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I realize that he has hired people who are degreed engineers with work experience. My point is that he never had an engineering degree and never was mentored a

I realize that he has hired people who are degreed engineers with work experience. My point is that he never had an engineering degree and never was mentored as an engineer. It is my belief that any technical manager such as CEO of technical firms benefit enormously by going to school at a good engineering school and being mentored by engineers. People who have that kind of experience see the world differently than others. I know because I interact with them.

elmar 10y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk At the age of 19, Musk was accepted into Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, for undergraduate study. In 1992, after spending two years at Queen's University, Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where, at the age of 24, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from its College of Arts and Sciences, and a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from its Wharton School of Business. Musk extended his studies for one year to finish the second bachelor's degree.[41] While at the University of Pennsylvania, Musk and fellow Penn student Adeo Ressi rented a 10-bedroom fraternity house, using it as an unofficial nightclub.[37] In 1995, at age 24, Musk moved to California to begin a PhD in applied physics and materials science at Stanford University, but left the program after two days to pursue his entrepreneurial aspirations in the areas of the Internet, renewable energy and outer space.[35][42] In 2002, he became a U.S. citizen.[43][44]
- davidf18 10y ago
  Physics is not an engineering degree. I know Physics and EE. I see no time where he was mentored in an engineering company. And yes, I read the Wikipedia entry before I commented on Musk's background.
  - Inconel 10y ago
    I'm curious as to the reasons why you believe only those possessing degrees in engineering can be competent engineers? I understand there are specific things in the course requirements that would be very different between an engineering degree and a physics degree, but I would assume that so long as someone has the requisite understanding of the more foundational elements pertaining to the relevant fields, and the drive and discipline to do so, they could conceivably pick up the additional knowledge without the necessity of a formal degree. Am I wrong in my assumption? Is there some reason this doesn't hold true in engineering? Just to be clear, I'm not asking this to be combative, but as someone who has no experience attending college, in an engineering field or otherwise, I'm genuinely interested to hear your thoughts. I’m also curious as to how you define being mentored as an engineer? Is it a requirement to serve under more senior engineers for some specific amount of time? And does this require that the mentee be lower than the mentor on the corporate hierarchy? I won’t purport to speak for Musk but I’m fairly sure he’s been mentored extensively by people like Tom Mueller and Gwynne Shotwell, in addition to others, over the years. You also mentioned in a higher post that you prefer leadership that has “gotten their hands dirty” as opposed to “business types” and this may be the only area I can really offer direct insight into. Whatever your opinion of Musk may be, I think it would be a mistake to describe him as someone who doesn’t get his hands dirty. I’m a technician at SpaceX which makes me fairly low within the corporate structure and even I have had a chance to interact with Musk, as well as a number of other senior execs, on relatively minor issues pertaining to my work. He, along with many other senior engineers within the company, are often very hands on even within the production environment here.

elmar 10y ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk At the age of 19, Musk was accepted into Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, for undergraduate study. In 1992, after spending two years at Queen's University, Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where, at the age of 24, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from its College of Arts and Sciences, and a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from its Wharton School of Business. Musk extended his studies for one year to finish the second bachelor's degree.[41] While at the University of Pennsylvania, Musk and fellow Penn student Adeo Ressi rented a 10-bedroom fraternity house, using it as an unofficial nightclub.[37] In 1995, at age 24, Musk moved to California to begin a PhD in applied physics and materials science at Stanford University, but left the program after two days to pursue his entrepreneurial aspirations in the areas of the Internet, renewable energy and outer space.[35][42] In 2002, he became a U.S. citizen.[43][44]

davidf18 10y ago
Physics is not an engineering degree. I know Physics and EE. I see no time where he was mentored in an engineering company. And yes, I read the Wikipedia entry before I commented on Musk's background.
- Inconel 10y ago
  I'm curious as to the reasons why you believe only those possessing degrees in engineering can be competent engineers? I understand there are specific things in the course requirements that would be very different between an engineering degree and a physics degree, but I would assume that so long as someone has the requisite understanding of the more foundational elements pertaining to the relevant fields, and the drive and discipline to do so, they could conceivably pick up the additional knowledge without the necessity of a formal degree. Am I wrong in my assumption? Is there some reason this doesn't hold true in engineering? Just to be clear, I'm not asking this to be combative, but as someone who has no experience attending college, in an engineering field or otherwise, I'm genuinely interested to hear your thoughts. I’m also curious as to how you define being mentored as an engineer? Is it a requirement to serve under more senior engineers for some specific amount of time? And does this require that the mentee be lower than the mentor on the corporate hierarchy? I won’t purport to speak for Musk but I’m fairly sure he’s been mentored extensively by people like Tom Mueller and Gwynne Shotwell, in addition to others, over the years. You also mentioned in a higher post that you prefer leadership that has “gotten their hands dirty” as opposed to “business types” and this may be the only area I can really offer direct insight into. Whatever your opinion of Musk may be, I think it would be a mistake to describe him as someone who doesn’t get his hands dirty. I’m a technician at SpaceX which makes me fairly low within the corporate structure and even I have had a chance to interact with Musk, as well as a number of other senior execs, on relatively minor issues pertaining to my work. He, along with many other senior engineers within the company, are often very hands on even within the production environment here.