***Editor’s Note: We’re starting new weekly section called “I Became An Engineer” that will run every friday. To share you story email kasey.panetta@advantagemedia.com***

This week’s story comes to us from ECN reader Dan Zeilermeir:

Although not considered an engineer by title, my duties at work and at home fit this mold.

I think a main reason is ‘we’ as engineers ask ‘why’ and sometimes ‘what’.  

From here we do not stop till we have an answer that we consider acceptable.  Whatever is not good enough.

Why did this fail?

Why cannot I just move it there?

This should work…what is going on here?

Why is this part here?

What would make this faster, stronger, more robust?

What alloy would lighten this apparatus to meet weight restrictions?

What components can be substituted for cost reduction?

What components can be purchased as assemblies to save inventory costs?

Why do these screws constantly seem to come loose?

For myself as well, I think of what frustrates me.

Why can’t I find a restaurant open at 6:00 AM other than McDonalds?

Why is it so hard to find replacement parts; why the cost?

Why do I need to put this in the landfill, cannot someone repurpose it? (Craigslist)

Most engineers (real engineers, especially old farmers) used ingenuity to fix things.  They could not go buy new parts. 

There was the downtime and cost.  Neither one is really feasible if you were a farmer.

They figured out a way to get it done.

I think the differentiation should be made between engineers and inventors.

Engineers have this in their blood and inventors may or may not, but most are brilliant in different ways.

My MBA at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul and BA at Bethel University have shown that we are all so very capable of great things.

Read the other stories, here:
A Note From The Editor: An Engineer’s Story
I Became An Engineer: Because Of A Lunch Box
I Became An Engineer: Because of Christmas Lights
I Became An Engineer: Because Of The Cool Jackets
I Became An Engineer: Because My Dad Said Not To
I Became An Engineer: Despite Being Bad At Math
I Became An Engineer: Because of Uncle Chet