What should my son do with his life?
What should my son do with his life?
(OP)
Hi, I just want to start by saying that I am not an engineer and please feel free to delete this post and ban me if you feel it's necessary. If so I appologize.
My 15 year old son is interested in engineering and I want to know what I can do as a dad to help.
He is on the honor role at school.
Does very well in math and science.
Seems to have a good eye when figuring out how things work, how they broke etc.
So what can I do to help? I will be enrolling him in the University of Western Ontario's summer camp for engineering. I also have solidworks software for his computer coming. I gave him my project MG Midget and we'll be attempting to put a 2.3 turbo Ford in it shortly. The project car should give him a basic understanding of computer management, wiring, mechanicals etc etc. and give him some experience with welding, basic tools etc, and putting square pegs in round holes.
What's a good type of engineering to get into for the future.
What else can I do?
Thanks for your time, and ANY tips or advice about where engineering is going, how to get ready for the job market etc. would be really appreciated.... absolutely anything that you as engineers think would help.
Dad (Jeff)
My 15 year old son is interested in engineering and I want to know what I can do as a dad to help.
He is on the honor role at school.
Does very well in math and science.
Seems to have a good eye when figuring out how things work, how they broke etc.
So what can I do to help? I will be enrolling him in the University of Western Ontario's summer camp for engineering. I also have solidworks software for his computer coming. I gave him my project MG Midget and we'll be attempting to put a 2.3 turbo Ford in it shortly. The project car should give him a basic understanding of computer management, wiring, mechanicals etc etc. and give him some experience with welding, basic tools etc, and putting square pegs in round holes.
What's a good type of engineering to get into for the future.
What else can I do?
Thanks for your time, and ANY tips or advice about where engineering is going, how to get ready for the job market etc. would be really appreciated.... absolutely anything that you as engineers think would help.
Dad (Jeff)





RE: What should my son do with his life?
RE: What should my son do with his life?
http://www.mathmovesu.com/#/home
And for the future (well in the USA) see:
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm
and for start pay for different engineers...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29408064?slide=2
Good luck!
Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Sorry for the trite expression, but whe writing is on the wall.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask
RE: What should my son do with his life?
RE: What should my son do with his life?
I would definitely push him to learn a foreign language though. Any one would do, but perhaps Spanish, Mandarin (as btrueblood says) or Japanese would be more useful than some others.
I think knowing another language helps you to think slightly differently about various problems than you otherwise might. Doesn't matter if you never use that language in your engineering life or not.
Is he into sports or anything? Got to have a life outside engineering too.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Basically, I agree with the tick.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
The kid will take care of the rest.
... as soon as I finish my time machine, I'll be at your door, hoping you'll adopt me.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Maybe a few trips to relevant 'technical museums' like aircraft museums, or the like. My favorite was probably Bovington Tank Museum but Hendon was darn cool too and several others. Maybe some airshows or the like - obviously depending what facets of Engineering fascinate him the most.
Practical skills are some of the things that don't always get covered great in more academic settings so any time in machine shops and the like he can get is great - maybe local technical college or similar has something.
Another thing is if they have any technical drawing or similar classes as again, that's something that often gets minimal time at university but can be very useful in the the job place.
When he's old enough encourage him to take relevant internships/summer placements or whatever he can get as this is often looked on favorably by first time employers.
Similarly taking part in various design classes to 'build the most fuel efficient car' or 'Battle Bots' or whatever the latest ones are.
Lego mindstorms looked fun too, our local community college had a class on it.
As to what area of engineering, well Biomed gets pushed a lot as well as 'green energy' as being the future if you believe the pundits. Both make use of a range of different types of engineers including mechanical. However, who knows what'll be hot by the time he's 50 or so!
On the Mandarin thing, maybe, though Japanese was being pushed a couple decades back but didn't become as big a deal as some expected. Spanish may be as useful, or more so, with the anticipated demographics of much of the US. Chances are some folks in the office or especially the shop floor will have Spanish as a primary language - certainly a bunch of folks on the shop floor here do. Or I'd guess French may be the most useful in Canada.
Plus, make sure he has some time to be a kid.
I envy you, I'd love for my son to be into some of this stuff.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: What should my son do with his life?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYDgncMhXw
RE: What should my son do with his life?
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: What should my son do with his life?
All I can say is THANK YOU.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services
www.infotechpr.net
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Pick a good school that also has liberal arts and nursing programs. That way he can meet more people in more fields. Also give him a chance to explore more interests like music or writing. Exposure to journalism majors is important, as it exposes just how weak the base intellect of our media really is.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
let me know when you plan on firing it up, so i can look up as you orbit by ...
if he enjoys messing with cars, great. but there's more to life than engineering ... make sure he has the chance to do the extra-curriculum stuff too [maybe you only mentioned things relevant to this forum]
RE: What should my son do with his life?
On the other hand, you could point out that only a few of the unemployed 20-35 yr old kids living in their parent's basements are engineers. Less credibility issues there.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
I'd suggest giving to and steering your kid less and letting him do more for himself. The project car is a great way to encourage learning by doing, but man, your kid is a lucky little b@stard if you're funding all this fun and games! Either lucky and grateful, or lucky and hopelessly spoiled. I hope it's not the latter for both your sakes!
While the summer camp is a great idea to help him see whether or not engineering is really his bag, I'd suggest Waterloo or McMaster or maybe Toronto as eng schools instead- especially if you live in London. Western's missing the most important thing for educating an engineer: a co-op program. Toronto doesn't have one either, but they do at least offer and encourage an experience year- not nearly as good, but better than nothing. Co-op helps fund the program, helps you find that key first job, teaches you things that are valuable to your career WHILE you're gaining your education, and most importantly gives you exposure to engineers and engineering so you can figure out whether or not it's really what you want to do with your life.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
RE: What should my son do with his life?
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Good advice Tick. Implied that "people" includes those of the female persuasion, which are still tough to meet in technical-only schools.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
RE: What should my son do with his life?
My son is in a design and problem solving group at his school (5th grade). He was very frustrated by the group dynamics, how everyone has an idea but no one stops to listen to his or anyone else's.
I've been encouraging him to stop and observe how the group behaves, remain quiet and wait for the right time to speak. Also encouraging him to find ways to help the group work more as a team and less as a gaggle.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
From the perspective of an employer, we'd rather have kids here for four-month terms, and take the good ones back for a 2nd term after more study. For a small-ish company like ours, being stuck with a poor selection for 16 months is difficult, whereas you can put up with anybody for four months.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
As for co-op, I feel the co-op program at waterloo is great. I've been able to have different types of jobs (ie. pure software, pure mechanical, robotics) and this would greatly help your son decide what he wants to specialize in during his upper years. He'd have 2 years worth of RELEVANT work experience once he graduates, so that has to be an edge when job searching against students who worked at mcdonalds.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
RE: What should my son do with his life?
If you want him to get really comfortable meeting women, set him up to be a musician in a band.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
When it comes to promoting his interest in engineering, you have already done more than anyone can reasonably expect from a father. Now comes the hard part as a parent, let him continue (mostly) on his own.
Let your son's motivation to be an engineer (or any career for that matter) drive him from this point forward. While a 15 year old isn't going to declare a career path, he is old enough to pursue what interests him. If those interests include engineering, then you will be able to see this pretty easily.
Provide your son with the opportunities to tinker and learn about the physical world. Guide him with a gentle hand. But let him drive towards whatever result he is comfortable with. This may be a greater test for the parent than the child.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
It's probably more reasonable to help him build the self sufficency and wealth he needs so he has something to work with when he does really discover himself and needs to make the transition.
Of course hard won wisdom isn't easily transferred.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Do your son a favor, don't hate him for it if that what he chooses. In fact you should encourage it.
Fe
RE: What should my son do with his life?
RE: What should my son do with his life?
One thing: I'd recommend that he take a drafting class in high school if he's interested in engineering. They did a horrible job teaching any type of technical drawing skills at my university. It's something that I use all of the time in my work.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil and Structural Engineering
http://bwengr.com
RE: What should my son do with his life?
My children are: Physician's Assistant, Pharmacist and Doctor. Needless to say they have a brighter future in their chosen professions than they would have in engineering.
I'm sure you have noticed the massive amount of outsourcing going on. With the lower need for engineers due to the manufacturing going overseas, the domestic engineering being done in foreign countries and the large number of foreign born people working as engineers in this country, engineering has taken a severe beating wrt wages and opportunities. I see this trend increasing in the future.
People will always get sick and they are not likely to ship people overseas to get them better. Engineering will always exist somewhere, usually where costs are cheaper - overseas.
2 of my kids earn more than me and the third is very close. I've been in engineering for 35 years and they're just starting.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Encourage them into what they enjoy to do. Not what makes cash!....that's my opinion.
Being happy is much more important than having an extra bit of cash. (if you care only about the money there are other ways to make even more money....)
Fe
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Kids have to follow their passion, but with their brains engaged the whole way along. And passions change- especially in young people. Most people are not so limited and closed minded that there's only one career they could ever consider to be interesting enough to be any good at. The only thing that's a given is to not limit your options by dropping math or science too early.
Engineering is still a very good gig, for some, and the smarter and more passionate you are for the work, the more likely you are to succeed in any profession. But engineering is nowhere nearly the great gig it was 60 years ago, when all you needed was a degree and the world was your oyster. Encouragement of people wh are already passionate about it is fine, but recruiting kids into our profession is idiotic.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"
RE: What should my son do with his life?
The series is available on Youtube, or at their website: http://www.secretlifeofmachines.com/
RE: What should my son do with his life?
If someone values life experience, engineering is a great profession because, if you are flexible and look hard, you can get a job that allows you to travel the world and experience things that are beyond your dreams.
Everything people like in the world today was made possible by engineers, from medical equipment, to Ipods, Facebook, cars, electrical power, clean water. When your son looks back at his life as an engineer, he will be able to say that he made a difference. If he is crafty and gets all the opportunities it presents, he'll be able to say that he had fun doing it, too.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
On the other hand, engineers starting their own company can make quite a good living, either in consulting or in invention. Imagine the potential to create that comes with an engineering background. Computer Engineering skills allowed Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, and Paul Allen to create companies which define the computer industry. Dean Kamen has been very successful, and certainly created game-changing technologies relating to personal mobility.
Engineering degrees are something that many CEOs have in common, as a matter of fact.
For engineers, the sky really is the limit.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
And if you are that way inclined, it is pretty easy to move from Engineering to Management and really rake in the big bucks. Though Management/Project Engineering definitely is not everyone's cup of tea.
RE: What should my son do with his life?
http://
for top 5 colleges that pay off in the long run and the top 3 are Engineering colleges with Engineering careers.
Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Dean Kamen, Gates, Jobs and the like are not doing engineering. They are doing management. My point was that if you are a purist and want to deal with the details of engineering and design, you'll not be getting rich. You'll be making someone rich, and that someone is a manager or other type of non-technical/no-longer-technical person who isn't involved in the day-to-day engineering work. To become wealthy, you have to focus on soft skills and remove yourself from the commoditized engineering work. I've observed this, but yet to do it, hence I'm still an engineer doing the physics and detailed design. I make ~10% of the profit of my effort and non-engineers take the balance. So while I feel like the smart technical guy who makes the product possible, I am really the moron in the chain that does the hard work for the guys who reap the benefits. :)
RE: What should my son do with his life?
Now, it's certainly true that it's difficult for a solo engineer to change the world... but get a few like-minded, energetic, intelligent engineers together and they can create great things... and become quite wealthy in the process.
That's not to say that you won't do just fine working for a company... but it's just a job. It's safe. Entrepreneurs are the ones who take the risks, and are rightly rewarded when they make the right calls. Engineering entrepreneurs have a leg up, because they have the ability to create things.
RE: What should my son do with his life?