Cybersam's Blog - The Decline of Engineering in America...

Monday, September 26, 2005

The Decline of Engineering in America...

At least according to Ray Stata, the founder of Analog Devices, in a recent interview with EE Times (registration required):

EETimes: Let's talk about the state of the engineer in North America. 

Stata: For whatever reason, engineering as a profession has never garnered the kind of prestige [here] that it has in other parts of the world. There's a certain breed of people who get interested in math and science, but are there enough of them? Clearly, there aren't. In Massachusetts, had it not been for the in-migration of engineers from other parts of the world, the engineering population would have declined.

I don't think anybody has got it figured out. I went to my 25th reunion [at MIT], and they had a questionnaire: "Would you send your kids to MIT?" The answers predominantly came back "No." The [respondents would] say, pardon my English, "I worked my ass off when I was there. Why would I want my kids to go through that, when at the end of the day it was the lawyers and the Wall Street guys who made all the money?"

When you're studying it, you work twice as hard as anyone in any other classes, and when you get out you work day and night and you don't make that much money. So you have to do it for love, not for money.

The one place where we haven't lost it is the whole notion of entrepreneurship, creating companies and things that are new. There's a lot of excitement there.

9/26/2005 1:14:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) Comments [6] Business

9/27/2005 6:42:33 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Yep, if one just wants to make a lot of money,
studying in MIT may not be the best choise.
The probability of getting _rich_ is maybe
higher in Harvard.

But being rich, or earning lots of money, is just
a small part (if even that) of being happy, of
leading good life. Many people pursue the American
dream, work their asses of, spend so much on houses,
cars, etc, and end up not living their lives. I mean,
working 60+ hours per week, having at most 2 weeks
holiday per year, managing the boss with brown
tongue, is that a happy way to live? What is the
use of having a lot of money if one does not have
any time for enjoying one's life outside office?

Yes, I am a bit not-normal in this respect.
I would not mind getting a lot of money, not
even being rich, but somehow there are only
so many years left in my life, and I want to
live them to the fullest.

Let's see. If any of us becomes really rich,
I would appreciate a nice dinner (or even
a grant for my studies...).

Matti |maneAT NOSPAMiki dot fi

9/27/2005 8:29:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Oh,

Mr. Stata is right. There are way too few engineering students in MIT (and I assume in other schools). Now that there are going to be jobs also outside USA, educating too many aliens may turn out to be a problem: they may leave, especially if they do not feel comfortable here due to common t-paranoia.

At some point, just selling houses and managing court cases is not productive enough,,,

Matti |maneAT NOSPAMiki dot fi

9/28/2005 12:52:29 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Here's an interesting article on the decline of engineering, written from a different perspective.

http://www.techcentralstation.com/092105B.html

Cybersam

9/28/2005 7:36:17 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

It's not just engineering schools that are suffering the decline in student admission, the entire university system in U.S. is suffering. In the past years, tuition and fees in the U.S. have increased at a rate that's above the inflation rate. This decline is due in part of dwindling government funding on schools, which further contribute to the decline of education.

Meanwhile, other countries like Singapore are propping their education systems to compete with other countries.

Cybersam

10/8/2005 9:49:35 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

I think the problem extends even further. Many of those that have already made an investment in engineering-related training (like computer science grads) are leaving the industry. Much of this is driven by the offshore trend and seeming lack of "value" in being an exceptionally strong engineer.

Though I will agree with prior commentors that money is not everything -- its presence in sufficient quantity does provide options and freedoms that are meaningful.

Dharmesh Shah |dharmeshAT NOSPAMdharmesh dot com

12/15/2006 5:37:02 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

The american corporate culture is toxic. I work in the auto industry, and my job security is equal to that of a part time general laborer. I have beem laid-off twice in the passed 2 years. In both cases, it had absolutely nothing to do with performance, infact, the we applied for a patent on a product I developed. Its a numbers game, engineers are not viewed as valueable individuals that will move the company forward. The damn idoit bean counters have taken over. This is shame, as NAFTA has given up on creating a competitive product that will compete globally. If USA spend would as much money and time in developing a competitive auto industry, instead of torturing and killing arabs 1/2 way across the globe, things would be MUCH DIFFERENT TODAY. Instead, we are witnessing the "death throws" of the american auto industry and manufacturing in general. Prepare to drive Toyotas to Wal-Mart for a long long time, if you even has money to spend!

Disgruntled Engineer |ma73aug20AT NOSPAMyahoo dot com