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




Practical Career Advice for Engineers


Book Description

Written by an experienced engineer, Practical Career Advice for Engineers: Personal Letters from an Experienced Engineer to Students and New Engineers is a series of personal conversation-style letters that offers practical career advice to all engineers. It guides them through their entire career from early education, to professional certification, on into the workplace, and eventually to retirement. Important topics such as how to acquire leadership skills, improve communication skills, and develop the business side of engineering, as well as how to find a good engineering job, are also addressed. The book guides engineers on how to make good career decisions, using precise and systematic processes. It offers inspiration and insight to student engineers and working engineers on how to have successful and satisfying educations and careers. It can also help experienced engineers to more effectively guide and mentor new engineers. It explores the important topics of creativity, ethics, intellectual property, and scientific principles in engineering and at the same time weaves real-world stories, concepts, diagrams, and tips throughout the book in the form of personal letters perfect for quick and easy comprehension. The book targets all engineers working in all disciplines, all industry sectors, and all locations. Engineering students can also learn more about a career in engineering and what they need to do to prepare for it by reading this book. Radovan Zdero, PhD, CEng, MIMechE, has decades of experience as an engineer and a mentor to engineers. His engineering background includes a master’s degree in aerodynamics (McMaster University, Canada) and a doctoral degree in biomechanics (Queen’s University, Canada). He is a Chartered Engineer, a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and a Professor in the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (Western University, Canada). He has published many scholarly research articles in peer-reviewed engineering, science, and medical journals. He is also the editor of the engineering textbook Experimental Methods in Orthopaedic Biomechanics. Contact the author: [email protected]




Understanding the Educational and Career Pathways of Engineers


Book Description

Engineering skills and knowledge are foundational to technological innovation and development that drive long-term economic growth and help solve societal challenges. Therefore, to ensure national competitiveness and quality of life it is important to understand and to continuously adapt and improve the educational and career pathways of engineers in the United States. To gather this understanding it is necessary to study the people with the engineering skills and knowledge as well as the evolving system of institutions, policies, markets, people, and other resources that together prepare, deploy, and replenish the nation's engineering workforce. This report explores the characteristics and career choices of engineering graduates, particularly those with a BS or MS degree, who constitute the vast majority of degreed engineers, as well as the characteristics of those with non-engineering degrees who are employed as engineers in the United States. It provides insight into their educational and career pathways and related decision making, the forces that influence their decisions, and the implications for major elements of engineering education-to-workforce pathways.




Essential Math Skills for Engineers


Book Description

Just the math skills you need to excel in the study or practice of engineering Good math skills are indispensable for all engineers regardless of their specialty, yet only a relatively small portion of the math that engineering students study in college mathematics courses is used on a frequent basis in the study or practice of engineering. That's why Essential Math Skills for Engineers focuses on only these few critically essential math skills that students need in order to advance in their engineering studies and excel in engineering practice. Essential Math Skills for Engineers features concise, easy-to-follow explanations that quickly bring readers up to speed on all the essential core math skills used in the daily study and practice of engineering. These fundamental and essential skills are logically grouped into categories that make them easy to learn while also promoting their long-term retention. Among the key areas covered are: Algebra, geometry, trigonometry, complex arithmetic, and differential and integral calculus Simultaneous, linear, algebraic equations Linear, constant-coefficient, ordinary differential equations Linear, constant-coefficient, difference equations Linear, constant-coefficient, partial differential equations Fourier series and Fourier transform Laplace transform Mathematics of vectors With the thorough understanding of essential math skills gained from this text, readers will have mastered a key component of the knowledge needed to become successful students of engineering. In addition, this text is highly recommended for practicing engineers who want to refresh their math skills in order to tackle problems in engineering with confidence.




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




The Engineer's Career Guide


Book Description

This is the most complete career resource guide book for engineers dealing with the non-technical side of engineering. It provides career advice for engineers at all stages of their careers, whether newly graduated, mid-career, or soon-to-be-retired. This book provides many real world, practical, proven, common sense career tips supported by actual work and experiences/examples. Tips deal with problems the engineer may encounter with supervisors, co-workers and others in the corporation. The book provides step-by-step guidance on how to deal with career problems and come out ahead.




Staff Engineer


Book Description

At most technology companies, you'll reach Senior Software Engineer, the career level for software engineers, in five to eight years. At that career level, you'll no longer be required to work towards the next pro? motion, and being promoted beyond it is exceptional rather than ex? pected. At that point your career path will branch, and you have to decide between remaining at your current level, continuing down the path of technical excellence to become a Staff Engineer, or switching into engineering management. Of course, the specific titles vary by company, and you can replace "Senior Engineer" and "Staff Engineer" with whatever titles your company prefers.Over the past few years we've seen a flurry of books unlocking the en? gineering management career path, like Camille Fournier's The Man? ager's Path, Julie Zhuo's The Making of a Manager, Lara Hogan's Re? silient Management and my own, An Elegant Puzzle. The manage? ment career isn't an easy one, but increasingly there are maps avail? able for navigating it.On the other hand, the transition into Staff Engineer, and its further evolutions like Principal and Distinguished Engineer, remains chal? lenging and undocumented. What are the skills you need to develop to reach Staff Engineer? Are technical abilities alone sufficient to reach and succeed in that role? How do most folks reach this role? What is your manager's role in helping you along the way? Will you enjoy being a Staff Engineer or you will toil for years to achieve a role that doesn't suit you?"Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track" is a pragmatic look at attaining and operate in these Staff-plus roles.




Inventive Engineering


Book Description

Inventive Engineering is an emerging engineering science focused on the conceptual designing processes whereby creative, or inventive, designs are developed. Its core concepts are too often unknown and even surprising, but they are also feasible and can be learned, leading to potentially patentable designs. Inventive engineers have a tremendou




The Engineer of 2020


Book Description

To enhance the nation's economic productivity and improve the quality of life worldwide, engineering education in the United States must anticipate and adapt to the dramatic changes of engineering practice. The Engineer of 2020 urges the engineering profession to recognize what engineers can build for the future through a wide range of leadership roles in industry, government, and academia-not just through technical jobs. Engineering schools should attract the best and brightest students and be open to new teaching and training approaches. With the appropriate education and training, the engineer of the future will be called upon to become a leader not only in business but also in nonprofit and government sectors. The book finds that the next several decades will offer more opportunities for engineers, with exciting possibilities expected from nanotechnology, information technology, and bioengineering. Other engineering applications, such as transgenic food, technologies that affect personal privacy, and nuclear technologies, raise complex social and ethical challenges. Future engineers must be prepared to help the public consider and resolve these dilemmas along with challenges that will arise from new global competition, requiring thoughtful and concerted action if engineering in the United States is to retain its vibrancy and strength.




Mentoring Scientists and Engineers


Book Description

Mentoring is very much more than simple one-to-one informal instruction, or what used to be called ‘coaching’. Modern mentoring techniques are modelled on those of executive coaching as well as expert academic tutoring. Mentoring is simple but not necessarily easy. An estimated 40% of all mentoring schemes fail through lack of mentor training and understanding. No great effort is required to study the literature but, for mentoring to be effective, adherence to basic principles and exercising specific skills is absolutely necessary. The book provides an introduction to what we mean by mentoring and its basic skills – skilful questioning, active listening, building trust, self-management and giving advice and feedback. It further covers mentoring principles, how to conduct mentoring sessions and a wide range of practical applications. The final chapter gives the outlines and principles for creating a basic mentoring scheme within an organisational context. This book is written for those practitioners in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the STEM fields, who have been pitched into the role of mentor without any prior training. Its objective is to alleviate anxiety, frustration and stress caused by not knowing exactly what is expected. In offering an introduction to mentoring it gives practical guidance as a quick and easy read.