"celebrities" in engineering? 6

[MechanicalAnimal]

I wasn't sure where to post this question, this section ended up as the logical choice...

I'm sure we often encounter TV shows, interviews in the newspapers etc where "famous people" and "celebrities" are asked for their opinions on such and such, general things...
Very often, subjects of this media attention are musicians, writers, all kinds of artists, some just very rich people, sometimes famous scientists, physicians, psychologists, CEOs of big companies, other (famous) reporters... but very, very rarely - engineers? Even when doing a report on offshore pipe laying or automotive, they'll typically "expose" the management and the "common worker", not the engineers...

Also, in general public, nearly everyone will be familiar with names of various artists, scientists, etc. but mention an engineer's name? Maybe Diesel and Tesla will ring a Bell, ( ), but mention "Otto" (or even "Otto's engine")and very rare people will know who he was and what kind of an engine it really is.

I'd like your opinion on this? Are people generally not interested in engineers, is there simply not enough engineers to "go around" as "famous"? Were there any "famous" engineers, and what are their names? I'd love to read up on their biographies etc, and learn something about them...

 

[AutoXer]

Adrian Newey (formula 1)

So, how are those Red Bulls holding up?

 

[70AARCUDA]

ewh (Aerospace)

Howard Hughes = engineer? nope!

...it's true that he attended college (briefly), but he never completed ANY degree...he simply "...hired..." smart people to do the engineering and designing...it's funny what having LOTs of money (Hughes TOOL Company) can do FOR you.

 

[KENAT]

70AARCUDA in that case pretty much any "Engineer" from more than about 70 years ago, and a good few since weren't Engineers.

Trying to imposes todays perceived definitions of "Engineer" on "Engineers" from generations past is unfair at best.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[C2it]

AutoXer,

Mark Webber ... 5th in Barcelona. A good result looking at the traffic ahead of him. Red Bulls have 'wiings' with Adrian Newey.

 

[youngstructural]

Dilbert's "Salary Theorem" states:
"Scientists and Engineers can never earn
as much as administrators and sales people."

This theorem can be proved mathematically;

Given:
Power = Work / Time and,
Knowledge is Power

Sub knowledge for power yields:
Knowledge = Work/ Time

If time = money, Sub time for money yielding:
Knowledge = Work/ Money

Solving this equation for money, we obtain:

Money = Work/ Knowledge

Therefore, as knowledge approaches zero, money approaches infinity, regardless of the amount of work done.

Conclusion: the less you know, the more you make.


B.Eng (Carleton)
Working in New Zealand, thinking of my snow covered home...

 

[rmw]

Well, if you are going to insist that Service Academy grads are engineers, and they are to a certain degree, many more so than many of the 'engineers' in these fora, then let's not forget some famous Naval Academy engineers - Jimmy Carter, and more of note of late, John McCain. Jimmy Carter actually worked in a Nuclear Navy capacity under Admiral Hyman Rickover, famous (or was it infamous) in his own right. If his performance is any predictor of future behavior, I shudder to think what we would be in for with John McCain.

But don't forget, both of them had the same basic education as Roger Staubach so where does that tell us?

rmw

 

[IRstuff]

Don't forget that Bush Jr. is an alumnus of both Yale and Harvard, so alma maters are hardly reliable indicators of future performance.

TTFN

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