steve.mackay's blog

Dear Colleagues

I believe we have all had what we considered an excellent resume (cv) rejected at some time or other in our career. While I am not suggesting that you need to leave your current good job; it is good to keep in mind what is required and perhaps, in these uncertain times, to help a buddy who may need some support in writing his or her resume. This skill is vital whether you are an electrician or a chief engineer.

Dear Colleagues

As you well know – many engineering companies talk about their incredibly innovative products and services; but these are often anything but innovative. Many companies avoid innovation until they are condemned to the scrap heap. And by this time it is too late.

Innovation is one of the key building blocks of a successful company. And perhaps one of the most uncertain and difficult.

Dear Esteemed Colleagues

Perhaps you are not running a small (or large) business selling products and services; but you are undoubtedly offering some range of services or skills in terms of your job (e.g. electrical or mechanical engineer or technician working in a mine or in a power plant).

Dear Colleagues

No matter what your engineering discipline - you would have learnt about Ohm’s Law at some time or other (even at school). Herewith a simple application question which tests your conceptual knowledge.

Ohm’s Law
As we all (should) know, Ohm’s Law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference across the two points with the following formula:

I = V/R

Dear Colleagues

Most engineering professionals will readily confess that they are not overly enthusiastic about making presentations. Often the reason is that they are nervous, the presentations come across poorly and it is not a particularly pleasant experience for both the audience or the presenter. You’re unlikely to ever hear from someone, who has to attend a presentation, that they are looking forward to it.

Dear Colleagues

An engineering job can suck up all your time and energy and when combined with your daily home and personal life it is often hard to pause and reflect on whether you are happy or not. Many of you will remark that fighting life’s daily battles requires more than enough effort without worrying about issues such as happiness.

However, an interesting measurement of happiness is the rule of thirds for happiness.
This is based around the following principle.

Ask yourself Three Questions

Dear Colleagues,

Dear Colleagues,

You’ve probably heard (with some irritation) the expression: ‘Get a life’. Well; research shows that if you want a longer, healthier and more fulfilled life; you should establish a purpose to your life with clear (achievable) goals. This not only applies to when you are in retirement but as an engineering professional working today.

Dear Colleagues,

I watched (bemused) yesterday as a car reverse parked itself and considered the possibilities with the rapidly growing field of intelligent transport engineering. My brother-in-law grunted his dubious assent about the growth of the transport field as he had been involved in development of software for smart cards for transportation but the massively fragmented nature of the industry caused him considerably more pain than profit (he has since moved into the more lucrative and simpler field of mining software).

Dear Colleagues

I always believe an engineering workplace should not be a place of anguish and pain but of (reasonable) satisfaction and enjoyment.

One day, however you may decide that the time has come to move on. Your job may have stagnated – growth in the company may have frozen – the company may have hit the wall due to bad decisions or a poor market - or someone may have joined the company and is making your position difficult. So a few suggestions on looking for a job while keeping your boss and the company unaware of your intentions.