Maybe like our Apprentice, after five years and time off for College and he passed his exams and then legged it to work with Connex on the Railway signalling equipment, what a waste of time that was.

Needless to say we did not take on another one.

Clive

I started my apprenticeship in 1964, at the interview I well remember having it explained to me that the aircraft industry ran a more or less common apprenticeship scheme and they didn't discourage people to leave at the end of their time. The theory was that there would be a sort of circular movement across the industry. Thus spreading the knowledge

Of course succesive Governments put paid to that by getting rid of industry.

Back to the subject "Where will the next generation of Engineers come from" the answer is clearly China.

cheers

Bill

"where will the next generation of engineers come from"…

Sounds like someone, needs sitting down for "The Talk"…..

If they come from India or China they won't be the same as has gone before.

For a start they will undersatnd computer pprograms far in advance of what we are used to.

In fact engineering is a very wide base, manufacturing, software, development.

Engineeres design computer chips and build the machines to make them, how many here who regard themselves as engineers can do this or have eve seen this.

As I said previously times are changing.

For a start they will understand computer programs far in advance of what we are used to

—

I'm sceptical

DOS was dropped because so few people could program well in machine code and the drive for higher level languages started with windows 3.1(ugh)

The original DOS coders were stonemasons, highly skilled, very expensive and hard to control

So they invented higher level languages and replaced stomemasons with brickies( c, c+, c++ etc) because this meant software, like brick houses, was easier to mass produce AND maintain

Nowadays some of the higher level stuff is virtually plug-in sections of a wall, with any wiring and plumbing already built in

For pure research and speed they still use machine code, I recently read that graphics cards were becoming very popular for linear maths and research

The other issue is bloatware

DOS could do everything at blinding speed with 4Megabytes

Windows is what now? 1500 Megabytes, 1.5 Gigabytes

Things "look good" because of advancements in chip speed, graphics cards and memory, However anything written in DOS on our current hardware runs at jaw dropping speed

I think the military and Healthcare industries still do a lot of machine code, mainly because these are "critical" applications

Edited By Ady1 on 23/09/2012 01:33:07

I think what we are really looking at here is the Apprentice/man who can approach a task with certain background Knowledge and complete his part of the task whether it is using a file or soldering a PCB together and better still be able to use a lathe/Mill and understand Metrology.

The extra knowledge is an understanding of materiels and application of types of tooling that is needed.

There are 'Niche' trades where a lot of mechanical knowhow is not needed and is quite specialized and offer welding and metal cutting of various types as they support other trades.

After all, someone who takes Engineering as a trade/Career will follow a disciplne, but the basic tenants remain of getting your hands dirty and getting experience.

This part is where experienced Engineers pass on that knowhow to eager apprentices ! You dont get it all from books.

Clive

ello Ady1!
Good morning.
On the matter of developing new programming languages, please read the interview given by Mr. Bjarn Stroustrap **LINK** , the C++ creator he gave January 1998.

—-

LOL

The biggest problem is… no-one will ever be sure if it's a spoof or not

If its true it certainly helps to explain why all those UK Government projects for an integrated NHS system or an Integrated Welfare system have massive overruns or go t*ts up

Glad I stuck with BASIC and assembly

Edited By Ady1 on 23/09/2012 10:05:34

Centre lathe turner or miller may not exist any more but I am bombarded every day with online vacancies for CNC Millers & Turners mainly north of Birmingham or south coast. The next generation of Engineers are out there just waiting to be called on, instead of employing foreigners how about training our younger generation and giving them self respect and a skill to take them onwards in their life. Successive goverments really are not getting it that keeping millions of people at home doing sweet FA and getting paid for it leads this country no where but down.

Tony

It's not just the younger generation needing skills. I'm 47 now and trying to get into some kind of trainee engineering role. I look at job listings daily and see a few for experienced manual miller/turner and for each of those there's at least 5 or 6 CNC miller/turner jobs.

Trouble is even when you apply for something the middle-man agencies and employment bureaus aren't interested, they don't call you back, some of them have a can't-be-bothered attitude if you speak to them on the phone.

The next generation of engineers, like the last one, will come from our universities. What proportion will be British by birth is a question that will be govened by the standard of pre-university science and maths education and the financial models available to different students. As a product of a 1960s student apprenticeship I know it was the factory that gave me skills and university that made me an engineer but my branch of engineering (automotive) is today dominated by mathmatical modelling as much as metal and materials science. Key to the continued success of our University education system will be the extent to which Mechatronics is taught and lab facilities are made available in the teeth of financial cut-backs and inappropriatly applied legislation.

Tony (Visiting professor of powertrain engineering, University of Bradford)

I hate to throw a spanner into the works, but would anyone care to define the word "Engineer"? It seems to be used to describe anyone from a spotty sixteen year-old to a Rocket Scientist.

Pete