University of Maryland College Park - Terrapin / Reveille Yearbook (College Park, MD)

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Manufacturers are beginning to realize that something else besides manual dexterity is needed in the leaders of their establishments. Ability to read human nature, tact; realizing what is due from one human being to another, and deter- mination are some of the qualities demanded of those filling executive positions. A broad, or liberal, education aids one greatly in learning these. As to some of the advantages of the profession. It is independent. The salaries range from $i,ooo to $10,000. An engineer ' s attainments are so varied, that if the avenues in one line of business are filled, there are others to which he may turn. He is not hampered like a clerk or book-keeper. Drafting, machine work, teaching, mechanical expert, salesman, and even marine engineering are some of the lines along which employment may be secured. Engineering plants are thickly studded from Maine to California and from the Great lyakes to the Gulf, so the field of operation is large and the opportunities great. Young Reader, if you have the fondness for this sort of thing, and will be satisfied with a moderate income, by all means learn engineering. I know of no other business, or profession, which will afford 3 ou so much satisfaction and profit for the amount invested. Harry Gwinner. 17

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love of the business, but for profit, there is likely to be trouble and some one may perhaps be without a position. If he is of the class composing the third stage — that is educated in the prin- ciples and the carrying out of the same in the actual construction of such as illus- trate these, or by the solution of practical problems and applying them so far as possil)le ; instead of spending the time in the solution of problems which can never have any practical value, he will obtain the sort of knowledge which will be of use to him in the planning of work, to estimate its cost — which includes the time, labor and material. To tell if a machine is doing what it should, and, if not, to be able to locate the fault and correct. The engineering schools of today are doing a noble work along the lines of combining the practical with the theoretical. The same mathematics are taught as formerly, but taught in manner so that the student sees the real value of it. Industrial drawing is taught as before, but along the lines and on such problems as the student is likely to encounter after leaving college. Applied mechanics is taught so that the problems have a real meaning to him. He now knows that if the driving wheel of a locomotive, or stationary engine, goes beyond a certain number of revolutions, the centrifugal force will be so great as to destroy the wheel, and that no wheel can be constructed of sufficient strength to withstand this force ; unless the force is limited. This is a cold sort of world, so learn thoroughly what you attempt. You will .soon learn that 3 ' ou are to be paid for what you can do and not for what you know. Engineering does not mean simply the ability to put lines on paper, to repre- .sent .something, to survey a piece of land, to execute a piece of machine work within one one-thousandth of an inch, or to calculate how much water will flow through a pij e in a certain time. The.se aie merely elementary. If you will take a catalogue containing an engineering course and turn to the outline of the course, you will notice subjects which appear to ha -e no bearing upon it. The investigator says I don ' t .see why I should learn french, german, civics, economics or history. How will the - assist me in earning a living ? The.se subjects are for the purpo.se of giving what is known as a liberal edu- cation. It is true the engineer of todaj- must be a si)ecialist — that is to concen- trate his efforts along certain lines — but he should have that sort of knowledge which will enable him to take a broad view of any sul)ject. But why .should the would be engineer know all of these, including analytics and calculus ? Why not ])ut him in the shop and let him learn to chip, file and to operate the various machines? That is the projier thing to do if the object is to make a machinist, or producer, out of him. But a new light is beaming now, which casts the shadows spelling the lines The cultured mind, The .skillful hand. 16

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Cobey. C LM and serene as you find en:, Olt er by far than his years, Blessed with a good store of knowledge, Ever at ease he appears — 1 es, by his charms he endears. Hardisty. High in the heavens he rises, y nd high in his cla.ssniates ' esteem, Rolling the foot-ball score upward Di ring his work on the team: In all things polite and obliging, Sweet on the ladies we fear — Tl i i the man whose cognomen You find in the capitals here. i8