Engineering: A Career of Problem-Solving

1. Welcome to ENGR1, part 2 http://www.mpcfaculty.net/tom_rebold Tom Rebold, MSEE trebold@mpc.edu

2. AGENDA • What is Engineering? • An actual career • Mars EDL Video • Mars Rover Competition

3. What is Engineering? • Two Types of Definitions • Career Based • Functional • Career Description • Engineering is a CAREER and a PROFESSION • Requires Special Education, Training, and Experience For a Working Lifetime of Practice • Not Quite Analogous to Physicians & Attorneys • License NOT required to Practice in Most Cases

4. What is Engineering?Cont.1 • Best “Professional” Analogy → Certified Public Accountant (CPA) • Licenses Granted by States • Must Meet Strict Educational, Practice, and Testing Criteria to Earn the Professional Engineer (P.E.) Title • Currently 2x106 Engineers in the USA • About 18% Hold Professional Licenses • http://www.dca.ca.gov/pels/sunset/98sunset.pdf 01/22/99

5. P.E. Exclusives • Some Engineering Functions can NOT be done by UnLicensed Engineers • MOST Civil Engineering Designs MUST be “Signed Off” or “Stamped” by a Registered, Professional Engineer

6. What is Engineering?Cont.2 • Functional Description: • Short Answer = Technical Problem Solving • The Output of ALL Engineering is • The Solution to a Practical Problem • Fulfillment of a Practical Need • Long Answer = Practical-Problem Solving Through the Application of the Quantitative (Number-Based) Disciplines • Mathematics • Sciences; e.g., Physics, Chemistry, Biology • Empiricism (Experiments and Tests)

7. An Actual Career • MIT 1987, BS & MS in EECS • ’83-’87 Research Assistant, Lincoln Labs • ’87 JPL Deep Space Network, System Engr • ’93 Radio Science Data Analyst • ’97 CommTech, McMurdo, Antarctica • ’98 Satellite Telecom Engineer • ’00 MPC CSIS and Engineering Instructor

8. “My other car is on Mars” Driving a robot on another planet (and other detours in Engineering) Tom Rebold, Monterey Peninsula College

9. How do you get a cool job? • It starts at your age • What are your dreams? • Who are your role models? • The mind makes real what it dwells on most • Me:

10. MIT: A drink from the firehose

11. My First Job: The Deep Space Network

12. May ‘97: Yucatan

13. June/July 1997: The Pathfinder Landing Donna Shirley Rover Manager • Pathfinder 360 Fish Eye

14. Pathfinder Entry Signal Reception

15. September ‘97: Off to Antarctica

16. A personal view: • The inner world is where your talents are buried • The outer world has a claim on your time, distracts you from them • Your mission: satisfy the outer while developing the inner • Engineering is a great field for these forces to play out

17. Engineering vs. Science • Engineering is Closely Related to Science & Math, but it is NOT the SAME Scientists seek to UNDERSTAND WHAT IS, while Engineers seek to CREATE THAT WHICH NEVER WAS- Theodore von Kármán, CalTech Professor, and the Father of Modern AeroSpace Engineering

18. What is COOL about Engineering? • Solving Challenging Problems • Opportunity to DESIGN, BUILD, and TEST Products that People ReallyUse • Engineering is a CREATIVE endeavor • The Root of the Word “Engineer” is Ingenium; Not Engine • Chance to Learn New Things • Engineering is about Progress; an Engineer’s Knowledge & Skills progress as well

19. What is COOL about Engineering?Cont.1 • Working with People • That’s Right; Not all Engineers are “Nerds” • Complex Technology Must Be Made Useful to the Non-Technical Person • Engineers, aside from applied Math/Sci, manage Projects and Organizations • Technical Projects can require the Input of Many People. Project Engineers Manage Activities to • Ensure the Project Meets Technical Requirements • Stay on the Time-Schedule • Stay within the $-Cost-Budget

20. What is COOL about Engineering? • Publishing Technical Papers • Thousands of Engineering/Technical Journals Publish Results of Engineer’s Analyses, Designs, Experiments

21. What is COOL about Engineering?Cont.2 • Earning Patents • Earning A Patent Requires the Advancement of a Practical Art; This is what Engineers do USA Constitution, Article 1, Section 8 (Powers Granted to Congress): Clause 8: To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries

22. What is COOL about Engineering?Cont.2 • Engage in Professional Activities • Attend/Present-At Technical Conferences • Attend Trade-Shows • Society Membership (ASCE, IEEE, ASME) • See the World – Engineers often Travel • Special Knowledge/Skills Can often ONLY be Transmitted In-Person • Promote/Explain Product to Customers • Install Product, Train Users • -Site Product-Testing

23. The Bottom Line • There are VERY FEW Academic Disciplines Where One Can Move Into PRIVATE INDUSTRY with A Bachelor of Science (4yr) Degree • TWO Primary Categories • Engineering • Business • Difficult for Most Liberal Arts Disciplines • Somewhat Easier for the Sciences

26. Satisfaction Factors Challenging work assignments Work environment and colleagues Constantly changing technology Good compensation Good job security DISsatifaction Factors Too much nonengineering work Lack of support from management Uncertainty in job market Poor compensation No potential for advancement Job (dis)Satisfaction • 2004 National Survey of Mechanical Design Engrs

27. Engineering is Fun (Really...☺) • An overwhelming majority of survey takers, 91%, feel that engineering is FUN. Their reasons include the chance to tackle challenging problems and something different every day. • "I like solving problems, being the hero." • "I get paid to break things." • "So many challenges! New stuff to play with around every corner." • "I love proving others wrong." • "I'm like a kid in a candy shop.“ • “Engineering Rocks”

28. Robots at Monterey Peninsula College MAST 296.6 ROV Competition

29. ENGR 50 Robotics 1 Unit Class Starts Friday! 345-6PM for 12 weeks

30. A Simulated Mars Rover

31. Mars Sequencing Team (You) • Develop a sequence to take Rover to visit a rock (or three) • Five tries (1 per “Sol”) • Your Command Sequence is made of Letters: FFrBbRFfLlFLFQ

32. SequenceKey: • f = 2 inches forward • b = 2 inches backward • l = 20 – 30 degrees left • r = 20 – 30 degress right • F = 10 – 12 inches forward • B = 10 – 12 inches backward • L = 80 – 100 degrees left • R = 80 – 100 degrees right • All measurements are approximate!

33. Happy Driving!