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I'm in controls engineering and it could be fun if you get the right customer. Most of the time time everyone wants "open that valve when the tank hits 3/4" and nothing more complex. Others want the sun and the moon but drive you insane either watching over your shoulder or using their subtle powers of scope creep. Day to day typical - work 3 or so hours on naming valves and sensors properly, get caught up in some technical round-table for an hour. It doesn't really matter what. It could be proper naming convention or the fine points of getting Hr:Min:Sec to display properly on the graphics. It's always something esoteric and it always takes around an hour. Lunch wooo, Come back from outside and no longer want to stare at a computer. Do meaningful and rewarding IF/THEN/ELSE pyramids for a couple hours before inevitably something breaks at 3:30 and you become process IT support. Remind yourself that this is better than actual IT because you can play dumb and be all "I only know engineering, The only thing I know about domains is that Thar be Dragons". Go home, Rinse and Repeat. My kingdom for a CASE statement.
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May 15, 2016 01:59
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Sounds like you want to actually do engineering. Why not find some sort of startup, nonprofit, or small business? If you're mobile enough to do the long hours or live in weird places, then you'll get the authority that you obviously want. Because sounds like you're just getting to terms with being a cog in the machine at a bigger company. You can't do anything other than "just" engineering and remain an engineer. If you step foot in PM land, you will be stuck teaching people how to hook up to the printer and negotiating with clients over lunch. Same for management, except with the bonus of having to fire people. or worse. Interview people.
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Sep 28, 2016 22:00
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ch3cooh posted:Any of y'all work in process automation and PI controller tuning? I'm trying to optimize the use of automatic driller and trying to understand why it won't work the way I want it to. Are you working only with gain? P-only/bang-bang? because you started with saying PI control, and everything you said sounds like the reset/integral isn't tuned properly. Also, your torque gain is pretty high at 1. Did you try a lower torque gain? As cop-out of an answer it is, you might want to talk to the vendor and get someone out to tune it for you.
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Jan 22, 2017 23:37
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formatting PDFs and installing printer drivers 101
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Jan 24, 2017 15:53
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Shipon posted:"Refuse to use it right because they don't like it"? Isn't this something you could, you know, fire someone for? It's not really refusal, just wilful ignorance on the part of the operator. If it is difficult then they "forget" to use it properly, and you end up getting calls at 2am because "I know the display says I should abort but I don't want to recreate the recipe". Short of ruining equipment because of it, I haven't seen an operator fired for wilful ignorance.
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Jun 25, 2018 22:06
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In my experience, the HR wheels of hiring at plants are slow to turn, and my office that works for said plants are hesitant to hire full time people, despite the need. Sales is probably the part of the economy that is booming.
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Jul 16, 2018 20:01
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I don't feel like either side being discussed is wrong. Automation often is implemented by big city engineering firms who swoop in for a project, but the day-to-day engineering and optimization is performed by locals. Both are equally important IMO, and I have observed tensions between the two groups, but nothing bad natured outside of specific individuals. It's not wrong to seek employment in a city in search of things like convenient specialty doctors and private schools. I find I could make way more money out in the country at a plant, but desire varied projects more. I respect and appreciate the engineers that I encounter who live the small town life. Some of the stuff they talk about makes me jealous involving access to nature and knowing and being in community with coworkers. Obviously there are limitations too, but rarely does that come up as a major factor in my conversations.
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Nov 22, 2018 17:31
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Any good ideas for a sideways promotion out of MEP for a PE? I got a friend who is burned out on 60 hr weeks and the endless train of developers asking for crazy things. She's a little over 50 and worried about never being able to get hired somewhere else if she quits.
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May 24, 2021 18:41
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GordonComstock posted:Getting past the ageism/sexism that she'll face, I feel like an MEP is a good candidate for Electrical and Instrumentation and Control for wastewater/drinking water infrastructure applications. We always need those people, and MEP sets you up somewhat for it I feel. This is assuming she wants to stay in engineering but get the hell away from the private sector. That's kind of what I'm reading into the deal. Govt would be good for slowing the pace. Yeah ageism and sexism in hiring sucks but she's already deep into it. The pervasive sexism on construction sites, having to travel with a male coworker to make sure she's got backup when the contractor is called out about shoddy workmanship. It's grinding, from the stories I get. Trapped in a high volume cycle is the primary problem and never getting anything exciting or really do anything other hotel X multiuse Y. And with the market absolutely burning down, the pace has only picked up and it's impossible to get the work done on every project every week. Not a Children posted:Speaking to this, I actually have an open position available if they're well equipped for electrical/instrumentation, particularly in wastewater. Great benefits and I very rarely work over 40. PM me if that's something they could handle. I'll ask, but she's been Mech/HVAC for 95% of the time. I personally think she's probably well versed enough in codes and how projects run that she could adapt, but I'm a MechE who ended up in automation, I feel like adapting is the only skill I have, so I could be projecting. Edit NM she says she did wastewater a bunch 10 years ago. So I was right, but mostly by accident. Vaporware fucked around with this message at 02:49 on May 25, 2021 |
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May 25, 2021 02:40
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I've noticed boomers who were "close to retirement" when I graduated in 2006 are actually retiring now. But yeah people want to spend money on new hardware and are stuck with 6-12 mo lead times, which is really annoying. it's really hard to properly schedule the work timelines.
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Jun 6, 2022 17:18
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sometimes people bring in cake or cookies to the office, that's also an important part of engineering.
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Sep 8, 2022 21:07
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Hotbod Handsomeface posted:... new facility startup. Depends on if you really want to help the company by straightening out that group. Sounds like you know it's uphill so already checked out. If it's worth being a stepping stone and staying there, go tryhard and get out the group as fast as possible after acheiving something. There are plenty of manufacturing facilities that need lead SME types, but you might have to branch out to a different skillset like pharma. Depends on how good you are at flexing to a different product line. 7 years isn't a fossil, and the things you learned apply to basically anywhere with a cleanroom.
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Sep 9, 2022 15:19
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