Engineers Born Not Made
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THERE may be some who will be inclined to question the truth of the heading of this article, but we might remind them of the old saying to the effect that one cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Education and training are keys to accumulated knowledge and to its utilization, but will not in themselves inculcate inventive genius or that technical instinct, which is a characteristic of the true engineer. Similarly, a man may absorb much of the existing knowledge concerning medicine and surgery, but he does not necessarily possess the qualifications to become a specialist or a great surgeon. In the latter case, delicate touch and nerve control are almost as essential as the knowledge of how a particular operation should be performed.
Experience, of course, accounts for much in engineering, as it does in many other fields. Constant practice may make almost perfect, and a good engineer can often tell by the mere feel or sight of some machine, or its component parts, that all is well or otherwise. Even the sound of a machine running will often convey to him a good idea as to its condition.
One of the difficulties of the times is that mass production is, unfortunately, largely dispensing with the individually skilled tradesman. The average employee at the ordinary productionengineering works is often little more than an assembler of pre-fitted components. Such fine work as the scraping of bearings, even in repairing, has been largety supplanted by accurate machining, and frequently a man may spend much of his working life doing little more than, say, tightening a few nuts or placing units in position in the time allowed by an inexorable conveyor. Thus it is only in the tool rooms and the experimental departments that the more skilled craftsmen are normally to be found.
Even in bodybuilding, where the worker in metals is largely replacing the old coachbuilder, many of the parts are stamped or pressed by machines and need little more than trimming up and riveting or welding into position, although in this sphere there are still some bodies individually built which require expert frame construction, panel beating and skill in fitting. The real engineers are now not so much the men who do the practical work, but designers and those who must possess the "know how" in connection with the best methods of production, where the use of jigs is essential and how these should be arranged to give accuracy and speed.
Often there is more true engineering required in the maintenance and overhauling of motor vehicles than in their production. It is the engineer in this class of work who is quick to discover faults in design, such as the inaccessibility of certain units and components, whilst he soon discovers the causes of unusually rapid wear dr mechanical failure. This is one of the reasons why it is so important that there shouldbe close co-operation between the manufacturer and the operator.