Where does the top Mechanical Engineering talent in the US work?

[cosmicfish]

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And it seems to me that, patent/IP law would be one of those “right fields”, particularly given the IP machinations and transacations that happen seemingly every day. Heck, just today, the business press announced that Thomson had lost its patent case against AU Electronics, the #4 flat-panel manufacturer in the world. And it seems to me that engineering graduates are highly qualified to become patent attorneys - in stark contrast to the vast majority of law school students who were trained in humanities or social sciences. Indeed, the USPTO specifically states that only those with a sufficient engineering (or natural science) education is allowed to take the USPTO Bar.

The time I can devote to this forum is sharply limited this week, but I just wanted to touch on this, as I think it highlights a difference between you and me. I am well aware that patent attorneys make a lot more than engineers, and am also well aware that intellectual property law is necessary for the engineering profession to exist. Nonetheless, also I feel that the current system of IP law is a major contributor to the problems you observe in the engineering profession, and think that encouraging top engineers to switch to that team only makes it worse. Encouraging engineers to move into management, or law, or finance may help them financially, but it does nothing for them as engineers, nor does it help other engineers - it just strengthens those professions at the expense of ours.</p>