• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

The Girl, the Internet, and the Pontiac Fiero

Great story, too many kids just playing video games and burying their noses in their cell phones. She will be 20 steps ahead in Engineering school, and a desirable hire when graduated, because of the understanding of interaction and REAL things, not just the math part.
 
Yes, there's night/day difference between being a mechanic and an engineer and I'd too hope she goes to school.

Related: http://m.theatlantic.com/technology...toy-bring-more-women-into-engineering/262373/

Well as a life long mechanic/troubleshooter, and someone that earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering at the ripe young age of 44, I don't completely agree with the night/day comment.

There are a LOT of shared skills, the most important is the curiosity to find solutions, the understanding of how things work, the desire to improve things, and the connection between systems, and how one effects the other. Both are the foundation of a good tech and ME, IMHO.

A degree opens doors, it does not necessarily change a thought process.
 
She will be 20 steps ahead in Engineering school, and a desirable hire when graduated, because of the understanding of interaction and REAL things, not just the math part.

I wouldn't go too far with that line of thinking. In most research universities, the ability to turn a wrench or solder a connection is a quaint thing that the strange students do.
 
Great story, thanks for sharing. I see they referenced the Tyler Shipman story in that article as well. This story is not only about a young lady's dreams and efforts, but also how the online community can really support someone. Many of us have experienced that right here, from these very forums, or other forums we may frequent.
 
I love seeing stories like this! Our 23 year old daughter became a fully licensed Automotive Service Technician in August. Although it's not what we expected she'd be doing, we're behind her 100% and couldn't be more proud of her!
 
Well as a life long mechanic/troubleshooter, and someone that earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering at the ripe young age of 44, I don't completely agree with the night/day comment.

There are a LOT of shared skills, the most important is the curiosity to find solutions, the understanding of how things work, the desire to improve things, and the connection between systems, and how one effects the other. Both are the foundation of a good tech and ME, IMHO.

A degree opens doors, it does not necessarily change a thought process.

I would add that in mechanical repair, there is a huge difference between learning to swap parts on newer vehicles, and learning to innovate and fabricate when restoring old vehicles. While the skills may overlap a bit, in many ways they are totally different.
 
I wouldn't go too far with that line of thinking. In most research universities, the ability to turn a wrench or solder a connection is a quaint thing that the strange students do.

Which is sad, and should serve as an indictment of the attitudes at those universities.
 
Which is sad, and should serve as an indictment of the attitudes at those universities.

Associate professors become full professors by publishing in journals. Once the associate prof becomes a full prof, they need to maintain a constant stream of grad students and proposals (which fund the grad students). In most cases, that requires low risk research.....computational models in the engineering world.

Undergraduates with high GPA's are recruited for the graduate work and enter system. In many cases, the students on this track and their professors have never been to, or even know the location of, the career placement office at their colleges/universities. Their careers have little to do with the market economy, they are focused on the lucrative education industry.

It's a strange world. But, always "World Class". At each and every school!
 
Associate professors become full professors by publishing in journals. Once the associate prof becomes a full prof, they need to maintain a constant stream of grad students and proposals (which fund the grad students). In most cases, that requires low risk research.....computational models in the engineering world.

Undergraduates with high GPA's are recruited for the graduate work and enter system. In many cases, the students on this track and their professors have never been to, or even know the location of, the career placement office at their colleges/universities. Their careers have little to do with the market economy, they are focused on the lucrative education industry.

It's a strange world. But, always "World Class". At each and every school!

Which is sad, and should serve as an indictment of the attitudes at those universities.
 
Maybe its just me but when I was a grad student at an Ivy League school, my friends in mech and elec engineering were universally motorheads. Seemed a common affliction then...
We used to use the materials lab (machines) and e lab stuff (scopes, etc) as our troubleshooting and fabrication stuff... Aside from the usual ways to get motors to pump more air, we did stuff like desigin / calibrate circuits that adapted existing gauges like tachs to handle signals coming off the (then new) electronic ignition boxes (that produced a signal with harmonics that have to filtered or factored out)

My own son never had any interest in vehicles when young. But he is one tightwad re spending cash for something he can do himself so he has learned to do his own work and then took up track play - once with me as one of his early instructors. Be interesting to see how far this young lady goes with her Fiero - with some chassis mods and the a bit of breathing on the bigger motor she's putting in, they can be quite fun...
 
Sometimes being a wrench is nothing more than a means to an end. This young lady wanted to build and drive a Fiero. In order to do that, she had to learn to do some wrenching. She may not even particularly like doing the work, but to her, the final product is the prize. Who knows where this could lead her as she grows into adulthood? She may just be one of those that can reach any goal they attempt, or for sure won't be afraid to try.

Some people just like to tackle projects, any projects, themselves. so they can have that feeling of accomplishment. My oldest son is like that. He's not partcularly skilled at being a mechanic, a carpenter, etc., but man, what he lacks in skill he makes up for in ambition. I admire him for this.

Honestly, I don't think tinkering and doing mechanical type of work is necessarily that closely related to one's college education or vocation. I mean, if someone LIKES to tinker, they can turn that into a career, for sure. But I've known some engineering types who are quite bright and creative who wouldn't know how to adjust a crescent wrench. I've also know some that could literally build and/or fix anything. Those are the truly gifted.
 
This thread reminds me of an interesting book some of you may want to read. Shop class as soulcraft : an inquiry into the value of work by Matthew B. Crawford
 
Back
Top