Day 1 update by Eric, a member of the Symposium event
(media.greatawakening.win)
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The fun part about engineering is the practical, physical side of it. We aren't just making physicis equations for theoretical purposes, we actually have to take everything into account, including machine tolerances and things like that.
For example, if you have an engine designed with certain tolerances for every part, if every part is made to the maximum tolerance, then the engine won't work because when you assemble it, it will be over tolerance! So when you examine each part, a novice would think everything is good, but you actually have to mate a max tolerance part with minimum tolerance parts to make it equate 0 difference total.
Jet engines aren't even like car engines where you just tune air and fuel mixtures with throttle %. A jet engine is that plus variable guide vanes inside the engine. Think of expanding and contracting the inside of the engine while it's running to change the amount of compression you get! It's very cool so we have fun. Plus it's electrical, mechanical, and software all at once.
Exactly my point.
The confluence of all that (particularly on the software side) plus business, financial, and political considerations is where my job lies. I rarely push back on the engineers from a design perspective...but I do usually get to ask "what do you need to build it, how many people do you need, for how long, and how are we paying for it?"
Oh yeah... I get asked that all the time. Sometimes you'll get the business side asking, "but do you need THAT one? I mean, isn't there like a cheaper alternative?" No, because this one is accurate to 5 micrometers. The alternatives are accurate to 5 hundredths... we spend some big bucks on engine development and testing lol. Love you business guys though. Finding us money when "we don't have any" is nice and you guys keep us honest.
Personal opinion -- it is exceptionally fair to ask you the "do you need THAT one" question. However as long as you can justify, we need to be supportive. It's a bit of the old "trust but verify" mentality. However we also need to understand the answer you are giving, and know when you are BSing us or not. It's why in my role I can't just be a business person, I absolutely have to have a background in the tech side and know when to lean in versus when to let you guys just do your jobs.
Having said that, in my experience engineers almost never throw BS. Facts and precision are baked into your DNA. Software developers on the other hand...