[SI-LIST] Re: [OT] Offshore engineering
- From: "Chris McGrath" <chris.mcgrath@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 09:32:55 -0800
I didn't know if I wanted to respond on this, but since you asked....
I think that the root of all of this is the fact that Americans are
failing to "homegrow" their engineers. By that, I mean that engineering
(EE) graduation rates of Americans has been shrinking in proportion to
the global EE graduation population since the early 80's and it is
showing no signs of increasing. This is a fundamental problem in that
kids don't want to be engineers and I don't think that our educational
system places enough emphasis on science and math in the curriculum or
in who is teaching the kids. In college (mid 90's), I had a number of
friends that went on to teach a variety of grade school and high school
subjects (including math and science) and not one of them majored in
math or any science field. When I sat in class (in college), I don't
believe that at any time in any math, science, or engineering class was
I in the ethnic majority. As a disclaimer, I think that encouraging
more Americans to be engineers does not insinuate that other countries
should be discouraged to continue educating their populations for
careers in engineering. As Americans, we can learn from other cultures
in this area.
Another idea on the topic that is more related to the industry right now
is that despite the promise of cheaper yet equally competent offshore
contracting facilities (or even branches of the same company that may be
based in the US), I know from experience that geography plays a big role
in how companies are able to communicate (the cornerstone of
development). My current company frequently has communication
breakdowns between our own development centers on shared development
projects and the root of this often (here and elsewhere) simply has to
do with rapid growth and acquisition. The last company I worked for
(Marconi Networks) shipped in engineers from the UK, Ireland, Pakistan,
India, and several other countries for a project so that we could all
work in the same building with the idea that the project would be
developed faster and better if everybody was in a common place. From
these experiences, I believe that if a company wants to increase time to
market then the likelihood of using offshore companies is reduced. Just
as with other sectors, if the target is lower cost on an extended
schedule then there is a greater possibility that offshore (non-US)
companies will be utilized.
Rolling all of this together, I think that without a sound base of
engineering talent that is a citizen of the US (or other country
previously mentioned in other posts like the UK), we cannot avoid the
trend to move engineering facilities offshore since the cost of visas
(and limitations/hassles) is high. Like anything, I think there is a
place in the market for all business models and most companies will
likely use a combination of both models.
What can we do? The only thing that I have come up with that we, as
engineering professionals, can attempt to do is to encourage young
people and young engineers to enter and, perhaps more importantly, stay
in the profession. One way to do that is to try and start a mentoring
program at your company for new graduates. Several of my friends from
college worked as engineers for a few years and have already gotten
their MBAs and gone into finance and I think that part of the reason is
that they didn't like their job and, as a new graduate, their impression
of their career. During my college internship as well as at my first
job there was some level of encouragement (formal or informal) for
senior engineers to take extra time to mentor me and other new
graduates. Another thing to do (that I am beginning to take part in) is
to participate in forums for college level engineers or even high school
students to talk about what engineers actually do. With all of the
experience of the people on this list, I think that there is a wealth of
information to share and from the heated discussions that often erupt
(usually in good taste) I can tell that there is great deal of pride in
your work. This should be shared with younger people. I was lucky to
have my Dad be in technology all of his life and share that passion with
me and I'm positive that it influenced my life from an early age.
-Chris
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Sefton [mailto:rsefton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]=20
> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 11:24 AM
> To: si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: [OT] Offshore engineering
>=20
>=20
> I enthusiastically agree that this is a relevant and very=20
> interesting topic. I wish more people would chime in because=20
> I don't have a good feel yet for where the majority stands on=20
> it. There was a long thread on this same topic on the=20
> [pcdlist] several weeks ago, and the PCB layout community is=20
> downright scared about the offshore trend in that industry.
>=20
> My opinion: I have almost blind faith in the free market as=20
> the ultimate equalizer. In the long term the market will=20
> decide the most efficient model for each phase of product=20
> development, and it may be that the most efficient model=20
> right now is cheap foreign engineers. Could be a painful next=20
> couple of decades for engineers in the U.S., but I also have=20
> almost blind faith that the U.S. has the closest thing on=20
> this planet to a true free market and will always rise to the=20
> top eventually. I say let the market rule.
>=20
> Robert
>=20
>=20
> ----- Original Message -----=20
> From: "Zabinski, Patrick J." <zabinski.patrick@xxxxxxxx>
> To: <si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 5:22 AM
> Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: [OT] Offshore engineering
>=20
>=20
> >
> > Martin,
> >
> > Although not necessarily a technical topic, I do believe
> > the topic is relevant to this forum (albeit we should=20
> constrain such=20
> > discussions to a minimum).
> >
>=20
>=20
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