea for an invention that I might wish to build, I will start drawing them out so I can improve my modeling skills.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI thought this quote was phenomenal:
"Most people talk about objects around them, but engineers talk about things that aren't in existence yet."
That quote perfectly exemplifies why engineers need these "missing basics." A major part of an engineers everyday work is taking concepts in their minds and getting them onto paper and computers where others can collaborate with them. If as engineers can't even model our ideas well, then they will be impossible to form into anything other than an idea that only one engineer understands. Yes, tools like AutoCAD and other software programs can certainly aid in getting ideas out there, but there still needs to be an engineer behind it who is able to explain in perfect detail and coherency what his drawing is trying to accomplish. Without this, they might as well not even try. Great point.
I also agree that engineers should be able to know when to ask questions. It is a difficult profession and sometimes they may feel as if others will look down upon them if they ask questions and don't understand an idea. However, asking questions to clarify a point early on can be the first step in stopping a major issue from occurring later one. Once again, good point.
Also, good luck with improving your skills!
- Josh Holat
Mary:
ReplyDeleteI thought one of the better points you made during this post was the fact that good engineers are able to create these amazing ideas in their brains but somehow can not get other people to understand what they make. I feel like this inability to communicate could actually hinder the process of creating said item, or even make it impossible to create the item at all. This could be a huge problem if what is being made is essential for survival, or something like a vaccine for an epidemic. So looking at communication as a missing basic for engineers from that perspective is somewhat frightening.
-Brendan
Ok well Josh and Brendan pretty much covered my points about your analyzation of the missing basics, so just note that I agree with them there. What struck me the most, though, was your approach to improving your skill set. I like that you had an exact idea of how to improve skills within yourself in order to become a better engineer. You seem to want to challenge yourself in daily life, and I hope you take that seriously throughout the semester. I know how hard balancing everything can be, while still having time to improve yourself, but your method seems like something that could be completed as you are walking down the street (therefore not using excessive amounts of time doing it, but still effectively bettering yourself). I really see your time management at work here, and it is impressive. Good luck with everything, I hope it helps you!
ReplyDelete-Brendan Padget
I like your quotation " Most people talk about objects around them, but engineers talk about things that aren't in existence yet " . This quotation strongly support your idea of missing basics and how engineers require those abilities. For instance, you talked about how engineers talk about thing aren't in existence yet, so without good communicating skills, engineers cannot express their idea, which is not yet exist. Also the engineers that listen to the not the idea, which is not yet exist, have to have the ability to ask good question. Because it is very important to question the new idea at the very beginning. So the abilities to ask and communicate are essential for engineers . Your mini-action plan is also lead by how you believe the ability to ask good question is important for engineers. So you want to improve the ability to ask good questions.
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