View Full Version : Are your relatives engineers or scientists
Jurrasic
Feb7-10, 01:26 AM
How typical is it that an engineering or science student also has other relatives in their family who are also engineers or scientists ?
It it common that the student would have a parent who doesn't give a rat about anything scientific or engineering like? Or is this sort of impossible?
Astronuc
Feb7-10, 06:08 AM
My father is a minister. My siblings are doctors. I'm the only engineer.
I was better in math and science than my siblings :rolleyes:
My dad was an chemical engineer.
Two of my sisters were programmers, but married engineers (chemical and mechanical).
A third sister was a biologist that became a college professor, but she married a geologist.
I dated a chemical engineer.
My dad is a Civil Engineer (step-dad too, guess my mom has a thing for them). On my dad's side of the family, there are loads of scientists and engineers.
Two of my brothers are engineers (one electronics, the other maritime) and one is a programmer.
I'm the first female in my family in the STEM fields - most before me didn't have the opportunities I had.
My younger cousin and I are the first two of our extended family (and the only ones in our immediate families) to attend college. He is a project leader for Lockheed Martin and headed up their team on the recent HST upgrade mission, though he did a long stint working for GE on defense contracts. I have worked as a soils scientist and a process chemist in a pulp mill though I don't have an engineering degree in either - just an aptitude for and love of lab work. Now in forced retirement due to disability, I am free to pursue my avocation - observational astronomy relating to galactic interactions.
Rough genealogy:
Dad's Side: Mostly musicians(my greatgrandfather and my grandfather were coposes) and mechanical engineers, however, my OTHER great grandfather was a mathematician who worked under Landau and Hilbert.
Mom's side: Farmers and Buddhist monks.
Klockan3
Feb8-10, 12:15 AM
Dad's side: Granddad was an engineer with a degree in engineering physics, Grandma was a mathematician, dad is a physician with most of an engineer degree his brother got a business masters.
Mom's side: Granddad was an architect, grandma was a Cantor+Schoolteacher, mother is designer. She got no siblings.
2 of my male cousins are engineers, my female cousin is studying to be a teacher, my oldest sibling is an engineer+business double master.
Myself I am not that ambitious so I am currently working on a pure maths + theoretical physics double masters, intending to take a phd afterwards.
If you wonder, where I live masters is the normal degree to take, it is quite uncommon to just take a bachelor in these fields.
My dad was an Electrical Engineer. My mother worked for Dr Michael Debakey as a nutritionist for his experimental patients at Baylor. Her father was an architect. One uncle was a dentist, my cousin is an MD. One of my sisters is a psychologist, the other is a pharmacist.
Jimmy Snyder
Feb8-10, 10:25 AM
I'm a software engineer, but my degree is in Mathematics. My brother is an electronics engineer, and a cousin is a engineer in power equipment. My brother definitely influenced me. When I started university my major was electronics engineering. I switched to math because I was having trouble with the physics.
Astronuc
Feb8-10, 10:43 AM
My mother worked for Dr Michael Debakey as a nutritionist for his experimental patients at Baylor. That's an interesting coincidence. My mom took care of many of Debakey's patients at Methodist Hospital.
Dembadon
Feb8-10, 12:18 PM
As far (back) as I know:
The males on both sides of my family were/are all tradesmen. The females were/are all teachers [K-12 (mostly kindergarten)]. All chose to follow in the footsteps of their same sex parent.
Going back, I came from a long line of loggers, farmers, and poachers (all). When the great depression hit, some managed to stay put, and others moved to the river-towns to take whatever jobs there were, so most ended up doing mill-work or some kind or other. Most of the females did not work out of the home, and the large sizes of French-Canadian families gave them plenty to do at home, anyway, especially if they were expected to garden, collect fruits and berries in season, freeze and can food, etc.
That's an interesting coincidence. My mom took care of many of Debakey's patients at Methodist Hospital.Really? My mother worked for him around 1973? Just a guess based on how old my youngest sister was at the time. She was a toddler.
Astronuc
Feb8-10, 04:47 PM
Really? My mother worked for him around 1973? Just a guess based on how old my youngest sister was at the time. She was a toddler. My mom worked at MH from about 1971 to some time in the late 90's.
My dad is a cost manager for an HVAC company, my mom is a college administrator.
Both of their moms (my grandmas) worked at a fishing lure company painting jigs. My dads dad was a police chief and a logger and a drywall hanger and a etc. etc! I think he has had 12 jobs throughout his life and finished up with being the police chief.
My great grandpa on my grandpas side held the last commercial fisherman license in Minnesota.
My grandmas grandma was the daughter of Count Montalto of Venice and was disenherited for marrying a blacksmith. This is when they moved to the US.
Dolphiney
Feb8-10, 05:09 PM
Oh a nice family tree! :biggrin:
story645
Feb8-10, 05:25 PM
I inadvertently picked up programming from my mom, psychology from my dad.
On my mom's side, my grandmother is a structural (civil) engineer and taught math at a university in Azerbaijan (where they're from). She wanted to collect degrees, but my grandfather didn't want her to be that much more educated than him. My grandfather owned a car manufacturing plant over there, drove a taxi when they got stateside. My mom's got a degree in accounting, works as a programmer, and wanted to be a history major.
On my dad's side, my grandfather was in construction (foreman and the like), my grandma did a brief stint as a phlebotomist, and I don't know what they did back in Ukraine (probably factory owner or sales). My dad's a college drop out, but now he works in psychology/special ed.
My twin brother's a political science major/wannabee lawyer, which I think is a cute gender reversal, but I'm convinced he'd make a good engineer.
Mom (Business major, college dropout who works in a NGO)
Mom's side: grandfather (Navy Sailor, not US Navy), and grandmother (Finance, college drop out), uncle (Mechanical Engineer)
Dad (Civil Engineer, retired at 55)
Dad's side: grandfather (Dentist), grandmother (socialite, you know model, fashion, ...), uncle (Lawyer), aunt (Business, college dropout).
My sister is an architect who only had 1 semester left to graduate, but she decided to change major to Business and went to the US for it.
I'm the only one besides my Dad with a Master degree, but I'll be the only one of the family with a Master in Science degree in Civil Engineering. However, my family is full of entrepreneurs. My dad, my lawyer uncle, my mechanical engineer uncle, my grandfather's brother have owned and ran some of the most successful businesses in my country. The most successful ran by my grandfather's brother, and a runner-up will be my Dad.
Going even farther back in my family, the progenitor for my father's mother's family was a Hessian officer (German mercenary) that fought for England in the Rev War, and chose to accept land and a grub-stake in Prince Edward Island instead of transport back to Germany and a bag of gold. On my father's father's side, his progenitors were Irish immigrants (farmers) and his mother's family were Irish immigrants (fishermen), both of which clans came to Maine during the potato famine in the mid-1800s.
There are some pretty pricey properties named for my family, although they were very poor hardscrabble places back in the day. Orr's Island and Bailey's Island (both in Harpswell, ME) were loaded with poor fishing villages long before the islands became popular as summer-homes from the wealthy people "from away". Want to buy a place there now? You might have to buy it from a Wall Street investment banker.
I'm sure my ancestors on my dad's side were all highwaymen & cutpurses. :biggrin: The only exception being his father's cousin.
rewebster
Feb8-10, 06:30 PM
My dad was an engineer on the Mercury and Gemini projects, and my great, great, great uncle was hanged for being a horse thief.
Phyisab****
Feb8-10, 06:36 PM
1. My dad is a mechanical engineer
2. My mom has a chem eng. degree but is not an engineer
3. One grandfather has a physics Ph. D. and is currently a professor.
4. Other grandfather has an eng degree.
5. I have 5 aunts and uncles with physics or engineering degrees. Also one is currently a professor of applied mathematics.
I had a roommate who was the first in his family to go to college. Whenever I was having trouble with a problem he would poke fun at me: "comon man, you come from a long line of scholars!"
I'm sure my ancestors on my dad's side were all highwaymen & cutpurses. :biggrin: The only exception being his father's cousin.My sister's deceased husband's male progenitors were highwaymen. There is a very long stretch between Quebec City and Bingham, Maine where there were few secure, reliable stops on the Old Canada Road. If your stage-coach suffered mechanical problems, you lost more than a single horse, etc, etc, you would be prey.
Brian_C
Feb15-10, 10:48 PM
Several of my ancestors were engineers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of them was a Civil Engineer who oversaw irrigation projects in west Texas. This stuff is in my blood.
Math Is Hard
Feb15-10, 11:09 PM
My biological dad is a musician. My mom is a housewife (but she did win a science fair as a youngster and got to have lunch with Werner Von Braun as part of the prize). I have a cousin who was an astronaut.
My family tree also seems to have a good number of cattle rustlers.
My parents were the first one to get into college. Looks like both me and my sister will be the first ones to go beyond undergrad. I will be the first engineer in my whole family.
theJorge551
Feb16-10, 10:36 AM
My family has a long line of woodworkers and farmers from rural Spain, I have a few family members who became nurses and one great-uncle who became a doctor with his own practice. My parents are both biologists with undergrad degrees (my father specifically went into immunohistochemistry), and my mother prefers to work in reproductive medicine. I'm the first member of my family who has any desire to get a degree in physics, let alone a graduate degree in the subject.
qspeechc
Feb17-10, 07:13 AM
My father is (was, he left the profession) a civil engineer.
My mother's side of the family is, well, un-notable.
My parents are both pharmacists and business owners. I have two sisters, both did double masters in business administration and mathematics. I have an uncle who is a web designer, and his wife is a web designer as well, I have another uncle who was originally a programmer, but later became a C.F.A, and his wife is a lawyer. I have another uncle who is a mechanical/environmental engineer and his wife is a biochemist.
I never really interacted much with anyone other than my parents and sisters, and within my direct family, if anything, I was urged to go into business. I came to my own conclusion from when I was just around 8 years old or so that I would become a physicist one day, a decade has passed and I stand by my decision. Regardless of whether my family was full of physicists/engineers, or people in vastly different careers, I think physics is in my genes, and thus no environmental stimuli would be sufficient to change my career path.
Nikitin
Feb20-11, 09:23 AM
My sister is an architect who only had 1 semester left to graduate, but she decided to change major to Business and went to the US for it.
wow that's a pretty heavy fail right there.. no offence
Jack21222
Feb20-11, 12:07 PM
My father has a 7th grade education, my mother has a 10th grade education. Nobody in my immediate or moderately extended family has a degree. Maybe I have fourth-cousins twice-removed with a degree, but I don't know of any.
fillipeano
Feb20-11, 12:16 PM
My mom is an accountant for a fashion school, and my dad works in Real Estate.
Not many scientists in my family, although some of my female cousins are pharmacists, doctors, etc.
aabottom
Feb20-11, 05:50 PM
Dad- agricultural statistician
brother- software engineer
brother- biologist
me- physicist
brother- physicist
uncle- physicist
I have 26 uncles and aunts, and about 36 cousins. As far as I know, only the above 6 have science, engineering or math degrees.
I'm the son of a son of a farmer, but my grandfather (the farmer) was the first person in the county to have electric lights in his house. He installed batteries and DC lamps to see in the dark.
Jimmy Snyder
Feb20-11, 06:49 PM
Dad - Sales engineer
Mom - Homemaking engineer
Brother - Electronics engineer
Sister - Homemaking engineer
Another sister - social work engineer
Cousin - Mechanical engineer
Nephew - History engineer
Daughter - bump on a log engineer
Me - Software engineer
mathwonk
Feb20-11, 08:03 PM
One of my ancestors on my mom's side (of kelso or calchou) died fighting with william wallace, another was known as "little john" (nayler) in robin hood's band, others included the Clanton family murdered by the Earps at the Ok corral and vilified in film history. On my dad's side, Jesse Tapp, former chairman of Bank of America was my cousin. My dad ran away from home at age 16 and joined the circus, later the railroad, was a rough and tumble fighter, and self taught lawyer. I left a job as a lugger at the south boston meat market to teach math in washington state. Put on notice to get a phd or lose my job, i did both. When I returned to southie for a visit after 5 years, one of my lugging friends saw me and asked predictably: "you look kind of pale, where you been, prison? "
but my brother Charlie is an engineer, (and formerly Bill Monroe's fiddler). But in my dreams I grew up in a scientific family in Europe surrounded by scholars.
My great grandfather worked under both Landau and Hilbert.
One of my ancestors on my mom's side (of kelso or calchou) died fighting with william wallace, another was known as "little john" (nayler) in robin hood's band, others included the Clanton family murdered by the Earps at the Ok corral and vilified in film history. On my dad's side, Jesse Tapp, former chairman of Bank of America was my cousin. My dad ran away from home at age 16 and joined the circus, later the railroad, was a rough and tumble fighter, and self taught lawyer. I left a job as a lugger at the south boston meat market to teach math in washington state. Put on notice to get a phd or lose my job, i did both. When I returned to southie for a visit after 5 years, one of my lugging friends saw me and asked predictably: "you look kind of pale, where you been, prison? "
but my brother Charlie is an engineer, (and formerly Bill Monroe's fiddler). But in my dreams I grew up in a scientific family in Europe surrounded by scholars.Sounds remarkably similar to my family history. What a coincidence. I hate when that happens.
mathwonk
Feb20-11, 11:49 PM
turbo, we may be related. check out my moms family history online: "kelso kin".
Kevin_Axion
Feb20-11, 11:58 PM
My great grandfather on my father's side was adopted so it's difficult to trace ancestry on that part of my family. On my Mother's side many of her ancestors were doctors and scientists, also many were great artists (their paintings are in Buckingham Palace).
turbo, we may be related. check out my moms family history online: "kelso kin".If he had waited a century or two, he might have gotten that Northwest passage. It could be a regular feature in another couple of years.
S_Happens
Feb21-11, 12:06 AM
Other than my grandmother, who recieved a four year degree in education, I cannot think of anyone i my family with ANY other 4 year degrees. One of my cousin's has an AAS in electrical technology. I have two AAS in process and manufacturing, working on a BS in Mech. Engr.
My sister was working on a MS (jumping a BS entirely through an interesting loophole), but had health issues. They seem to be resolved and I'm sure she'll return to something.
mathwonk
Feb21-11, 12:30 AM
well i never heard before of the northwest passage kelso. he may be in the book though.
Greg Bernhardt
Feb21-11, 01:07 AM
dad - mechanical engineer, does facilities management
sister - industrial engineer, does patent law
George Jones
Feb21-11, 06:50 AM
My wife has a Master's degree in engineering, but she doesn't work as an engineer. She did work as an engineering intern at GM's research centre, and she has taught a few engineering lab courses at the local university. She also has bachelor's and master's degrees in physics, and she is currently a full-time education student.
My wife's two brothers both have engineering degrees and work as engineers. My wife's sister has an engineering degree, and she worked as an engineer for a while before becoming a high school physics teacher.
revnaknuma
Feb21-11, 07:41 AM
my father was a mechanical engineer.
my uncle is a professor of economics.
one of my cousins is a professor of international relations.
I have a BS degree in physics and I am a graduate student of physics.
Mom has a degree in Economics and Dad in commerce. Brother - working towards electronics engineering degree. Three cousins are engineers and one is a doctor.
mathwonk
Feb21-11, 12:58 PM
my dad had only a high school education but my mom wanted to go to college. here is her account of it in her own words from August 1926:
"I had a burning desire to go to college, although I had heard Papa say, 'College makes fools out of folks'. I disagreed with him and told him that they were fools before they went to college. "
Mentallic
Feb21-11, 07:37 PM
dad - never went to high school, cleaner.
mum - dropped out half way through high school, take away shop server.
So no, not really :biggrin:
George Jones
Feb21-11, 08:06 PM
It it common that the student would have a parent who doesn't give a rat about anything scientific or engineering like? Or is this sort of impossible?
my dad had only a high school education but my mom wanted to go to college.
dad - never went to high school, cleaner.
mum - dropped out half way through high school, take away shop server.
Neither of my parents went to high school, although both were good at school. My father wanted to stay home to work on his family's farm. My mother's mother made my mother quit school after grade eight. My grandmother said that her first daughter to finish grade eight had to stay home to help with the large family. My mother's sister was a year older than my mother, but my mother's sister failed a year at school and my mother skipped a year, so my mother finished grade eight a year earlier than her older sister. True to her word, my grandmother made my mother quit school, in effect, punishing my mother for doing well at school.
mathwonk
Feb21-11, 09:09 PM
i think she just wanted the smartest most persistent one to help her out.
My mum only did school up until year 10 and my natural father has done some tertiary studies in drafting, hospitality (qualified chef), and frontline management.
I'm the first to go into a tertiary environment like university.
Cinitiator
Feb24-11, 10:58 PM
My dad is an artist and an architect.
My uncle (dad's side) is a thermal engineer.
My grandfather (dad's side) is a philosopher.
My great-grandfather (dad's side) was a gold mine owner.
My mom is also an artist and a civil engineer.
My grandmother (mom's side) is a medical worker.
Both of my parents always (literally) had perfect GPA, in the primary school, middle school, high school and university - I've checked their report cards.
My mother was the first person in her family to graduate from High School. (first in her class, BTW). She was living with an aunt and uncle, since her mother had died of TB and her father had moved away in pursuit of carpentry work. He spoke only a few words of English - when I was a kid, my mother had to take care of all of his correspondence, pay his bills, etc, and explain what the letters and notices meant.
My father was living with a a family that took him in when he left home as a kid (proprietors of a local grocery store), and gave him room and board in exchange for his work stocking shelves, cleaning up, etc, as long as he would stay in school. He left school to join Airborne and fight in WWII, though he was too young to have joined up legally. He still speaks of them with a love that is certainly not featured in his memories of his biological parents. Many years later, he was given a diploma by his HS.
I was the first person in either of my parents' families to attended college. My younger cousin on my mother's side followed a few years later. He was Lockheed Martin's lead project engineer on the last Hubble upgrade mission.
nocturne-e
Feb25-11, 10:13 PM
My dad is a EE and I will be too in a couple of years. He's the only one in my close family that is an engineer. My brother with probably go into the medical field but he still has quite a few years to figure that stuff out for himself.
I live in an area where if feels like everyone is a freaking engineer. It's a huge aerospace/petrochem community so I know many people who are going to college for engineering. I know quite a few EE guys but I have yet to meet another girl my age that plans to go into power. Oh well. Less competition for me in the long run I guess. :D
Dad: Software Engineer
Uncle: Electrical Engineer
Aunt: High school science teacher
Think thats it.
yes. both. not me, I am the white sheep of the family. :smile:
DaleSpam
Feb27-11, 09:56 AM
How typical is it that an engineering or science student also has other relatives in their family who are also engineers or scientists ?My dad: chem E, my grandpa: mining E, great grandpa: mechanical E, great-great grandpa: civil E. My maternal grandpa was a geologist specializing in hydrology, plus 3 engineery brothers in law.
arildno
Feb27-11, 10:03 AM
Dad: Biologist
Mom: Actuarian
Brother: Software engineer
Maternal uncles: Engineers
Maternal grandfather: Actuarian
Maternal grandmother: Studied anatomy
Paternal grandfather: Engineer
Great-uncle: Meteorologist
Topher925
Feb27-11, 11:20 AM
I think I was adopted. Everyone in my family works in business related fields.
mugaliens
Feb27-11, 03:40 PM
Nope. Dad wanted to be both, but never made it. He's still one hell of an incredible thing dude.
cronanster
Mar26-11, 06:08 PM
On my mom's side:
GRandfather was a field engineer for Burrows and later Unisys, working on mainframes.
My uncle is a electronic engineer.
His son is a Chemical Engineer for Caterpillar
Second son is in school for Mechanical Engineering
Third is also in school for Electrical Engineering.
On my dad's side:
An uncle was a Civil Engineer, and a cousin that is an Engineering Manager.
Alot of businessmen and nurses.
Grandfather was a police officer, but was a very big tinker. He rebuilt cars, repaired tv's, built all kind of things.
In my immediate family, my mom never went to college, dad never finished.
I am a mechanical engineer and my sister is working on her master's for psychology.
FrancisZ
Mar27-11, 11:03 PM
I guess it's safe to say: both of my parents were scientifically inclined, to some degree. My dad graduated from Pratt with an Architectural degree; and my mother studied Nursing.
physics girl phd
Mar28-11, 08:57 AM
My dad (the oldest of eight) and his next closest brother were both electrical engineers at Bell Labs. I don't think there are any scientist/engineering types on my mother's side (also one of eight) except through marriage... though she comes from an agricultural family, which certainly requires some mechanical aptitude, accounting skill, and understanding of nature. A fair number of aunts entered the medical professions (some in the pathology labs of hospitals), and my sister has her MD/PhD and is a pathologist. My mother and father were the first in their respective families to attend college.
I keep wondering what's next on the polls.... do you wear glasses or corrective lenses of some sort; does your immediate family? I.e., what's the chances your genes would have made it through if their wasn't either some smart gene or some extra care taken in your background / upbringing... (For the record, I have a great picture of my mother, father, brother, sister and I in the eighties in which all of us have on those big-lensed eighties glasses -- though my mother has rather good vision and only needed slight correction for one eye).
My dad (the oldest of eight) and his next closest brother were both electrical engineers at Bell Labs. I don't think there are any scientist/engineering types on my mother's side (also one of eight) except through marriage... though she comes from an agricultural family, which certainly requires some mechanical aptitude, accounting skill, and understanding of nature. A fair number of aunts entered the medical professions (some in the pathology labs of hospitals), and my sister has her MD/PhD and is a pathologist. My mother and father were the first in their respective families to attend college.
I keep wondering what's next on the polls.... do you wear glasses or corrective lenses of some sort; does your immediate family? I.e., what's the chances your genes would have made it through if their wasn't either some smart gene or some extra care taken in your background / upbringing... (For the record, I have a great picture of my mother, father, brother, sister and I in the eighties in which all of us have on those big-lensed eighties glasses -- though my mother has rather good vision and only needed slight correction for one eye).
Oooo, great idea for a poll topic: "What will be the next poll topic?"
wild999711
Mar30-11, 12:55 AM
On my father's side my grandfather has a degree in forestry from UCB, and my Uncle has a Phd in Mech engineering from UCSB. Of the two my Uncle was the one who pushed me to study Physics.
On my mothers side the closest my family came to science or engineering is a muffler shop they own, and construction. My grandfather on my mother's side was great at fixing old cars, bikes, or engines in general. According to the family he could fix anything with "toothpicks and rubberbands".
My grandfather on my mother's side was great at fixing old cars, bikes, or engines in general. According to the family he could fix anything with "toothpicks and rubberbands".
Is your uncle by any chance Macgyver? ;)
wild999711
Mar30-11, 09:44 PM
Is your uncle by any chance Macgyver? ;)
No but they loved that show.
Me and my younger sister are engineers. My older sister is a doctor. All three of us have engineer spouses. All our engineer spouses have all their siblings engineers or doctors. All our engineer spouses' siblings' spouses are engineers or doctors.
This may sound like a funny trivia, but it's true. A total of 11 engineers and 4 doctors.
Interesting thread.
On my Mom's side of the family, I was the first person to go to college and graduate. All the men on my Mom's side of the family work in the paper mills around where I grew up.
My Dad has a BS in Ecology, but works for a paper mill as the R&D and Quality Assurance Manager. He says he is fairly bored with his job. Though every 5-10 years he gets to work on a new process for a new product. He was the first person on his side of the family to get a college degree also.
In all my family, I am the only person to get a postgraduate degree. I am the oldest in my generation of the family. Though, out of the 6 in my generation (first cousins) only one other has a Bachelors, my brother has an associates, and my youngest cousin in enrolled in college right now.
My father nudged me towards engineering. Fool that I was, I got a PhD in physics instead. In fact, I turned down a scholarship to play soccer because the school did not have a full physics program. I could have got a chem eng. or mech eng. degree, worked for a paper mill and probably made a lot more money, starting at a younger age. But, I would probably be bored out of my mind too...
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