<p>I'm not at all concerned about the future of engineering in this country.</p>
<p>The US of A has a secret weapon. I can't tell you what it is... you just have to trust me...</p>
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The US of A has a secret weapon. I can't tell you what it is... you just have to trust me...
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<p>Is it somehow related to Harvey Mud College? :lol:</p>
<p>At present the future of American (or American-educated Engineers is extremely bright)........I dont know about China but as far as India is concerned any student with an engineering degree that is NOT from an IIT cannot even be compared to an engineer educated in the U.S.........and I am an Indian whose saying this.....one who has done a year of engineering in India and is now gonna pursue his B.S. in the U.S.......even through all the hype ......the CEO of one of the biggest automobile companies in India told me that they would rather hire an engineer from the U.S. than from an IIT......most of the stuff taught in Engineering in india is theoretical with almost no emphasis on practical knowledge......yes even though India churns out more engineers than the U.S. the quality of this army of techies is highly questionable.......</p>
<p>It is true that India churns out more engineering graduates than it needs and still doesn't produce enough quality engineers. But the numbers are so large that there will still be very large numbers of U.S. engineering jobs moving there. For now, it is mostly low-end IT-related jobs that are moving. Slowly, however, India is capturing high-end R&D jobs as well as well as jobs in non-engineering areas such as banking and accounting. Overall, I would say the majority of even IT jobs will stay in the U.S. as not every job can be done overseas. However, the U.S. engineering industries will be profoundly impacted and many American engineers will have to move to other fields if they want to remain employed.</p>
<p>In a few decades, Indian salaries will catch up with American salaries. And what's even better is that a developed India would have a billion+ potential consumers, providing large market for American products. But until then, many engineering jobs just won't be safe. How fortunate from me that I'm an Indian and I can move back... haha... uh... not that I don't sympathize with American engineers. :)</p>
<p>Sakky, I wouldn't say that engineering is bad deal for the best and brightest. Being an investment banker has its costs too. They may have mountains of money but I think we can all agree that a 100 hour workweek is unappealing. More importantly, those jobs have very little to do with science & engineering, which many top graduates genuinely love. High end engineering jobs can pay 120k or so, which is acceptable to most of them, I would guess.</p>
<p>I actually agree with sakky. I like engineering, and I'm doing it for my undergrad, but I do feel that it is a bad deal for me. I have absolutely no intention on working as an engineer.</p>
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I actually agree with sakky. I like engineering, and I'm doing it for my undergrad, but I do feel that it is a bad deal for me. I have absolutely no intention on working as an engineer.
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<p>Heh heh, so what are you really saying there? Are you trying to say that you already know that you are one of the very best? </p>
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Sakky, I wouldn't say that engineering is bad deal for the best and brightest. Being an investment banker has its costs too. They may have mountains of money but I think we can all agree that a 100 hour workweek is unappealing. More importantly, those jobs have very little to do with science & engineering, which many top graduates genuinely love. High end engineering jobs can pay 120k or so, which is acceptable to most of them, I would guess.
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<p>Well, let's not also forget that the highest-paid and most glamorous engineering jobs also tend to involve grueling working hours. Working for Google as an engineer is certainly glamorous, but you better not be expecting a 40 hour work week. Double that number is probably more accurate. </p>
<p>Hence, a lot of the top engineers figure that if they're going to be working like dogs anyway, might as well make a lot of money doing it. </p>
<p>I agree that doing what you like to do is important. But let's face it. While some engineers truly do like science and technology, others do not. Others are just studying engineering just for the marketability of the degree. And these are precisely the kinds of people who are most likely to jump to consulting or banking, if they can get an offer. In other words, to them, engineering is really a 'backup career' in case they can't get what they really want. </p>
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It is true that India churns out more engineering graduates than it needs and still doesn't produce enough quality engineers. But the numbers are so large that there will still be very large numbers of U.S. engineering jobs moving there. For now, it is mostly low-end IT-related jobs that are moving. Slowly, however, India is capturing high-end R&D jobs as well as well as jobs in non-engineering areas such as banking and accounting. Overall, I would say the majority of even IT jobs will stay in the U.S. as not every job can be done overseas. However, the U.S. engineering industries will be profoundly impacted and many American engineers will have to move to other fields if they want to remain employed.</p>
<p>In a few decades, Indian salaries will catch up with American salaries. And what's even better is that a developed India would have a billion+ potential consumers, providing large market for American products. But until then, many engineering jobs just won't be safe. How fortunate from me that I'm an Indian and I can move back... haha... uh... not that I don't sympathize with American engineers.
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<p>I don't know that it's entirely fair to say that lots of engineering jobs will move overseas. I think it's more accurate to say that the scope of engineering in the US will change, and US engineers will need to change with it. This is why I advocate a greater integration of engineering with business. For example, I can see a great need for US engineers who are also savvy project managers and hence can manage engineering projects that are performed by engineers in India. Hence, they can serve as the 'thin layer' between the pure managers in the US and the engineers in India. I can also see a tremendous future for US engineers in the realm of entrepeneurship. The availability of cheap Indian engineers means that it's easier and cheaper to start your own technology company. Hence, the US engineer can now be the guy who pitches business plans to investors, who finds customers, and who manages the whole affair, and ships off the technical work to India. He has the engineering background to know what is technically possible, and he also has the cultural skills to understand the US market. </p>
<p>But of course this depends on a shift in US engineering education and training to emphasize better communications and business skills. I agree that those US engineers who don't want to change will get hurt. Not to be harsh, but that's exactly the way it should be. Those people who refuse to learn new skills and refuse to adapt, to be perfectly frank, deserve to lose their jobs. That's what happens when you refuse to adapt - you fall behind and you deserve to fall behind. It's like all of those IBM mainframe computer programmers who refused to learn about the PC and about MSWindows, or all of those auto mechanics who knew how to fix US cars, but refused to learn anything about Japanese car models. The sad truth is, there are always some people who simply don't want to learn new things.</p>
<p>"Is it somehow related to Harvey Mud College? :lol:"</p>
<p>Heh. I wish.</p>
<p>Not directly, but Mudd plays a small role in it, along with all the other top colleges/universities.</p>