2008 Issue

www.utahengineerscouncil.org 32 After yet another frustrating day at the computer, I sometimes wonder why it is that I chose engineering as my profession. In my more cynical moments, I sometimes think it’s because I enjoy the frustration. Engineering Makes the World Better or Why I Became an Engineer I KNOW THAT ISN’T IT. BUT WHAT IS IT? I HAD A WISE DIRECTOR ONCE TELL ME TO REMEMBER WHY IT WAS THAT I BECAME ANENGINEER – IT’SAN IMPORTANT TOUCH- stone to maintain perspective. So why did I become an engineer? I sus- pect the answer lies close to the answer that a colleague gave as to why she became an engineer. She said it’s because, growing up, she was kind of a geek and liked taking things apart. That sums it up pretty well. Thinking back, I’ve always been fasci- nated by the world around me. But more than that, I am fascinated by what makes things work. As a kid, I loved building contraptions out of Legos. The only limita- tion on my imagination was the number of pieces I had. I liked taking things apart, trying to fig- ure out what made them do the things they did. Of course, putting things back together was a different story, something that I didn’t necessarily have a talent for. I also loved playing in water – especially flowing water. Gutters, irrigation in the garden, streams in the mountains – anywhere there was water that was flowing, I was play- ing in it. As I grew older, that play turned into trying to build dams that would stop the water. But moving water is hard to stop. I guess it’s no surprise that fluid dynamics still interests me. Where others see leaves blowing in the wind, I see a way to visualize the flow, and I watch what the leaves tell me about the movement of the air. So, I’m still trying to figure out how things work. As I’m sitting at the traffic light, I try to figure out what kind of sensor system it’s using to detect traffic. And then I wonder what kinds of algorithms are used to keep the traffic flowing. But being an engineer extends beyond figuring out how things work. It also comes with a healthy dose of wanting to make them work better. It’s using my experience and the principles I learned in school to find newer and better ways of doing things. Einstein By Terry Haws