Three Things They Should Teach in Engineering 101

Lesson Number One

Do you remember your introductory course to engineering? At most, I'll venture that you are not sure you even had a 101 course. It's likely that you did and like the course I had, it really didn't amount to much. In fact I don't remember anything except that it was supposed to be an "Introduction to Engineering."

Much later on in my senior year, and shortly after I graduated, I learned three very useful methodologies for any engineer. They are so beneficial that I sincerely wish they had taught these three things from the beginning of my desire to become an engineer. In fact, I think that this should be basic, basic, BASIC knowledge that any aspiring engineer should know. The first of these skills is unit math, the second is intuitive signal analysis, and the third involves comparing the physical world to the electrical world. If any of you have not learned these skills please read on. I promise that by using these in your day to day engineering methods that you will be more successful, and besides that, everyone you work with will think you are a genius. If you are a student reading this, you will be amazed at how many problems you can solve with these skills. So read on and enjoy.

Engineering 101, Unit Math

This is the skill that one of my favorite teachers drilled into me my senior year. Till I understood this, I forced myself to memorize hundreds of equations just to pass tests. What do you know? After applying this skill, with just a few equations and a little algebra, suddenly the world made sense. Remember those dreaded story problems that you had to do in physics? After learning unit math, those problems became a breeze to do without even breaking a sweat.

With unit math the units that the quantities are in become very important. You don't just toss them aside because you can't put them in your calculator. In fact, you work out the units you want in your answer and then work the problem backwards to figure out what you need to solve. You do all this before you do anything with the numbers. The basic concept of this was taught clear back in algebra, but no one told you to do it with the units. Let's look at a very simple example.

You need to know how fast your car is moving in mph. You know it traveled one mile in one minute. The first thing you need to do is figure out the units of the answer. In this case it is mph or miles per hour. Now write that down (remember per means divided by).

Now arrange the data that you have in a format that will give you the units you want in the answer.

Notice how the minutes cancel out using algebra and what you are left with is 60 miles/hour or 60 mph, which is the correct answer. Now you might be saying to yourself that was easy. You are right! That is the point after all to make it easier. If you follow this basic format most of the 'story problems' you encounter every day will bow effortlessly to your machinations.

Another excellent place to use this technique is for solution verification. If the answer doesn't come out in the right units, most likely something was wrong in your calculation. I always put units of numbers and equations I use in MathCad (a tool no engineer should be without.) To see the correct units when it is all said and done confirms that the equations are setup properly. (The nice thing about MathCad is it automatically handles the conversions that are often needed) Whenever you come upon a question that seems to have a whole pile of data and you have no idea where to begin figure out what units you want the answer in. Then, shape that pile of data till the units match the units needed for the answer.

Remember this: By letting the units mean something in the problem, the answer you get will actually mean something too.

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