How to become a better Engineer

Merry Christmas
Location
OH
Occupation
Controls Engineer/Electrical Engineer
Sign up at a local university to teach a class. That's what I did and the preparation and interaction with the students was a learning experience for me.
That sounds interesting but considering I myself am a recent~ish grad I don't think I would be accepted for a while.
the "big wire" electrician
I am not familiar with that term or is it a book. But look into electricians and the other more hands-on side of engineering, for feedback and ways to innovate. Something my boss really pushed for, but I didn't fully appreciate to later on is when he would push for the guys on the floor to review new projects early one in the process
 

ggunn

PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Occupation
Consulting Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
Electricians have certainly learned that engineers love putting switchgear w/4" pipes out of the top DIRECTLY below girders and beams... my favorite!
Oh, and buss ducts...:)
Let's not turn this into an engineer vs. electrician thread, OK? The best results come from cooperation and collaboration between disciplines.
 
The "big wire" and power transmission folks are regularly dealing with, well, big wires, like 4/0 and larger; the mechanical considerations are waaayyyy different from a bunch of 20 amp circuits or transducer wiring. (Then you get to impedances on a while different scale than small-signal).
 

Strathead

Senior Member
Location
Ocala, Florida, USA
Occupation
Electrician/Estimator/Project Manager/Superintendent
What I meant by "Big Wire" is not a standard term. But meant to imply an electrician that is expert in large gear, large feeders, etc.
 
I recently graduated a year, ago and am currently at a job I enjoy. I for a while was the only electrical engineer and was nervous about having so much responsibility as a fresh graduate even though I interned here. I got a huge ego about my skills since once I was given more responsibilities (I was interning under an engineer I was given very little to do) I go to learn a lot about practical engineering. Like dealing with cost efficiency, how important connections to both suppliers and clients are, and the actual engineering aspect.

Then my company finally hired an old veteran since they were looking for senior engineer and he has been a total joy to work with an being decades old veteran just blows me away at how just how much background knowledge he has about everything. He has a lot of connections and more importantly he can look at a process that my company is doing and instantly knows how to improve it. Not instantly but I digress he has great ideas.

I see the amount of respect and trust my boss has for him, and I love that for him, and it inspires me to improve. I always wanted to get much better at my craft even without him but know that I have a measuring stick to compare myself to I can see how much more I can improve.

My real dilemma is I have no idea how to do it. If it comes to designing a panel a customer brings to me, I am good at providing them what they need, but when it comes to ideas of my old, I am drawing a blank. Like do I just look up conferences for electrical engineers in my area and rub elbows is that how people improve? or do I just job hop to job hop when I think I learned enough. I enjoy my job they are very open to engineers starting their own ideas if they can pitch it well enough.

TLDR Engineers how did you improve as an engineer to a point where you felt comfortable in a senior role?
I have worked in the engineering, construction and maintenance electrical disciplines. If it is possible to contact or observe them, you can get good feedback from the contractors who install your designs and the maintenance personnel who maintain the equipment. Evaluate their feedback carefully, sometimes you have to "throw out the high and low scores". Their feedback can help sharpen your design skills. Additionally serving on a NFPA or UL, etc. code panel can be helpful. I have been blessed to serve with some very smart people.
 

ggunn

PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Occupation
Consulting Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
I have worked in the engineering, construction and maintenance electrical disciplines. If it is possible to contact or observe them, you can get good feedback from the contractors who install your designs and the maintenance personnel who maintain the equipment.
When I made the transition from semiconductors to renewable energy, I spent a few months working as a PV installer. It was great experience and it gave me some insight into how to design systems with the installers in mind.
 

ModbusMan

Member
Location
Cleveland, OH
Occupation
Building Automation Engineer
Lots of great comments already... here's what I'll throw in...
- Your manager(s) will play a huge role in both your development and satisfaction. Best guy I ever had was the owner of a small motor rebuild and consulting company in my hometown. His way of doing things was to throw a pile of parts at an older guy (who had never stepped foot in an engineering classroom) and I, say "This ought to get you started, let me know if something comes up," and then let the two of us have at it. Invariably something would turn out missing, and we'd go asking "Have you ever heard of a gadget that does x," and he'd be like "Yeah, you're looking for ...., here's a catalog." Alternatively the worst guy (at a much larger company) basically plopped me in a chair with a set of owner's manuals and login credentials, and had the one other local guy help me get familiar with it all.

- During interviews, ask questions about the actual role, not just the title. Ironically enough, both jobs I just mentioned had the title "Application Engineer," but hooo boy were the responsibilities different. The first, obviously, was building things to accomplish a task. Lots of fun, lots of learning, but as the economy continued dragging after dot-com, the work dried up. The second, although the interview contained engineering and design questions, turned out to be little more than answering email from sales reps going "Can I use product A to satisfy customer request B," or customer support questions like "My system has fault code K, what does it mean?" (when that code is clearly described in the user's manual, along with what to do about it). That second job killed my engineering spirit, and 15 years later it still has never truly recovered.

- Being only a year out of college, you probably don't have a spouse or children yet, so now's the time to take those travel-intensive roles if you're at all interested in that sort of thing. Once there are little ones involved, and especially after they reach junior high/high school (with the concomitant activities), your ability to hop on a plane and travel somewhere for three days with zero warning is pretty much gone.

- You've already been warned about job hopping, but by the same token, think about what sort of benefits you'll want in 10-15 years, and if your company offers those things to people with that degree of tenure. Using paid time off as an example, how generous is the accrual at that stage? Do they make it hard to use very large chunks (say, a three-week tour of Japan-Korea-China)? Will they buy back unused hours (could be a great holiday bonus), carry them over, or send them to /dev/null? If the non-monetary compensation doesn't line up with your goals, then jumping could be in your best interest after all.
 

ModbusMan

Member
Location
Cleveland, OH
Occupation
Building Automation Engineer
PS... I totally forgot about this last week, but it came up in conversation with a coworker yesterday. If you have even the slightest hint of an idea of getting your Professional Engineer's license, take the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exam NOW. Don't wait, don't hesitate, don't think you'll get around to it later. Take a review/refresher course, and pass the thing as soon as you possibly can while everything is still fresh in your head.
 
Location
OH
Occupation
Controls Engineer/Electrical Engineer
PS... I totally forgot about this last week, but it came up in conversation with a coworker yesterday. If you have even the slightest hint of an idea of getting your Professional Engineer's license, take the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exam NOW. Don't wait, don't hesitate, don't think you'll get around to it later. Take a review/refresher course, and pass the thing as soon as you possibly can while everything is still fresh in your head.
This. man, I have been trying to create an ironclad schedule to consistently and effectively study for this exam.
 

Prototype1

Member
Location
Kansas City
Occupation
Noob EE
This. man, I have been trying to create an ironclad schedule to consistently and effectively study for this exam.
Yep, I just graduate from college last year, working as EE. I should have taken the F.E. in my final year or right after I graduate. Now, I forget most of the stuff and have to restudy and I am taking the F.E next year on March. Best you can do is, schedule a date and study for it. Hopefully I pass it.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Yep, I just graduate from college last year, working as EE. I should have taken the F.E. in my final year or right after I graduate. Now, I forget most of the stuff and have to restudy and I am taking the F.E next year on March. Best you can do is, schedule a date and study for it. Hopefully I pass it.
Work with installers and service techs in some way for a while to see what issues they run into frequently with the design of things.

Many the well respected engineers on this site have some sort of field experiences.
 

eric stromberg

Senior Member
Location
Texas
Becoming a better Engineer. Find opportunities to go out and work in the field with the crafts. Does your company have a breaker maintenance program (NFPA 70E)? The more you can get familiar with equipment, the better. Working in the field, with covers off of the equipment, allows you to see the innards of the equipment.
 
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