Wow, today I am smarter.

That is some pretty cool stuff.

 

Dang. I was hoping they just discovered East and West poles on magnets.

 

Dang. I was hoping they just discovered East and West poles on magnets.

Oh the controversy that would spur. During my two years as a high school science teacher, I had enough angry parents beating my office door down that all those "imaginary concepts of magnetism" were too hard for little Johnny and Mary to grasp. And, "Johnny and Mary didn't take AP physics to lower their GPA". Now double the number of poles - the complexity and additional things one must learn!!! Poor Johnny and Mary, they will never see success and happiness.

 

Oh the controversy that would spur. During my two years as a high school science teacher, I had enough angry parents beating my office door down that all those "imaginary concepts of magnetism" were too hard for little Johnny and Mary to grasp. And, "Johnny and Mary didn't take AP physics to lower their GPA". Now double the number of poles - the complexity and additional things one must learn!!! Poor Johnny and Mary, they will never see success and happiness.

Now you know why the U.S. is lagging behind the rest of the world in STEM. Many (but not all) parents seem to want the school system dumbed down and reduced to a social service instead of an educational facility.

 

Now you know why the U.S. is lagging behind the rest of the world in STEM. Many (but not all) parents seem to want the school system dumbed down and reduced to a social service instead of an educational facility.

"Now I know?" That happened in the 1980's. I've known for a while.

 

"Now I know?" That happened in the 1980's. I've known for a while.

Unfortunately, the U.S. is raising a generation qualified to work only in government administrative jobs. I know this from my experience with San Francisco's transit agency which is top heavy with administrators who just hold a desk down and draw a pay check. On the other hand, there's a shortage of workers who actually pull a wrench or use a meter to keep buses and trains running.

 

Unfortunately, the U.S. is raising a generation qualified to work only in government administrative jobs. I know this from my experience with San Francisco's transit agency which is top heavy with administrators who just hold a desk down and draw a pay check. On the other hand, there's a shortage of workers who actually pull a wrench or use a meter to keep buses and trains running.

It depends completely on the schools you are recruiting from and the pay offered. Top graduates from the top schools in each state can get you kids that will put a smile on your face. We just made offers and, after a round of negotiation, they were accepted. One woman we hired is amazing. High level technical concepts, estimations, good decision making skills, good communication/presentation skills and a firm grasp of how companies make money (aka: financial acumen). When I say "good", I mean she she will be ready to be a director of an engineering group within five years. Just great! The other offer was accepted by someone with similar skills but a bit lower on the communication skills but great depth in electronics in addition to his chemical engineering skills. Amazing kids. Also, we only had two openings for entry level engineers but I would have been happy with 6 from each of the schools I visited (Ohio State, Purdue, Pitt, Penn State, Akron, Case Western, Michigan & Michigan State). That is just my driving radius - there are plenty of good schools of that category or better.

They are out there. It take time to find them, and it takes good offers to get them.

 

 

It depends completely on the schools you are recruiting from and the pay offered. Top graduates from the top schools in each state can get you kids that will put a smile on your face. We just made offers and, after a round of negotiation, they were accepted. One woman we hired is amazing. High level technical concepts, estimations, good decision making skills, good communication/presentation skills and a firm grasp of how companies make money (aka: financial acumen). When I say "good", I mean she she will be ready to be a director of an engineering group within five years. Just great! The other offer was accepted by someone with similar skills but a bit lower on the communication skills but great depth in electronics in addition to his chemical engineering skills. Amazing kids. Also, we only had two openings for entry level engineers but I would have been happy with 6 from each of the schools I visited (Ohio State, Purdue, Pitt, Penn State, Akron, Case Western, Michigan & Michigan State). That is just my driving radius - there are plenty of good schools of that category or better.
Unfortunately, the students that you describe are in the minority and the majority are not being educated to do anything of value. In San Francisco area, the majority rules and we've got a huge number of people on a social welfare program masquerading as government administrators.
They are out there. It take time to find them, and it takes good offers to get them.

 

Unfortunately, the students that you describe are in the minority and the majority are not being educated to do anything of value. In San Francisco area, the majority rules and we've got a huge number of people on a social welfare program masquerading as government administrators.

The state found people that were good enough from their perspective:
- Enough education,
- willing to accept the job at the pay offered,
- ok with no merit-based advancement,
- likely will stay on the job for life.

Offering a job like that to a highly motivated, highly skilled, highly competitive person is a waste of everyone's time. They won't stay in the position more than a year. Good enough. Standards were set years ago. All they have to do is punch the clock and make black-and -white decisions about rules that already exist. That is the view if the hiring manager. From your view, they should offer customer service and keep up with technology changes in the field. Sorry, they will lag 10 years behind the technology with hopes that elevator companies will stop pushing the technology envelope.

 

Actually, we do have a lot of skilled blue collar workers at our transit agency that know how to keep equipment up and running. In San Francisco, most people cannot commute to work by car and without them, the hold rate (vehicles out of service) would be so high that no one could get anywhere by transit. However, hiring these workers seems to be a low priority and the agency is top heavy (in both personnel and salaries) with administrators.

 

This is actually a great way to demonstrate nuclear force and the Coulomb barrier. I was looking for some device just like this. Thanks for sharing