[modeleng] Engineers/machinists

Modelers,
I have a friend and collaborator on some of my projects for Live Steam and 
Outdoor Railroading (formally Live Steam).  Friend's name is Bill Bowser and he 
is a retired ME living in Cincinnati, Ohio USA.  I have forwarded the 
discussion that took place yesterday about the failure of our schooling systems 
on to him and this is his reply.

Jesse the Redneck in Tennessee

Unfortunately there really isn't anything new here. This has been going on for 
my entire career. Actually similar transitions have occurred throughout the 
ages. Think of all the technology that was developed to build such things as 
the pyramids in Egypt that has been forgotten. During the cold war I came to 
the realization that in the event of a nuclear war the primitive civilizations 
of the world would be the only ones to survive, partly because no one would 
bother to bomb them and they didn't depend on modern technology to survive. 
Without modern infrastructure modern societies would quickly perish.

The fact that so many young engineers have no practical experience or aptitude 
is particularly troubling. When I was in engineering school we had courses 
which included work in a foundry, weld shop, machine shop, etc. Most of the 
guys got an appreciation of how things were made, but some didn't seem to get 
it. There was one guy in most of my shop classes who had a very high grade 
point average who probably couldn't figure out how to pour piss out of a boot 
if the instructions were printed on the heel. He usually would screw something 
up big time, or wreck something if given the opportunity. I'll never forget; 
his name was Wilmot George Brown. What a moron. I should Google that name and 
see what I can find.

Bill Bowser in Hudson, Florida USA
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