Monday, February 17, 2014

Engineer's Week 2014

From Wikipedia:

Engineer:   A professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics, and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, regulation, safety, and cost.[1][2] The word engineer is derived from the Latin roots ingeniare ("to contrive, devise") and ingenium("cleverness").[3][4]

This week is Engineer's Week. When I was going to college, engineer's week was during St. Patrick's day. St. Patrick is the patron saint of engineers. There's also a little proof that he was an Engineer.

St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland
Snakes are related to worms
Engineers use worm gears
Therefore: St. Patrick was an Engineer.
QED

I decided I wanted to be an Engineer when I was quite young. My dad was in construction and like most fathers wanted his kids to do better than him. He tried to teach his eldest to visualize a 3D representation of the corner of the room. My brother just couldn't get it, but I got it and so an engineer I was destined to be.

The next fortuitous event for me was during my first year in college. I decided to apply for an ROTC scholarship (that will be the subject of another blog). I applied for a civil engineering scholarship, but the faculty approached me about getting a "hip pocket" scholarship in electrical engineering. Basically, I got the money to pay for college without having to compete with other students. I didn't mind, I would tear apart my electronic toys to see how they worked, so I was much more "wired" to be an electrical engineer any way.

I am very proud to be an Engineer and wouldn't trade it for any other occupation, so Happy Engineer's Week to all my engineer friends.

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