The Girl, the Internet, and the Pontiac Fiero

[36654]

Which is sad, and should serve as an indictment of the attitudes at those universities.

It's not individual schools, it's the industry .......... they are all very similar.

[gfspencer]

Great story!

[racer7]

Maybe its just me but when I was a grad student at an Ivy League school, my friends in mech and elec engineering were universally motorheads. Seemed a common affliction then...
We used to use the materials lab (machines) and e lab stuff (scopes, etc) as our troubleshooting and fabrication stuff... Aside from the usual ways to get motors to pump more air, we did stuff like desigin / calibrate circuits that adapted existing gauges like tachs to handle signals coming off the (then new) electronic ignition boxes (that produced a signal with harmonics that have to filtered or factored out)

My own son never had any interest in vehicles when young. But he is one tightwad re spending cash for something he can do himself so he has learned to do his own work and then took up track play - once with me as one of his early instructors. Be interesting to see how far this young lady goes with her Fiero - with some chassis mods and the a bit of breathing on the bigger motor she's putting in, they can be quite fun...

[braddog]

Sometimes being a wrench is nothing more than a means to an end. This young lady wanted to build and drive a Fiero. In order to do that, she had to learn to do some wrenching. She may not even particularly like doing the work, but to her, the final product is the prize. Who knows where this could lead her as she grows into adulthood? She may just be one of those that can reach any goal they attempt, or for sure won't be afraid to try.

Some people just like to tackle projects, any projects, themselves. so they can have that feeling of accomplishment. My oldest son is like that. He's not partcularly skilled at being a mechanic, a carpenter, etc., but man, what he lacks in skill he makes up for in ambition. I admire him for this.

Honestly, I don't think tinkering and doing mechanical type of work is necessarily that closely related to one's college education or vocation. I mean, if someone LIKES to tinker, they can turn that into a career, for sure. But I've known some engineering types who are quite bright and creative who wouldn't know how to adjust a crescent wrench. I've also know some that could literally build and/or fix anything. Those are the truly gifted.

[WalterK75]

This thread reminds me of an interesting book some of you may want to read. Shop class as soulcraft : an inquiry into the value of work by Matthew B. Crawford

[pffog]

............ But I've known some engineering types who are quite bright and creative who wouldn't know how to adjust a crescent wrench. I've also know some that could literally build and/or fix anything. Those are the truly gifted.

That is because engineering covers such a wide field, yes if trying to figure out how long you need to fire a booster rocket to aim that probe to hit Jupiter in 6 years, knowing how to adjust a crescent wrench isn't a skill you need, but work in most industry's, mechanical skills are widely used.

I hired several Engineers and Engineering co-ops over the years and one of the most important questions I asked in interviews was do you do your own auto maintenance, or did you fix your own bicycle, or get yelled at for taking apart something as a kid, just to see how it worked.

Surprisingly I had a conversation with a retired Engineering manager from Kodak, and he used the same line of questioning, to weed out applicants.

Curiosity and the desire to understand how thing work is a great motivator.

[jstrube]

I went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Our motto was Learn By Doing. Engineering students had to build things on a regular basis. Comparing recent grads from Cal Berkely to Cal Poly, you can see a huge difference in how they were taught. Poly students have a more physical grasp on what is going on, Berkely grads seem to know the theoretical, but take more time to grasp the physical reality.

[Dcompson]

I just saw the fiero on the CNN website, and have been reading the thread. Nice to see its made its way over here. I remember an old girlfriend had a fiero. I always wanted to find a nice gt.

[txedomoon]

Associate professors become full professors by publishing in journals. Once the associate prof becomes a full prof, they need to maintain a constant stream of grad students and proposals (which fund the grad students). In most cases, that requires low risk research.....computational models in the engineering world.

Undergraduates with high GPA's are recruited for the graduate work and enter system. In many cases, the students on this track and their professors have never been to, or even know the location of, the career placement office at their colleges/universities. Their careers have little to do with the market economy, they are focused on the lucrative education industry.

It's a strange world. But, always "World Class". At each and every school!

Reminds me of a signature file I read while a member of the Minnesota Aquarium Society... complete details elude me today, but it was along the lines of a certain sea anenome and how it floats around the oceans until it settles on a coral reef. While it it establishing itself on the reef, the anenomoe is unable to hunt for food so it begins to eat its brain as it settles into its new home -- very much like tenure.

[lkchris]

This thread reminds me of an interesting book some of you may want to read. Shop class as soulcraft : an inquiry into the value of work by Matthew B. Crawford

Similar to "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?"