Designers and/or engineers Anyone here do either?

Wolf41035

So does anyone here design stuff or build stuff? 
Did you go to college or Technical school for it or are you self taught?
Do you do it for work? Friends? or just for yourself?
 
I have a nephew going to College for Engineering and my friends Son went to Technical School for CAD and some Engineering but he learned on his own, works at a manufacturing plant and then took classes for it. 
Personally I have worked in machine shops and also built houses long ago and I like to draw, if I had a good CAD or Designing program I think I would do good at it but I have never once took a class on any of it, I am a hands on type guy.  I have drawn out designs for my garage, my house and a few other buildings, I have designed all kinds of equipment and even made an engine test stand.  If I had my health, a good program, material and tools I could make just about anything I put my mind to making.
So what about you guys? Do you build stuff? Do you design stuff? Have you gone to School for it?

pwkarch

I am an Architectural Designer, a former partner in a mid sized AE firm, and at this time describe myself as "semi retired". That term is a joke in that I think I work more hours now than any other time in my life but make a lot less money. I now work mainly as a 1099 sub contractor to other Architects with whom I have history.  The nice part is that I work from my home office, and choose what hours and days I work. Truth be known, I can work in my underwear should I decide to, and the Keurig coffee machine in the kitchen and a bathroom are both withing 15-20 seconds away.

I use the latest AutoCad program, structural and mechanical design programs, and an automated Q and A Construction Specifications program among others. The majority of these programs allow me to integrate and communicate with my associates, and to produce the necessary documents in formats that we call all can read and use implement.

The only issue that I can complain about is the requirement that I step outside or onto the screen porch to smoke my pipe or cigar, by my wife, who is the boss of the house. Now that is somewhat pleasurable in decent and temperate weather, but the winter and those tropical hot and humid days in the summer are tough.

I too like to get my hands dirty. I have made furniture and various projects in my basement shop. In fact my current project which I have been neglecting is a nice white oak pipe stand for 9 pipes. I have built porches, decks, etc. on my house. I redid our kitchen some years ago with my son, and I built a second bathroom on the second floor in an attic area. I think I get a larger sense of satisfaction creating a three dimensional object than a two dimensional set of drawings, although if a building project turns out as designed , that too is also a great feeling.

Woodsman

I received an AS in Electronics. I was what they called a Field Engineer  for many tech companies starting and ending with IBM. Along the way I picked up an A+ Certification, and a whole lot of various Certificates including Mini Computer, High Performance (Then) disk drives and controllers, Servers, Editorial Systems in the newspaper industry including Electronic Darkroom for AP and Microwave linked Laser Publication Systems. including Beta Site for the NY Daily News. Finally back with IBM on their Servers used in POS which drove me to 2 heart attacks in 6 years which is why I left them in 1969 in the first place.

JaGri1

I do It for work, i'm an apprentice sheet metal worker and I do mostly installation of products that were fabricated in a shop and sent out to us in the field to be installed, I don't use design programs because everything is designed ahead of time.

Cerozero

Electronics Engineering, currently a production manager for an electronics company. Have been involved in the manufacture of everything from Armored vehicles to Printed Circuit board assembly.

Wolf41035

For some reason this post was hidden, nice to see others on here that have some kind of experience in designing or engineering. 

motie2

I've got an engineers joke:

Why do engineers confuse Halloween and Christmas?

Because Oct 31 = Dec 25

mfresa

I don't get it.

motie2

Octal 31 and Decimal 25 have the same value. Because these values are abbreviated as Oct 31 and Dec 25, EE's often joke that they get Halloween, which is on October 31, and Christmas, which is on December 25, mixed up.

Wolf41035

LOL  I like it Motie2 

riobrusa

I'm civil engineer. My field is structures, so I projected bridges and others heavy structures. By now I'm retired and for fun work in a cigar store.

Watchmaker61

I make parts for watches and clocks,when needed.

motie2

With today's rapid advance in technology, I thought it important to bring to your attention some new engineering conversions:

Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter: Eskimo Pi

2000 pounds of Chinese soup: Won ton

1 millionth of a mouthwash: 1 microscope

Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement: 1bananosecond

Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour: Knot-furlong

365.25 days of drinking low-calorie beer: 1 lite-year

Half of a large intestine: 1 semicolon

Shortest distance between two jokes: A straight line.
(think about it for a moment)

1000 aches: 1 kilohurtz

Basic unit of laryngitis: 1 hoarsepower

453.6 graham crackers: 1 pound cake

1 million microphones: 1 megaphone

10 cards: 1 decacards

1 kilogram of falling figs: 1 Fig Newton

1000 cubic centimeters of wet socks: 1 literhosen

2 monograms: 1 diagram

8 nickels: 2 paradigms

3 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital: 1 I.V. League

2000 mockingbirds: 2 kilomockingbird

mfresa

I don't get it.

Woodsman

LOL

motie2

@mfresa -- Really? I thought most were clever/funny. Maybe take another look......

mfresa

@motie2, they actually were funny, just takes me a second for the verbal word play to sink into my skull :-)

motie2

@mfresa -- No worries, mate!!!!