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0 pointsjasonkester13y ago0 comments

No, it doesn't.

Before you can design a bridge, you have to graduate with a four year degree in Civil Engineering. Then you have to pass the Engineer In Training (EIT) exam, then work for four years in the industry (helping with, but never actually able to sign off on, designs), then pass the Professional Engineer (PE) exam specific to the discipline you now have 4 years experience with.

Then you get to design your first bridge and put your stamp and signature on the plans.

So, with that knowledge, how exactly does civil engineering have problems with untrained entry level people signing off on designs for bridges that readers here are likely to drive over?

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tgrass13y ago

Are you on the ethics review board? Or can one speak frankly here about engineering?

You do not need a degree to be an EIT. You do not need to have studied engineering to be a PE. The CAD tech who assists in design (to the review board:"so I've been told by our competing firms") does not even need a high school diploma.

The PE who seals the plan is human. He had four projects going, they all have deadlines, and he trusts his staff to get it right. He checks as much as he can, but he doesn't have the time or the skill to check everything. He often cannot even check his own assumptions on many calculations because half his focus and career development is on project management and business development. It has not been on double checking the basis of the formulas his software has implemented.

imgabe13y ago

If you're going for an EIT without a degree, you're required to have 20 years of experience (in my state at least). Any decent engineering firm is going to have a quality control process in place to ensure that someone reviews drawings before they're stamped and signed (maybe not necessarily the person stamping and signing them).

Yes, there is a level of trust involved, but "I had four other projects going" is not going to be an acceptable excuse if a bridge collapses.

tgrass13y ago

see comment below: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4412403

Additionally: In AZ one can test for the EIT without a degree after four years of work experience (thus, you can start at 18, work instead of school, and still be at the same point as a college grad at 22: an EIT).

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0 pointsjasonkester13y ago0 comments

No, it doesn't.

Then you get to design your first bridge and put your stamp and signature on the plans.

So, with that knowledge, how exactly does civil engineering have problems with untrained entry level people signing off on designs for bridges that readers here are likely to drive over?

0 comments

tgrass13y ago

Are you on the ethics review board? Or can one speak frankly here about engineering?

imgabe13y ago

Yes, there is a level of trust involved, but "I had four other projects going" is not going to be an acceptable excuse if a bridge collapses.

tgrass13y ago

see comment below: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4412403

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