Skills Development for Engineers


Book Description

While classroom learning is suited for conveying basic information to large numbers of people, Hoag (Engine Research Center, U. of Wisconsin at Madison) argues that continuing education for engineers most often requires small groups of people to rapidly develop proficiencies. He discusses the roles of upper management, direct supervisors, and individual engineers in his proposed model for continuing education in organizations. After outlining the model, he discusses applications related to rotational programs, organizational assessment, and program evaluation. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




The Importance of Soft Skills in Engineering and Engineering Education


Book Description

This book explores in depth the significance of soft skills within engineering education and the profession of engineering and emphasizes the importance of integrating hard and soft skills effectively, thereby enhancing personal acumen. Among the most important soft skills are ability to communicate, courtesy, creativity, empaty, flexibility, integrity, positivity, problem solving, professionalism, resourcefulness, responsibility, a strong work ethic, and ability to work within a team. While hard skills are related to the left side of the brain and are linked to the intelligence quotient (IQ), soft skills are related to the right side of the brain and are linked to the emotional quotient (EQ). A person who fuses hard and soft skills successfully will be able to upgrade their professional behavior and become a difference maker (DM). Soft skills are of central importance in the context of Engineering 4.0, the new phase of engineering, and in Engineering 4.0 education, and this is the central focus of the book. The presented examples of the role of soft skills will also enable readers to self-evaluate, to identify those skills that require improvement, and ultimately to enhance their performance.




People Skills for Engineers


Book Description

Do you feel disconnected from the other engineers you work with? Are personal interactions often uncomfortable, adversarial, or just plain weird? Or, do you know your people skills need help, but you're unsure of where to start?WARNING: Failings with people can be the undoing of even the most talented technical team.Drawing on more than sixteen years of experience working alongside other engineers, Tony Munson provides a foundational set of people skills every engineer should possess in order to avoid--and resolve--relational problems before they have a chance to impact your personal effectiveness.These problems include but are not limited to:- Feeling isolated and disconnected from others.- Problems with management or co-workers.- Poor performance at interviews or meetings.- Interaction regret or wishing you would have behaved differently in personal interactions.- Inability to properly lead and motivate others.Don't learn the hard way, through repeated failures, when your career is on the line! People Skills for Engineers can help fill in the gaps in this crucial and often underdeveloped engineering skill set.Here's what others have to say about People Skills for Engineers:"People Skills for Engineers reminds us that being a technical leader isn't about what you do, but how you do it. Tony asks readers to take an introspective look at the kind of engineer they are today and shows them how improving communication skills can get them to the next level. Throughout the book he creates an introvert-friendly Human Interface API, pulling advice from great authors, real leaders, and his own experiences." -- Tiffany Greyson, Computer Engineer"In People Skills for Engineers, Tony breaks down how our relationships effect our success as individuals and as an organization. He then outlines practical and concrete ways to become a better engineer, team member and leader by increasing our effectiveness with people. He brings to the surface common mistakes that are potentially holding us back and provides ways these mistakes could be prevented or repaired. I think that the information Tony lays out in this book could help anyone seeking to improve themselves; not only as a team member but as an engineer; no matter how far into their career they are." -- Arthur Putnam, Software Engineer"I instantly recognized some 'difficult engineer' behaviors I was guilty of myself. Tony gives real-world, practical advice that you can use to start improving yourself right now . It was both enlightening and motivating when he highlighted all of the things you could be leaving on the table by not improving these important skills." -- Derek Wade, Mechanical Engineer




Effective Interpersonal and Team Communication Skills for Engineers


Book Description

Presents key principles of communication that support clear exchanges in a technical context and help engineers learn effective communication skills Effective communication is a necessity for engineers. Even minor on-the-job misunderstandings can cost time, money, or worse. Yet even though recent studies show that improved communication makes for better engineers, the ability to speak clearly and listen carefully have historically been considered "soft skills" and are not typically or explicitly addressed in engineering programs. Working from basic units called microskills, Effective Interpersonal and Team Communication Skills for Engineers shows readers, one step at a time, how to engage, listen, manage conflict, and influence others with highly constructive, repeatable communication exchanges. This career-enhancing handbook: Presents communication skills for both technical issues and social situations in an engineering context Breaks skills down to elemental usage forms as microskills Includes plenty of practice exercises, case studies, and self-assessment tools Helps develop higher-level skills for more complex situations, such as dealing with confrontation and conflict negotiation Features a direct, user-friendly, practice-oriented format Effective Interpersonal and Team Communication Skills for Engineers is a must-have guide for professionals and an important supplement for engineering programs at all levels.




Business Skills for Engineers and Technologists


Book Description

The scope of Business Skills for Engineers and Technologists is wider than many traditional business texts, including hot topics such as e-commerce, business ethics and law, as well as fully up-to-date coverage of management issues and finance. The interactive style of the book is ideally suited for the study of business and management topics. Rather than focussing solely on management theory, the subjects are explored within real-world engineering contexts through numerous case studies and activities, which bring the content to life and create a highly accessible text for the student reader. The IIE Textbook Series from Butterworth-Heinemann Student-focused textbooks with numerous examples, activities, problems and knowledge-check questions Designed for a wide range of undergraduate courses Real-world engineering examples at the heart of each book Core texts suitable for students with no previous background studying engineering "I am very proud to be able to introduce this series as the fruition of a joint publishing venture between Butterworth-Heinemann and the Institution of Incorporated Engineers. Mechanical Engineering Systems is one of the first three titles in a series of core texts designed to cover the essential modules of a broad cross-section of undergraduate programmes in engineering and technology. These books are designed with today's students firmly in mind, and real-world engineering contexts to the fore - students who are increasingly opting for the growing number of courses that provide the foundation for Incorporated Engineer registration." --Peter F Wason BSc(Eng) CEng FIEE FIIE FIMechE FIMgt. Secretary and Chief Executive,IIE This essential text is part of the IIE accredited textbook series from Newnes - textbooks to form the strong practical, business and academic foundations for the professional development of tomorrow's incorporated engineers. Content matched to requirements of IIE and other BSc Engineering and Technology courses An essential textbook, providing all the information for student engineers preparing to work in a business environment, including hot topics such as e-commerce and business ethics Student-centred text featuring worked examples, case studies, assignments and knowledge-check questions throughout




Skills of a Successful Software Engineer


Book Description

Skills to grow from a solo coder into a productive member of a software development team, with seasoned advice on everything from refactoring to acing an interview. In Skills of a Successful Software Engineer you will learn: The skills you need to succeed on a software development team Best practices for writing maintainable code Testing and commenting code for others to read and use Refactoring code you didn’t write What to expect from a technical interview process How to be a tech leader Getting around gatekeeping in the tech community Skills of a Successful Software Engineer is a best practices guide for succeeding on a software development team. The book reveals how to optimize both your code and your career, from achieving a good work-life balance to writing the kind of bug-free code delivered by pros. You’ll master essential skills that you might not have learned as a solo coder, including meaningful code commenting, unit testing, and using refactoring to speed up feature delivery. Timeless advice on acing interviews and setting yourself up for leadership will help you throughout your career. Crack open this one-of-a-kind guide, and you’ll soon be working in the professional manner that software managers expect. About the technology Success as a software engineer requires technical knowledge, flexibility, and a lot of persistence. Knowing how to work effectively with other developers can be the difference between a fulfilling career and getting stuck in a life-sucking rut. This brilliant book guides you through the essential skills you need to survive and thrive on a software engineering team. About the book Skills of a Successful Software Engineer presents techniques for working on software projects collaboratively. In it, you’ll build technical skills, such as writing simple code, effective testing, and refactoring, that are essential to creating software on a team. You’ll also explore soft skills like how to keep your knowledge up to date, interacting with your team leader, and even how to get a job you’ll love. What's inside Best practices for writing and documenting maintainable code Testing and refactoring code you didn’t write What to expect in a technical interview How to thrive on a development team About the reader For working and aspiring software engineers. About the author Fernando Doglio has twenty years of experience in the software industry, where he has worked on everything from web development to big data. Table of Contents 1 Becoming a successful software engineer 2 Writing code everyone can read 3 Unit testing: delivering code that works 4 Refactoring existing code (or Refactoring doesn’t mean rewriting code) 5 Tackling the personal side of coding 6 Interviewing for your place on the team 7 Working as part of a team 8 Understanding team leadership




Ten Essential Skills for Electrical Engineers


Book Description

The book is a review of essential skills that an entry-level or experienced engineer must be able to demonstrate on a job interview and perform when hired. It will help engineers prepare for interviews by demonstrating application of basic principles to practical problems. Hiring managers will find the book useful because it defines a common ground between the student's academic background and the company's product or technology-specific needs, thereby allowing managers to minimize their risk when making hiring decisions. Ten Essential Skills contains a series of "How to" chapters. Each chapter realizes a goal, such as designing an active filter or designing a discrete servo. The primary value of these chapters, however, is that they apply engineering fundamentals to practical problems. The book is a handy reference for engineers in their first years on the job. Enables recent graduates in engineering to succeed in challenging technical interviews Written in an intuitive, easy-to-follow style for the benefit of busy students and employers Book focuses on the intersection between company-specific knowledge and engineering fundamentals Companion website includes interview practice problems and advanced material




Leadership by Engineers and Scientists


Book Description

Teaches scientists and engineers leadership skills and problem solving to facilitate management of team members, faculty, and staff This textbook introduces readers to open-ended problems focused on interactions between technical and nontechnical colleagues, bosses, and subordinates. It does this through mini case studies that illustrate scenarios where simple, clear, or exact solutions are not evident. By offering examples of dilemmas in technical leadership along with selected analyses of possible ways to address or consider such issues, aspiring or current leaders are made aware of the types of problems they may encounter. This situational approach also allows the development of methodologies to address these issues as well as future variations or new issues that may arise. Leadership by Engineers and Scientists guides and facilitates approaches to solving leadership/people problems encountered by technically trained individuals. Students and practicing engineers will learn leadership by being asked to consider specific situations, debate how to deal with these issues, and then make decisions based on what they have learned. Readers will learn technical leadership fundamentals; ethics and professionalism; time management; building trust and credibility; risk taking; leadership through questions; creating a vision; team building and teamwork; running an effective meeting; conflict management and resolution; communication; and presenting difficult messages. Describes positive traits and characteristics that technically-trained individuals bring to leadership positions, indicates how to use these skills, and describes attitudes and approaches necessary for effectively serving as leaders Covers negative traits and characteristics that can be detrimental when applied to dealing with others in their role as leaders Discusses situations and circumstances routinely encountered by new and experienced leaders of small teams Facilitates successful transitions into leadership and management positions by individuals with technical backgrounds Indicates how decisions can be reached when constraints of different personalities, time frames, economics, and organization politics and culture inhibit consensus Augments technical training by building awareness of the criticality of people skills in effective leadership Leadership by Engineers and Scientists is an excellent text for technically trained individuals who are considering, anticipating, or have recently been promoted to formal leadership positions in industry or academia.




Developing Managerial Skills in Engineers and Scientists


Book Description

If you’re an engineer or scientist who has suddenly been thrust into the world of management, you may find yourself thinking that managing people is more of a challenge than your former highly technical job. Veteran management consultant Michael K. Badawy couldn’t agree more. He says, "The primary problems of engineering and R&D management are not technical—they are human." Badawy offers real help for the human side of technical management in his classic Developing Managerial Skills in Engineers and Scientists. Since 1982, thousands of technical executives, supervisors, managers, and students have turned to this classic for hands-on management techniques. This thoroughly revised second edition hones in on issues facing today’s technical manager: Total Quality Management Technological entrepreneurship Cross-functional teams Success requirement for project management Interdepartmental interfacing Educating technologists in managing technology As a 21st century technical manager, you hold the reins to a corporation’s most powerful resource—technology, the key to profitability and growth in an increasingly technological era. Using the tools in this practical management reference, you can become the kind of manager whom corporations will be battling for: an excellent manager who understands people, administrations, and technology. You’ll learn how to organize, coordinate, and allocate resources while setting goals and troubleshooting. Instructive case studies of both successful and struggling technical managers clearly illustrate management do’s and don’ts. You’ll also find immediately applicable techniques and tips for managerial success. Badawy focuses on the technical manager in action with concrete approaches that always address the specific needs of the manager. Among the topics covered are preventing managerial failure; practical mechanisms that strengthen technologists’ management skills; issues in career planning and development, decision making and evaluation of engineering and R&D efforts; and strategic thinking and planning skills. Badawy’s down-to-earth language and practical examples bridge the gap between theory and practice, making it a snap for both the novice and the initiated to translate theory into everyday solutions. Plus, you’ll find career guidance as well as up-to-the-minute coverage of current managerial training programs. A bounty of tables, charts, and diagrams further enhance Developing Managerial Skills in Engineers and Scientists, making this volume indispensable to all those technical professionals interested in becoming 21st century managers.




Enhancing Future Skills and Entrepreneurship


Book Description

This open access book presents the proceedings of the 3rd Indo-German Conference on Sustainability in Engineering held at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India, on September 16–17, 2019. Intended to foster the synergies between research and education, the conference is one of the joint activities of the BITS Pilani and TU Braunschweig conducted under the auspices of Indo-German Center for Sustainable Manufacturing, established in 2009. The book is divided into three sections: engineering, education and entrepreneurship, covering a range of topics, such as renewable energy forecasting, design & simulation, Industry 4.0, and soft & intelligent sensors for energy efficiency. It also includes case studies on lean and green manufacturing, and life cycle analysis of ceramic products, as well as papers on teaching/learning methods based on the use of learning factories to improve students’problem-solving and personal skills. Moreover, the book discusses high-tech ideas to help the large number of unemployed engineering graduates looking for jobs become tech entrepreneurs. Given its broad scope, it will appeal to academics and industry professionals alike.