A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
(OP)
Just wanted to get some opinions from some engineers...I'm in an office that does several different types of job, all of which can either involve concrete, wood, steel, masonry or all of the above. My question is...is it better to be the guy in the office who knows a lot about just one of those materials? Or the guy who knows an ok amount about all 4?






RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
Don't forget aluminum, and composites with glass or carbon fibre, and cement board, and whatever comes along...
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
PE, SE
Eastern United States
"If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death!"
~Code of Hammurabi
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
Some of the benefits I see with being a well rounded engineer is flexibility in the type of work you do and being able to help a client find the best overall solution for the project, rather than the one you're most familiar with.
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
Where I work, there aren't many "allrounders". Being a semi-large firm, we do have "redundancy" if the "steel guy" (or any others) should fall out (sick or leaves).
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
So do you badmouth the company to the client for the company giving you the jobs or tell the company that you will help out the engineer but not take the jobs, or what?
Garth Dreger PE - AZ Phoenix area
As EOR's we should take the responsibility to design our structures to support the components we allow in our design per that industry standards.
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
I would think over time the people that called you first for your specialty will eventually ask the question, "hey, do you standard stuff too?" And would put you in a good long-term situation.
"We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us." -WSC
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
You're flexible, but not locked down into designing 1 thing. Having multiple engineers that can switch hit creates flexibility in your work load, as other have noted. And as Mike suggested, maybe a couple of topics where you can excel wouldn't be so bad, instead of " master of none".
I do think that maintain humility in all aspects of your engineering knowledge is a good idea. He who knows everything knows nothing.
Lastly, I think it important to master a different array of load magnitudes and materials. That is what separates the good from the bad, the ability to size members and obtain loads by feel rather than having to calc everything. For example, you should be able to size light gauge members and those connections as well as come darn close to sizing a large structural steel member or concrete beam without running a single calc. Your initial feel of the design should be within 10% to 20% of accuracy without the use of a computer. Lateral systems should be able to be laid out by feel where redundancy and drift will be met without major headaches down the road. In other words, you need to be able to spot weakness in your architects layout early on, not after you have run your Risa or ETABS model and are checking torsional irregularities and drifts. Design happens so fast these days, you have to design it before you're done.
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
So do you badmouth the company to the client for the company giving you the jobs or tell the company that you will help out the engineer but not take the jobs, or what?
First!!!! NEVER badmouth your own company (or your subcontractors to ANYBODY (except your toilet in the hotel room at night). NEVER!!!
YOU are the on-site and in-meeting representative FOR your company, and YOU need to represent them professionally. Now - behind the scenes - ream the idiot causing you problems - even it is your boss or a fellow worker so the problem doesn't happen again. Keep your boss informed as well about problems BEFORE anybody else does, and always his boss the same ting you tell your boss - shit rolls downhill, but bad info evaporates into scum everywhere.
But, NEVER blame your own company or a sub. To the client's face that si.
Now, to the point of the question itself: I hope I am humble enough to always recognize that somebody, someplace, in some office or power plant will be a better expert on the inside details of her specific field than me. I just need to know enough about her field to know when she is incorrect or made an error in somebody's else's area. I also need to know how to find that expert - wherever he or she is. I don't have to know all of the details in every field, but I need to know enough about every field to get the job done safely, faster, quicker, and better quality than anybody else. So, to do that, I've had to make decisions in structural, concrete, fabrication, welding, welding qualifications, mechanical, pipe supports, piping and pipe design, pumps, seals, electrical controls, wires, routing & pulling cables, bolting, oil flushes, tank installs, equipment machining, and assembly.
If I don't know the answer, I need to know my limits and who to go to to get them enough extra information accurate enough to get the right answer. And, since I'm more flexible than many specialists (machining only, welding only, or pipe assembly only, etc.) then my own assignments are more flexible. And pay more. 8<)
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
This forum is full of people who work at anywhere from mega-firms to 1-man/woman-shows.... there won't be consensus on this.
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
I'm a jack-of-all trades. It has its advantages and disadvantages.
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?
RE: A lot about a little or a little about a lot?