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Who Am I
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I am feeling pretty confident about switching to engineering (from physics) now. I recently reread an interview between Elon Musk and Chris Anderson.
Musk stated the following:
I want a job that allows me to be inventive and creative. Doing the same thing over and over again seems pretty common in engineering though, from what I've heard. I've also heard people surprised at how engineering turned out to be a lot more of a desk-job than was expected. I don't care about working in an office in front of a computer, but I want my creative side to be challenged. I like solving problems with multiple hidden solutions: creative problem solving. I mean, obviously SpaceX is a place where you're supposed to be highly creative, but the competition to be in that company I would assume is pretty strong. If I was in a place where the limitations were very strict, I'd feel like I'd constantly be trying to scratch an itch.
I want to avoid a job that basically becomes about a "process," reinventing old things with slight variations over and over again. According to Musk in this article, that's pretty common in the Aerospace industry, saying that rockets haven't changed much since the 1960s:
So, starting now, about halfway through college, what can I be doing to avoid the "process" and begin working on something more creative? Ideas I've had are things like researching what companies and government organizations have their engineers do.
It's also why I'm posting here.
Musk stated the following:
Musk: Now I have to tell you something, and I mean this in the best and most inoffensive way possible: I don’t believe in process. In fact, when I interview a potential employee and he or she says that “it’s all about the process,” I see that as a bad sign.
I want a job that allows me to be inventive and creative. Doing the same thing over and over again seems pretty common in engineering though, from what I've heard. I've also heard people surprised at how engineering turned out to be a lot more of a desk-job than was expected. I don't care about working in an office in front of a computer, but I want my creative side to be challenged. I like solving problems with multiple hidden solutions: creative problem solving. I mean, obviously SpaceX is a place where you're supposed to be highly creative, but the competition to be in that company I would assume is pretty strong. If I was in a place where the limitations were very strict, I'd feel like I'd constantly be trying to scratch an itch.
I want to avoid a job that basically becomes about a "process," reinventing old things with slight variations over and over again. According to Musk in this article, that's pretty common in the Aerospace industry, saying that rockets haven't changed much since the 1960s:
Musk: One is the incredible aversion to risk within big aerospace firms. Even if better technology is available, they’re still using legacy components, often ones that were developed in the 1960s.
Anderson: I’ve heard that the attitude is essentially that you can’t fly a component that hasn’t already flown.
Musk: Right, which is obviously a catch-22, right? There should be a Groucho Marx joke about that. So, yeah, there’s a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their ***-covering.
So, starting now, about halfway through college, what can I be doing to avoid the "process" and begin working on something more creative? Ideas I've had are things like researching what companies and government organizations have their engineers do.
It's also why I'm posting here.