Basic Structural Education

Young engineers-in-training need mentors to show them how to progress from graduation to licensure and to grow in competence. College study introduces analysis and design of structures built with different materials, emphasizing the importance of defining clear load paths, and of tying a building’s components together. However, a mentor teaches the graduate about his or her responsibility to the public, helps that person to work through the business of engineering with a variety of people and disciplines, and defines company objectives. Graduates enter the workforce with many tools, but they do not know how to use them efficiently – it takes time to learn how to extrapolate a common textbook example into a real working problem, often requiring abstract thought.

A mentor guides a protégé through a relationship of trust, not merely a boring tirade of lecture, and certain expectations are therefore realized. An engineer-in-training should certainly be expected to exhibit a proper respect for the company, exercise honesty in all endeavors, attempt new ventures or problems, and be committed to licensure by the State authority. Respect is given to the company in the form of obedience to policy, acceptance of hierarchy, and appropriate representation to others. As an employee represents the good of their company, they also learn how to offer genuine respect to clients and governing bodies in the spirit of cooperation.

The Qualities of a Good Mentor

A training engineer will often be introduced to the term “standard of care” for the first time, at least from a practical standpoint. It is a mentor’s responsibility not only to instruct on this matter, but also to demonstrate. An engineer’s standard of care has been described in different references as follows: “An engineer will perform his/her duties with the same diligence and competence that other duly licensed engineers would do under similar conditions and circumstances.” This by no means indicates that an engineer’s work will be error-free, but that appropriate measures have been taken to minimize error and uncertainty in all designs and dealings with the public. A mentor demonstrates diligence through personal times of study, continuing involvement in professional societies, integrity in research and all business matters, and by an active role in the completion of structures for which he or she is responsible.

There are other qualities that a young graduate can expect from their mentor, including a sense of foresight and hindsight, tolerance and patience, flexibility, confidence, and clear communication. A mentor should be able to explain lessons that can be learned from mistakes (or outright disasters) from business dealings to the technical aspects of a project. These lessons come in the form of case studies through research, in-house discoveries, staff meetings, and many times in the field when something doesn’t go according to plan. Experienced engineers learn to listen carefully to all parties who may be involved in a particular situation, from the owner to the contractor, and understand how to sort through the wild stories and physical data in order to get at the facts. A mentor can demonstrate this process, but it is more important to guide an engineer-in-training through the discovery of these truths for themselves. Foresight is offered to a new employee in the form of recognizing potential, knowing how to capitalize on strong points, and an ability to encourage or admonish without frustrating either the student or the teacher.

Tolerance and patience are sometimes offered in response to poor employee habits with the hope that things will change for the better. This approach is rarely effective; laziness, poor behavior, and habitual mistakes cannot be glossed over or solved through a strategy of “wait and see.” No one enjoys confrontation, but sometimes it is necessary to refocus a new employee on the goals and direction of not only the company, but also of that individual’s professional advancement.

To be tolerant means that a mentor is willing and able to work with all types of people, their idiosyncrasies, and various paces of learning. It takes time for some students to get a “feel” for what they are doing, but a mentor must patiently navigate through the experiences. Many times a display of patience means that immediate work does not get completed. However, the time spent in making sure that a new engineer clearly understands what he or she is doing will substantially benefit everyone involved. Both teacher and student must avoid the temptation to speed through a learning moment. Instead, learn to ask questions and share solutions.

Elements of Strategic Mentoring

It is helpful for a mentor to have a strategy for training that displays an appropriate attitude and follows effective methods. A strategic attitude towards a mentoring relationship has 5 basic elements, some of which have already been briefly covered:

1. View the needs of your protégé as more important than your own. Be willing to set aside your own work in order to help a trainee get back on the right track with their work. Listen carefully to the description of the problem, ask appropriate questions, and listen again in order to develop a picture of what the employee is stuck on and formulate a helpful response. It is important for a young engineer to feel genuinely appreciated.

2. Exercise patience in all things. Society moves quickly, but engineering is not a profession that can be easily stuffed into a microwave. A solution to a problem may come quickly, but it takes time to thoroughly understand the principles, both technical and practical, behind its discovery. Some things may require ongoing discussion until a student has learned to discover these truths for themselves, but patience will reap big rewards and leaps of growth. The well-known adage, “teach a person to fish and you will feed him/her for a lifetime,” also applies to the training of new engineers.

3. Be willing to accept solutions that differ from your own. Experienced engineers sometimes have difficulty accepting a perfectly sound solution to a problem that does not match what they have predetermined to be correct, failing to remember that there are many ways to support a beam or brace a column. Any solution that can be justified through sound engineering mechanics and reasonable economics, including important considerations of material and labor, should be carefully considered for acceptance and perhaps rewarded with an expression of praise. If acceptance is not viable, the young engineer deserves a thoughtful explanation. Have a student explain the steps used to arrive at a particular conclusion and recognize good problem solving patterns.

4. Exhibit humble confidence in conclusions and corrections. Design decisions are defended by means of experience, calculation, or research and the conclusions should be offered in a way that allows for respectable discussion if there is disagreement. A “know-it-all” attitude only closes minds and tends to stick as a negative personality trait over the course of a person’s career. Be confident in your conclusions, but also be willing to carefully explain them to anyone who may disagree with or question them. Be willing to abandon erroneous conclusions and acknowledge those who have set you straight.

   A carefully delivered correction to a mistake or misunderstanding has a far greater impact than words that are tossed out in a hurry. No one likes to be wrong, but everyone needs to develop the ability to appreciate correction in order to avoid making the same mistakes again. It is often helpful to ask questions to get a student to discover for themselves what went wrong.

5. Show genuine interest in a protégé’s life outside the office. Get to know about a student’s family, living arrangements, and different hobbies or interests. Sympathize with difficulty and share in new joys and experiences. Transitioning from student life to that of working citizen may be difficult, sometimes traumatic, and takes adjustment. A new employee needs a friend to share the burden and an effective mentor must be willing to accommodate. A need may not be directly shared or described, so general questions about different activities related to daily life can put a teacher in close touch with the needs of a student.

Focus Areas of Strategic Training

A strategic method of training will involve 4 main areas of focus:

1. Teaching towards independence. Categories of knowledge important to the student include ethics and liability, business sense, delivering a well-defined product, and technical subjects. A mentor demonstrates competence to pique a desire for consistent growth and maturity - competence is the direct opposite of negligence, which is a punishable offence that all engineers strive to avoid in order to protect the public, as well as the assets and reputation of the company. Good business sense strongly depends on a company’s philosophy and goals, which must be taught through reference materials and in-house meetings or seminars.

   Technical subjects are intended to supplement the tools that a graduate brings to the table from university. There are often many new things to learn, including building codes or bridge design standards, designing against severe environmental phenomena, and how to think across different disciplines for the development of viable solutions to a problem. Much will be learned on the job, but a trainee who is serious about personal growth must be willing to spend personal time in study, refreshing existing knowledge, and discovering new subjects.

2. Rebuking poor practice. A “rebuke” is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary as “to blame or scold in a sharp way.” This doesn’t imply mindless ranting and raving, but a firm response when it is needed. It is easy for an engineer to get lost in the technical aspects of a project and to be blinded by the needs of an accelerated time schedule. A firm reminder of what that engineer is responsible for is sometimes needed. Considering the ramifications of a mistake or of carelessness, which includes possible death to a person who would use an engineer’s creation, brings every effort into proper focus and reemphasizes the standard of care. Professional licensing bodies take negligence and incompetence very seriously, and a mentor should do no less.

3. Correcting mistaken solutions. Human beings will make mistakes - that is one of the sureties of life. Errors may creep into a design as a result of intention, accident, or simply by nature of being unavoidable, such as limitations of analysis and material consistency. Tragedy occurs when a student fails to recognize a mistake and avoids the process of learning how to classify and correct it. A mentor must be strategic in correcting mistaken assumptions, methods, or understandings in such a way that the time is viewed as instructive, not demeaning or overly critical.

4. Evaluating true progress. Continual review is necessary to monitor a new engineer’s growth so that positive steps forward are made, and to correct any habits or behavior patterns that negatively affect advancement, both of the individual and of the company. If the same mistakes are being made continually, the root cause must be discovered: What changes might the employee need to make? What about the work environment? Is there a reasonable fit between mentor and student? Some graduates begin working assigned to an office whereas they may have expected to be serving in the field, and they have difficulty accepting certain realities of what the company needs and can provide.

   The workload of an engineer offers all extremes, from absolutely boring or frustrating to supremely exciting and fresh, and some new employees never learn how to ride the roller coaster. Evaluation is often thought of as a report or a special meeting, but a mentor is continually evaluating the progress of their protégé in order to make correction or offer rebuke at the appropriate time.

Conclusion

In summary, effective mentoring takes time, patience and a strong sense of direction and courage. Engineers-in-training often do not know how to progress towards licensure and beyond. They need the wisdom of an experienced engineer who will share in the trials and triumphs, confidently offering encouragement along the way in an effort to foster independent responsibility and unsupervised productivity so that a young protégé will also someday mentor another graduate. Society will benefit and the engineering profession can only be strengthened as experienced engineers train new employees. The goal to be the very best that they can be, and to continue “passing the torch” for as long as engineers continue to impact the world in which we all live.