I like your philosophy Vasile. I think you also have a good sense of humor. ----- Original Message ----- = From: "Vasile Surducan" To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." Sent: Saturday, June 24, 2006 2:49 PM Subject: Re: [OT] What Makes an Engineer Succesful In our days engineering is the art of working as less as possible for good results. Which of course is not possible without background knowledges and tons of fortune. A succesfull engineer is an engineer which is doing exactly what is want, and the term "success" has absolutely no connection with "money". A happy engineer it's a succesfull engineer. A succesfull career could be a career reasonable paid when you're not sleeping, eating an making love in the office with your osciloscope, but at home with your family. greetings, Vasile On 6/23/06, G=F6khan SEVER wrote: > "What Makes an Engineer Successful", by Walter W. Frey > > IEEE Potentials, Volume 16, Issue 5, December 1997 - January 1998 > > After working as an engineer for over 35 years, I now conclude that a > successful career depends on understanding what engineering is, academic > performance, and personality. And these considerations are not all = > important > for the right reasons. > > Engineering is the art of applying scientific principles to solve a = > problem. > It is not a separate area of science such as physics. Engineering projects > are bound by three variables: the number of problems to solve, the funds > available to solve these problems, and the delivery date of the finished > items. The catch is you can only fix two of the variables, while the third > is determined by the others. > > Although a modicum of academic performance is necessary to graduate, a = > high > GPA does not predicate a successful career. The real indicators for > engineering performance reside in a person's personality traits, ability = > to > think innovatively, and skill in interacting with others. Personnel > departments (often for legal reasons) stay away from trying to rate these > subjective areas and stick to easily quantified areas, i.e., "GPA, class > standing, etc." Thus, many potentially good engineers are turned away due = > to > poor grades. > > The following subjective areas also are necessary for a successful > engineering career: > > Curiosity - The desire to find out how things work, or why they don't. The > engineer notes the good and the bad approaches to the problem. > > Perseverance - This trait is needed to stay with a problem even though the > solution is not adequate or eludes or seems to fight the engineer. = > However, > this must be not be carried to an extreme, i.e., it becomes a futile > obsession. Also, oftentimes a problem will have to be temporarily shelved = > to > work on projects which will produce more immediate results. > > Self-confidence - The engineer knows his or her capabilities and problem > areas; for example, he or she has a tendency to settle on the first = > solution > that presents itself. > > Common sense - The ability to make decisions on partial or contradictory > information. It is also used to balance perseverance against what is best > for the overall program. > > Sense of humor - This trait is necessary to keep from getting depressed = > when > the solution has been elusive and all sorts of irrelevant problems are > obscuring the answer. Humor is also very useful in handling personality > problems with subordinates and/or superiors. > > Ingenuity - This means the engineer is not limited to the "by the book" = > way > of doing things. This person is open to unique or unproved solutions to > difficult problems; he or she is willing to take a chance if the potential > gains are great. > > Communication - Engineering is an occupation that depends on the exchange > and interpretation of ideas. An engineer must be aware of how others have > tried to solve a problem. This knowledge often presents itself when > engineers get together arid talk shop. Very often, the solution requires > merging the best parts of competing solutions into a unified approach. > However, this is not the same as when, stuff is included just to keep > everyone happy. This "team approach" typically results in mediocre = > products. > > > Luck - Luck is always useful since "no amount of planning will replace = > dumb > luck." However, good planning and contingency planning often help or are > confused with luck. > > Altogether, these eight attributes will more greatly affect one's > performance as an engineer than his or her GPA. > > About the author - Walter W. Frey is an IEEE Life Senior. > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- = http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist = -- = http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist