"Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
"Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
(OP)
Question: are engineers expected to know everything, or do they many times have to just figure it out??
Let me provide some background to my question so you can see where I'm coming from, as this is partly a personal question. I am the only civil engineer working in a pipeline engineering company, and I mostly do pipeline design. (I have about 7 years of engineering work experience in a variety of engineering settings.) In previous jobs, there've always been engineers with more experience than me in any of the work I was doing. But in my current job, I'm used every so often to do some basic civil engineering design for things I've never actually designed before. In my job, I don't have any older more experienced civil engineers to learn from when I'm doing something new in civil engineering. So often I take the civil engineering knowledge I have from school and passing the civil PE...ask plenty of questions at work...see if I can find some industry resource or design guide, and then do the design to the best of my ability.
Is this very typical of how some engineers do things in their jobs? I think I've always kind-of felt this expectation as an engineer that I'm expected to know everything, but the more experience I get in various types of design, the more I think that very often the engineer's role is to do their best to figure out how to do a design or solve some engineering problem. (Hearing from others on this topic would help me feel a little more at peace in better understanding realistic expectations for an engineer. This is something I've wondered about ever since I graduated from college, but just never thought to ask.) Thank you!
Let me provide some background to my question so you can see where I'm coming from, as this is partly a personal question. I am the only civil engineer working in a pipeline engineering company, and I mostly do pipeline design. (I have about 7 years of engineering work experience in a variety of engineering settings.) In previous jobs, there've always been engineers with more experience than me in any of the work I was doing. But in my current job, I'm used every so often to do some basic civil engineering design for things I've never actually designed before. In my job, I don't have any older more experienced civil engineers to learn from when I'm doing something new in civil engineering. So often I take the civil engineering knowledge I have from school and passing the civil PE...ask plenty of questions at work...see if I can find some industry resource or design guide, and then do the design to the best of my ability.
Is this very typical of how some engineers do things in their jobs? I think I've always kind-of felt this expectation as an engineer that I'm expected to know everything, but the more experience I get in various types of design, the more I think that very often the engineer's role is to do their best to figure out how to do a design or solve some engineering problem. (Hearing from others on this topic would help me feel a little more at peace in better understanding realistic expectations for an engineer. This is something I've wondered about ever since I graduated from college, but just never thought to ask.) Thank you!





RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
You said: "of course there is a first time for everything, but hopefully you will know when to raise flags and ask for help when you feel you are out of your comfort zone"
In a small company, if something would be out of my comfort zone, how would something like that typically be handled by other engineers in similar situations? Hire a consultant with experience in that area?
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
When you are working for a smaller organization, you should expect to be used as a resource. If there is something that you are not familiar with, develop some outside resources that can assist you.
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
The key point is to recognise when you don't know the principles or practice enough to either make a good, effective or safe design.
Using codes, design manuals, past calcualtions and drawings and asking as many good people as you can I have always found very interesting and by doing so on occasion you will surprise yourself with how much you have learned and how much engineering "design" is actually cut and paste.....
In a small company you might need to go the extra yard to find out you don't know, but then you front up to your manager and say I've tried this, looked at that and I'm just not comfortable that I have the right experience to design this and certify it, but I can write a scope and provide details for X to do it and certify it.
If you're not sure, make it stronger. Might cost a bit more, but it won't collapse or fall down.
Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
Perhaps that is the situation here.
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
For most, 7 years experience, as long as that experience was on task to a specific discipline, is probably sufficient to master an area of expertise, but two or three or more areas, probably not.
On another note: If I was going into surgery, I would not want a doctor who is just "figuring it out". In surgery, people die. When civil projects fail, people die. How much liability are you willing to take on? I imagine the "I was figuring it out" testimony won't hold much water with a jury.
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
Again, flip side, if you ever feel pressured to provide design services outside your comfort level, or told to stamp something you're not absolutely sure about, then I would have deep reservations about working for that company. Remember you are personally liable for anything you stamp, not your boss who is telling you to stamp it. It is common to hire a sub-consultant to review designs, essentially paying someone to take on some of the risk.
In some states a Structural PE is separate from a Civil PE, so if you are stamping structural designs, make sure you have the proper licensing for your state (I think CA & IL to name a couple).
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
So, if you're trying to determine if you have the proper experience to certify a design, I would imagine yourself justifying this in front of a judge and attorney in court.
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
RE: "Engineers don't know everything - they figure things out"
http://www.nspe.org/resources/blogs/pe-licensing-b...