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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Industry
The battle continues between the FBI and tech industry giant, Apple. The FBI are wanting to access the contents of an iPhone belonging to a terrorist known as the San Bernadino shooter who shot 14 people in the United States. Apple CEO, Tim Cook, is warning against allowing such a bypass of security services because of the prescedent it might set and is also warning against the criminal hackers that could get their hands on the software that would need to be invented to make such a backdoor possible.
In a recent Apple release, they say, "The government says: “Just this once” and “Just this phone.” But the government knows those statements are not true; indeed the government has filed multiple other applications for similar orders, some of which are pending in other courts."
In more recent developments, other tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft have vowed to file briefs to the courts to try and prevent a magistrate's order of forcing Apple's hand and strongarming them into developing the software to allow access to the contents of the phone. It is rumored that Twitter will join the fight as well.
Along with companies voicing their support for Apple, the situation could escalate to a future of hardware and software engineers who would have to build backdoors into devices so that security of state can be ensured in the future.
"Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks—from restaurants and banks to stores and homes. No reasonable person would find that acceptable," Tim Cook said.
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Developments
Facebook has announced their new project that will see tech companies and internet service providers all over the world linking arms to bring the world of virtual reality - and other services that might require the internet - to life. The project they're calling the Telecom Infra Project will be an engineering team effort that will "reimagine the traditional appraoch to building and deploying telecom network infrastructure."
Global connectivity is one of the aims of the project, recruiting a list of providers to kick start the project. The notable preliminary contributions coming from companies such as:
- SK Telecom
- Africa Mobile Network
- Deutsche Telekom
- Nokia
- Intel
- T-Mobile
"“Every day, more people and devices around the world are coming online, and it’s becoming easier to share data-intensive experiences like video and virtual reality,” said the head of engineering and and infrastructure at Facebook, Jay Parikh.
Parikh further said that the world needs to speed up on innovation in telecom infrastructure so that the new technologies emerging operate fully and "unlock new opportunities for everyone in the ecosystem."
These announcements were made at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which has produced a lot of chatter about 5G internet speeds and the internet of things that will connect the world's appliances to the internet.
For more information on the project feel free to visit their website
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Developments
Researchers in Columbia University Cochlear Implant Center are investigating a way to engineer music so that people who have cochlear implants might actually be able to enjoy music.
Cochlear implants are engineered to make speech sound clearer to people who are past the point of utilizing an amplifying hearing aid, however, it is reported by implantees that they have lost the ability to enjoy music.
The researchers from Columbia University intend to, "test the hypothesis that reengineering music to reduce its complexity can enhance the listening experience for the cochlear implant," they stated in an abstract of their official research article.
The group alleges that it is much simpler for implantees to process speech than the more complex nature of music. Anil Lalwani, MD, a Cochlear Implant Surgeon at Coloumbia University says, "A person who has lost hearing have lost not only some of the hair cells but they've lost some of the nerves that transmit that information to the brain."
The hope is that in the future a specialized type of music can exist for people who have cochlear implants so they could start or go back to enjoying music. Dr Lalwani believes software should exist that reengineers music so that it appeals solely to cochlear implantees.
Les Atlas, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington spoke to NPR, alluding to the fact that it would take a lot of computing power to achieve the encoding of the elements implantees require to listen to music normally.
The fact of the matter is that better implants need to be engineered and designed to facilitate listening to music for cochlear implantees.
For a clearer idea of what music sounds like to a person who has a cochlear implant, check out this video:
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Developments
The future is here and it might be a little too unnerving to watch.
Boston Dyanmics, an engineering and robotics design company owned by Alphabet (the company that owns Google) has unveiled an upgraded iteration of their Atlas Humanoid. In a new video the 'next generation' robot is seen opening a door and circumnavigating a snowy area in the nearby woods. It has been upgraded to "operate outdoors and inside buildings," Boston Dynamics say in the description of the new viral video. The video shows this when the robot is seen picking up boxes of different weights and placing them on shelves. YouTube comments have reflected negatively at a section of the video where the robot is 'bullied' by a bearded engineer; he shoves the robot down with a stick and then the robot gets up again.
Explaining how exactly the robot is able to mimic human movement, Boston Dynamics explained, "It is specialized for mobile manipulation. It is electrically powered and hydrualically actuated. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo sensors inits head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain, help with navigation and manipulate objects."
Entreprenuer and blogger Jason Calacanis in an interview with CNBC said, "Manual labour is going to end in our lifetime, and in this video you can see how close we really are. It's a huge societal issue with jobs, but it's going to be a huge lift in terms of efficiency of companies that nobody expected."
Check the video out below:
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Developments
The International Data Corporation (IDC) has announced that it estimates the global spending on robotics and industrial services will grow from $71 billion in 2015 to $135.4 billion in 2019.
This was confirmed in their Worldwide Commercial Robotics Spending Guide which covers industrial markets such as:
- Robot sensors such as cameras, microphones, barometers, and thermometers
- Robot effectors such as end effectors, motors, and speakers
- System hardware
- Command and control software
- Services such as implementation, maintenance, repair, and consulting
In a statement to the press about what the spending guide means for the future of robotics, John Santagate, a Research Manager at IDC Manufacturing Insights said, "Robotics as a technology has really reached its tipping point. Robotic capabilities continue to expand while increasing investment in robot development is driving competition and helping to bring down the costs associated with robots."
Robotics is also becoming a field of study for children who live in slum areas in India. TribuneIndia reports that a start up called Robotics Education World will offer six month courses to train children in robotics. They claim they will be able to offer this for 20,000 children and young adults in New Dheli. The report released by IDC indicates that 65% of robotic spending is in the Asia/Pacific regions and will double by 2019.
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Education
The engineering industry is being influenced to become more attractive as a field of study to females, with hopes that the male dominated industry might look more equal in the near future.
ExxonMobil - the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company - is at the helm of this movement, establishing the Girls Engineering Festival that took place in the Independent School Districts of Conroe, Magnolia and Spring in the United States on the 23rd of February. According to an article written by The Courier of Montgomery County, females only make up 14% of the engineering work force.
ExxonMobil set up teams of female engineers who were able to relay their knowledge to the girls who had attended the festival, to encourage them to consider engineering as a career path. Rick Frankie - an employee of a non-profit organization (Junior Achievement) championing the cause of female engineers - said, "Years ago they said women needed to stay in the house and raise the family; well, that’s not true. You set the example and you have the opportunity.”
HeraldScotland is reporting that Scottish Universities and colleges will be implementing quotas to address the gender imbalance - with specific focus on engineering - ensuring that only 75% of students within a course can lean towards one gender. Online engineering institutions in the tertiary sector are also reporting that 90% of its applicants for the first two months of 2016 were male. The demand for female engineers is growing so rapidly that female-only courses are being considered to lure women into the engineering industry.
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Education
This week, engineeringcareer.org went searching for the engineers of popular social forum site Reddit. From February 21st to February 27th, National Engineers Week is celebrated in the United States. The week puts emphasis on the need for engineers in society. We interviewed thirteen engineers from the website and asked a few questions about engineering and the industries they currently serve, with focus on graduates. Demographic calculations of the site have shown that the approximate gender and age that is most prevalent on Reddit is 18-29 year old males. Through this survey, students who are currently studying towards their degree will be able to get an idea of the industry they are trying to find a career in.
13 responses filtered in as engineers were honest about their salaries and their happiness when it came to graduating and getting jobs.
Our first question for the respondents was: What is the nature of your qualification?
Once the category of engineering that they fit into had been established, the job title they were given as a result of being employed in the engineering industry was asked:
- Hardware Engineer II
- Graudate Engineer
- Product Design Engineer
- Design Engineer
- Materials Test Engineer
- Graduate trainee
- Field Engineer
- Construction Manager
- Evironmental Engineer (jnr)
- Electronic Engineer
- Structural Engineer I
- Operations Engineer
- Mechanical engineer
What salaries do these kind of engineering jobs make? Here we will present them in US dollars, showing the average of all of the salaries put together. The option to supply a monthly salary was optional in the survey but does give us an idea of what an engineer in their late twenties can earn. The average salary of all of these jobs put together was $4470.09 per month according to the survey. When asked if the engineers were happy with their salaries, this was the response: 
The qualifications that the respondents obtained were all acquired through universities. An encouraging statistic from the respondents when asked whether or not they held qualifications but failed to find a job resulted in a hundred percent, "No." So, if you are pursuing an engineering degree, it is clear that out of thirteen respondents, not one was without work once they had their qualifications. Something to think about.
For all the engineers that might be celebrating Engineers Week along with the US this week, here's a quote to keep you working towards achieving that engineering job: "The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up...His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way," - Nikola Tesla.
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- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
No one agrees 100% on what makes for plagiarism. Essentially, plagiarism is (generally blatant) copying of someone else’s work without giving them any credit or acknowledgement.
What puzzles me about plagiarism is that in giving credit to the originator of a particular concept or work can enhance one’s own work tremendously. When people read your article and see that it is backed by support from many other experts; they tend to find it more credible.
Dear Colleagues
No one agrees 100% on what makes for plagiarism. Essentially, plagiarism is (generally blatant) copying of someone else’s work without giving them any credit or acknowledgement.
What puzzles me about plagiarism is that in giving credit to the originator of a particular concept or work can enhance one’s own work tremendously. When people read your article and see that it is backed by support from many other experts; they tend to find it more credible.
As opposed to the usual mumbo jumbo subjective rubbish that one reads in the newspaper which is based on anecdotes or someone’s biased opinion with no evidence provided to back up the opinions.
The Guilty Ones
The people who are most guilty of plagiarism are students, journalists and academics.
The rapid growth of the internet now means (for a journalist for example) that it is unnecessary to actually go out and interview people to derive primary evidence for an article. You can actually conjure up many more articles (supposedly derived from you) by simply trawling the internet and rewriting the articles with slight rewording. This is what a lot of newspapers are now doing as they are trying to cut their costs. This is naturally driving some of the good quality newspapers and journals into a frenzy as it is unfair.
Aggregation is different to Plagiarism – most of the time
A practice used by journalists particularly is to grab many pieces written on a particular subject and to rework them in one’s own language and to provide credit from the original sources of the story.
Obviously, simply directly quoting from the original articles without modifying the text is again plagiarism and unless permission has been granted is unacceptable.
Plagiarism by Students can be minimised through Turnitin
When writing a piece, one can check using software such as Turnitin of the degree of plagiarism. This gives one a warm and fuzzy feeling that one is doing the right thing when Turnitin gives one a low probability of plagiarism.
There is also a term called self-plagiarism where one copies previous pieces written by oneself. One should reference the earlier work; although in my opinion this can be somewhat unnecessary.
So….in whatever writing you do – ensure you reference your sources carefully and try and be original in one’s writing. This will give your readership confidence in your integrity as an engineering professional.
Thanks to the inimitable Don Christiansen from the IEEE for an interesting article on Plagiarism. Something which he obviously has thought about a lot as he is an esteemed engineering ‘journo’
Wilson Mizner is perhaps a bit cynical when he says: If you steal from one author it's plagiarism; if you steal from many it's research.
Yours in engineering learning
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 23rd Feb’16 #588
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Developments
Engineers from the University of Utah have recently discovered a revolutionary type of 2D semiconducting material that will open the door for faster smart phones and computers, while consuming significantly less power.
The semiconductor made from tin monoxide (tin and oxygen) is a layer of 2D material and only one atom thick. This allows the conductor to have electrical charges move through it much faster than silicon and other 3D materials that are conventionally used. This material has the potential to be used in transistors, which are the core component to electronic devices such as CPU’s and GPU’s in computers and mobile devices.
This discovery was made by a research team from the University of Utah, led by associate professor of materials science Ashutosh Tiwari. These findings were recently published in a research journal on February 15 2016 entitled Advanced Electronic Materials.
The many benefits of 2D materials are still being researched, as the field has only opened up over the past five years. Researchers in this field have recently discovered new types of 2D material such as disulphide, borophene, graphene, and molybdenun which only allow the movement of negative (N-type) electrons. In order to create an electronic device, you require a semiconductor material that allows the movement of both N-type electrons and positive charges. The tin monoxide material discovered by the team University of Utah is the first stable positive (P-type) 2D semiconductor material in existence.
Now that the Tiwari and his team have both the P-type and N-type 2D semiconductors, they are confident that manufacturing of transistors that are smaller and faster than those used today is achievable. The transistors Tiwari and his team can make with their semiconducting material could lead to computers and smartphones that are more than 100 times faster than regular devices, won’t get as hot as normal computer chips, and require significantly less power.
“The field is very hot right now, and people are very interested in it,” Tiwari says. “So in two or three years we should see at least some prototype device.”
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- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
Last week one of the true giants in engineering died. His name is Andrew (Andy) Grove (anglicised name from Hungarian) and he drove the microprocessor revolution (amongst other things). Due to the desperate situation in Hungary at the end of the Second World War, he immigrated to the USA and became one of the giants of the semiconductor industry.
One of his stock phrases (which formed the subject of one of his books) was: Only the paranoid survive in business.
Dear Colleagues
Last week one of the true giants in engineering died. His name is Andrew (Andy) Grove (anglicised name from Hungarian) and he drove the microprocessor revolution (amongst other things). Due to the desperate situation in Hungary at the end of the Second World War, he immigrated to the USA and became one of the giants of the semiconductor industry.
One of his stock phrases (which formed the subject of one of his books) was: Only the paranoid survive in business.
Early Days
After arriving in New York from Hungary, he undertook a bachelor of engineering at New York City College; quickly followed by a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of California Berkeley. He was one of the first employees of Intel – I think employee no. 3 - and rapidly became CEO of a fast growing company in the early days of Silicon Valley.
Big Challenges
Intel was originally designing and manufacturing memory chips – initially very successfully. They subsequently had huge challenges with Japanese dumping of memory chips at a low cost. This caused huge stresses for the early Intel. Andrew then swapped the company across to production of Intel microprocessors. A huge gamble at the time but one which has paid off significantly for Intel. Today it has a market capitalisation of $US197 billion and 64,000 employees and is hugely successful.
Andrew Grove’s Philosophies
Andy believed that handling change in business was a key attribute of all firms. He believed that business success contains the seeds of its own destruction. As a company grows you get more stability and you then become complacent and that probably becomes the catalyst for the unravelling of the business.
All corporations are living organisms and they have to continue to sheds their skins and change their methods continuously to survive and indeed, prosper. Andy was a very modest individual preferring a simple office cubicle to a mahogany adult corner office. No reserved parking places at the office, no big cars and no big houses for Andy. He was extraordinarily disciplined, precise and detailed orientated. But coupled with enormous creativity.
He believed in driving a strongly entrepreneurial culture. A notable author and scientist, he was a prodigious writer and ‘technology cheerleader’. One of his texts is still being used by leading universities. A more recent book on management was translated into many languages.
Finally, he is also proof of the enormous value in focussing all businesses globally and embracing people, ideas and cultures from all over the world.
A remarkable man and engineer and someone who we should always remember.
RIP Andy Grove.
Yours in engineering learning
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 16th Feb’16 #587
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Education
Aerospace company Boeing plans to drastically increase it’s employment of engineers for future endeavours. Boeing Defence Australia’s (BDA) Director of Human Resources Melissa Davidson has announced that the organisation will create 220 new roles this year – including 197 for engineers – due to recently winning two major defence contracts.
Two contracts that are currently driving the employment growth in Boeing are the; Land 2072 Phase 2B system – a battlespace communications network, and the development of a training system for helicopter pilots that requires BDA to not only supply the aircrafts and training devices, but also the training, support, instructors and maintenance itself.
Boeing’s commitment to gender diversity is aiming to achieve at least 30 per cent of it’s new engineering employees to be female.
The projections from the Department of Employment has forecast an extra 1800 electronics engineers and 1600 electrical engineers will be required across Australia in the five years to November, 2019.
You can see if there are any job opportunities with Boeing at: www.boeing.com.au
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- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
Batteries, batteries….that is all we have been hearing of recently. This rapid movement to batteries will undoubtedly impact on the suppliers of electrical power such as power stations and the transmission/distribution networks as the use of batteries at homes will increase strongly. Driven by reducing costs of installations. And some very enthusiastic vendors such as Tesla who are all determined to drive the prices downwards with great vigour. Well, so they claim.
Dear colleagues,
Batteries, batteries….that is all we have been hearing of recently. This rapid movement to batteries will undoubtedly impact on the suppliers of electrical power such as power stations and the transmission/distribution networks as the use of batteries at homes will increase strongly. Driven by reducing costs of installations. And some very enthusiastic vendors such as Tesla who are all determined to drive the prices downwards with great vigour. Well, so they claim.
Microgenerators Galore
This will mean that we are going to be in a position where we have many little micro generators (with photovoltaic cells and batteries) scattered around the suburbs and towns who will sell power back to their local utility particularly whenever there is peak usage of electricity. In other words the power distribution companies have a opportunity to do some trading not only in reselling power from the traditional coal or gas fired power stations but also from all these micro generators scattered around the suburbs who want to sell their power at peak consumption times. The power distribution companies add value in that they have the ‘poles and wires’.
All Systems Green for the Smart Grid
Suddenly distribution companies have a real opportunity to implement the smart grid concept with some significant economic returns. What makes it all very interesting is that generators won't need to build a new power station to handle these peak loads but can merely harness existing power from the individual micro generators scattered around the countryside.
Pricing is a Big Challenge
One of the biggest challenges naturally is to get the price right. So that those living in apartments who don't have solar panels (and batteries) can still find the price of power beneficial. In other words they won’t have to pay as much for their power with the use of micro generators against if they were forced to use the traditional coal fired or gas fired generator power supply exclusively.
Without any shadow of doubt – once we have a burgeoning market of micro generators with the power utilities acting as facilitator – the days of monopoly pricing driven by obscure government agencies will be gone. The genie will have finally escaped.
Big changes are coming. The question for you – whether you work for a power utility or just use power - is this: how do you take advantage of these changes to improve your business/career and life?
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 9th Feb’16 #586
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Education
A recent study by Deakin University (Melbourne, Australia) has shown that majority of engineering graduates actually end up working within the IT industry, rather than the Engineering Industry. Their findings were published in the Australasian Journal of Engineering Education.
The university analysed data on over 200,000 people who have a bachelor-level degree in engineering and found that the degree is extremely valuable to have across a wide range of industries. The study showed that approximately 46 percent of engineering graduates who were under the age of 25 were in an engineering related role, with the figure dropping to 32 percent when the other age groups were counted.
The Deakin research revealed that 14 percent of those with an engineering degree who don’t end up employed within the industry, are employed in the IT and other technology-related industries. Another 12 percent of the people who were included in the study were in general management positions outside engineering, while 10 percent were employed in non-professional jobs.
Engineering graduates’ employability is supported by data from Graduate Carers Australia which identified 80 percent of the graduates who were studied reported that they found employment straight out of university. This is significant, as 70 percent of graduates from other disciplines were unable to find employment immediately after graduation.
Stuart Palmer, lead researcher associate professor of Deakin University has offered the following advise regarding the future and current engineering students:
- It is recommended that engineering students should be better informed about the industry outside of graduation.
- High school (secondary school) students who are interested in studying engineer in the future should be informed that the degree can lead to many more employment opportunities than just engineering and they are more than likely to work outside of the industry.
- The undergraduate engineering curricula should consider the portability of the degree.
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- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
‘The Coming revolution in engineering education’ is always somewhat tedious to read – it is an old worn cliché. We seem to be supposedly having revolutions in everything these days. Certainly there is change coming in engineering education but revolution – I doubt it.
Dear Colleagues,
‘The Coming revolution in engineering education’ is always somewhat tedious to read – it is an old worn cliché. We seem to be supposedly having revolutions in everything these days. Certainly there is change coming in engineering education but revolution – I doubt it.
Technology Driven Revolutions are Overdone
Over the past century there have been an enormous number of claims of revolutions in education (particularly with technology ranging from TV, computers to the internet). None of them have happened. You can use technology to make learning more efficient but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is more effective. I believe we can all remember the ghastly rote-based computer-based training sessions which were totally useless.
Successful training is really based on how you design the learning, the level of interactivity of the training, the quality of the materials and how good the instructor is. And finally – how this training and education is applied to the job.
Engineering Education Needs to be Dramatically Improved
I am convinced that engineering education at college or university is still extraordinarily poorly done. I still hear of students being subjected to countless hours of boring lectures on meaningless subjects they will never use in the real job market. Universities are still considered an assembly of experts focussed on research (which is where they are rewarded for and where they achieve a level of prestige). The engineering students are often forgotten. It is vital to remember that knowledge and expertise (formerly residing with the professor) is freely available nowadays – esp. on the internet.
In addition, one doesn’t need to demonstrate prowess with advanced mathematics and physics to be able to work as an engineer or technologist these days.
OK – so what is required….?
As you are no doubt aware - a few suggestions on useful education and training for a future engineer or technologist would include:
- Encourage entrepreneurial spirit for students. They should be prepared to experiment and fail often with projects, products and services before being successful.
- Encourage creativity and ‘thinking outside the box’
- Education is a team effort between students and instructors where collaboration and trust is the order of the day.
- Skills such as project management are critical.
- The ability to communicate well is key – whether this is verbal or simply typing up an email.
- Expect and thrive on change. It is everywhere and it will continue.
- Openness and transparency – students and instructors work together collaboratively. The old ‘sage on the stage’for instructors ain’t gonna work any longer with the modern student who wants value.
- The student should absorb a passion for other areas such as the arts, business and law….
Naturally, give students the basic know-how in physics and engineering but encourage them to discover the knowledge they require and to be constantly on a lifelong learning mission. Not necessarily through formal courses but from buddies in discussion forums, on the job or from a mentor.
As we all know – most of what we are taught at engineering school isn’t used in one’s career. There is a great opportunity today, to change this and make engineering education something sought after and engineering graduates admired as real contributors to society.
Bruce Dickinson remarked: Engineering stimulates the mind. Kids get bored easily. They have got to get out and get their hands dirty: make things, dismantle things, fix things. When the schools can offer that, you’ll have an engineer for life.
Thanks to an interesting book: A Whole New Engineer by David E.Goldberg and Mark Somerville.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 2nd Feb’16 #585
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Developments
India’s rapid urbanization and industrial development have overtaken all efforts to protect the environment. This has led two of MIT’s doctoral students in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences to begin working on a way to address India’s high levels of air and water pollution issues that pose a threat to human health.
Nick Hagerty, a fourth-year PhD student is designing a cap and trade program with the intention of reducing pollution from industrial wastewater. Ariel Zucker, a third-year PhD student is developing an environmental rating program for industrial smokestack emissions. Both of these projects were developed through MIT’s Tata Center for Technology and Design, whose mission is to address the challenges of communities which are resource-constrained.
Project One: Cap and Trade
Nick Hagerty is working with a team of professors from Harvard University, Yale University and the University of Chicago to provide a financial incentive to polluting companies in India to clean up their act by enabling companies to work together to meet a proposed set of pollution reduction goals.
"What if there were a way to transcend this tradeoff — to reduce pollution without killing off industry? We’ve seen in other parts of the world that there is a tool that can achieve that: It’s emissions trading, or cap and trade," Hagerty says.
Hagerty and the team plan to work with an environmental regulator and a local industry association to monitor the industrial wastewater released by approximately 110 factories that share a treatment facility in the Indian state of Gujarat. They will then provide these factories with pollution permits and enable these companies to trade these amongst themselves.
This project makes it possible for facilities that face high clean up costs to pay another – such as one with cleaner operations and low clean up costs – to take on the emission reductions in order to meet the group goals.
Project Two: Environmental Rating
Ariel Zucker believes that even if you have great technology, you need some incentive for people to reduce pollution. At the moment India has high environmental standards, however the regulations are not very well policed and enforced. This means a lot of the standards are ignored by large organisations.
With the same team of professionals that Haggerty is working with, Zucker is planning to tackle this issue by giving companies a public reputation for environmental performance – for good or poor.
In the state of Maharashtra, Zucker and the team are collecting data on stack emissions from approximately 100 industrial plants and ranking them based on the total amount of particular matter they are releasing into the atmosphere. They plan to assign each plant with a star rating and publish the results online.
Zucker believes strongly in the incentive program as she says "It’s feasible and pretty low-cost for many of these industries to come closer to compliance. If it’s not worth their reputation to do it, they won’t do it. If it is they will.”
This program is planned to go into operation in the spring (northern-hemisphere), when the group will continually monitor smokestack emissions to evaluate the project’s impact.
"I think this project will give industry groups some incentives to start being better citizens," Zucker says. "We see a lot of room for small, low-cost improvements that can have a big impact on pollution."
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Education
The Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment, in association with Citi recently carried out the Technology at Work v2.0: The Future Is Not What It Used To Be report. The report highlights published data that was featured in the World Bank Development Report 2016.
It was found that fourty-seven percent (47%) of jobs in the U.S. are at risk of automation in the next two decades. The report goes into depth with statistics showing which cities have the highest (and lowest) percentages of jobs at risk. The cities with the lowest risk of jobs effected by automation have a cluster of skilled jobs and a strong technology sector.
The cities with the lowest percentages of jobs at risk of automation are:
- Boston: 38.40% (Percentage of jobs at high risk of automation)
- Washington D.C.: 38.40%
- Raleigh: 39.70%
- Baltimore: 40.40%
- New York: 40.70
- Bridgeport, Ct., : 41.10%
- Toms River. N.J.: 41.20% (Although Toms River is not a big city, this is not an error. The researchers defined labor markets by commuting patterns. Toms River and surrounding towns have a substantial group of commuters).
- Richmond, Va. and Minneapolis: 41.40%
- Denver: 41.50%
- San Francisco: 41.70%
The report found that the cities with the highest percentages of jobs at risk of automation are primarily manufacturing hubs. Carl Frey, one of the researchers and co-director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment said “Without efforts to create new industries, manufacturing cities are likely to experience continued decline,” referring to the decline of manufacturing in the U.S. since the 80’s.
The cities with the highest percentages of jobs at risk of automation are:
- Fresno: 53.8%
- Las Vegas 49.10%
- Greensboro: 48.5%
- Reading: 48.4%
- Grand Rapids: 47.9%
- Oklahoma City and Harrisburg, Pa.: 47.10%
- Los Angeles: 47%
- Dayton: 46%
- Sacramento: 45.9%
- Houston: 45.8%
“The key message of this report is that advanced and developing economies alike will have to shift a larger scale of the workforce into relatively skilled jobs,” Frey noted. “That is going to be the main challenge for China–to make sure that new industries make up for the job loss in manufacturing.”
Frey believes that the greatest growth in the U.S. will be in the healthcare sector saying “Nursing, elderly care, and child care are good examples of where we don’t see that many jobs disappearing in the future”. Other high growth areas noted in the report will be clean energy jobs such as wind energy operations, automotive engineering.
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The recently released National Employment Report by Aspiring Minds has announced that 80% of India’s engineering graduates are unemployable. The report was based on a study of more than 150,000 engineering graduates in 2015 who attended more than 650 different universities. This has highlighted India’s need to upgrade the country’s education and training system.
CTO of Aspiring Minds, Varun Aggarwal said "Engineering has become the de-facto graduate degree for a large chunk of students today. However, along with improving the education standards, it is quintessential that we evolve our undergraduate programmes to make them more job centric."
The report goes to show that the Indian city that produces the highest number of employable engineering graduates is Delhi, followed by Bengaluru and the western parts of the country. Strong progress in the country is shown as employability by gender is almost equal for engineering graduates.
Methodology
The report is based on a sample of more than 150,000 engineering students from 650+ engineering colleges across multiple Indian states. All these candidates graduated in 2015. The analysis and findings of this report are based on the results of these students on AMCAT: Aspiring Minds Computer Adaptive Test, which is India's largest and only standardized employability test. AMCAT covers all objective parameters such as English communication, Quantitative aptitude, Problem-solving skills, knowledge of domain areas such as Computer Science and Programming, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering etc. for determining employability in the IT/ITeS & other core engineering roles. The test was conducted under a proctored and credible environment ensured by Aspiring Minds.
Employability has been quantified based on the benchmarking studies done at various companies in different sectors by Aspiring Minds. Currently, AMCAT is used by more than 3500 companies; including seven of the top-ten IT services companies in India, for their assessment and recruitment solutions. The benchmark for employability in a profile and sector is defined by a theoretical understanding and empirical validation of the knowledge, cognitive skills and domain expertise required. The benchmarks established for different profiles ensure both elimination of unsuccessful candidates for a job (elimination of type I error) and inclusion of all candidates who will be successful in the given job (elimination of type II error). The same has been validated among multiple companies in various sectors.
The report also covers a section on aspirations of engineers and a study which attempts to understand the factors which lead to an engineer getting a job in India. The data for the same was captured by means of a scientific survey on a stratified sample of about 27,000 engineers.
Together with the AMCAT scores, the various demographic details of the candidates are also captured by Aspiring Minds' testing platform, which enables a comprehensive and meaningful analysis provided in the report.
Employability by Gender
In India, there are 104 males for every 100 females making the male-to-female ratio (MFR) 1.04. In contrast, the MFR in engineering colleges is 1.68. This shows that a lower proportion of females make it to engineering courses as compared to males. This ratio is better as compared to last year's MFR of 1.72.
Conclusion of Report
One may observe that employability falls drastically towards the beginning and more gracefully towards the middle. This clearly shows that there are certain colleges which have excellent employability; however, other colleges even with close ranking show a drastic drop in employability. This is in line with the perception that certain colleges, such as the IITs and state-run colleges, are much better than others, which may be ranked just as highly. This is not a healthy trend, implying that deserving students in the other colleges find themselves cut off from better opportunities.
To further analyze this hypothesis, the study looked at the employability for the IT product role. One would expect to see a steeper trend, since IT Product employability is more strongly influenced by college education quality (rather than just intake) as compared to employability for IT Services companies.
One can observe that IT product employability falls to less than 10% at Rank 10, down from 32% at Rank 1, which is a fall of three times. On the other hand, for IT Services companies, this fall was only around 1.5 times.
In summary, the study found that the ratio of employability in top 100 colleges versus the rest is between two to six times depending on the role. In spite of this, more than 70% of employable candidates for any role are in campuses other than the top 100. With regard to employability distribution among campuses, the quality of education falls steeply among the top-ranked colleges which implies that colleges that are neighbors in rank have a very different quality of education. There are a large number of colleges with exceptionally low employability: bottom 32 percentile campuses have less than 1 in 100 candidates employable in the IT Product role and the bottom 20 percentile campuses have no candidate employable in the IT product role. Finally, we find that almost 41% of employable candidates for IT Services companies and 18% of employable candidates for IT Product companies are enrolled in campuses ranked beyond the top 750, thus forming an invisible pool to most employers in India.
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The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution has had a lot of media coverage over the past year. This refers to the big upswing in developments in robotics, artificial intelligence (think of self-driving cars), genetics and cloud-based computing. This list goes on and on, of course.
Dear Colleagues,
The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution has had a lot of media coverage over the past year. This refers to the big upswing in developments in robotics, artificial intelligence (think of self-driving cars), genetics and cloud-based computing. This list goes on and on, of course.
The First Three Industrial Revolutions
You may remember from your happy high school day that the first industrial revolution occurred with the mechanization of production using steam and water (often in ‘Satanic Mills’). The second one was when mass production using electrical power arrived (e.g. Henry Ford) and the most recent one was the digital revolution using electronics and IT in the late sixties – starting shortly before I launched myself with blind enthusiasm into my engineering education and career.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
The fourth industrial revolution is underpinned by six design principles:
1. Interoperability through IoT and Internet of services
2. Virtualization
3. Decentralization
4. Real time access to data
5. Internet of Services
6. Modularity
As a result of this, the predictions are that 47% of workers in USA will lose their jobs in next 20 years; there will be downward pressure on developing country jobs and middle skill professions such as clerical work & customer services will disappear.
The full (sombre) report from the World Economic Forum is contained here: reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2016
Do We See Any Impact?
If you look around you, you can see an impact from various forms of the fourth Industrial revolution from such items as the implosion of publishing newspapers, the demise of traditional printing, streaming music and movies and the drop off in postage services and so forth.
I would say that I doubt that the dire predictions are going to eventuate as there is always inertia in change. But we should certainly be tuned into handling the changes coming to avoid being dumped on the scrap heap. Well, the employment scrap heap that is.
How Best to Deal with these Changes
The suggestion from the pundits is that we need to continually reskill with a focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). I disagree with this blind assertion.
I somehow doubt that mathematics skills are required as much today as in years past - software does much of this these days. And I have met many highly skilled engineers and technicians who are unemployed or who are earning pitiful salaries. One also only needs to look around town at the enormous number of science graduates who can’t get jobs. So this is patently nonsense.
What I do believe is that the the age-old skills for success are still required – more than ever before - such as being able to communicate well, be pro-active and positive. And in being entrepreneurial and handling failure are also high up on the list of useful skills. We need more small businesses forming – most of which will undoubtedly fail – but in having a number succeed which then grow into larger enterprises which employ people.
What is Really Required
So this is what is really required. More engineering, technology and science entrepreneurs. Visionaries. Experimenters. Triers…..whatever…
I am not sure if Kelly Lynch has considered the impact on our environment but her comment is prescient:I just think we're living in a time of massive, amazing change, like the Industrial Revolution on acid.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackays Musings 26th January16 #584
125, 273 readers www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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The PLC is surely one of the workhorses in industry – no matter whether you are in industrial automation, electrical or mechanical engineering, you are likely to be confronted with one of these little beasts - a Programmable Logic Controller or PLC (or indeed, Programmable Automation Controller – PAC)...
Dear Colleagues,
As the truism goes: Over 80% of malfunctions with PLCs are associated with Input/Output modules and field equipment. Frustratingly true for someone who spends most of her time programming the PLC without much regard for the field equipment. Download my presentation entitled: Troubleshooting PLCs and SCADA Systems from my regular Wednesday afternoon online sessions.
The PLC is surely one of the workhorses in industry – no matter whether you are in industrial automation, electrical or mechanical engineering, you are likely to be confronted with one of these little beasts - a Programmable Logic Controller or PLC (or indeed, Programmable Automation Controller – PAC). A critical cheap building block for all automated systems.
A few tips on troubleshooting these devices
The first decision is to decide whether the problem is internal or external to the PLC. Bearing in mind that most malfunctions are I/O modules and field equipment. Problems related to a specific I/O module or input/output device are generally external problems while large groups of failures are generally related to the internals of the PLC.
Internal problems - first cab off the rank
- Check that your earthing/grounding is correct. Inspect power and ground wiring. Check that voltage between PLC ground terminal and known ground is actually zero. You may need to log this over time with a scope to find pesky transient (intermittent) changes in voltage.
- Check the power supply to the PLC is operating within the correct ranges for both CPU and I/O modules (and that the ac ripple on your dc supplies is not excessive).
- Check batteries on PLC are still OK.
- EMC/EMI problems get more tricky – look for an EMC/EMI “event” such as motor starting/arc welding in the area or lightning strike which may match up with erratic behaviour of your PLC.
- Check the PLC program hasn’t been corrupted (occasionally on cheaper devices I have seen this happen much to my amazement). Ensure the program is backed up off-site when examining it.
- Check the internal diagnostics for a crash of one of your PLC programs or subroutines or some other error (e.g. divide by zero)
External problems – the more likely problem
The main issue here is to find out why your internal program and data status doesn’t match up with the external situation.
Digital inputs
- Check the power supply to the module.
- Look for where the power to a digital input comes from (not normally from the PLC I/O module).
- Check fuses, breakers and any other cause of power interruption to the digital input
- Check for adequate changes in voltage to the digital input when the external field device is operated.
- If the digital input is operating correctly and the CPU is still misreading it; the problem may lie in the PLC program.
Digital Outputs
- For digital outputs, check where the power is being supplied by. Often not from the PLC output card itself.
- Check the power output from the PLC.
- Check fuses (and fuse blown indicators).
- Force digital outputs on and off.
- Preferably use a test load (rather than open circuit it) when testing the PLC outputs.
Analog Inputs
- For analog inputs; move the field device (an instrument) through the full range of current (e.g. 4-20mA) and confirm this is reflected in the equivalent register in the PLC.
- If there is uncertainty here, hook up a signal transmitter and run through the full range of current (or voltage).
Analog Outputs
- For Analog outputs – in your PLC program force the output to a specific value and observe that the output reflects this. If not; check the external wiring and then the actual output, with a 250 ohm resistor for example.
The hazards of remote troubleshooting
Some of my recent forays increasingly have been into remote troubleshooting of PLCs located thousands of kms away. But this can be a hazardous occupation without enormous care taken with network security to ensure that some one located in Siberia or West Waziristan doesn't hack into your critical industrial control system.
A few thorny transient problems
In my experience in troubleshooting, I have been occasionally exposed to sudden overvoltages which blew a range of variable speed drives and PLC inputs (due to discharge of a capacitor bank with a very sharp transient). Other ones have been horrible harmonics introduced by a new drive. This required isolation of analog inputs to eliminate this (as we then had aliasing problems). Finally, data communications problems traced to common mode voltages surges and fixable by isolation (fiber optics) and improved earthing.
When in doubt; disconnect
And when testing a PLC, ensure that you disconnect any critical high powered equipment when testing outputs. One PLC programmer I know, accidentally started a 1MW ball mill accidentally when testing a tiny digital output from the PLC…...
Particularly true of troubleshooting PLCs is Oscar Wilde's comment: Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
The only way to learn is by your own efforts in troubleshooting.
Thanks to Ryan G. Rosandich for a great article on Troubleshooting PLCs.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackays Musings 19th January16 #583
125, 273 readers www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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You’re probably tired of hearing the hype about the Internet of Things (IoT). Well, I am getting a little overloaded.
As you probably know – the IoT is the magic carpet that will connect devices (mainly sensors), enabling seamless communications and monitoring/control from anywhere in your plant, home or indeed the world. After I did some initial research last year on what the real magic is, I have become somewhat disillusioned with the flood of articles on the IoT.
Dear Colleagues,
You’re probably tired of hearing the hype about the Internet of Things (IoT). Well, I am getting a little overloaded.
As you probably know – the IoT is the magic carpet that will connect devices (mainly sensors), enabling seamless communications and monitoring/control from anywhere in your plant, home or indeed the world. After I did some initial research last year on what the real magic is, I have become somewhat disillusioned with the flood of articles on the IoT.
There are predictions of massive growth with over 50 billion connected devices within the next five years (with 30% to 50% annual growth required to achieve this). Will this indeed happen and change your life? I have my doubts.
To be quite frank - the IoT is a pretty old concept - remember the good old radio telemetry systems where one connected to RTUs from centralized control systems over a radio network? Thanks to cheaper and smaller hardware and software and the internet, we have simply extended this concept to a wider range of items ranging from medical tracking to fitness to energy management at your home.
Remember the Fieldbus Wars?
Some of you may remember the clash between titans in the instrumentation world in the mid nineties. Essentially, between vendors promising to connect field devices and actuators together with tremendous benefits promised. Solutions proposed ranged from Profibus DP/ProfiNet/ASiBus/Lonworks to Foundation Fieldbus/HSE with Ethernet also being proposed. It was an all or nothing race – only one communication solution was going to work and you had to choose.
It turns out that there are a horde of possibilities being used today ranging from the above with Ethernet/ TCP/IP and the venerable Modbus solution playing a role today. The key has been easy connectivity between the different communications solutions and a focus on business benefits.
Not Everyone Believes the Huge Growth of IoT
There are many who are ‘pooh poohing’ the massive growth in IoT with some pundits saying that if you as a company hitch your wagon to these growth predictions; you are likely to be seriously disappointed and financially out of pocket.
Where does the IoT start and finish?
As usual the home is one of the key areas for IoT. The IoT provides for easy connection between your thermostat, energy and security systems – all connected to the internet and controlled by your smart phone. Inevitably one of the first and major problems with this architecture is the lack of a common communications infrastructure. A veritable Tower of Babel where everyone is using their own protocols to connect their own devices.
There is no evidence that consumers want everything connected together as there are no immediate benefits. Apart from a few vague benefits in connecting remotely to your home to check it out when you are on holiday in the Seychelles.
As has been the case for the past 40 years – solid growth for IoT is undoubtedly in industrial plant, factories, pipelines and utilities where more devices will be installed at far lower costs with seamless connectivity possible. Other opportunities are in tracking parcels, telemedicine and healthcare.
A few Challenges Along the Way
As usual – there is no working business model yet. Hence the hype. And the software to analyze the ferocious amount of data needs to be put in place with demonstrated successful applications. Naturally, one of the issues that fills me with the ‘heebie jeebies’ is the need for solid cyber security to avoid the inevitable remote thugs taking over your plant and doing horrible things to it.
I am sure we will get there with the IoT with a great (business) working model. But it will take a bit longer than is predicted.
Bearing this in mind – keep researching the market and keep up to date with what is happening – you may find an application for your products with great business benefits.
Thanks to Lou Frenzel in Communiqué writing about The Internet of Things: Hype, Hope, or Hit? for an interesting dissertation.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackays Musings 12th January’16 #582
125, 273 readers www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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In my bookshelf, I have a marvelous engineering book from 32 years ago entitled: The Robotics Revolution by Peter Scott inscribed in my rather youthful hand: 6th Nov. 1984 London. With fairly minimal mention about software - focussing more on the mechanical, electrical and control aspects. However today at the beginning of 2016 one of the overriding trends are based around ‘The Robots are definitely coming’.
Dear Colleagues,
In my bookshelf, I have a marvelous engineering book from 32 years ago entitled: The Robotics Revolution by Peter Scott inscribed in my rather youthful hand: 6th Nov. 1984 London. With fairly minimal mention about software - focussing more on the mechanical, electrical and control aspects. However today at the beginning of 2016 one of the overriding trends are based around ‘The Robots are definitely coming’. Big time. With a huge focus on software and artificial intelligence.
My modest suggestions on top trends in the technology areas for this year include:
- Machine Learning, artificial intelligence and rapidly increasing robots/automation. Robots will continue to surpass and overtake what we as humans can do esp. in managing the huge amounts of data. From autonomous driving cars to drones to traditional administrative tasks resulting in a hollowing out of middle level jobs with the roboboss (yes!) becoming a reality for many today. Naturally, we need imaginative designers and engineers to create these devices.
- Internet of Things (IoT) and a super-interconnected world – solid growth in connectivity with sensors (and actuators) although (as we can surely remember from the Fieldbus wars) a lack of standardization makes it all very fractured at present. By 2020, 25 billion sensor devices will be generating data (Gartner). How do we handle this volume?
- Cybersecurity and cybercrime. I reckon most of us have been touched by virus attacks, assaults on our bank accounts and IT systems. Security must be built into everything we do rather than as an afterthought. Digital thieves are smarter than ever and are proliferating at an alarming rate. We are under constant attack and need to be vigilant. Esp. with our industrial infrastructure now connected to the internet.
- Smart Phones becoming your primary tool for Everything. They have already become a key mobile tool in our homes and businesses and indeed in our industrial plants. I just wish the batteries would last longer. Have you used your smart phone to measure voltage and current yet?
- Virtual and augmented reality finally working. With the arrival of the Oculus Rift viewer and other related low cost devices, one can get a brilliant virtual experience. Esp. valuable for training and entertainment. All conducted at remote locations.
- Cloud computing working more widely in the industrial world. This will barrel along with greater emphasis where software will be centralized and easily accessible. This will reduce the need for IT expertise (such as networking) at each individual firm as all fixes/configuration will be done at a central cloud-based server. There are still enormous (justifiably I might add) concerns about protection of data in the cloud.
- Drones (or UAVs) being applied to Business. Drones (and hover boards!) growing strongly and being allowed to make deliveries and perform other mundane public tasks.
Can you identify other trends which I have missed?
An interesting comment from Cynthia Breazeal: If you look at the field of robotics today, you can say robots have been in the deepest oceans, they've been to Mars, you know? They've been all these places, but they're just now starting to come into your living room. Your living room is the final frontier for robots.
Take Advantage of these trends in your career, personal life and education. There are huge opportunities for training and education in these areas ranging from virtually free to extensive and expensive.
Thank you BBC News, Gartner (Darryl C Plummer) and Forbes (Peter High) for an interesting summary of your predictions. Please forgive me for not clearly delineating machine learning/artificial intelligence more finely.
All the best for a fabulous 2016 – I hope it meets all your expectations. Above all, stay healthy and maintain your happy personal connections – whether it be family/friends or colleagues.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 4th January’16 #581
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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Dear Colleagues,
“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” can really gnaw at you. How can you make sure that you’re being paid what you are really worth? Essentially your remuneration is based on the contribution you make to the business you work in. Whilst long hours are commendable, you will inevitably find the firm’s salesman lounging down at the beach during working hours drinking copious cappuccinos and earning double what you earn. Despite your engineering qualification, enormous hours and stress that you work to keep the production facility operating.
Not particularly fair, one would say. But things that impact on pay include: education, formal and informal training, technical experience, size of the company, responsibility level and part of the country you work in, and finally simply – supply and demand.
Education
During the dot com era, many thought a university degree was increasingly irrelevant especially in the IT area. However there is no doubt that a good degree from a good college is an essential ingredient. If you gain the ability to think logically and read and write beautifully and be committed to outstanding project management skills you will have a good future in the earnings stakes. However an advanced degree such as a doctorate may be counterproductive in terms of scaring potential employers off. And you have to find a really niche job to fit this requirement. This may be difficult.
Formal and not so formal Training
Most firms appreciate their staff constantly sharpening their skills by attending (relevant and good) courses. And learning from others in the firm in a more informal way. Actively seeking out new know-how from experts and applying this new found knowledge vigorously to new projects is also highly regarded. All of these are you investing in yourself and making yourself more valuable.
Technical experience
This is often the hardest fought skill you have. Sadly, the technical part of it ages very quickly. Although I would respectfully suggest that the management skills only mature with use and make you even more valuable. So keep sharpening your skills in this area. This must be one of the most important skills you are measured on when you are being offered a job.
The part of the country you work in
Depending on where you live may impact on your income. Some remote locations such as in the Middle East salaries can be high. But your costs are high and life style can be quite challenging compared to suburbia in a “nice western” country. So weigh this up carefully. It always fascinates me when I see Indian nationals returning to India and leaving secure US jobs behind because they prefer to be with family and the local culture, perhaps.
Business experience
Most technical professionals focus on the issues that are near and dear to them. Engineering projects and detailed technical issues. But if you can understand why and how the project is important to your firm and actively ensure the project is aligned with the business issues, the more valuable you will be.
And finally – supply and demand
New trends sweep the job market and engineers with skills in these areas become very valuable. When PLC’s arrived on the scene in the early seventies, any engineer who could program these beasts and mange an entire engineering project was highly sought after. Now electricians can do a lot of this basic programming. During the dot com boom naturally it was engineers with a strong Java and database skills in great demand. So when you have a highly sought after skill you can charge a premium. But watch for more entrants coming into this area and eventually bringing your “value” down.
How do you gauge your worth?
The inevitable source of information on this are the job boards on the internet sites or employment columns. However user groups – of which there are a burgeoning number on the internet, can be a great source of information. If all your engineering peers are on $150 per hour; you can bet your bottom dollar this is the going rate and you had better do something about it if you are earning below this. Many professional magazines publish regular salary surveys and prove interesting reading. The jobs that have large variances are often difficult to interpret but nevertheless worthwhile cogitating on.
To sum up
Overall, I believe having a job is akin to surfing. You can ride a really good wave for a while but eventually when you hit the shore you have to paddle back and look for the new wave. With different characteristics and twists and turns.
So keep your skills broad and deep enough to ride out the changes in the technology that will undoubtedly sweep through your firm. And watch the state of the market as to what is required. I remember leaving engineering school where there was a massive demand for electronics engineers, then software engineers; and then the internet and so forth. Some jobs seem to truck along well through all sorts of economic storms – such as those engineers working in the (perhaps) less exciting power engineering area.
The advice from the US president Theodore Roosevelt on jobs is certainly an interesting one (a reflection of the Yankee “can-do philosophy perhaps?): Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.
Thanks and acknowledgements to Patrick von Schlag for his input here.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
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In the past few years; we have seen some spectacular collapses of buildings and bridges. This is quite inexplicable to today’s structural designer and engineer who puts enormous effort into the careful use of materials and huge safety margins. However, when a designer is operating at the limit of their expertise; mistakes still occur...
Dear Colleagues,
In the past few years; we have seen some spectacular collapses of buildings and bridges. This is quite inexplicable to today’s structural designer and engineer who puts enormous effort into the careful use of materials and huge safety margins.
However, when a designer is operating at the limit of their expertise; mistakes still occur. One of the questions with the Deepwater Horizon oil rig which exploded with massive damage was in the use of cement (coupled with nitrogen gas) a few kms under the seabed – as to whether it did indeed have the strength required to prevent a massive gas and oil surge. As we know, cement as a proven structural material has been around since Roman times – but for perhaps more predictable environments.
The typical approach a structural engineer follows when assessing materials for safe use and which would give some background to the building you live in, is as follows.
Lab Testing
All materials used are extensively lab tested to determine their structural properties such as tension and compression under loading. The design strength actually used is considerably lower than these figures.
Design Strength Varies Depending on Materials
The calculation of design strength varies from concrete and steel which are fairly predictable and of uniform quality to wood which is rather varied. Wood is considerably more variable in strength as it could have an unusual number of knots or come from a diseased tree. Thus the safety margin has to be considerably higher.
For example, the Douglas fir, has a safety margin of 5.5 (versus 1.4 for Steel). For example, Douglas fir has a compression maximum strength of 51 MPa (7430 psi) and based on the safety margin of 5.5; a design strength of 9.3MPa (1350 psi).
However, (as we know from the Twin Towers disaster) steel can have problems for structural support. As you may recall it is weak in fires and must be protected in all buildings.
Additional Safety Margins
Structural engineers build in additional safety margins by overestimating the dead and live loads and selecting supports one size up from what the design suggests.
Beware when you are at the Limits of Technology
However, despite all this care; you have to be careful about operating at the limits of technology and as to whether you will see sudden loads well in excess of what you designed (DeepWater Horizon) or indeed, your materials exposed to conditions they were never designed for (Twin Towers).
Thanks to 101 Things I learned in Engineering School by John Kuprenas with Matthew Frederick.
Andrew Heller makes an interesting point: Technology is like a fish. The longer it stays on the shelf, the less desirable it becomes.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 8th Sept.’15 #581
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When you have a permanent job in a company, your income is pretty certain. But in the cruel but real world of consultant and contractor, life can be considerably more complex and fraught with hazard when dealing with contracts. Remember if you don’t handle these correctly, you will end up considerably poorer despite putting in an enormous amount of hours working...
Dear colleagues,
When you have a permanent job in a company, your income is pretty certain. But in the cruel but real world of consultant and contractor, life can be considerably more complex and fraught with hazard when dealing with contracts. Remember if you don’t handle these correctly, you will end up considerably poorer despite putting in an enormous amount of hours working. So it is worth re-considering the different options here as discussed below.
Simplistically put, as a consultant or contractor, you can bid for work in three ways.
Fixed price contracts. These arrangements lock you into a price. Generally, come hell or high water, whatever happens, this is the price you as the consultant or contractor get paid.
Time and materials. You get paid for both your hours spent on the job as well as the materials supplied to the client.
Two phase contract. In the first phase, you get paid on a time-and-materials basis to define the job to both yours and the client’s satisfaction and then in the second phase you actually perform the contract on a fixed price (or sometimes time and materials basis).
Fixed price can be a Gamble
If you know exactly what has to be done and how long it will take and the project is actually achievable (many aren’t – particularly in software development – and I have been there a few times); then this is a great option. But if the outcomes are uncertain and the project is badly defined, you are playing with fire going for a fixed price contract. Sadly enough, many clients know exactly how difficult and risky a particular job will be and go for a fixed price and “lure” a contractor or consultant in to do the job so that they remove all risk for them personally. They are simply after a rock bottom price.
Interestingly enough on the other side of the coin, I see that many contractors go for fixed price contracts knowing full well that they will be able to “drive a bus through the contract” when it comes to negotiating at the end of the job exactly what they will get paid. We had a particularly tough case recently here with an underground tunneling contract which was fixed price (no matter what the consistency of the earth and rock was); but the contractor actually ended up getting compensated for his risk as he incurred substantial additional costs. The client wasn’t too enthused with the thought of lengthy litigation and inability to use the tunnel for an extended length of time so after jumping around for a while, paid up the additional costs.
If you are forced into going for a fixed price contract and the definition of the job is still a bit uncertain, then ensure that you define exactly what you are going to provide in the contract, in terms of hours and materials and some rate of compensation for when the project specifications change. You may find that if you do this precisely enough, you will end up making more money from the variations to the contract than the actual main part of the contract! A popular strategy followed by some control system vendors who bid a very low fixed price (and thus won the job against fierce competition) with the full knowledge that the variations would compensate them handsomely. If you as the client take on these fixed prices jobs; you will have to spend an inordinate amount of time defining all the terms and conditions and contemplating all eventualities otherwise you are up for considerably more money than originally anticipated.
Sometimes fixed price contracts don’t work too well in odd ways. On one particularly acrimonious job we were advising the client on (for building a Gas Turbine power station); we defined everything extraordinarily clearly and ended up with a fixed price job. Unfortunately the contractor didn’t factor in the risk for writing the control system software and the client had an awkward choice at the end. Either let the contractor go bankrupt and not finish the power station construction or pay more money for the unexpected variations the contractor hadn’t factored in (and thus keep him in business). The client ended up paying well above the fixed price but despite this, after a few months the contractor still went bust. Resulting in the client having to complete the job with the attendant risk now shifted onto her.
Theoretically, you can claim on variations to the contract, but this is always fraught with some negotiation and angst as the client is not overly enthused with paying more. However just remember, when a variation to the contract comes up, at the earliest possible opportunity, you should bring this to the client’s attention and bill him. No matter how awkward and unpleasant this is. If you delay until the end of the contract, you will run the risk of not getting paid.
And at the worse case - as a contractor / consultant if you cannot see your way for getting paid for the additional work you are doing, and can’t get agreement from the client for the unreasonable variations that are being imposed on you, simply “up stumps” (as we say in cricketing lore) and leave site. It generally never gets better. It is best to face up to the reality of the situation and avoid your losses getting considerably worse. At this point, you may find that the client can see that you are serious and is somewhat more accommodating.
Sometimes it helps to compromise
Clients naturally worry that with time-and-materials contracts that they will be “taken to the cleaners” as far as the ultimate price of the job. And this is a well deserved concern. I think often unproven contractors can get lazy and simply bill for every hour. Naturally this is a short term win; as they are unlikely to be invited back on site again.
I would suggest if both client and contractor are unsure that a two phase approach is always the best. Develop and agree on a good specification where the unknowns are clarified and defined for the first phase. And then a fixed price or well considered time-and-materials proposal can be agreed on for the second phase. Let’s face it. At the end of the day, in the specialized world of engineering, it is important that we build up long term trusting relationships between client and contractor and both parties get a fair return on their investment. Not too much but not too little. Just right.
New Fangled approaches
I worry sometimes about these new fangled approaches of alliances and partnerships between clients and contractors, rather than using fixed price or hourly rates. A bit like a partnership between God and the Devil. With superb management on both sides, they can work out. But often they end up costing one of the parties far more.
And naturally remember that unless you are an altruistic person, that it is better to not get awarded a contract if you are going to lose money on it. Finally, as Samuel Goldwyn wryly remarked: “A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on”. Make sure all agreements and ongoing contractual discussions are in writing. And contractual documentation is signed by the correct parties.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 1st September’15 #580
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Many years ago, in an isolated part of the outback on the inevitable mine site in hot and dry conditions, one of our guys inserted a communications board into the PLC rack and inadvertently destroyed one the key memory chips by electrostatic discharge (ESD). Fortunately, we had one backup board left...
Dear Colleagues,
Many years ago, in an isolated part of the outback on the inevitable mine site in hot and dry conditions, one of our guys inserted a communications board into the PLC rack and inadvertently destroyed one the key memory chips by electrostatic discharge (ESD). Fortunately, we had one backup board left. But it was a salutary lesson in being vigilant about the effects of ESD. No back up board could have meant significant down time while we waited for a replacement to be shipped to site.
Electrostatic Discharge Costs You Big Time
The costs of electrostatic discharge (ESD) can have a significant impact on your business and work. ESD is the sudden flow of electrical energy between two objects after the build up of static electricity on the one object. The most common example, is that of a person walking across the floor, who generates static electricity as her shoes intermittently make contact with the floor. Just sliding an electronic component in and out of a bag can destroy the electronic components. Believe it or not, but walking across the carpet (with up to 25% Relative Humidity) can generate 35,000 volts. We all work with electronic components and boards. And the newer components are becoming more and more sensitive to ESD problems.
A decrease in humidity tends to make the problem worse by increasing the level of static electricity (as the water molecules in the air vapour normally conduct some of the static charge away to ground thus reducing the problem – thus dryer air makes for less conductivity and more static electricity).
An Invisible Foe
Many times a day, ESD incidents occur below the human sensitivity threshold of 3000 V. Mostly never seen but causing enormous damage to circuit boards and sensitive electronic components. Remember that a small 100 volts can destroy an electronic component. It is claimed (?) that the mere wave of the arm can generate sufficient ESD to damage an electronic component.
Costs Can Be Huge
It is claimed that high tech companies could be incurring costs up to 6% of their revenue due to ESD damage. Remember that the loss of a single component on a circuit board could results in a significant additional cost (well beyond that of the cost of the individual component) because of the need to replace or repair the entire board. This means the cost of failure of a $5 component could be hundreds of times greater.
An ESD To Do List
Some suggestions for dealing with the problem are listed below.
- Learn as much about your exposure to ESD at your firm. Consult widely. Esp. the internet and experts in the area.
- Identify sensitive work areas such as assembly, packaging stations, engineering and testing areas. Any where you handle electronic products which are unshielded or unprotected.
- Identify sources of ESD within your Work Areas. This includes such items as non-conductive materials (plastic parts, tape, cardboard and Styrofoam). Also computer monitors or laser printer paper.
- Assess the level of protection for each work areas. This may require innovative solutions such as using fibre optics or wireless to connect to sensitive devices.
- Prepare a Plan of Action. Put together a plan including easily understood procedures, responsibilities of key staff, training and checks that the plan is indeed being actioned.
- Implement Solutions. Install grounding mats and work surface mats where required. Ensure staff use wrist straps, heel straps and ESD-protective clothing (and shoes) to conduct static electricity away. Clearly signpost areas where potential damage may occur. Consider air ionization to neutralize charge build up on objects in the work area. Finally, educate staff in the key principles of ESD protection.
Maintenance is the key
Finally, remember that you must maintain your ESD program. Wrist straps and other personal grounding devices require regular testing and replacement. Use a static charge meter to indicate the effectiveness of your system.
Thanks to an interesting white paper by Versalogic entitled: The Invisible Foe – Understanding and Controlling ESD Damage.
When fixing the problems with your ESD issues, Henry J. Kaiser's comment comes to mind: Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 25th August’15 #579
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As engineering professionals we are always engaged in design engineering at some time or other. Whether you are an electrician undertaking a rework of the wiring for a switchboard or designing a state-of-the-art oil refinery or indeed, a new Apple iPhone.
Who is a designer today?
Dear Colleagues,
As engineering professionals we are always engaged in design engineering at some time or other. Whether you are an electrician undertaking a rework of the wiring for a switchboard or designing a state-of-the-art oil refinery or indeed, a new Apple iPhone.
Who is a designer today?
In the twenty first century, perhaps someone who wears bright clothes, speaks French, has a gigantic beard, easily rejigs the interior decoration of a home, sports a tattoo and drives a MG sports car to work?
Or designs integrated circuits, diesel locomotives or the grille for a new car?
Probably all of the above and a lot more.
The critical issue is to know your field of engineering very, very well. You have to especially know all the old designs extraordinarily well. What worked well, what and when they failed. And then to think outside the box.
Engineering School is too Superficial for a Good Designer
One thing is for sure at engineering school at college or university – generally you don’t learn much in detail on a particular topic. You probably cover a wide area of engineering but nothing much in-depth.
Fascination is the Key
Certainly, you have to be absolutely fascinated and interested in the field you design in, to plumb the depths of your subject. Almost like the most enthusiastic hobbyist. So that you can decide when to use an old circuit design or when to pioneer new areas, when the old ways of doing things simply won’t stack up. As a result you become intuitively good and don’t need to rely on gut feeling only or a computer analysis only. You also need to draw on the expertise of your colleagues and competitors.
A designer mustn’t only think of the specifications. Although that is obviously important in today’s legal contract focussed world. She has to think like the customer – what would make her happy – deliriously happy, in fact. And to avoid like the plague - things which the customer would become distressed and irritated by. And to focus on providing a user with totally ease and simplicity in operating the product.
You also have to put your marketing director hat on and think of features that would make the customer ecstatic. And naturally, the design has to be economically viable and easily able to be made in production. And which is safe under all conditions. Even stressful conditions where your design is pushed to the limit.
You also have to learn from your mistakes. Regard these as an opportunity to learn more to improve your next design.
Bold, Self-Reliant, Arrogant and Overbearing
Recently, some outstanding engineers were described by the publication American Heritage of the Invention & Technology as: bold, self-reliant, independent, secure, powerful, daring, resolute, and sometimes, arrogant and overbearing.
There is nothing new there about designers.
Thanks to the fabulous analog design engineer Bob Pease of Electronic Design for one of his well-written articles: What’s All This Designer Stuff, Anyhow? RIP Bob.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 18th August’15 #578
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Would you leave your password to your bank account lying around? In the same way – you need to protect your intellectual property (IP) such as engineering designs and inventions. When protection is considered most of us think of patents. Some firms file a ferocious number of patents every year to protect their IP. Think of IBM who received an unbelievable 6,809 patents last year.
Dear Colleagues,
Would you leave your password to your bank account lying around? In the same way – you need to protect your intellectual property (IP) such as engineering designs and inventions. When protection is considered most of us think of patents. Some firms file a ferocious number of patents every year to protect their IP. Think of IBM who received an unbelievable 6,809 patents last year.
There are three categories of intellectual property – patents (for inventions); trademarks and copyright (for creative work such as plans, videos and films).
What – why bother to protect my IP?
I know that most of you will chortle quietly when it comes to protecting your intellectual property (IP). ‘What intellectual property do I possibly own?”, you will exclaim with some exasperation. But you will be surprised at how often simple ideas you have developed over many years, can be become intensely valuable property. IP represents the property of your mind or intellect. It doesn’t have to be a software search algorithm designed by Caltech PhD; but perhaps something very simple for cleaning your pool in a simpler more effective way.
As noted above, there are various types of IP such as patents, trademarks (letters/phrases/logos), designs (shapes or appearances of manufactured goods) and copyright for original material (programs and books). Most of us are familiar with patents, which grant an exclusive licence to the patent holder for a period of 20 years (in the US, at least), but copyright is slightly different.
Copyright Your Manicured Dog
A copyright (this can vary from country to country),gives a maximum of 95 years for corporate ownership or the life of the author, plus 70 years. Note that copyright (and indeed circuit layout rights) are automatically granted to you upon creation. Other IP rights (patents being the best example here) have to be registered with local and international governmental organizations. Registration varies from country to country. For example, in the US, copyrights are registered with the government whereas in Australia, no registration is required.
Steal IP with Panache
As you know, the global market is increasingly aggressive about stealing valuable know-to gain that competitive edge. The internet has made it really difficult to protect copyright with every book and film available for download for free. It is very hard to sustain development of creative capital when you will be copied overnight by someone who doesn’t incur the costs of development. Ownership of the IP rights give you the legal recognition of your ownership and goes a long way to protecting it from unfair competition. Quite an expensive and onerous task but worthwhile considering.
Examples
A famous example of where things went awry is the (perhaps, simple) Kambrook power board. The product was enormously successful and led to Kambrook becoming a major world player (esp. in the Asia Pacific) in this consumer business but the IP was not protected (it should have been patented) and within a short time, it was copied and is sold throughout the world by aggressively competing firms who stole the concept, thus losing the originator of the idea, tens of millions every year in royalties.
IP Is the Main Engine of Growth
There is no doubt that intellectual property is the main engine of growth for any business and is especially advantageous in challenging economic times such as now. Ranging from innovative engineering designs (eg improved efficiencies), to pioneering engineering technologies such as deep water drilling or space exploration.
In essence, don’t simply give away your intellectual property; but treat it as importantly as cash and your other assets. And remember that copyright protection can also be considerably cheaper and quicker than registering a patent.
Strategies
A few strategies:
- Consider what IP you have. Often this is what gives you and your business a competitive edge.
- How are you protecting it?
- Implement strategies to harness the development of IP in your firm
- Avoid telling others about your IP until you have protection in place.
We should always remember the remarks of an old sage about our assets: The wise man carries his possessions within him.
Thanks to John R. Platt of the IEEE for an interesting article entitled: Why Copyright Still Matters to Today’s Tech Pros.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 11 Aug’15 #577
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Is your new engineering graduate, technician or technologist ready for the job? Do they find it easy to learn the key elements of their job? Did they get a great education or training experience focussed on practical outcomes? Are they sure of what they must do at work? Are they able to prioritize their work load?
Dear Colleagues,
Is your new engineering graduate, technician or technologist ready for the job? Do they find it easy to learn the key elements of their job? Did they get a great education or training experience focussed on practical outcomes? Are they sure of what they must do at work? Are they able to prioritize their work load?
The answer to these questions is often depressingly no.
So we have to seize the moment and mentor ‘em.
Where can you help?
The areas where newbies in the workplace are often weak is in communication skills; working in multidisciplinary teams and practical problem solving. The highly specialised theoretical academic study doesn’t help with producing industry-ready graduates.
Other issues are that students and graduates actually don’t have a notion of what engineers and technicians really do in their careers. I certainly (and perhaps you) can testify from personal experience that our engineering education didn’t prepare us for a practical engineering career. I don’t see much evidence to show that it has changed much today in engineering schools and colleges. For example, I chuckle when I see the huge amount of highly theoretical mathematics in the engineering curriculum. Supposedly to train you to think logically and systematically; but I have my doubts. Where is all the practical focussed engineering education on real equipment and experiences?
After overcoming my initial disillusionment with my first engineering job after leaving college; I was really helped along by a mentor who went out of his way to give me real responsible engineering project work to undertake. He became my first mentor. And probably today even though we are in different countries, I still refer to him for advice.
So how do you mentor someone?
- Give them help in problem solving/working with engineers and people from other disciplines and help them communicate better
- Encourage a hands-on approach
- Give them a vision of where they are going.
- Get them to practise communication skills – reading/writing and presenting
- Help them improve their troubleshooting skills
- Critique their work in a positive constructive way
- Try and tie their theoretical understanding to the practical side of the job
- Give them responsible projects that test them
- Give them ongoing opportunities to test their skills
- Don’t worry if they break something – encourage risk taking (as long as they are SAFE)
- Teach them how to start lifelong learning (and never to stop)
- Push to teach at your local college to give some practical know-how
Abigail Adams is quite right about: We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 4th August’15 #576
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Politicians of all stripes are calling for more innovation and entrepeneurship in the economy. No doubt realizing that large mega corporations aren’t going to create the jobs and taxes for the future. The trick when setting up a new venture is...
Dear Colleagues,
Politicians of all stripes are calling for more innovation and entrepeneurship in the economy. No doubt realizing that large mega corporations aren’t going to create the jobs and taxes for the future.
The trick when setting up a new venture is certainly to look for a market (or ‘driver’) for what you propose but also to realize that the chances of failure are quite high. But to persist vigorously even though there is this high probability of failure. Believe me – I know this - as I have failed enough - and think that 9 out of 10 new companies failing is probably an optimistic view.
What is a Good Job for Engineering Professionals?
There is an expectation that when you graduate with an engineering degree or diploma that you then need to seek out employment and a good job (preferably with a blue chip company).
Due to the rapid changing and often chaotic job market, I believe it is critical that all engineering professionals think about their jobs as entrepreneurs and innovators. I know this can be extraordinarily difficult (and believe me I have been there many times - it can be exquisitely painful to set up a profitable company) but if we can encourage everyone at school or college to start thinking about setting up their own operations and innovating, we will make the economy more vibrant and unemployment less of an issue in the tough times. It doesn’t have to be a massive megacorporation – it can be a sole trader – just you, yourself.
It is certainly not easy being an entrepreneur and creating your own employment. It can be massively difficult with lots of challenges thrown your way. However, I believe the era of large corporations offering unlimited employment to all our school and college graduates has long since passed. The large companies are unable to adapt to sudden economic shocks and to stay in business will often suddenly lay huge numbers of people off.
I do still remember our young kids operating a lemonade stand on our street making a few dollars or busking with their violins in the city (and earning good money). Under close parental guidance, I might add. Most young kids have the entrepreneurial impulse when they are younger (although this can be beaten out by an uncaring education system). This entrepreneurial impulse needs to be nurtured.
Your Entrepreneurial To Do List
This requires you or your kids to think along the lines of:
- Identify the gap in the market (it may only be for a short time – such as a one-off project)
- Ensure the job or company you create is something you are passionate about
- Create an innovative simple solution (KISS)
- Look at comparative offerings and see how you can be better
- Be flexible in your thinking and operations
- Do not be afraid to fail
- Seek advice from others who have proven track records
- Persist in seeking out the best solutions
- Work hard on marketing and business development
- Communicate well to staff, clients and suppliers
- Understand the need to be profitable
- Look after your personal health and well being at all times.
One of the finest areas of endeavour is naturally engineering and technology. So go for it. Encourage your peers and kids to think about being entrepreneurial and running their own businesses. Hopefully employing others and enjoying themselves. Well; most of the time.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 28th July’15 #575
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Currently life in the mining and oil & gas sectors is tough and some of you may be scratching your heads nervously when pondering the future.
In these uncertain times it is good to keep in mind what is required for a good resume or cv...
Dear Colleagues,
Currently life in the mining and oil & gas sectors is tough and some of you may be scratching your heads nervously when pondering the future.
In these uncertain times it is good to keep in mind what is required for a good resume or cv. You may need to help a buddy who needs support in writing his or her resume. A good resume is vital whether you are an electrician or a chief engineer.
Some suggestions follow about creating your winning engineering resume with a business edge. Which I believe is vital to success.
The Nuts and Bolts of a Resume
It is essentially a one-page summary of who you are and why your skills and know-how are the best for the job under offer. The key element is to understand your audience (interviewer or would-be employer) and to market yourself in an eye-catching way which reduces the perceived risk of your would-be employer.
Different audiences require different information. You have to compete with many other resumes and ensure that your write-up hits the target and gets the potential employer reaching for the phone to talk to you further.
The content is not as important as the way you present it. I am not suggesting you lie, cheat or steal to get the job you want; but you need to carefully consider what the would-be employer is after.
Suggestions, Suggestions and more suggestions
Some suggestions for writing your next resume:
- Focus on what the job requires. A generic resume will never make it.
- Keep the overall document simple and easy to understand.
- Ensure your grammar and spelling is 100%. The tiniest of mistakes here can poison an otherwise good resume. Get a competent friend to check this aspect.
- Avoid excessive information about yourself which is not related to the job. You are probably detailed-oriented but employers don’t have time to read through masses of information.
- Leave lots of white space between sections. Balance, symmetry and a professional appearance are critical. White space between sections is a good thing. You want the feeling of spaciousness. Bold and italicized print is fine, if done in a way that is complementary.
- Preferably format in block style using bullets. Avoid long drawn out paragraphs and ensure they have fewer than six sentences. Concentrate on providing action oriented words showing how you clearly benefited your previous organisation and had clear responsibility for an outcome.
- A short summary at the top of your document giving your key skills is useful to get the reviewer quickly up to speed with who you are and what you can do.
- Jobs should include the name of employers, dates of employment and location. Watch out for giving the impression you are a job-hopper. If you are a job-hopper, you need to justify why you left the jobs. Honesty is always vital here.
- Focus on your strengths rather than tasks you don’t enjoy doing. Demonstrate integrity with what you do. It is pointless applying for a job where you are going to be engaged in tasks you would hate.
- Try and link your previous jobs to positive business achievements (increase in revenue or profitability or outstanding products or time saving solutions).
- Remember that a truck load of qualifications is pretty useless when not linked to specific experience and results.
I like Leonard Bernstein's wry comment: To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.
Thanks to Elizabeth Lions of the IEEE for an excellent article on the topic.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 21st July’15 #574
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We’ve all heard of or experienced computer security problems with our computers and perhaps, even PLCs and your SCADA system. Ranging from viruses chomping your database to sophisticated denial of service attacks on your industrial and office network from someone based in the depths of West Waziristan.
Dear Colleagues,
We’ve all heard of or experienced computer security problems with our computers and perhaps, even PLCs and your SCADA system. Ranging from viruses chomping your database to sophisticated denial of service attacks on your industrial and office network from someone based in the depths of West Waziristan.
The Horrors of Phishing and Ransom ware
Other variations of attacks included ‘phishing’ which is to con you into revealing your account details and passwords. Oddly enough, even highly intelligent people get fooled by this and often keep quiet about their losses because of the extreme embarrassment. Another recent one is ‘ransomware’ where one of your databases or server is encrypted and you have to pay money to have it restored.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has Arrived
We now have the new scenario of everything (“All things bright, beautiful and small” perhaps – if I can remember my nursery rhymes) being connected to the internet accessing data. This ranges from your car, home alarm and energy management system, insulin pumps for a diabetic, TV, VCR player to the parking meter.
Which, naturally enough, makes these all a great target for malicious hackers.
Disable your Car’s Brakes on the Freeway
Researchers have shown how a remote hacker can knock out the brakes of your new car and indeed, disable the power steering. In the earlier times, it required a computer to be connected to your car’s computerised management system. However this can be done wirelessly now.
Crash Your Jeep Remotely
A particularly alarming and recent demonstration was with research hackers remotely accessing a Jeep Cherokee with a mobile phone from a few kms away and successfully cutting its engine out and applying brakes causing it to lurch into a ditch besides the road. This would affect 470,000 vehicles. The manufacturers have issued a software update.
Control a Diabetic’s Insulin Drug Pump
Another demonstration of hacking was to take control of an insulin drug pumps and to alter the dosage for a diabetic. Perhaps killing her.
Little Experience makes for a Dangerous Situation
Most manufacturers of these devices which are slowly being connected to the internet (through the so-called Internet of Things or IoT) have little experience with computer security issues – often coming from a manufacturing or mechanical background. So are extraordinarily vulnerable.
Where to from here?
I believe it is vital today to assume everything is vulnerable to a hack-attack and to consider the consequences carefully and to follow my old rule (Thanks Robert De Niro): ‘When there is any doubt, there is no doubt’.
Certainly, if your refrigerator is hacked it is probably not a major problem; but if your car is subverted this is indeed critical. Similarly, if some hacker is monitoring your energy usage of your home energy management system to determine when you are away on holidays – this could also be a cause for concern.
Thanks to the Economist for an interesting article entitled: Cyber-Security Their Own Devices.
Robert C. Solomon makes a good comment about the dangers of trusting things which are familiar to us: We also confuse trust with familiarity.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 14th July’15 #573
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I noticed this morning an announcement from some senior government bureaucrat saying that (young) engineers should be paid more - the same as merchant bankers receive, she reckoned. I agree.
Dear Colleagues,
I noticed this morning an announcement from some senior government bureaucrat saying that (young) engineers should be paid more - the same as merchant bankers receive, she reckoned. I agree. In addition, governments throughout the world have been making agonising cries about the shortage of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professionals and the need for more people working in these areas (and presumably the need to pay them more).
You are Surely Underpaid
Without a shadow of doubt, whether you are an engineer, technologist or technician, you are probably convinced you are underpaid. And so you should feel this way.
As engineering professionals, we do work in a very challenging technical environment requiring ferociously good quantitative (and project management) skills; and thus deserve more money. But as you know – that is not how the world works. ‘The market’ ultimately determines what you earn and that is what matters.
Apart from witnessing the long gone boom in Western Australia, where engineering salaries were excellent and especially anyone (yes, anyone) working in engineering merely had to work up on site to start with a minimum of $200,000 to $250,000 (although sometimes working on these sites is a prison sentence, so one deserves huge compensation).
Announcements from governments and head of engineering boards makes not one iota of difference to one’s wages. The market determines what you will earn and doesn’t care about pronouncements from government or engineering organisations.
How to Earn More
In my opinion as an engineering professional, there are a few sure-fire ways to earn more (apart from running a crack lab):
- Work in a horrendous or dangerous part of the world (e.g. Iraq or in Siberia)
- Ensure you have a unique skill in a niche area (e.g. subsea shutdown valves)
- Combine your engineering skills with management or law (e.g. patent attorney)
However, ultimately the best way, is to combine your engineering talents with some entrepreneurial skill. You only need to see these remarkable companies set up by engineers (many of these companies are not in engineering) to see singular rewards accruing to an engineer. Companies, I know about, range from online skills portals, biomedical implants, consultancy in very niche areas such as subsea, design of nifty consumer appliances (Dyson). And so on. Obviously, for every success story there are 99 other massive failures. And there is often a lot of heart break associated with forming these companies.
Life and business is never easy is it?
So when are you going to set up your own entrepreneurial venture?
An interesting comment from Clint Jr. Murchison on money:
Money is like manure. If you spread it around it does a lot of good. But if you pile it up in one place it stinks like hell.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 7th July’15 #572
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In the past two years, there has been a huge jump in the use of drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) throughout the world. Have you thought what you could do with one of these to enhance your next engineering project?
Dear Colleagues,
In the past two years, there has been a huge jump in the use of drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) throughout the world. Have you thought what you could do with one of these to enhance your next engineering project?
The laws in various countries are still in a state of flux but you are likely to be illegal if you don’t have a license and you are using a drone in a commercial activity. But the situation is slowly become clearer with various countries such as the USA and Australia issuing rules to follow in commercial use of drones.
Generally Most Tasks
At present most companies are using drones for real estate photography and surveillance work (often illegally). The price of drones has rapidly dropped and you can get an affordable camera carrying one for $200 to $300.
Amazon has suggested that they will soon be using drones to deliver parcels. However, there are generally restrictions on the use of drones flying out of view of their operators. As well as flying over people.
Watch out for Security
There are some major problems developing with criminals using drones to break through prison security. Or simply checking your home out to find the best time and point at which to break in. It is always somewhat irritating to hear this. Another activity rapidly growing is in smuggling operations such as for drugs. All disconcerting to hear.
Inevitably, as a result of this, some companies have developed drone detection software which will report a drone in your vicinity (by sending you an SMS alert). You would still need to take action however.
Teaching and Training on Drones
A growing group of colleges and training outfits are offering drone training, maintenance and servicing as a career.
Due to the number of sensors and huge amount of data gathered by drones, there are also opportunities developing in data analysis and thus training is being provided here – ranging from MOOCs to colleges.
Think of the Applications in Engineering
There are a huge number of opportunities in the use of drones in engineering ranging from surveying new building and project sites, inspection of overhead transmission and power lines, mapping, inspection of buildings and installations…as well as software to analyze the data….the list goes on.
Think of something innovative you can do with this incredible opportunity based around what you do today. I am sure you will think of a huge number of opportunities to broaden your business and career.
Thanks to Carol Glennon of the IEEE for an interesting article on UAVs.
With all this rapidly changing technology, an interesting comment from Ralph Waldo Emerson: To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 30th June’15 #571
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
- Details
- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
Over 120 years ago, the venerable, and brilliant Nikola Tesla claimed that it was possible to transmit power around the world using a system of towers and balloons and was backed financially by a few of the early venture capitalist types to make it happen.
Dear Colleagues,
Over 120 years ago, the venerable, and brilliant Nikola Tesla claimed that it was possible to transmit power around the world using a system of towers and balloons and was backed financially by a few of the early venture capitalist types to make it happen. At the risk of antagonizing some of his followers – Tesla was perhaps more of a showman than a scientist with this observation. As this particular venture failed miserably.
Although, Tesla’s eventually successful concept of using alternating current against that of the all American hero, Edison, with direct current, wasn’t immediately embraced resulting in some distress to Tesla.
Power Transmitted through the Air is Growing Rapidly
Wirelessly powered devices are rapidly growing in importance - ranging from mobile phones, kitchen appliances and inevitably medical devices such as heart pumps. Soon to be a $15bn market within the next decade.
Inductive Coupling is the first Technique
Induction is used for the most successful versions. An alternating current passing through a coiled wire creates an oscillating magnetic field which induces an alternating current in a nearby coil. The closer the two coils the better. A slight increase in distance apart results in a catastrophic collapse in efficiency. This technique is widely used – ranging from toothbrush chargers and soon-to-be hovering drones. Tuned coils operating at the same resonant frequency can improve the energy transfer efficiency.
Standards, Standards, and Standards
There are three main standards bodies that have emerged….all vigorously competing with each other: Wireless Power Consortium (Qi) with 200 firms operating at 5 watts – big in smart phones. Power Matters Alliance (PMA) – big in the fast food market such as McDonalds. And Rezence (Alliance for Wireless Power or A4WP) now merged with PMA – but still promoting two separate standards (ouch!). Rezence is supported by the massive Intel so this may be the turning point in the competition for the best standard.
Useful for Electric Cars or not?
There is widespread support for one standard to use wireless power for electric cars at 20kW and 85kHz driven by the Society of Automotive Engineers. However Tesla Motors (one of the dominant players) is unenthusiastic about this believing that they are hopelessly inefficient compared to wired methods of charging.
What about Safety?
There are enormous concerns about this radiation from wireless power. I tend to agree. Having high levels of radio frequency energy bouncing around can’t be healthy and this aspect needs to be carefully considered otherwise we will have a jump in strange cancers and damage to our bodies.
How Efficient is all this?
Transformers work well as there is a nice chunk of iron that helps to transfer the power from the one coil to the next. When you boost the frequency you can certainly eliminate the iron core and use an air core. However, as soon as you move the coils apart with an air core – the efficiency drops dramatically. This is pure physics. So there is a big problem with power loss in all these schemes which rely on a significant air gap.
Final Words
However as we all know – inefficiencies and problems with the laws of Physics aren’t a deterrent to the entrepreneurs out there pushing their barrow. So I am sure this will be a very big business in due course.
Thanks to an interesting article in the Economist entitled: Electronics has already cut the data cord. Can it now cut the power cord as well ?
The famous architect, William McDonough in 2006 made a great quote about wireless power: Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 23rd June’15 #570
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
You may argue that it is impossible to give a few casual tips on troubleshooting SCADA systems as the field is vast. And you’re quite right on this score.
Dear colleagues,
You may argue that it is impossible to give a few casual tips on troubleshooting SCADA systems as the field is vast. And you’re quite right on this score. However, I did a useful presentation recently outlining the typical components of a SCADA system and some typical items one could look for when troubleshooting these systems.
SCADA vs. SCADA
As you know, SCADA means Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition and refers to systems as wide ranging as your local water board using the DNP3 protocol to communicate to remote sites as against that of a software package controlling a mineral processing plant.
Two Popular Protocols and Standards
Two typical protocols that are still used extensively for SCADA systems are DNP3 and the venerable Modbus (as incorporated into TCP/IP and generally delivered over Ethernet). These are discussed in the attached document. The RS-232 standard while it may still be mentioned in documentation is hopelessly obsolete and the more “with-it” and useful RS-485 standard is the key element for connecting to instruments, for example. However, Ethernet and TCP/IP are the key communications building blocks for most systems these days.
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting SCADA systems is a wide ranging issue covering such elements as:
- Troubleshooting the telemetry unit (and ensuring that you do not remove components when powered and ensuring the antenna system is not suddenly disconnected)
- Checking the RTU and component modules
- Checking the master unit and networking functionality
A few specific suggestions are given in the attached document. Click here to access the presentation.
When troubleshooting a difficult SCADA problem, one should rely on Ralph Waldo Emerson's comment: The quality of the imagination is to flow and not to freeze.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 16th June’15 #569
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
An intrinsically safe circuit is “A circuit in which no spark or thermal effect in any part of the circuit intended for use in a hazardous area is capable of causing ignition.”
Dear colleagues,
An intrinsically safe circuit is “A circuit in which no spark or thermal effect in any part of the circuit intended for use in a hazardous area is capable of causing ignition.”
After an introduction to hazardous areas (or locations as our North American cousins refer to them), the presentation gives a short review of intrinsic safety.
Click here to access the presentation.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 9th June’15 #568
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
- Details
- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
With all the travails of regular power interruptions in South Africa; we are again reminded of the tried and tested diesel generator being the workhorse we all turn to for a consistent power supply for small to medium requirements.
Dear colleagues,
With all the travails of regular power interruptions in South Africa; we are again reminded of the tried and tested diesel generator being the workhorse we all turn to for a consistent power supply for small to medium requirements. Perhaps, expensive in the medium term but oh so convenient.
As many of you would know, the advantages are:
- Faster installation time
- Quick start up when needed
- Follow the load with governor control
- Good part-load efficiencies
- Higher reliability and availability.
- Easier maintenance
- Comparatively lower capital cost
- Adaptability to different fuel including bio fuels
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 2nd June’15 #567
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
Many people assume wrongly that inspecting, testing, maintenance, and commissioning is a fairly straightforward process and is often a rubber stamp confirmation of a good design.
Dear Colleagues,
Many people assume wrongly that inspecting, testing, maintenance, and commissioning is a fairly straightforward process and is often a rubber stamp confirmation of a good design.
Click here for a short presentation I made recently on the subject with a focus on:
- Asset records
- Condition based maintenance vs. reliability centered maintenance
- Switchgear inspection methodologies
- Diagnostic techniques
- Circuit breaker maintenance
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 26th May’15 #566
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
I am always staggered by the ongoing high number of serious electrical accidents and even fatalities every year in industry – ranging from electrocution, shock, explosions and arc blast.
Dear Colleagues,
I am always staggered by the ongoing high number of serious electrical accidents and even fatalities every year in industry – ranging from electrocution, shock, explosions and arc blast.
Click here for a short review on the key issues here from a presentation I did recently.
A few important points (which I am sure you can add to ….):
- Safety is not only about taking precautions in the workplace but starts right from the beginning at equipment design.
- Failure to isolate or inadequate or insecure isolation of live parts is the reason for over 60% of accidents.
- Poor maintenance and faulty equipment, insufficient information about the system and lack of safety procedures are other major reasons for accidents.
- Training, training, and more training is required. Plus the constant questioning of what you are doing and what you are working on – whether it is really safe or not.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 19th May’15 #565
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
A potential problem with our centrifugal pumping systems is cavitation. Very often pumps handle liquids with suction conditions very close to a liquid’s vapor pressure.
Dear Colleagues,
A potential problem with our centrifugal pumping systems is cavitation. Very often pumps handle liquids with suction conditions very close to a liquid’s vapor pressure. When a liquid is drawn into the pump inlet there is a pressure drop resulting from the fluid friction along the pipeline, valves, fittings, and flow pattern.
When the reduced pressure approaches the vapor pressure of the liquid it causes the liquid to vaporize. As these vapor bubbles travel further into the impeller, the pressure rises again causing the bubbles to collapse or implode. These implosions cause severe damage to the pump internals and are referred to as cavitation.
Some methods to minimize cavitation include:
- Increasing suction vessel pressure
- Raising the level of the suction vessel
- Lowering the pump in a pit
- Increasing suction line size
- Lowering inlet temperature
Please click here to access my full presentation on the subject.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 12th May’15 #564
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
- Details
- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
One of the vexed topics of engineering is how to minimize the damage from lightning and surges. As part of a regular series of presentations which I do on various topics, please click here to access the full set of slides relating to this presentation.
Dear Colleagues,
One of the vexed topics of engineering is how to minimize the damage from lightning and surges. As part of a regular series of presentations which I do on various topics, please click here to access the full set of slides relating to this presentation.
A few Key Points
A few points that I would make that there are a considerable number of myths out there on the subject such as:
- Lightning never strikes twice – well; it hits the Empire State building about 25 times per year.
- Rubber (tyres) on my car will insulate me from lightning – if it has traveled some kms through space; it is unlikely to swerve around your car because you have rubber tyres.
- You should never touch someone who has been hit by lightning – it is perfectly safe although they will obviously need immediate medical care.
- First strikes from lightning can be predicted – this is misleading advertising.
- New High Tech types of lightning rods can control lightning – again, misleading advertising. Give me the evidence.
Lots of Misleading Information about Lightning and Surges
There is considerable misleading information about lightning and surge protection but one area which can save you a lot of pain and suffering in the future with your control system is this: Always try and use fiber optic cable for your data communications (for connecting your components together). Fiber optic cable not only eliminates electrical surges caused by lightning but also doesn’t have any problems from EMC/EMI (perhaps caused by nearby copper cables) interference.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 5th May’15 #563
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
I was reminded about this issue last week when one of my colleagues – an experienced chief engineer – laughed at a cost over run we had with some consultants working on a project.
Dear Colleagues,
I was reminded about this issue last week when one of my colleagues – an experienced chief engineer – laughed at a cost over run we had with some consultants working on a project. Rightly enough he said – you should have engaged them on a fixed price contract and defined precisely what you wanted. You would have got considerably more than with the hourly based contract where we ended up with the current significant cost overrun.
It is worth re-considering the different options here. Crudely and simplistically put, as a consultant or contractor, you can bid for work in three ways.
Fixed price contracts. These arrangements lock you into a price. Generally, come hell or high water, whatever happens, this is the price you as the consultant or contractor get paid.
Time and materials. You get paid for both your hours spent on the job as well as the materials supplied to the client.
Two phase contract. In the first phase, you get paid on a time-and-materials basis to define the job to both your and the client’s satisfaction and then in the second phase you actually perform the contract on a fixed price (or sometimes time and materials basis).
Fixed price is a gamble (for the contractor, that is)
If you know exactly what has to be done, how long it will take and the project is actually achievable (many aren’t – particularly in software development – and I have been there a few times); then this is a great option. But if the outcomes are uncertain and the project is badly defined, you are playing with fire going for a fixed price contract. Sadly enough, many clients know exactly how difficult and risky a particular job will be and go for a fixed price and “lure” a contractor or consultant in to do the job so that the risk is removed from their bailiwick. They are simply after a rock bottom price.
Interestingly enough on the other side of the coin, I see that many contractors go for fixed price contracts knowing full well that they will be able to “drive a bus through the contract” when it comes to negotiating at the end of the job exactly what they will get paid. We had a particularly tough case recently here with an underground tunneling contract which was fixed price (no matter what the consistency of the earth and rock was); but the contractor actually ended up getting compensated for his risk as he incurred substantial additional costs. The client wasn’t too enthused with the thought of lengthy litigation and inability to use the tunnel for an extended length of time so after jumping around for a while, paid up.
If you are forced into going for a fixed price contract, and the definition of the job is still a bit uncertain, then ensure that you define exactly what you are going to provide in the contract in terms of hours and materials and some rate of compensation for when the project specifications change. You may find that if you do this precisely enough, you will end up making more money from the variations to the contract than the actual main part of the contract! A popular strategy followed by some control system vendors who bid a very low fixed price (and thus win the job against fierce competition) with the full knowledge that the variations would compensate them handsomely. If you as the client take on these fixed price jobs; you will have to spend an inordinate amount of time defining all the terms and conditions and contemplating all eventualities otherwise you are up for considerably more money than originally anticipated.
Sometimes fixed price contracts don’t work too well in odd ways. On one particularly acrimonious job we were advising the client on (for building a Gas Turbine power station); we defined everything extraordinarily clearly and ended up with a fixed price job. Unfortunately the contractor didn’t factor in the risk for writing the control system software and the client had an awkward choice when the project should have been delivered. Either let the contractor go bankrupt and not finish the power station construction or pay more money for the unexpected variations the contractor hadn’t factored in (and thus keep him in business). The client ended up paying well above the fixed price but despite this, after a few months the contractor still went bust. Resulting in the client having to complete the job with the attendant risk now shifted onto her.
Theoretically, you can claim on variations to the contract. But this is always fraught with some negotiation and angst as the client is not overly enthused with paying more. However just remember, when a variation to the contract comes up, at the earliest possible opportunity, you should bring this to the client’s attention and bill him. No matter how awkward and unpleasant this is. If you delay until the end of the contract, you will run the risk of not getting paid.
And at worse case, as a contractor/consultant if you cannot see your way for getting paid for the additional work you are doing, and can’t get agreement from the client for the unreasonable variations that are being imposed on you, simply “up stumps” (as we say in cricketing lore) and leave site. It generally never gets better. It is best to face up to the reality of the situation and avoid your losses getting considerably worse. At this point, you may find that the client can see that you are serious and is more accommodating.
Sometimes it helps to compromise
Clients naturally worry that with time-and-materials contracts that they will be “taken to the cleaners” as far as the ultimate price of the job. And this is a well deserved concern. I think often unproven contractors can get lazy and simply bill for every hour. Naturally this is a short term win; as they are unlikely to be invited back on site again.
I would suggest if both client and contractor are unsure that a two phase approach is always the best. Develop and agree on a good specification where the unknowns are clarified and defined for the first phase. And then a fixed price or well considered time-and-materials proposal can be agreed on for the second phase. Let’s face it. At the end of the day, in the specialized world of engineering, it is important that we build up long term trusting relationships between client and contractor and both parties get a fair return on their investment. Not too much and not too little. But just right.
New Fangled approaches
I worry sometimes about these new fangled approaches of alliances and partnerships between clients and contractors, rather than using fixed price or hourly rates. A bit like a partnership between God and the Devil. With superb management on both sides, they can work out. But often they end up costing one of the parties far more.
And naturally remember that unless you are an altruistic person, that it is better to not get awarded a contract if you are going to lose money on it. Finally, as Samuel Goldwyn wryly remarked: A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on. Make sure all agreements are in writing, signed by the correct parties and can cope with project modifications.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 28th April’15 #562
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Quintus Potgieter
- Category: Education
Descriptors for busy lives tend to suggest a sense of drowning; being ‘snowed under’ or ‘swamped’. The more positive expression of ‘having a full plate’, somehow struggles to adequately portray the complexity of modern living.
If it weren’t for the persistent need to professionally develop or bolster existing skills at a campus or training facility, the life juggling act could be simplified.
This education conundrum though, like all conundrums, has been solved – the solution is of course online learning. Steady advances in related technologies and these teaching methodologies have facilitated many busy, mobile and aspiring professionals to pursue further study. (And they tend to be more reasonably priced too).
Some tips for selecting, embarking upon and getting the most out of online learning
- For the ultimate self-paced learning style; one which maximises the flexibility that characterises online learning, select asynchronous learning. It is a form of instruction which is unconstrained by time and place. BUT unless you are exceptionally disciplined, be wary of it. It can cause feelings of isolation and retention rates are typically disappointingly low.
- For a compromise, select the synchronous form of learning. It is live, so in terms of time you are somewhat constrained. (But if you find yourself down a mine shaft when your webinar is scheduled, the recordings can be accessed when you emerge). In terms of place, though, you do retain your flexibility. (As long as you have the gear; a computer, an internet connection and, in order to verbally interact with fellow students and lecturers, a microphone).
- Make the most of it. I suppose this applies to any experience, but certainly your learning one will be enhanced. You are isolated when studying online so try to do all you can to feel a part of your virtual classroom. Some specific ideas follow. Join the forums and be an active participant. During webinars ask your lecturer questions. Get to know your fellow students; a cohort drawn from around the world. They have the potential to become an important part of your network.
- Take advantage of your lecturers. They are not limited by location so you have access to the best minds from wherever they are in the world. Furthermore, most will be active in industry because the short webinars facilitate their busy lives just as they do yours. (A very pleasant image, from a couple of years ago, comes to mind: It is of one of our lecturers sitting under a tree, his computer in front of him, presenting to his students. His colleagues continue with their Christmas lunch at a table a short distance from him; saving his dessert.)
- Manage your time carefully. Be diligent and be sure to work out how you can best accommodate the demands of your study week by week. Don’t be too ambitious; pace yourself and be kind to yourself.
- Learn as you go. Many of you will work and study simultaneously. This gives you the chance to augment your new information by testing it at work as you proceed through your course or qualification. This has two advantages; it reinforces your newly acquired knowledge and provides you with the opportunity to nut out any problems with your lecturer and fellow students.
- Make use of the practical applications. The online technologies are such that these are indeed possible and improving rapidly. They come in the form of remote laboratories and simulation software.
- If the college offers you a dedicated coordinator, fall in love with him or her. This person will become your main support and your biggest fan; assisting you, cheering you on and willing you over the line.
- Do due diligence on the institution offering the course or qualification. This is essential whether it is a government or private college. Sadly there are unscrupulous vendors out there cashing in on education. On the other hand, genuine and passionate educators exist too.
- And finally, choose the right course or qualification for you. Look for state-of-the-art content, which is industry relevant and driven, and then go for it.
- Details
- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
No matter what your engineering discipline - you would have learnt about Ohm’s Law at some time or other (even at school). Herewith a simple application question which tests your conceptual knowledge. I posed this a few years ago and have brought it back somewhat modified.
Dear Colleagues,
No matter what your engineering discipline - you would have learnt about Ohm’s Law at some time or other (even at school). Herewith a simple application question which tests your conceptual knowledge. I posed this a few years ago and have brought it back somewhat modified.
Ohm’s Law
As we all (should) know, Ohm’s Law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference across the two points with the following formula:
I = V/R
Where I is the current through the conductor in units of amperes (A), V is the potential difference measured across the conductor in units of volts (V), and R is the resistance of the conductor in units of ohms. (Thanks Wikipedia).
Do you Understand Ohm’s Law?
An electrician opens the control panel of a 3-phase resistive electric furnace while it is in operation and accidentally receives a shock from one of the 400 Volt lines inside the panel, while the furnace is drawing current, of say 100 amps. This is situation A.
The furnace is now switched off; but the electrician (being an idiot) accidentally touches the same place before (situation B) and gets another shock from the lines feeding the control panel. Assume everything is the same for both situations (skin resistance/point of contact/humidity).
Which was the more intense shock for the electrician? Situation A or B?
The Answer
The answer has to be Situation B where the voltage has gone higher due to lack of load (no current being drawn) of the furnace. The 100A current in the first situation A has no direct relevance (apart from being a red herring).
A few Parting Comments
- The amount of current required to cause an electrical shock is tiny compared to the current drawn by the furnace.
- The shock you receive is really dependent on your own resistance and the contact voltage. There is a higher voltage present for the second situation as there is no load.
- A resistive furnace was referred to in order to avoid confusing with phase angles between current and voltage for an inductive furnace.
- One should really consider peak voltages (not rms) as per above and line to ground (not line to line voltages); but this would make no difference to the answer.
- Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because the first situation A has a 100 amps flowing through the circuit; that this level of current is likely to go through you if you touch a live part.
- The resistance of the human skin can vary depending on moisture and open wounds; so the amount of current flowing through your body can vary. So being wet would cause a considerably greater shock than being dry. It only takes 20mA to stop your heart. Oddly enough, someone mentioned to me that he understood that higher currents won’t necessarily stop your heart but put you into a convulsion thus sometimes helping you to shake yourself free from a high voltage source.
Thanks to John Reid for posing the question.
As Elbert Hubbard wryly observed: You can lead a boy or girl to college but you can't make them think.
Yours in Engineering Learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 21st April’15 #561
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
Engineering professionals are generally not particularly enthused with writing. It is often regarded as an onerous chore outside their key skill set.
Dear Colleagues,
Engineering professionals are generally not particularly enthused with writing. It is often regarded as an onerous chore outside their key skill set. We are also subjected to written reports which are gibberish, unreadable and full of gobbledygook. Perhaps you even are guilty of writing like this? I know that I am.
An example of poor writing in a report on a problem with delivery
Technological problems and input product deficiencies combined to impact on the specified deliverable quality and estimated deadlines of the product. Extensive and unspecified (at this stage – pending further investigation) modifications will be made to bring the deliverables into alignment with the contractual requirements of the client specification JFHA/JHU/1909804 Rev5.0567…..
Why do we write like this?
I know you will exclaim that you don’t write like this – this is probably an extreme example.
Engineering professionals often feel uncomfortable with writing and tend to focus, with passion, on the technical problem at hand. When they do write, I often find they use large jargon-rich words expressed in the third person in rather convoluted English. Naturally, the reader is often hopelessly confused about what the writer is trying to communicate. The situation is often worsened because engineering teams are composed of personnel from a range of cultural backgrounds where English is a second language.
Some cultures insist that the more arcane the language you use; the more highly regarded you will be. However, this is not the case when writing well in English.
A few Humble Suggestions
1. Keep it short and to the point
Keep your sentences short and to the point. Use words which everyone can understand. Avoid technical jargon; or if you intend to use words which are going to be misunderstood – explain what they mean.
2. Express Action
Instead of:
‘Extensive modifications were made by the team to the product…’
Change to:
‘We modified the product…’
Instead of:
‘An extensive investigation was conducted into the problems with service by the team’.
Change to:
‘We investigated the service problems’
3. Avoid clichés and old tired language
Suggestions of well worn boring phrases include:
“jump the gun’; ’one in a million’; ’law of the jungle’…
Avoid these phrases and try an alternative simple expression.
For ‘one in a million’; you could say: ‘unusual’
4. We may have a boring subject but can make it ferociously interesting
A considerable number of engineering reports are skimmed through and hardly read. Why? Because they are boring and no one can face ploughing through them. So why not make your report interesting, short and powerful? Design it so that someone will read it and commend you later for an enjoyable experience. I know some of you will roll around on the floor laughing at this suggestion; but I dare you to try…
I suspect Walter Bagehot hits the nail on the head with his remark: The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people who can write know anything.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 14 April’15 #560
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
- Details
- Written by: Steve Mackay
- Category: Blog - Steve Mackay
Is there nothing more irritating than the strident noise of lawnmowers or mulching machines with their staccato crackling sound on a quiet Saturday afternoon?
Dear Colleagues,
Is there nothing more irritating than the strident noise of lawnmowers or mulching machines with their staccato crackling sound on a quiet Saturday afternoon? In my book, silence is often more desirable than privacy. This short note is on audio and levels of sound and how you can eliminate high levels of noise.
The Decibel
The decibel was created in the 1920’s by the Bell Telephone Labs and is widely used in audio measurement. The decibel is ten times the logarithm of one power quantity relative to a reference quantity. The difference in decibels between two powers, P1 and P2 (the louder one) is 10 log (P2/P1) dB where the log is to base 10. So it can easily be used to measure the level of everything. The most common usage is of loudness (of noise) - or relative sound pressure. If you halve the power (relative to the reference source), you reduce the power and sound level by 3dB (10log(1/2)).
Why is the decibel used? – well, read on…
A Complex Animal
Sound and loudness is quite a complex animal. On the transmitting side, it depends on the frequencies and amplitudes; while on the receiving side (the ear); we have a non-linear device with an enormous dynamic range. Non-linear means that the ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies but works best from 1kHz to 5kHz (presumably the noises emitted by our predators in prehistoric times). A weighting curve (or filter) is thus used to make sounds measured by “non-ear” devices such as microphones and other acoustic devices more representative of what people actually hear. The one most widely used today is the A weighting scheme and thus we refer to dBA when talking about noise.
(Interestingly enough, the human eye is similar – twice the amount of Lumens or light does not look twice as bright – you need to increase the light intensity by ten times to achieve this).
Crazy examples of dBA
Typical numbers for dBA include:
Just audible is 10 dBA
Soft whisper at 15 feet is 30 dBA
A quiet office is about 40 dBA
Air conditioner, normal speech, 60 dBA
Noisy restaurant, freeway traffic, noisy office, 70 dBA
Hearing protection recommended at 80 dBA
Heavy truck in traffic measures 90 dBA
Rock concert is 110 dBA
Thunderclap is 130 dBA
Jet air ops on a US Navy carrier deck is 140 dBA
Sound becomes irritating when averaged over 24 hours, it exceeds 65dBA.
Reductions in noise – really?
There has been a significant reduction in noise creating devices. As a growing example, electric cars have become dangerously quiet (and can be a danger to pedestrians). The biggest noise on the road these days is the ‘screech and whine’ of rubber on the tarmac. Airports have become more subdued with the insistence on use of high-bypass jet engines (with slower turning compressor fans). And welded track and electric locomotives have made noise from the railways more acceptable.
However machinery makers have been a bit more reluctant to keep their noises down. Because it costs them. Most countries set 85dBA as the maximum level of noise (up to 8 hours at a time). There has been the suggestion, that domestic appliances are deliberately made louder to make them sound more powerful than they actually are (e.g. a blender) Although OSHA in the USA allowed unsilenced machines to be increased from 90dBA to 100dBA (thus allowing a doubling in loudness). This has made it increasingly difficult for Americans to sell their products outside the USA (e.g. into fussy but shrewd Europe).
Noise Cancellation
Noise cancellation can work either at the source or at the listener end. Sometimes, and not always perfectly, the closer your noise is to a point source the easier it is to cancel. But bear in mind that a large shape radiating noise from all surfaces in all directions would be almost impossible to apply noise cancellation technology to (thus best to engineer the noisy machinery to be quiet). And low frequencies (large wavelengths) are easier to dampen, since the distance between the noise source and noise dampener needs to be significantly less than the wavelength of the noise to work properly.
So what can you do about this?
- Consider noise reduction as a key element when engaging on your next project
- Be aware that everyone is increasingly demanding quieter machinery
- To make your product more saleable and your workforce happier – go for quieter equipment
- Look at opportunities to dampen noise in all your designs
I wondered about the rather irate (and perhaps patronising?) note from the noted philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer:
The amount of noise which anyone can bear undisturbed stands in inverse proportion to his mental capacity.
Thanks to The Economist and Joe Wolfe of the University of NSW for a great web site on audio.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 7th April’15 #559
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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We all keep a reasonably up-to-date engineering resume (or cv) – unless of course we have been with one company for ever.
Dear Colleagues,
We all keep a reasonably up-to-date engineering resume (or cv) – unless of course we have been with one company for ever. In these uncertain times it is good to keep in mind what is required or indeed, you may need to help a buddy who needs support in writing his or her resume. A good resume is vital whether you are an electrician or a chief engineer.
This short note is to help you create a winning engineering resume with a business edge. Which I believe is vital to success.
What is a Resume?
It is essentially a one-page summary of who you are and why your skills and know-how are aligned with the job under offer. The key element is to understand your audience (interviewer or would-be employer) and to market yourself in an eye-catching way which reduces the perceived risk of your would-be employer.
Different audiences require different information. You have to compete with many other resumes and ensure that your write-up hits the target and gets the potential employer reaching for the phone to talk to you further.
The content is not as important as the way you present it. I am not suggesting you lie, cheat, or steal to get the job you want. But, you need to carefully consider what the would-be employer is after.
Suggestions, Suggestions and More Suggestions
Some suggestions for writing your next resume:
- Focus on what the job requires. A generic resume will never make it.
- Keep the overall document simple and easy to understand.
- Ensure your grammar and spelling is 100%. The tiniest of mistakes here can poison an otherwise good resume. Get a competent friend to check this aspect.
- Avoid excessive information about you which is not related to the job. You are probably detail-oriented but employers don’t have time to read through masses of information.
- Leave lots of white space between sections. Balance, symmetry and a professional appearance are critical. White space between sections is a good thing. You want the feeling of spaciousness. Bold and italicized print is fine, if done in a way that is complementary.
- Preferably format in block style using bullets. Avoid long drawn out paragraphs and ensure they have fewer than six sentences. Concentrate on providing action oriented words showing how you clearly benefited your previous organisation and had clear responsibility for an outcome.
- A short summary at the top of your document giving your key skills is useful to get the reviewer quickly up to speed with who you are and what you can do.
- Jobs should include the name of employers, dates of employment and location. Watch out for giving the impression you are a job-hopper. If you are a job-hopper, you need to justify why you left the jobs. Honesty is always vital here.
- Focus on your strengths rather than tasks you don’t enjoy doing. Demonstrate integrity with what you do. It is pointless applying for a job where you are going to be engaged in tasks you would hate.
- Try and link your previous jobs to positive business achievements (increase in revenue or profitability or outstanding products or time saving solutions).
- Remember that a truck load of qualifications is pretty useless when not linked to specific experience and results.
I like Leonard Bernstein's wry comment: To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.
Thanks to Elizabeth Lions of the IEEE for an excellent article on the topic.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 31st March’15 #558
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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A topic I often avoid discussing is quality. Mainly because it conjures up ideas of masses of paper work and enormous costs with no discernible increase in the quality of a product or service.
Dear Colleagues,
A topic I often avoid discussing is quality. Mainly because it conjures up ideas of masses of paper work and enormous costs with no discernible increase in the quality of a product or service.
However, someone for whom I have the greatest admiration is a fine electrical engineer, Edwards Deming, who as many of you will recall is often referred to as the father of modern quality control (and was single-handedly responsible for a massively positive impact on the quality of Japanese manufacturing after World War II).
Quality and Costs
Deming made two important observations which are worthwhile repeating:
When you focus on improving quality as defined by:
Quality= Results of Work Efforts/Total costs
You will find the quality improves and costs decrease.
BUT…
Conversely, if you focus mainly on costs, you will find that over time the costs tend to rise and the quality decreases.
What key knowledge do you need to improve quality?
In improving the quality of a product or service, he felt all engineers and managers should possess the following key knowledge:
- Know the system and process well. This not only means the engineering system but the suppliers, producers and customers.
- Understand where the variations in the quality is coming from in terms of range and causes.
- Be aware of the theory of knowledge and what can be known in the process and system.
- Finally (and nonetheless) still importantly – understand the psychology of human nature (the hard bit!).
Thanks to an excellent article in the IEEE by Dr Wole Akpose (A History of Six Sigma).
A good strategy when striving for a high quality document according to David Reisman is: Look at all the sentences which seem true and question them.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 24th March’15 #557
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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There is furore at present with the allegations being made about bribes paid to host the Soccer World Cup in Qatar.
Dear Colleagues,
There is furore at present with the allegations being made about bribes paid to host the Soccer World Cup in Qatar.
I believe we get exposed to challenges to our ethics on a daily basis. Most of the time; we ignore these challenges but occasionally the price is high and we succumb ever so slightly (and silently).
In the nutshell – ethics is about - as the National Society of Professional Engineers indicates: Engineers, in the fulfilment of their professional duties shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. This applies to all engineering professionals – no matter whether you are an apprentice electrician or Chief Engineer at NASA.
It is thus worthwhile recalling the life of Roger Mark Boisjoly (who died recently on the 6 Jan.’12). He was an engineer at Morton Thiokol, the manufacturer of the solid rocket boosters for the NASA space shuttle program. While examining, discarded booster rockets from the previous launch, he noticed that the O-ring seals in the rockets had been burned through. He concluded that flight operations in cold weather caused the O-rings to harden and contract, losing their seal and thus opening the door to catastrophic failure. Inevitably, before the next Challenger space shuttle blast-off, temperatures were close to freezing and Boisjoly was alarmed.
The evening before the launch, Boisjoly, urged that the launch be postphoned. NASA decided to proceed any way despite objections from Boisjoly. Shortly after lift-off, the O-rings failed and Challenger exploded with numerous deaths. Something that will remain searing on my (and I am sure many of your) memories was the horrible sight of Challenger, an engineering icon, exploding so catastrophically.
The feeling was that the engineers were outranked by the managers who overrode their concerns and ethics were trampled underfoot.
The American Society of Civil Engineers reminds us (in a nutshell) to:
- Make the safety, health and welfare of our fellow citizens the highest priority
- Only work in areas in which we are competent
- Be truthful and objective in all our communications
- Adhere to the highest professional standards and avoid conflicts of interest
- Build outstanding professional reputations around real accomplishments and be fair and considerate in dealings with others
- Have zero tolerance for bribery, fraud and corruption and uphold the highest standards of engineering
- Continue enhancing one’s skills in a life long learning process and freely mentor others.
Thanks to the IEEE for an interesting article and Wikipedia for background reading.
You definitely don’t want to do as Darby Conley cynically suggests: Ethics are so annoying. I avoid them on principle.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 17th March’15 #556
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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It is often considered risky practice in advertising to say something with a negative message; but hopefully you will see the importance of avoiding these damaging items (as listed below) in your engineering career.
Dear Colleagues,
It is often considered risky practice in advertising to say something with a negative message; but hopefully you will see the importance of avoiding these damaging items (as listed below) in your engineering career.
Remain positive and in top problem solving mode
Engineering professionals are generally brilliant at identifying problems but not always so good at creating novel solutions to fix problems. You do not want to be known as the ‘Dr No’ of your organisation who is always finding fault with designs and systems; but someone who is proactive about finding practical solutions to problems – often even before they become an issue.
Fit into the organisational culture
Although you may consider yourself to be a huge asset in your company and who can’t be bothered about all the trivial paperwork; but you can’t simply ignore company procedures and policies. No matter how irritating they may be. Best to fit into the system and comply with the myriad of administrative procedures and requirements and keep your colleagues happy.
Business is a key part of engineering
Costs and financial issues are a critical part of an engineering project. You can’t simply rip out a piece of equipment in your plant and replace it with a new Rolls Royce item because it performs better from a technical point of view. There has to be a justified return on investment. Ensuring that you always consider the financial issues in your engineering career; will add enormous value to the organisation. Profits are what make a company tick.
Communicate brilliantly and with panache
Engineering professionals are renowned for their love of technology. And are not so enthusiastic about the use of English and in communicating well. However, this is a key part of growing your career. Ensure your written and verbal communications are of the highest possible quality. Not verbose or using large complex words – but simple, thoughtful and clear. Similarly, practice your presentation skills – either one- on-one or to a group. And reflect and check on what you write or say before sending your communications out. Overall, soft skills are a critical part of the successful engineering professional.
Value your engineering career more than your firm
We all want to work for a firm or client we love. Forever. However, often your career will develop in a different direction to your firm; especially as far as doing things you enjoy or excel at. You may decide that you have to seek opportunities elsewhere to optimise your career. Often, a firm may be sold to some other entity and they may decide they don’t need your particular skills any longer. Hence it is critical that you keep your engineering skills sharp and relevant to the marketplace. And keep doing outstanding work which not only your firm values but others in the industry notice.
Respect everyone in your firm and get their support
You need every bit of help you can get in your engineering career - from everyone in the firm. Ensure you are friendly and positive with everyone – from the security guard, cleaners, engineering colleagues, to the CEO.
Your value is communicated more than only through your work
Sadly, your value to an organisation or client is not only communicated by the fine plant, building or piece of equipment you have designed and built. You need to follow up by clearly communicating why your work is of value to the firm.
Email is not so useful
I think email must be one of the worst communication tools for engineering. Try and use straightforward tools such as the phone or in simply walking across to the neighbouring office to chat about a decision. Certainly confirm your discussions (especially relating to deadlines and costs) with a warm and fuzzy email. Never use email for anything vaguely emotional; stick to verbal communications.
Ensure you have all information before making a decision
As we all know, with engineering problem solving – when making a decision one doesn’t always have all the facts. However, you can’t wait forever to make a decision. Try and learn from experts in the field on how they make good decisions. Especially relating to costing and scheduling. Always try and look at the worse case scenario here.
Learning is a life-long love affair
Don’t believe your initial degree or diploma qualification is all the learning you need in your career. While problem solving, conceptual, and financial skills are often timeless; straightforward technical skills often date extraordinarily fast and you have to keep learning to stay up to date. This can be achieved in an informal way by working closely with your peers and mentors and exchanging know-how in this way. Formal training and education is also useful to keep up to date and aware of the latest engineering trends. Remember that change is one constant in our engineering lives.
Final words
So the choice is all yours - you have complete control of your engineering destiny as to where you are going.
As Carol Burnett gently suggests: Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.
Thanks to Dr Jim Anderson of BlueElephantConsulting and the IEEE for an interesting article on a related topic.
Yours in engineering learning,
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 10th March’15 #555
125, 273 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
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EIT's Technical Director, Steve Mackay, enjoys keeping his blog up-to-date with useful tips and current industry matters for his fellow colleagues. He has a loyal and expanding following base reaching over 300,000 people around the world.
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