Interesting. I’ve also heard the opposite that sometimes it is older women going through menopause who ask for the cooler temperatures. Either way, my husband (who likes cooler temps than I do) says that it is easier for people to add layers. There are only so many layers than one could remove at work before things become inappropriate-ha!
Not really sure. She did take a General engineering intro class where they explored all the engineering subjects, did a project (built a mini golf hole) using 3 types of engineering, and then she chose civil. She liked the workshop and building things. I think her favorite parts of her career are the active parts - going to the field, measuring things, even counting cars. Her least favorite are the endless reports and paperwork.
I think she would have enjoyed architecture more but that wasn’t offered at her school. She claims she’s never going back to school; she took the FE and PE exams post graduation and is just waiting for her 4 year mark to make the PE official and get her stamp.
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We have a 500 pound male coworker who is always cold. In the summer he wore a stocking cap pulled to his eyebrows and a neck gaiter pulled up to his eyes. All you could see were slits.
I have a mini space heater on my desk and a sweater.
@1Lotus I’ll answer your questions when I get more time. We are visiting our S today and off to see some sights. I think there is a women in engineering thread on here on CC where I posted a long response.
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D just learned about FE and PE. She has goals to to take one during undergrad and one after if I understand correctly. I think she learned about them in her Intro to Engineering class. Thank you.
She can take the FE while still in school. My daughter took it just after graduation because she was also playing lacrosse in the spring of senior year. States have different rules about taking the PE. Most don’t allow until 4 years after beginning work. Daughter lives in Denver (the 4 year rule) but took it at 3 years in Las Vegas. Now she waits until July for her 4 year anniversary for it to be official.
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Statistically men prefer cooler indoor temperatures than women even if your husband is cold at his office. Google men women office thermostat to see the data.
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I am enjoying this thread… this caused me to look at comfy shoes. D only will wear the 3 inch Mary Janes to presentations, job fairs and/or interviews. She is a Birkenstock die hard. Even wears them in winter with socks. Arch support and roomy toe box rule supreme for both us. Found these adorable Mary Janes with very similar sole as her Birks. I am thinking these would work with slacks or jeans. Rowan Black Nubuck – Dansko
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I’m enjoying all the comments on this thread as well and like how it has branched out a bit. I had no idea that engineers might need to wear particular shoes, but it makes sense. I have only one female engineer I know irl and she stopped working to raise her family about 20 years ago and no longer in the know.
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I don’t know any engineers at all. My family is filled with nursing.
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Out of the 9 grandchildren my mother has, 2 are engineers and 2 more (16 years old) are heading that way. Maybe because my daughter and nephew are engineers I seem to know tons and tons of kids who are engineers.
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That is awesome!
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If your daughter is an engineer who will be going out in the field, she will need fully closed shoes. No sling backs or sandals or open toes. So do medical folks who work in hospitals.
But those shoes are really good for casual wear.
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My workplace purchases our boots for us, or will reimburse up to $150 per pair. It’s part of the PPE along with hard hats, vests, and we can get ear plugs and glasses if we want
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Good news!! The pants arrived, fit and she plans to wear them to the job shadow.
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How did I decide on civil? I always thought I wanted to be aerospace, but when I went through college, there was a recession and AE engineers were unemployed or went back to grad school. I wanted a job that I could go anywhere, big city, small rural, etc. I also hated physics and dynamics.
What do I hate the most? Dealing with federal regulations and sometimes state ones. But most of our projects are so dinky, but we still have to jump through the same hoops. A small trail project that would take a contractor two weeks to build has a set of specs over 200 pages long.
I also hate construction admin and also doing right of way acquisition. Fortunately now we contract out the latter - and it’s rare that we do it anymore. Our city is shrinking, not growing.
What do I like the most? About my job in particular… is that for most of my time here I was the only design engineer we had. I had to be a Jack of all trades and I was farmed out to every department at some point to help with their projects. I’ve learned a ton about how municipalities operate. I also love the GIS. And my super power is creating pretty preliminary drawings in no time flat. Our ec dev office gets RFIs in where they tell me they need to show a 100-500SF building with parking, loading, etc on three different sites - and they need it by the end of the workday. Most of the time they can’t even get a consultant to call them back in time let alone finish it.
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Agree, but if sitting at computer all day, I think they could work.
@1Lotus , how did you daughter decide on electrical?
Does she like her circuits and digital system classes? I have heard that circuits is the “alphabet” of EE. For my daughter,other than the math/physics aptitude , it was the pre high school programs, getting exposure working with bread boards and micro controllers while having a female EE PhD student as a mentor. She was always a kid fascinated with space and NASA. She was told NASA needed all kinds of engineers and if she got tired aerospace/defense that EEs are sought in many other industries. She is currently interested in semiconductor industry and automated driving cars. She wants to get into research but does not have the time this semester ( taking 19 hours). I lurk alot on r/ECE, r/engineering students, r/semiconductors, r/space, r/Space-X, etc to try and learn all that I can.
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COVID-19 masking?
Wow! I think our daughters have very similar interests! My D was concerned going into a new to her class of digital systems and I think linear circuits has a rep for being tough but she seems to be doing ok so far. I think during some unit in AP physics the teacher said if you like this unit you will like electrical engineering and maybe that it is a field that is in demand but not sure exactly how she wanted to pursue EE. It certainly wasn’t anything I pushed. I do think the public hs she went to did lean into the concept of engineering careers even in elementary/middle school with accelerated programs in math. She is big on math-and leaning into a challenge.
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Great insights into your career. I’m going to copy and paste this to text to my D. It may help her come up with questions at the shadowing. Do you work with CAD? She seems to be doing some of that right now.
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