Look in the Mirror

Featured Guest Blogger: Robert Mote

Motagg’s Blog by Robert Mote

Let’s connect on LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/robertmote

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I work in the Oil and Gas industry and I know there will be many exceptions and variations on what I write but I can only write about what I know and what I have learned. Please take the time to add comments where you feel the exceptions and variations may apply, or if you agree. My views are indeed a narrow slice of the broad spectrum.

Before we look at the building blocks to our calculations, we need to look in the mirror first. How has the engineering profession stood the test of time of the last fifteen years? That is not a long period of time is it?

We will look at transformation, traditions, technology, talent drainage and toxic habits.

The transformation of the workplace has been profound. The smoky, burly, bustling and noisy hive of activity of the old design halls has given way to a clinically, sanitary, brooding and silent vista of cubicles. Gone are the pipe-smokers, the pin-ups, the lunch time boozers and all the paraphernalia of the trade, like t-squares, rotring pens, steam tables, pattern templates, tracing paper, rubber shields, etc. Engineers sat at desks, shrouded by a forest of upright design boards. I don’t miss the environment, but it is certainly another world to the one I occupy today. I do miss the people and the team-building spirit, they taught me everything I know.

The traditions of the old drawing office included tea-boy duties, practicing block letter printing, hand sketches, geometric drawings and a whole other level of details, disciplines and duties that were learned on the job and these formed the lore of the engineering traditions. Many engineers lament the loss of the apprenticeship culture. We have not supplanted the old traditions with new ones, we’ve simply lost them.

I believe the “drawing office” engineering is a business of hands-on learning as a mentor relationship. When I came into the profession, the civil engineers were THE leaders and draughtsman followed and the craft-modelers were behind them. Projects went at the speed of the engineer’s experience and direction but the civil engineers were the leaders. Nowadays, the leaders are project managers and the civil/structural engineer role is relegated to support their objectives.

The technology of desktop computers was a big challenge to the mainframe culture. Remember, engineers were not uncomfortable with computers; after all, the mainframes and many programs of the pre-desktop age were managed, designed and built by engineers. Engineers put man on the moon, analyzed nuclear plants to seismic forces and designed for extraordinary results in the age of slide rules. However, the new technology of the desktop computers created a paradigm for engineers that we have still not resolved today. It is widely assumed by the majority that engineers are fully competent in Word and Excel, so their needs are met and yet the truth is so different. Microsoft created their products for profit, not user awareness (unless you are a secretary or an accountant) or loyalty. The constant cycle of revisions and ‘improvements’ in the generic products created confusion and frustrations for many engineers. This fueled hermetic habits and many engineers still perform only hand calculations. Engineers for the most part appear to have become analysts and specialists, isolated and absorbed in the sophistry of 3D structural analysis packages.

Today’s engineering houses invest in the technology and training for designers and modelers. In the corporate budget, to drive costs down, engineers get zero training, unless they want to become managers.  The incredible capital costs of supporting the technology to drive productivity became the killing ground of competence. In an age where engineers sought to optimize material selection with structural performance, it became irrelevant in the face of speed and convenience. The reliance on previous designs became the wholesale justification for faster schedules and economies and the engineers are not keeping up with expected productivity so they are pushed further down the chain to support the designers and verify the design will work; regardless of whether the design is the best design.

Talent drainage is also a significant effect of the new technology. The new technology created new professional opportunities requiring the same talents that engineering normally attracted; only they paid more. I saw so many engineers of my age leave the profession to become computer specialists because salaries were better and it was perceived to be more exciting. Back in the 1990’s, I was offered such opportunities and was often tempted. It seemed also to happen one day the lords of the drawing boards retired en masse and the experience died with them. We had crossed a chasm without the continuity of new blood for the civil engineering profession. For the engineering graduate coming into the drawing office, it can take up to five years before they have overcome the culture shock. Many graduates will leave or ask to be transferred because they are not being taught the ropes, do not enjoy their role or wonder what they have signed up for. Civil and structural engineering societies everywhere are continuing to wrestle with these issues.

I have saved toxic habits for last. This is probably the biggest cancer within our profession and is the driving force behind my mission. This is the supervising engineer who says you cannot do calculations using Excel because it is wasting time. If you used Word to prepare your calculations, you could expect a disciplinary hearing. Yet they will permit you to do 3D detailed models. This supervising engineer is not acting as an inspirational engineering leader but a management leader and the habits they present are crucial.

Corporations abound with go-by examples, with proliferating numbers of pages, and say this is what you need to produce. It takes a special kind of engineer to go against the grain and argue differently. Engineers are not expected to challenge, only perform. In workshare arrangement, these go-by examples are copied faithfully and often get expanded. The toxic habits are the defaulting habits we accumulated over the last fifteen years from not knowing how use the desktop computer to our strategic advantage. I have seen simple structures take three months, 242 load combinations and 240 pages where one day, three load combinations and 4 pages would suffice. Everyone has their favorite horror story.

All of these factors and more, affect the way you do your calculations.

Let’s step back from the mirror now. That was a tough assessment but I want you to recognize that the profound changes within the profession and our roles cannot be understated.

The mind boggles that in fifteen years, we do not have an agreed on engineering standard for spreadsheets or calculations.

So just how can it be different?

I have always had a passion for calculations. Without immediately realizing the benefits of creating visual, compact and electronic style calculations that looked like an extension of the traditional calculations, I discovered that it improved my competency to an extraordinary degree, not just on the computer but also as an engineer. Checkers enjoyed checking my calculations, clients were impressed and I was training engineers who said they could not do it and sure enough they were doing it.

Overcoming their initial resistance, their enthusiasm was infectious. Suddenly, as a team, they were talking to each other, competing, swapping techniques and within weeks they were producing amazing standard calculations prolifically. We were using Word, Excel and VBA and beating deadlines for projects. All great news if we’re on a lump sum project but a skill that is becoming more necessary now.

There is a difference between becoming an engineering leader and a management leader. An engineering leader will spend a lifetime with engineering calculations and will be able to demonstrate their prowess and their knowledge; s/he will know how to inspire the team to follow their example and encourage new work practices to be developed. The humble calculations can become our greatest asset and we learn to look beyond the analysis to the bigger picture and the bigger role we should play in projects.

I use the calculations to plan the design, agree to the concepts amongst all the discipline and to collect all critical information for fabrication, construction, estimates and future projects. The basic blueprint for the calculations is agreed amongst the engineering and design team, QA and the client approval.

In the next installment, I will show you the building blocks to great calculations.