Dear Robert, as an engineer with more than 53 years practice, in my opinion the definitory virtues of an engineer are; a) Problem solving mentality and ability (real life problems); b) Dedication to technological progress in his field c)Work discipline in sys-thinking (systematic and system based) d) Creative teamwork
I would be pleased if you read: http://egooutpeters.blogspot.ro/2011/08/technology-mon-amour.html As a a positive example, please consider the Defkalion team. And also essential for engineering, management and business is FASTNESS. Peter On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 10:03 AM, Robert Lynn < [email protected]> wrote: > Strange, in my observation 3 things define the best engineers I know (of > few hundred I have met): > 1 Excellent/encyclopedic memory - at least for engineering stuff, may not > be able to remember their friends names or where they put their keys. > 2 Good at mental calculation (assess what-ifs quickly). > 3 Powerful work ethic. > > Raw smarts help too. > > > On 23 May 2013 23:05, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Craig <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >>> . . . it doesn't surprise me >>> >>> that someone with a poor memory can also be an excellent engineer. The >>> two traits go together. With me, for instance, it's because I have a >>> hard time remembering, that I have become an excellent problem solver. >>> When I look at code that I've written, just a few months earlier; it's >>> like looking at new code which I've never seen before. I then have to >>> reconstruct the solutions to the problems -- again -- from scratch. >>> >> >> That is an interesting observation. I have the same kind of mind. I too >> see programs afresh the next day. >> >> That is helpful for jobs that require you to do the same thing over and >> over, year after year, such as teaching 5th grade. I imagine you would be >> bored to tears doing that if you could not find the same old historylesson >> interesting the 10th time around. >> >> I suppose Yul Brynner must have had this quality since he was able to >> perform "The King And I" on stage 4,625 (!) times. I guess that is a good >> thing. >> >> I think that the ability to forget is essential to many formsof >> creativity. There are people who do not forget things. They have prodigious >> memories and they can remember details from years or decades ago. If this >> ability gave us an evolutionary advantage everyone would have it. Since >> most of us tend to forget things I assume that promotes survival in natural >> circumstances. >> >> - Jed >> >> > -- Dr. Peter Gluck Cluj, Romania http://egooutpeters.blogspot.com
