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Self-made engineers
I recently ran across an interesting article in a newsletter from our sister publication, Design News. It's about Johnathan Goodwin who has been turning up in the news lately. Goodwin has figured out how to replace the gasoline engine in Hummer H2 and H3 vehicles with a Diesel. You can read the details, but the upshot of the story is that GM apparently says it can't be done which is why they don't offer the option. What makes this story particularly interesting is that Goodwin is a self-taught engineer who grew up in a poor family and has had no formal education past seventh grade.
I'm sure when word of his efforts to improve Hummer performance got back to GM, you could hear the eyes rolling as far away as Cleveland. It would be interesting to hear GM's side of the story, but at this point they have been made to look silly and will have to work to recover.
There are people who have a gift that allows them to think like engineers, or at least how we think engineers are supposed to think. John Dodge, author of the Design News article, goes on to discuss the importance of these skills, and the extent to which engineering schools are losing relevance.
Dodge says, "Goodwin appears to be an exceptional engineer even if he doesn't think he is — much like TV craftsman Norm Abram, who never finished college. Goodwin is a great expression of the self-made individual for whom I have always had abiding respect. In my town, I am friends with three highly successful people who never set foot in college. These people are living proof that when your professional life is tallied up, it's the deeds that count, not where you went to college or how much time you spent there. I was always struck when covering the life sciences that you can't get anywhere unless Ph.D. is stamped on your forehead."
Something to think about.
Self-made engineers
November 29, 2007
I recently ran across an interesting article in a newsletter from our sister publication, Design News. It's about Johnathan Goodwin who has been turning up in the news lately. Goodwin has figured out how to replace the gasoline engine in Hummer H2 and H3 vehicles with a Diesel. You can read the details, but the upshot of the story is that GM apparently says it can't be done which is why they don't offer the option. What makes this story particularly interesting is that Goodwin is a self-taught engineer who grew up in a poor family and has had no formal education past seventh grade.I'm sure when word of his efforts to improve Hummer performance got back to GM, you could hear the eyes rolling as far away as Cleveland. It would be interesting to hear GM's side of the story, but at this point they have been made to look silly and will have to work to recover.
There are people who have a gift that allows them to think like engineers, or at least how we think engineers are supposed to think. John Dodge, author of the Design News article, goes on to discuss the importance of these skills, and the extent to which engineering schools are losing relevance.
Dodge says, "Goodwin appears to be an exceptional engineer even if he doesn't think he is — much like TV craftsman Norm Abram, who never finished college. Goodwin is a great expression of the self-made individual for whom I have always had abiding respect. In my town, I am friends with three highly successful people who never set foot in college. These people are living proof that when your professional life is tallied up, it's the deeds that count, not where you went to college or how much time you spent there. I was always struck when covering the life sciences that you can't get anywhere unless Ph.D. is stamped on your forehead."
Something to think about.
Posted by Peter Welander on November 29, 2007 | Comments (0)
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