Engineers

[Butch (cb)]

I joined BT when I was 29. I got the opportunity to study for an ONC in telecommunications and later an HNC in business and finance. Very little of what I studied was of practical use to me.

It's interesting. The HNC I did on mechanical engineering was all very technical. When I went back some years later and did an HND in computer science there were elements of management theory and company structure that I've since found very useful and consider a good inclusion in the course. Was there no expectation that as mechanical engineering technicians (my title after finishing my apprenticeship) that we might one day move into management?   

[Topdad]

my Brother is a retired metallurgist , now 76  hew as highly rated by the shop floor guys for always being there and not being scared of getting his hands dirty . he put it down to his first uni course where he did 6 mths foundry and 6 mths in uni , worked for him , i'm still better than he is at sorting engines but thats all !

[BSA_54A10]

my Brother is a retired metallurgist , now 76  hew as highly rated by the shop floor guys for always being there and not being scared of getting his hands dirty . he put it down to his first uni course where he did 6 mths foundry and 6 mths in uni , worked for him , i'm still better than he is at sorting engines but thats all !

Not that as a graduate metallurgist I would have any bias whatsoever, but metallurgists tend to be like that.
Very few plants actually need a full time metallurgist so metallurgist used to be expected to do a wide range of jobs from chemists through to engineers .
The MBA crowd can not understand that as a metallurgist I could also be an analyitical chemist , shift supervisor , charge maker, metallographer, salesperson & customer consultant .
No prac in my BTechMet which I got lumbered with in place of the BAppSciMlly to distinguish me from the full time students as I had to go part time when work pressures became too much.
None of the greduated from the 2 years in front of me or the 5 years after till the school got adsorbed into Mining then dropped all together are working metallurgist .
Most ended up in associated professions .
The school of metallurgy at TAFE was actually part of NSWIT which under Dawkins reforms became UTS so the chancellor got paid 3 times as much for doing the exact same job, but actually did not graduate any diplome or certificate metallurgists after 1975 when it just taught metallurgy to welders, engineers , electroplaters, electricians, foundry workers etc etc .
When I was a lad the mower shop had mower mechanics who had all served an apprenticeship.
Now they have "technicians" who legally do not need any qualifications whatsoever , which includes yours truely .
If I call myself a "mechanic" I can not get insurance unless I have a recognised trade certificate but if I call myself a technician they will insure me.
Not to the general public, a "technician" would appear to be senior to a mechanic where as in reality they are not.
If you look at the "qualifications" of those fingernail technicians you will see they are issued by some sort of trade organization not a recognised tertiary instution