quote:
I am inbetween the old and new right now. Still got a lot to learn, but can function on my own.

It's a mixture of things for why the new crop has this attitude.

1. Generational thing, the millenials don't want to work at all, the older generation doesn't want to be at home as you can see by how those fricks won't retire even though some of them are losing money by continuing to work instead of taking their old pension systems at some companies.

2. College is not the professional environment it once was, old engineers acted like engineers from day 1 in college. That attitude carried over to the workforce. Now it is sweatpants and t-shirts...

3. Old engineers built the plants and equipment. They got to learn the equipment before it was in service. Combine that with the severe lack of regulation that they had in their day, they got to tinker around and even screw up and trip something off without much consequence or blow back unless they destroyed something. Kids today don't get that same type of experience. Learning hands on is a much more stressful task, fear of failure is high.

4. Old engineers aren't the best teachers, some will even go out of their way to not help out the new crop. This goes back to the generational differences. A lot of them want to protect their turf and not help out the new guy they view as a replacement that is putting them to pasture.

This is such an insightful post. I've never thought about 2, but you have a point--I think we are able to mess around and aren't held accountable enough in school now.

I know at LSU, the faculty is trying to make some curriculum changes. One thing I strongly suggested is make manufacturing processes more about how to design something so that a) it is physically possible to machine/build and b) you have everything shown on a drawing so that you can just send it to a machinist and have it done, no questions asked (i.e. all dimensions, tolerances, surface finishes, etc.). This would go a long way because even now in senior design, students can't visualize how things are made and often bring designs to the shop that aren't physically possible.