I mentioned the other day (on LinkedIn) that I’m on the hunt for active engineers on LinkedIn to recommend them to young engineers and students, but also to take the opportunity to interview them, and recently I had a chance to interview a Automation Engineer who turn Educator.

I have 10 questions to dive into their careers and find the golden nuggets of information that may just help people with their path, I say this because over the years working with engineers and talking about their backgrounds, one thing became clear – we each take a different path.

While we explore these paths and insights, I expect to find advice from these engineer’s in their field to pass on.

So, this week we have…..Danny Murphy. LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/engineerdan78/

Danny share’s his career path, people whose help guide him, his insights into the industry and how he stays up to date with the current changes, lastly Danny shares his tips and advice for young engineers and students.

Read on!

Interview Automation Engineer to Educator

I will answer these from the perspective of my role as an Automation Engineer, which is the basis of my teaching.

1. Can you briefly describe your career path and what led you to choose your specific field of engineering?

I chose a major in Electronics Engineering mostly because my high school Electronics teacher, Steve Cosner, was an incredibly impactful mentor during my development. He helped me find a scholarship when I would not otherwise have been able to afford college. More about him in the article I linked.

2. What key skills do you believe are essential for success in your engineering discipline, and how did you develop these skills?

Success in an engineering field requires paranoia and tenacity. The first so you can predict all the paths of failure, and the second so you can create a design that may not wander those paths.

3. What are some common challenges you face in your industry, and how do you approach solving them?

A rather large challenge is balancing performance and cost, as idealized versions of both are always demanded. These are best balanced by clear and open dialog with the customer at all stages of a project.

4. Can you share an example of a complex project you managed or contributed to, and what were the critical factors in its success?

I designed controls for the cryostat positioning systems for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) Observatory, earth’s largest deep space telescope array. Being willing to constantly adjust the deliverables based on the needs of the scientists with whom we collaborated was necessary for success of the project. Anytime you create something new that doesn’t exist you have to be willing to modify your design in accordance with the parameters of its ultimate performance.

5. How do you stay current with the latest developments and technologies in your field?

I own an automation consulting business and stay active in industry over the summer so I can keep up to date with what is modern.

6. Did you have a mentor early in your career? How did their guidance impact your professional development?

I had many mentors who were far more patient with me than I deserved. The first was Steve Cosner my high school Electronics teacher. The second was Craig Shupp the owner of the first engineering company I worked for. Most recently is Marci Gale, my dept head. When I started teaching I would sit in the back of her class to learn how to teach. All were far more giving than I deserve.

More about Steve Cosner in the article I linked https://fsmdirect.com/stellar-educator/

7. What practical experiences or internships were most beneficial to you during your studies or early career?

I immediately went into engineering after graduating from college and was given more responsibility than I could manage at that level of skill. The best thing for me was when I decided to force myself to build an electrical panel that I had designed so that I could see how much of an idiot I actually was. I found so many mistakes that I would always assemble the first run of a standard panel after that before handing it off to the purchasers, electricians, and assemblers.

8. How important are soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and leadership in your role, and how do you cultivate them?

Soft skills are equally important as technical skills and I found this to be true throughout my career. I used to be an arrogant fool who would constantly fall down on his own face because I was too proud to ask questions to others out of humility and I was too neurotic to communicate effectively with the people who relied on me. Many engineers struggle with the type of narcissism that leads them to believe they can operate as an island, but modern technology is too complex for any one person and requires humility and collaboration.

9. What advice would you give to young engineers or engineering students who are just starting their careers?

Listen to the people who have been doing the work for decades. You’re going to think that you’re smarter than you are and it will be far less embarrassing if you show some humility.

10. What emerging trends or technologies do you think will have the biggest impact on the engineering field in the next five to ten years?

Designers and developers no longer have the capacity to understand all the software that goes into a system. A programmer used to design most of his own code or work with a team where everyone was responsible for their part. Now we borrow libraries from unknown parties and have procedurally generated code that is difficult if not impossible to troubleshoot. This will create an avalanche of unsustainability and we see this happening already

Bonus question:

1. Are there any courses/books/videos/websites that you would recommend young engineers & students to look into when starting in your field?
   I recommend Tim Wilborne’s YouTube channel TWCONTROLS, realpars, and engineering mindset.

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