SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
I’m sure the summer break will fly by faster than the drone my son Gideon has been maneuvering.
Gideon recently received his bachelor’s degree in mechatronics engineering and – after a short breather – will plunge into the graduate program in engineering management.
My wife and I are proud of his achievement, especially since our involvement grew to be more about food, lodging and grant applications and less about homework assistance. Yes, his oppressive courses in calculus, linear algebra and statistics were soon “above our pay grade.”
Sure, I was probably the fourth-best math student in my high school class; but since college, my skills have atrophied to the point that I require a cheat sheet just to sing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.”
Since grade school – even before he discovered reruns of “My Three Sons” (featuring Fred MacMurray as widowed aeronautics engineer Steven Douglas) – Gideon has unswervingly declared engineering to be his future. And I must admit that the goal has made a dandy conversational icebreaker. People either make corny jokes about cabooses or blurt out, “What in the world is mechatronics?”
Well, an article from Spiceworks.com describes mechatronics as “an interdisciplinary career path where technical professionals combine their mechanical engineering and electronics knowledge to design and develop new products, systems and hardware.”
Mechatronics engineers participate in all stages of product development, from conception to testing to manufacture to “Well, if nobody wants the hunk of junk at the garage sale, we’ll program a robot to leave it and a bushel of zucchini on a neighbor’s doorstep after midnight.”
Mechatronics engineering requires a tremendous amount of teamwork, and Gideon has seen the good, the bad and the forgot-towear- a-pocket-protector of that reality. Isn’t it great to have a job where you get to design the bus that your teammates throw you under?
But let’s not heap all the attention on mechatronics. We should salute all the branches of engineering. Bridges, roads and dams keep civil engineering top of mind; but let’s not forget chemical, petroleum, aerospace, biomedical, computer, industrial and other subdivisions of engineering.
I know TV’s favorite physicist Sheldon Cooper looks down upon “mere” engineers; but engineers are problem-solvers who accentuate innovation, efficiency and sustainability. And the secret ingredient is love. Or, in the case of “Lefty” Llewellyn, three fingers that really would have appreciated proper safety protocols.
Engineers are indispensable to modern society. Without our engineers, the world would be a much harsher, more primitive place. (“Supper will be ready an hour after a lightning bolt sets a log on fire.”) Mind you, I’m glad there were humanities students in Gideon’s graduation line. As a writer and history buff, I know that the world is much richer for having artists, actors, sociologists, philosophers and others with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Not everyone has to be a STEM major.
Still, there’s only a finite need for folks who debate, “How many angels can dance on the head of a nuclear reactor that’s melting down?” or for grads who announce, “Here’s my interpretive dance about cattle dying because no one thought to construct a reservoir.”
Anyway, the next time you encounter an engineer, be sure to give them a big hug. That will distract them as you slip zucchini into their back pocket.
Start with six, which is one less than… than … well, never mind, math nerd!
