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First paragraph of TFA: > Roman Devengenzo was consulting for a robotics company in Silicon Valley last fall when he asked a newly minted mechanical engineer t
by pwg 3y ago
First paragraph of TFA:
> Roman Devengenzo was consulting for a robotics company in Silicon Valley last fall when he asked a newly minted mechanical engineer to design a small aluminum part that could be fabricated on a lathe—a skill normally mastered in the first or second year of college.
Except.... Engineering classes in college don't teach "lathe-work". Lathe operating skills are a trade-craft and Mr. Devengenzo would have been rightly surprised that a machinist did not know how to operate a lathe. But college engineering classes are not going to teach a new mech. engineer how to operate a lathe.
- ThrowawayR2 3y agoThe paragraph you quote says "...asked a ... mechanical engineer to design a small aluminum part..." which is well within the scope of the duties of a ME? No place in the text indicates that they were asked to operate a lathe themselves.
- pwg 3y agoTrue, but the third paragraph includes this statement: > So Devengenzo, an engineer who has built technology for NASA and Google, and who charges consulting clients a minimum of $300 an hour, spent the next three hours teaching Lathework 101. Implying that they were teaching the mechanical engineer how to actually machine the part via a lathe.
- Teever 3y agoWhich is exactly where I would start if I had access to a lathe and was tasked with teaching someone who should know how to design a basic part that is meant to be machined on a lathe. Where would you start?
- tekla 3y agoMy college made all Mech and adjacent engineers learn lathe and machining and basic welding Anyway designing a simple latheable part is not difficult