I believe it was Henry Ford who said,"An engineer is someone who can do for 10 cents what any damn fool can do for a dollar."
Paul T. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Curt Austin" <[email protected]> To: "The Horn List" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 10:37 AM Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Is this the future? > Bill, > > I worked as an engineer for a long time. I'm not sure what you are > referring to regarding engineering ethics. This is what I know about the > formal ethics involved: > > General Electric would regard you as an engineer if you had a degree with > the word "engineer" in it (but not if it included the word "technology", > which would label you a technician). The pay for scientist and engineer > was the same, so this was handled similarly. I believe this was an > internal practice, without any external need other than to support billing > the government properly in cost-plus-fee contracts. > > Backing up some, there is little or no ethics training in an engineering > curriculum, as far as I know. I spent the entire 1970's getting various > engineering degrees - nothing then, at least. > > In some fields, and for some purposes, it is helpful to become a > "Professional Engineer". This means passing a state-administered test and > meeting some other basic requirements (a degree or equivalent experience, > for example). Few engineers have a need to do this. A construction design > firm needs at least one professional engineer to sign drawings; young > civil engineers with any ambition will take the test as soon as possible, > before they forget everything. My sense is that it is a far easier test to > pass than, say, a bar exam - it is not used to limit the number of > engineers in order to protect $400/hour fees. I don't know what ethics > code may be involved - a lot is implied when you sign a drawing - "I > certify that this bridge will not fall down." > > The nature of engineering is devising and maintaining machines, facilities > and processes that make things easier, which usually means reducing labor. > In a well-functioning society (picture 100 people on an island to avoid > the complexities of credit default swaps, etc.), there are better things > to do, and this frees up labor to do them. "Hey, this coconut-husking > machine is great! Let's go plant some pineapples." > > Incidentally, when you look at a jet engine from the side, you can hardly > see anything but tubing. There's a need to pipe air from various places to > other places - to purge bearings, balance thrust loads, pressurize the > cabin - all sorts of things. This tubing is intricately fabricated, > welded, bent, and shaped. The shop where all this tubing is made would > look familiar to a brass instrument maker (except for the welding). It's > made in relatively small quantities, and largely by "hand" (meaning basic > machines and lots of tooling). > > Curt Austin > > > > On Jul 18, 2011, at 6:51 AM, Bill Gross wrote: > >> Hans raises a long term ethical question often not addresses in the >> engineering community. Without going into great detail, in the US the >> engineering profession has professional ethics that deal with the way >> they >> provide their professional service. The one thing that has never really >> been addressed is what responsibility an engineer who develops a new >> manufacturing process has to the employees who might be displaced because >> of >> it. >> > > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/lotp%40comcast.net > _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
