So, as I got into the Engineering and Manufacturing industry I had no idea really what to expect. All I knew is that I wanted to design new things and be creative with all of my ideas. Since the beginning of the year I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience that has helped me to become a better Engineer and get a good grasp of how the Manufacturing process takes place. Since then I’ve been working with Solidworks 2007, helping my company refine the ways they produce models and drawings. I’ve been in charge of re-designing all of the drawing templates and a lot of the standard parts that we use on a regular basis as well as a number of assemblies that have specific configurations based off equations provided by some of our customers. We will be switching to Solidworks 2009 within the next couple months so I look forward to that.  It’s just been great to be able to implement a lot of these changes; they have really sped up the process by which we complete projects.
           With the economy in its current state people are being laid off left and right so it’s not very reassuring no matter what field you are in. I’m no stock market analyst or economic expert but the engineering industry seems to still be prosperous so for that I am grateful. I am hoping the New Year will bring fourth positive change and that the design field will grow even further! More to come in the near future! 😀
Joe,
I am going to share this post with my students! I also see that even though there are many layoffs in the works my students still have quite a bit of opportunity.
Not to mention that if there is going to be a huge infrastructure rebuild, (not political, i just will believe it when i see it) then the opportunities should begin to sky rocket in the next year or two.
Hopefully, many engineering firms are willing to brave the waters and redirect their engineering energies into R&D to come up with the latest and greatest innovations so when the economy does stablize they are not playing catch up but leading us into the next era!. Engineering Santa, I would really like to transport into work instead of hanging out in traffic:-)
If you do not mind me asking, how long in the industry? What are you working on?
Chris
Hey Chris,
I’ve been in the industry for over a year now. I got my first job in my 3rd semester at NTI and I ended up quitting to take a better opportunity in the elevator industry after graduation in February. I do a lot of design work and have a large amount of creative freedom in way I Engineer parts and assemblies. We manufacture everything in house so its been great seeing the final product leave the building, it really makes you take pride in your work when you can see your completed design at the end of the process.
Oh and tell Lee and Mr. Leroy I say HI! lol!
Joe