you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 37 points 6 months ago (18 children)

There needs to be a required summer semester of engineering school called "being a mechanic."

Okay college boy, put on a shirt with your name embroidered on it and come out here into the shop. Yeah it's 110 degrees in the shade, you've got your buddy Tom Midgly Jr. to thank for that. Now take this wrench and take that bolt out. Oh it doesn't come out because the oil pan is in the way? I wonder whose fault that is. No, we're not gonna let it cool before dropping the oil pan, the customer is in the lobby. Yeah. It is 240 degrees. No, it doesn't all drain out through the plug, there's a half quart that doesn't come out. Yes, you're getting that on you. Don't get any of it on the interior of the car when you back it out. Now take off the oil filter. Yes, you're gonna burn the back of your hand on the exhaust manifold. You're taking every Toyota oil filter off this summer. You're gonna hold the burn mark on the back of your hand up like Tyler Durden.

Oh you're going to be an aeronautical engineer. c'mere boy, we're gonna take the wings off a 152 Aerobat, you get to pick the spar bolts out of the catalog, we'll safety wire the control cable turnbuckles through those little inspection ports you types are so stingy with, and then we'll take the bird you just reassembled up for a couple two or three hours of spin training to see if ya done it right. You ever do a snap roll? I'll teach you more about the aerodynamics of maneuvering flight in 1.5 seconds than your physics professor did in a semester. Eat bananas for breakfast, they taste the same coming up as they do going down. And buddy they're coming back up. Because of the special jug bolt wrench I had to buy, I'm gonna pull at least one breakfast back out of your face using nothing but stick and rudder.

  • source
  • hideshow 18 child comments
  • [–] 9 points 6 months ago (9 children)

    Good lesson plan. Then make them take some art and design courses.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 9 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago (8 children)

    "can you make this green a little bit more like the feeling of biting a butterfly? and also rewrite the copy to make it more crunchy. You have 1 hour, yes I know it's 3am"

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • [–] 0 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    Tell me you've never taken an art course without telling me you've never taken an art course by being a condescending prick

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago* (6 children)

    you've never been in a situation like that? I have as a clown, a musician, a performance artist, a graphic designer and a marketer.

    And I worked in art criticism for a national newspaper for which I won a journalism award lol

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (5 children)

    No, I've only ever heard things like that in a comedy sketch making fun of art. I guess I went to a better art school than you. Was your award given by journalists or artists?

    • none of those things you said were criticisms, they were all commands. That would never get said at an art school because they couldn't give 2 shits what you hand in because it's all about how you defend your bullshit art in a critique.
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    So, explain why you think this is anything other than a waste of time for engineering students?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago*

    Engineers tend to get trapped between their calipers. They need to look holistically at the entire package. They need to play with things and think about their meaning and purpose. They need to analyze their decisions in the context of the human experience. They need to be free to experiment without technical restraints so they can push against the boundaries of what's "possible". Art is fast and fun. Design is smotth and calculated.

    This guy is the perfect example. He gets this "great idea", mills up a giant block of aluminum, spends 10 days faffing around, then throws it in the bin and starts over. Dude needs to sketch some shit and play with cardboard and clay and get his thoughts together before running to spin up his favorite tool.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    perhaps your subjective experience is not the same as mine, and similarly, what I've experienced is not as universal as I hoped and my joking little comment about what it's like to get unusual feedback doesn't land with you - or anyone perhaps on this forum

    and thats OK. My apologies if it didn't resonate, but also I don't think either of us will get any more out of bickering.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 0 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Perhaps I can back too harsh, but I hear that response anytime I bring up art in front of engineers. It isn't funny, is mainly lies and is meant to denegrate the whole occupation of art. If you're an artist hold the standard higher please.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    As someone who did go to engineering school, I did not read funkless_eck's comment as denigrating artists, in any way. I read it as denigrating the unrealistic requests made by art-illiterate clients.

    Both their and Captain Aggrevated's comments where about the unrealistic stresses put on their professions by the subject-illiterate colleagues/clients. They're highlighting the pain, which is cathartic but not how a real class would work; however, I didn't assume they're in here seriously proposing new pedagogy. This is the internet.

    Humanities and Shop classes that teach the basics of other professions show that even the basics are more complex than an outsider would assume. So, yeah, engineers should round out their curriculum so they don't become jag-offs that expect unrealistic expectations.

    I don't know what class you missed though, because you took a joke aimed at those dismissing your profession and chose to internalize it instead. Talk about playing to type; the self-obssessed artiste. If you’re an artist, hold the standard higher, please.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 13 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    While I agree with what you say, the mechanics should also be involved in solving the problem of making all those easily accessible withing the constrains of the projects. It would give insight both ways

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 15 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    White collar engineers? Paying attention to blue collar techs? That's the plot of the next Andy Weir novel, isn't it? A hilariously naive notion of people working together to solve problems? Sounds like his work.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago

    Boeing actually did this when they designed the 777. They were the first manufacturer to hire a Chief Mechanic to participate in the design process. His name is Jack Hessburg.

    In his role as chief mechanic at Boeing, Hessburg led a group of more than 100 mechanics in designing features into the 777 that have made it one of the most mechanic-friendly airplanes in the world.

    https://boeing.mediaroom.com/1999-04-27-Boeing-Chief-Mechanic-Earns-Lifetime-Achievement-Award

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    You forgot to make them crawl into the wing wearing breathing ppe on a hot day to seal an integral fuel tank.

    On a side note, I just changed the oil and filter on a Toyota yesterday. The only pain in the ass about it is that the damn mechanics completely ignored the torque requirement and overtightened the cartridge housing. I had to use an impact to remove something only supposed to be torqued to 18 ft lb. Otherwise everything is easy to access.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    I studied electrical engineering, I had to do a mandatory internship of 10 weeks. Pretty sure the mechanical engineers had to do one too, but I suppose this varies a lot across countries.

  • source
  • parent