[sdiy] Can your *really* teach "Engineering"?

[Dave Manley]

Dave Manley wrote:
> Paul Perry wrote:
> 
>> Whenever I have been stuck and needed a 'real' engineer - my 
>> qualifications are unfortunately in political science - I have found 
>> that the ONLY people who were any use to me, were people who had a 
>> history of DIY (in any field) before the went to university.
> 
> Indeed, I've found when interviewing potential engineering hires that an 
> outside technical interest, whether current or in their past, is one of 
> the best indicators of talent.  This could be someone with a ham radio 
> past, or someone who builds their own computers and tunes their linux 
> kernel.  I can also say honestly, that a few of the best engineers I've 
> known did not have college degrees, but were self taught.  When looking 
> at resumes, those with hobbies, projects, etc will get more attention, 
> than those without.  For a while it seemed these DIY activities were on 
> the wane, but with the new "Make" subculture hopefully it is on the rise 
> again.
> 
>  From the other side of the coin, the best professors I had in college 
> were those who had worked in industry at some point, or had some sort of 
> tie to hobby/project/product development.
> 
> -Dave
> 
And further, the best companies to work for actively encourage employees 
to have outside interests, and to *use* the company resources in their 
pursuit.

-Dave (wandering way off-topic)