Latest Water Technologies of Abengoa Water - GineersNow GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 022, Abe | Page 44

Engineers, There is a Lot to Learn From
Tradesmen, Foremen, and Workers
They know lots of on-site techniques which are acquired from experience.
You also need to learn that.
It is an established fact that engineers work
with designs and concepts out of the technical
knowledge learned in college. The work extends
to the application of theories in real life.
But some things that are solved in strenuous
computations and drawn on computer-aided
drawings do not fit in the actual: this is known
by tradesmen and technicians who see the
imperfections in the work because they are the
one who are hands on.
This is why engineers and their workers or
tradesmen debate often. When engineers
say that, “why didn”t this work when I did the
right computations and design?” to which the
technicians and tradesmen argue, “I tried it but it
just didn”t work;” they just have meet halfway.
Engineers can”t always be right and the workers
can”t always be right either. But at times when
there will be misunderstanding between the
two, each has to dig deep and find what the real
problem is: engineers have to check the work
of the tradesman if he employed the design,
and when found out that it isn’t feasible, then
the design needs to be revised; tradesman also
have to make sure with the engineer that he or
she did the computation and design correctly, or
he executed the plans as designed, which may
be the reason why it won”t work when done in
real life.
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Water Leaders • June 2017
It takes mutual learning and respect for an
engineering project to work. Engineers can”t
think highly of themselves because experienced
tradesmen and technicians hold the skills in that
particular field. Without them, the engineers”
plans on paper will never be materialized. At
certain points, the engineer and tradesman
have to be both the student and the teacher,
depending on the concept discussed.
When engineers learn from the tradesmen and
the other way around, there will form a certain
bond that both get to treasure forever. One day,
one of them will say, “I learned this because I
was taught by this engineer/tradesman.”
One best way, though, for engineers to
understand how to perform the calculations
he did is to get his hands on it, at least once
in a while. For example, engineers may design
something that can”t be welded because a
welder couldn”t get into a gap, but he or she
will never realize it because the engineer never
welded in his or her entire life.
Take a break from the laboratories or your office
and go out there. Every time an engineer picks
up a tool, even when he is not required to do it,
there will be something new that is learned that
will yield a better understanding at the side of
the tradesmen or technicians.