Henry Ford's Quadricycle
A horseless carriage for a passenger,
Resting on top, is a seat in the center,
The ethanol powered engine, will spit and sputter,
The steering operated like a boat's rudder,
The wheels made of steel and wires,
Because it rides on 4 bicycle tires,
Although it goes, the lack of torque is a curse,
You can go forward, but not in reverse,
With an astounding 4 horsepower,
You can get to 20 miles per hour,
The transmission only has two gears,
This machine was the foundation for the upcoming years,
Henry grew up on a farm with a shovel and sickle,
From watch-making to steam engines his life was fickle,
But in the end, his legacy began with the Quadricycle.
Real Life Experience
My vision is that one day engineers will have a minimum of 5 years of hands on experience in the engineering profession they wish to pursue. For example, if a person wants to become a mechanical engineer, then he should have a minimum of 5 years of experience as a mechanic.
In those five years, the person will be able to see how things were engineered before their time. They will see designs that are great and they will see designs that are not so great. From these experiences, the individual will have a better foundation to engineer machines, buildings, electrical projects and they will actually understand what they are engineering.
In the five years of hands on experience, the individual will also be able to intelligently decide if they want to become an engineer in that particular field. Instead of going to school and building a significant amount of debt in school loans, only to find out they are miserable engineering and designing things.
My reasoning for believing this is because I have seen graduate "engineers" that don't know how to measure the distance between two holes on a piece of sheet metal, they don't know the difference between a sprocket and a gear, and/or they don't understand why we use different types/sizes of wire for certain applications.
If I had the chance, I would create an Engineering School where your final grades were based on practical application. Not just your academic standing.
I found your dream very interesting. What you said made perfect sense to me. My Dad is a CEO for an electric company and when he hires someone he has to make them work in the field as part of the interview because like you said they don't know the hands on side of it. Great Dream!!
ReplyDeleteYour poem and dream share something in common. Basically, you are talking about a man who owns an auto company and your dream of becoming an engineer. When I was young, I also dreamed of becoming an engineer who works in a car company. Good job on this!
ReplyDeleteYou are definitely right when you say there are graduate engineers who don't know the most basic things. I think your idea of having people go into the field first and then going to college could be pretty effective, not only for engineering, but also for other career fields.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about that for years now! Colleges today teach you the basics, like math and science and blah blah blah, but they don't give you any hands on experience for the job! I mean, isn't that what college is for? To get you a job? How can you get a job if you don't know how to actually do it?
ReplyDeleteI think that is a great idea to get people to actually do the work and gain the hands on experience that is required in the field. I think this will also help people figure out if it is something that they really want to do.
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