Hello All!

[Dennis]

Hello, new to this forum and just wanted to introduce myself to everyone and tell you a little bit of what I do and what I aspire to be! I currenty work for Lexus and have been with them for a little over two years and I've been with Infiniti for a year prior to that. I'm a ASE/CA-certified automotive technician (grease monkey) whatever title you guys seem fit and it's the profession that I chose. Anyways, I've always been fascinated by the role the engineers play with the products we fix and wonder why some things are they way they are. I was a part-time student during my tenure here and decided to switch to full-time to better focus on my long term goals. Enough about me, what does everyone here do for a living and why did you choose that particular career path?

[jboggs]

Welcome to the forum. I chose mechanical engineering with a specialty in machine design because I grew up around it and inherited my father's fascination with all things mechanical. I wanted to know the reasons why certain concepts work, and why some don't. I graduated from college over 30 years ago. Since then I have treated every day as another opportunity to learn and have not regretted a minute. If you approach life that way, even the mistakes and failures have value. They are tuition paid in the school of hard knocks.

[CCR5600Design]

Hello, Dennis.

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for sharing your info. I have had an interest in all things mechanical since I was young, as well. My dad got me hooked on it as he and I tinkered on his old Austin Healeys and Morgans. As that fuse was lit, I started doing what you do (turning wrenches) as a means to get through college. I was fortunate enough to have a fantastic employer who taught me well. I came in on the ground level, sweeping floors and working in the engine teardown area and the "dirty room." As my skills grew, I was able to work as a machinist for about 6 years after I got out of school.

The automotive bug had bitten me hard and I pursued a career in the auto repair business as a service writer, drawing on my experience as a mechanic and machinist which was helpful in dealing with the mechanics and customers alike. As has been the case too many times, our small shop was bought out by a large corporation and the whole atmosphere of the place changed.

I changed careers and took a position in the engineering department of a local sheetmetal fabrication shop, specializing in the development and design of equipment racks and enclosures for the telecommunications industry. With my background in customer service and sales, my employer found a nice little niche job for me here as a product design coordinator. I work with our customers to develop solutions for current and upcoming equipment installations while maintaining compliance with Telcordia specifications. I have been here for 14 years, now. It is a very rewarding position and there is never a dull moment.

The car bug still has its teeth firmly clinched on me, though. On the weekends, I announce drag races.


Ron

[Dennis]

Pleasure to get some responses from some people in the industry; it seemed like the forum didn't have much traffic flowing through here. Jboggs-I'm the same, ever since I was a kid I would always tear things apart because I was so curious as to what held it together and made it operate. Legos kept me occupied as I was a child and I made some pretty fascinating little things looking back at old photos. How do you like what you do? It seems this is a very rewarding career field, but I may be biased.
Ron-I'm glad I have someone to relate to about my situation and especially excited to see someone committed and follow through with their plans. Automotive is definitely a very broad and innovative field, I myself build engines as a hobby and find to realize a lot of innovations made in motorsports trickles down into manufacturer's production vehicles, and then into consumer products that we use everyday. It's truly amazing and i want to be a part of that innovation that I speak of. How difficult was school for you? It's been three years since I have been a full time student and have lost a bit of my edge or so to speak. I'm not the greatest with numbers and math but I know I can do it, it will just take time.

[Kelly_Bramble]

Dennis,

My step son is a heavy truck technician and my brother in law is a helicopter technician. We have some very interesting conversations about challenging, illogical designs and assemblies from a technician and engineering point of view.

I’ve been in engineering for thirty years. Before I began my engineering career, I started with batteries and burning up wires, and lighting light bulbs, moved on to repairing and modifying bicycles, then motor cycles, and rebuilt and modified several automotive engines (headers, high-lift cams, fancy aluminum intake manifolds, etc..). My first rebuilt engine was a Pontiac 428 that went in my 1968 Firebird convertible. I wish I still had that car..

I didn’t know in my early years that I actually wanted to an a engineer, but as I look back I was never satisfied with just knowing how something went together, I had a deep need to know why…

[jboggs]

"How do you like what you do? It seems this is a very rewarding career field, but I may be biased."

I love what I do. Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than to see a problem that others have been unable to solve (or haven't tried hard enough to), then to analyze the details, visualize some possible solutions, pick one and develop it, create a design and drawings, build a trial or prototype, and finally to see a successful result working the way its supposed to in the real world. Frankly, part of my joy comes from also knowing and admitting the things I do not enjoy doing - anything to do with accounting, management, red tape, personnel problems, or budget decisions.

[PinkertonD]

Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than to see a problem that others have been unable to solve

Or better yet, JB, "nope, that will never work." Or, "that can't be done." I remember many years back designing a mechanism to open fire-louvers in the roof of an industrial building. When I proposed an idea with a sketch, the chief Engineer said, "that will never work." Buuuzzzz! Wrong. I made a prototype and it did work. We were able to undercut all competitors by 40-percent and make a handy profit in the process. They also got a Patent for it and they are probably still making them today.

[Dennis]

Thanks so much for the insight guys, it's really interesting to get an insider's prespective. I'm extremely excited to start this semester and I just have so much that I want to accomplish in these next few years. This is a new industry for me and I just need to break through and start networking with engineers just like the members here to get some tips and information on HOW to actually get started. I think this forum is a great vehicle to help connect mechanically-inclined individuals like ourselves; it's awesome