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pylon · 10-27-2009, 02:21 AM

May I reply??

My father is a very respected electrical engineer. he is 68 and nearing, if not past the end of his career. He was one of the main guys involved in the design of the Syncrude plant way back when. He is one of those guys that has forgotten more than most people will ever know about electrical design etc.

Since CAD became the norm in the late 80's and early 90's he kinda fell short of the young guys who were computer wizzes, but he was always kept around, and always was there to check work because he has something the current generation of engineers and designers lack. Practical experience. For 20 years he did on site work and and slide rule design, and understands the trade in the physical world not just the virtual one.

Last November his firm let him go because he was contract at 800/day, and the fat cats were first to go. They left a lot of the younger lower paid guys in charge, and now, the project is not only behind, it is a mess. He was called back in last week to come back onto the project in a supervisory role not because they need his sub-par computer skills, but because they need his experience to check the drawings, verify calculations etc.... because it was being rushed through without the old wisdom of "measure twice cut once" in the electrical design sense if there is a term for it.

I too work with a guy in my field (finance) that is the same old guy that seems to hold you up. But every once in a while the guy shows me something that is invaluable to my future career advancement simply because he has been there... done that. I don't know if I am even on the mark with this response, but all I can say is sometimes these old guys that have been around forever, have been around forever for a reason.

10-27-2009, 02:21 AM	#2
pylon Lifetime Suspension Join Date: Jul 2007 Exp:	May I reply?? My father is a very respected electrical engineer. he is 68 and nearing, if not past the end of his career. He was one of the main guys involved in the design of the Syncrude plant way back when. He is one of those guys that has forgotten more than most people will ever know about electrical design etc. Since CAD became the norm in the late 80's and early 90's he kinda fell short of the young guys who were computer wizzes, but he was always kept around, and always was there to check work because he has something the current generation of engineers and designers lack. Practical experience. For 20 years he did on site work and and slide rule design, and understands the trade in the physical world not just the virtual one. Last November his firm let him go because he was contract at 800/day, and the fat cats were first to go. They left a lot of the younger lower paid guys in charge, and now, the project is not only behind, it is a mess. He was called back in last week to come back onto the project in a supervisory role not because they need his sub-par computer skills, but because they need his experience to check the drawings, verify calculations etc.... because it was being rushed through without the old wisdom of "measure twice cut once" in the electrical design sense if there is a term for it. I too work with a guy in my field (finance) that is the same old guy that seems to hold you up. But every once in a while the guy shows me something that is invaluable to my future career advancement simply because he has been there... done that. I don't know if I am even on the mark with this response, but all I can say is sometimes these old guys that have been around forever, have been around forever for a reason.