Why I Enjoy Being a Training Instructor

May was a busy training month for me. With the pending release of a major PIPE-FLO software update, all of the other engineers that teach our Piping System Fundamentals (PSF) course were busy. As a result I was asked to teach back to back courses in Denver and Tucson. I enjoy teaching, it gives me the opportunity to go to new locations, discover new processes, meet interesting people and share experiences with others.

The objective of the PSF course is to provide a clear picture of how the various elements in a pumped system work together. The course is based on the method that the US Navy Nuclear Power Program has been using to train their officers and enlisted personnel to become operators of their nuclear powered ships. 

Each class starts out with introductions. I start out by telling them about my sea year experience at the US Merchant Marine Academy, and my Navy experience. One point I stress is when I was out at sea, if the ship’s crew was unable to fix a problem, none of us would make it back home. I then stated that one of the things I liked the most about working ashore (besides being home every night) was the ability to call engineers at the home office, talk to vendors, and colleagues to help me solve a challenging problem. 

Next we go around the room with each attendee introduce themselves and what knowledge they hoped to take away from the course. It’s amazing the diverse background we get in the PSF course, we have engineers, plant operators, mechanics, maintenance and operations managers, along with pump and control valve sales people. One goal of our PSF course is to provide a means for the attendees with diverse backgrounds to learn and share their experiences with others.

For the first day and a half we discuss tanks, pumps, pipes, control valves, instrumentation, and process equipment. The objective in these equipment sections is to turn the attendees into educated consumers, allowing them to understand how the equipment operates, and explain how not running the equipment properly will increase their operating and maintenance costs. Each of the sections has a variety of examples to help them use and apply the lessons to troubleshooting pumped systems.

My favorite question to ask is “How many of you have pump curves for every pump in your plant?”  At the most one possibly two people out of 25 will raise their hand, another 2 to 4 people will have pump curves for 50% of their pumps, and a few more have curves for 25% of their pump. The second question I ask is “How many of you know where your pumps are running on their curve?”  I have only had a few times in which I got a positive response to this one. 

In the afternoon on the second day we put everything together and start looking at systems. We start out by building systems with multiple pipes, tanks, pumps, controls until we have a total system. There are many “Ah-ha moments” throughout the course and plenty of questions. This is a fast paced section that everyone likes with lively Q&A. The nice thing is that with the diverse groups of attendees many of them share some of their specialized experiences. For example one day a mill wright had everyone’s attention when he described what it took to start a pump for the first time. 

It’s not all fun and games in the training business. I remember an onsite course at a refinery in Ohio. Half the attendees were recent college graduates, the other half were engineers with 10 – 15 years of experience. After an hour, I notice that no one had asked a single question. Conducting a course when there are no questions asked makes for a long day, and it’s usually not a good sign.

During the first break, I had people come up to ask questions about the topic we just covered. I then realized that the recent college graduates were concerned about asking a “stupid” question in front of their supervisors. The experienced engineers didn’t want to chance making a “foolish response” to one of my questions. To solve the problem I started asking questions to specific recent college graduates, and started asking some of the senior engineers if they had anything they would like to add. By the end of the first day we have an excellent exchange of questions and information.

In the introduction of a recent regional course in Los Angeles, one of the attendees (with as much grey hair as I have) stated his course objective was to sit through 16 hours of training so he could meet his continuing educational requirements. As we started the course, he was busy checking his e-mail, and would occasionally listen. As the course progressed he stopped reading e-mail and started following along, including asking questions and providing insight. During lunch on the second day he came to me and said:

“I have been designing and starting piping systems for over 30 years now. I am knowledgeable in most of the things that you have covered, but I have never seen it presented in such a logical method as this course. I am glad I came.”

One final point, it’s not only the attendees that learn in the course, but I probably get as much out of these courses as the attendees. I learn about new processes, how the various people within an engineering firms and process plants interact with pumped system, and gain a lot of industry insight. 

So if you would like to gain a better understanding of how piping system work and improve your trouble shooting skills I would encourage you to join us for one of our upcoming regional training courses or even look into an onsite training at your own facility.

Tell me about some of your recent training experiences. Either as an attendee OR an instructor. I am interested to hear about your experiences. Leave a comment below, and as always, thank you for reading!

Professional Engineer Designation

GUEST POST by Greg Hora, PE

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes 7 seconds. Read Later

"I never knew you wanted to be a gym teacher!" was the response I received from one of my friends after I told them I passed the PE exam. "Well, not exactly…" was my response.

My name is Greg Hora and I’m a Professional Engineer (PE). Many of you reading this blog are yourselves engineers and PE’s. Today, I'd like to write about the PE designation; what it means, why you might want to become one, and what it takes to sit for the exam.

Ok, so what is a PE?

A PE is an engineer who has met their state’s requirements on engineering and is designated as a person who is skilled in the art of engineering. The PE designation was created in order to protect the safety and welfare of the people who will be affected by your work. By becoming a PE, you are in effect stating that you are skilled enough to perform engineering work for the public and the public can be assured that you know what you’re talking about. After obtaining this title you become legally liable for any engineering work you certify as a PE.

Interestingly, most states will typically give you the generic title of "Professional Engineer" and not "Mechanical Professional Engineer" or “Civil Professional Engineer”. I am a mechanical engineer by trade and I have the title of Professional Engineer. Now, does this entitle me to perform electrical or civil engineering work since I have my PE? Not likely… While the title is generic I’m bound by my state's regulations (and common sense) to only perform engineering work within the areas that I'm competent in.

You might be asking yourself...

"I'm an engineer performing engineering duties but I'm not a PE, what gives?" Each state’s regulations will describe this situation a little differently but for the most part there will typically be a section in the rules that exempt people from having to be a PE as long as they are working as an employee under a registered engineer and that their work does not include any responsible position of design or supervision.

As I just pointed out, you are allowed to perform engineering duties without having your PE as long as you’re working under a PE or are not in a responsible/supervisor role. Now, what if you want to move up the corporate ladder into some senior positions? This is where obtaining your PE becomes critical. Some organizations might be structured to allow you to have more responsibility without having your PE, but you’re going to be hitting that glass ceiling at some point without it, Having your PE will also allow you to negotiate better for a raise at your current position.

If you ever wanted to start your own engineering firm, you need to have your PE. Only a PE can stamp and certify engineering drawings or plans submitted to the public.

Not only does having your PE allow you to progress through the ranks at your current company, but it will be an asset if you ever decide to change companies. Imagine a hiring manager looking over a stack of resumes. It comes down to you and one other applicant. Both of you have the required skills and experience, but you have your PE. Who do you think will get the call to interview first?

Pursuing your own PE

If you're interested in pursuing your PE there are a few requirements you'll need to meet. An application to your state board is required before you can sit for the exam. You’ll need to meet education, experience, and approval letter requirements.

For your application to be accepted, you must meet the minimum engineering work experience requirements (measured in years). The education and experience requirements are related to each other and each state will have their own unique combinations of the two. An engineering technology degree will typically require a longer period of engineering experience than a bachelor’s degree. The required experience typically decreases as you go up the degree chain to masters and doctoral, but again this will vary from state to state.

A good place to find your state's licensing board is to look at the PE exam administrator National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying® (NCEES). Their website is at www.ncees.org. Another variable that can affect the required length of experience is whether or not you passed the FE exam after you obtained your degree (this exam used to be called the EIT - there is no difference between the two). You will generally need less engineering experience when that experience time is obtained while you have your FE. One combination of experience and degree that works for all states is four years of experience (while you have your FE) and a bachelor’s degree.

In addition to the engineering experience, you will need to include some letters of recommendation with your application. Again, the requirements from state to state will vary but you will typically need letters from people who are already PEs and who have firsthand experience with your work.

After all of your material is sent into the state board, and your application is approved, all that is left is for you to pass the PE exam. You'll take the exam in whatever discipline you applied for. The exam is multiple choice format and given over a single eight hour day with a break for lunch. The exam is open book meaning you can bring all of your reference books in for help.

So there you go!

Obtaining your PE is a rewarding experience. It will open up avenues in your career that are not otherwise available and lead you to more challenging experiences. I wish you all the best in your journey to become a PE!

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If you would like to read more from Greg Hora or take advantage of some of the resources he offers, check out his website and blog: www.peprepme.com/

Let us know what you think. Leave a comment or send us and email, we read them all! blogger@eng-software.com. No need to login to leave a comment, but we do ask you keep it clean and work appropriate.

Placing a Wager on the Future

Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes 8 seconds. Read Later

In my youth I had the privilege of attending the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY. The Academy trains young men and women for careers in the maritime industry. To graduate you needed one year of sea going experience prior to sitting for and obtaining a US Coast Guard license. The academy sends two cadets out on a US flag merchant ship for one year. During my sea year, not only did I get to see the world, but I also got invaluable experience in engineering, how to work with others and learned time management. It was a great time and I have always considered my sea year a life defining experience. 

Fast-forward 15 years. When we started Engineered Software, we decided that whenever possible we would attempt to hire interns. When we first started out the decision was based on cost, but as time went on we saw it as an excellent opportunity for employee development. Over the years, we have lost count of the total number of interns we have employed but if I were to guess, it would be over 50. 

The first two interns helped enter our first round of pump curves; and they entered over 600 pump curves in four months, for the next 10 years we employed many interns to enter pump performance data. Our next intern was a business student from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. Shortly after he was hired we had a need to teach 120 sales people how to use our PUMP-FLO. Since we needed three people to run the class, we asked our new intern, a college junior if he would like to go to Ft. Lauderdale for a week in January. Needless to say he said yes, did a great job for us and said he had a great time. Not surprisingly after that, for the next two years we had no problem getting the best Evergreen students applying for our internships.
 
Another particularly memorable intern, or should I say two, were degreed mechanical engineers that were going back to school to get a civil engineering degree from St. Martins College in Lacey. These two engineers happened to be identical twins… and did I mention that they were women? I’m guessing this is highly uncommon.

After six months, Jacqueline and Kathleen Byron (we called them J&K around the office) finished their internship and we made them a job offer upon graduation. They accepted and became the second and third engineers of our company. They worked on technical support, developing the engineering program interface, program documentation and software testing. They worked for us for 15 years before starting their own engineering firm.  We have had additional engineering interns over the years that have helped in software validations, development of program help file, and other technical publications.

When we had the need for a marketing intern we went to Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma WA. Justin Johnson joined us as an intern for 6 months and did a fantastic job developing marketing material, updating our Website, and managing the customer list. Before graduation we made him an offer and he accepted becoming our first Marketing Manager. He continue to do a great job creating press releases, getting articles picked up in technical magazines, and developing an effective direct marketing program. One day he came into my office and wanted to discuss some ideas he had on marketing PUMP-FLO. I asked him to give us a presentation on his ideas. The next day he gave us a presentation outlining a business plan; complete with project cost, revenue projections and a schedule. In his five years with us, he did a great job of building our PUMP-FLO.com product line, and brought in over new 40 pump manufacturers. 

We have had approximately 15 -20 interns in our software development group. They came from a variety of local colleges and universities including St. Martins University, Pacific Lutheran University, University of Puget Sound, The Evergreen State College, University of Seattle, and South Puget Sound Community College. They joined us with solid programming knowledge and unbridled enthusiasm. Each new intern got assigned a project and a mentor and then we let them go to work. Working with their mentor they gain some real world experience working on commercial products. 

Four members of our current programming staff started out as Engineered Software interns. Jeff Trimble from the University of Puget Sound has been with us since 1997, Zack Vawter from St. Martins University has been with us since 2004, Jennifer Dres from South Puget Sound Community College has been with us since 2008, and Heinrich Hoza just graduated last year from St. Martins University. Each has made major contributions to our company both as interns and as full time employees. Many of the new initiatives that we have started in our software development and testing processes are a result of their suggestions and efforts in making it happen.

Now here is why we continue to hire interns. As mentioned earlier, many of the interns we have hired we have brought on-board as full time employees. We look at it as a winning situation for both parties. Our interns get a paying internship and more importantly real life experience that is sometimes difficult to obtain otherwise. And we get to work with the next generation of professionals. We often refer to an internship as an extended job interview.

Not only do the internships help train the students, but they also help train our full time employees on how to hire and manage people. Each intern position goes through the same hiring process as a full time employee. This helps our team gain experience in developing a job description, reviewing the applicants, and conducting the interviews.

You may be wondering what some of our past interns are doing now. Many of them keep in touch, we know that two went on to get their Doctorate degrees, and four of them went on to start their own businesses. Many of the programmers went on to work for Microsoft, the US Government, and other large and small software companies in the Northwest. Of our engineers, many went on to get advanced degrees, work for Boeing, and work for the Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, WA. They all were hard working individuals that were grateful of the opportunity to gain some work experience in our small company. But I would say that we were the big winners because we got to work with some of the best young minds out there that were dedicated in showing us the skills they acquired and what they could accomplish.

Now here is my suggestion for you. If your company doesn’t hire interns see what you can do to start up an internship program. If your company does employ interns, bring one into your group. They bring in a fresh objective, ask lots of questions to keep you thinking, and they are truly interested in doing a good job and gaining real world work experiences. Let me know what advice you can share about getting the most out of your internship programs. What benefits have you or your company gained by having interns. Maybe you have been an intern and had an experience (good or bad) that you’d like to share? I am interested in your stories.

I would love it if you left a comment or even sent me an email to blogger @ eng-software.com. Also, we are currently welcoming guest bloggers. If you are interested, just send me a message about becoming a guest blogger, and what you would like to write about. Thanks!

Valve World Expo, Dusseldorf Germany

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes 4 seconds. Read Later

I just got back from the 2010 Valve World Conference and Exhibition in Dusseldorf Germany. It was a long trip through 10 time zones. Engineered Software had a booth at the exhibition and I had the privilege of giving two presentations at the conference. The conference was three days in length and then it was back on the plane for a long ride home. The conference was well attended despite the snow storm and record cold for all three days of the conference.

My wife and I really enjoyed the city wide Christmas celebration with hundreds of street vendors selling German food, gifts, candy, and mulled wine. The first evening we arrived we were outside in the snow, on a crisp and clear night enjoying a hot cup of mulled wine with 400 others. After two cups we made it back to the room and fell fast asleep without any problems with jet lag.

After setting up the booth on Monday and a good night’s rest we were ready to go. The show traffic was great and we met some of our existing customers along with meeting many new engineers involved with the design and operation of piping systems from around the world.

One of my discussions with a visitor was particularly noteworthy. On the second day of the conference, an entourage of four came to the booth, a man in his late 50’s lead the group followed by three younger men in their 20’s (Photo 1). The older gentleman only spoke Russian and German and one of the younger men translated. We introduced ourselves through the younger translator and found out the older man was Professor Gancho Dimitrov from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Sofia Bulgaria. Since I had taught two Engineered Software classes at the Worley Parsons office in Sofia two year, earlier we had something in common and the conversation progressed.

This is me talking to Professor Gancho Dimitrov (far right)
and his students at the Valve World Exhibition. Special thanks
to our translator, the young gentleman between us two old guys.

Professor Dimitrov had many years of operational experience and had written multiple text books on water and waste water treatment. He then asked if I could set up a simple system using the software with multiple pumps. I created a system using metric units (I am "MSU" engineer, Metric as a Second Unit). He wanted a system with three pumps installed and with a total system flow rate of 600 m3/hr. I then selected a pump to pass 200 m3/hr with the total head needed to pass the system flow rate of 900 m3/hr. When I placed the three pumps in the system, the calculated total flow rate was 600 m3/hr, with each pump passing 200 m3/hr. He then wanted me to turn off one of the pumps and calculate the flow through the system with two pumps running.

I knew what he was up to; he wanted to check to see that the flow rate through the two pumps operating in parallel was something less than 400 m3/hr. A typical rookie mistake is in thinking that running two pumps in parallel will translate into two-thirds the flow rate of three pumps in parallel. That subject is covered in detail in our Piping System Fundamentals class. As soon as he saw the answer on the PIPE-FLO screen he immediately started drawing a multiple pump curves on a system curve and talking to his student doing the translation. See figure 1.

Figure 1.

This is the system Professor Dimitrov’s sketched showing how multiple pumps in a system should operate when the resistance is a mixture of both static head and dynamic head caused by pipeline head loss. Notice that with the mixed system when only one pump is running the pump passes 320 m3/hr, two pumps running passes 500 m3/hr, and when all three pumps are running, passes 600 m3/hr.

I knew I needed to look into the system to find out the reason for this unlikely event. It turns out that the system that I designed in PIPE-FLO was dominated by static head, with very little dynamic head loss due to pipe friction (Remember metric units are my second units). The result was a very flat system resistance curve, almost horizontal. While he was still drawing his system curve (Figure 1), I started drawing my system curve (Figure 2) showing how multiple pump curves intersected a resistance curve dominated by static head. As you can see from the system curve, each of the three pumps under this unusual situation produces 200 m3/hr each regardless of the number of pumps running.

Figure 2.

 
This is the system that I had created in PIPE-FLO to show how the system operated. I had not realized that the system that I create was a system dominated with static head. Notice how the flow rate through each pump is 200 m3/hr.

As soon as each of us had our turn explaining our systems with the unfortunate student translator, we both agreed that the PIPE-FLO program produced accurate results for this highly unusual system example.

You could say that a system resistance curve was considered a universal language used to describe the operation of operating piping systems. I had a great time talking to Professor Dimitrov and promised to visit the next time I’m in Sofia Bulgaria.

If you have an opportunity to visit a trade fair in Europe, I would suggest you go, even if you have to work it around a vacation. Valve World was rather small only 20,000 attendees, but was for a very specifically targeted audience. We will also be exhibiting at another international trade show, ACHEMA 2012, running from June 18th – 22nd. The 2009 show drew over 179,000 attendees, and had over 23,000 exhibitors! Like I said the Germans really know how to have a trade fair.

Now it’s time to hear from you. What trade shows do you plan on visiting and why? What value do you find in attending trade shows? What predictions do you have for the 2011 trade show season?

Please feel free to share your experiences, or opinions on this blog entry or any other subject that is of interest. Leave a comment below or email me. I can be reached at blogger@eng-software.com.

The Most Important Subject in an Engineering Education

One of my favorite things is to speak to students at engineering school. Typically, it is conjunction with a presentation I am making on fluid piping systems, but most presentation end with a Q&A session. It seems many of these young engineers are wondering what their professional life will be like after graduation.

I typically get the question, “What’s the most important subject in an engineering education?” I love that question because it shows they are thinking ahead and want to make sure they have all their bases covered prior to graduation.

My response is always the same “Sales 101.” That causes quite a stir, after all, they are just finishing up all the engineering classes and here someone is saying they need sales training. The puzzled student then asks why.

The response typically goes like this:

Me: “Do you want to get a job and be paid for what you do after graduation?”

Student: “Well that’s a silly question, yes of course! How else will I pay off those incredible student loans?” (aka. year abroad backpacking through Europe)

Me: “Then you need to be able to sell yourself during the interview so you get the job in this tight job market. Once you have a job you’ll probably want to get a pay increase as your experience grows.”

Student: “Well yes, how else will I afford my first Ferrari 612?”

Me: “Then after awhile you’ll become a group leader and you’ll want to get you group the best project, so you’ll need to sell your team’s ideas to your manager.”

Student: “Hopefully. I definitely want to work on projects that I can be proud of and that I find interesting.”

Me: “Since everything about engineering has to do with money you need to sell yourself, your group, your ideas, your company’s products or services to your customers. That’s why Sales 101 is so important.”

Student: “Wait, what? Sales 101? But I thought I was going to be an Engineer...”

Now the sad thing is I have never seen any college or university offer a sales 101 class, or any other class dealing with selling. I certainly haven’t seen it offered to anyone going for their engineering degree. The only reason I can think of is:

A. Too difficult a subject is to understand
B. Too easy to warrant the effort for a lofty professor to create a class
C. Common knowledge that is understood by everyone

From my experience I would say no to all of the above. It is a skill that can be boiled down into a few easy steps that will take a lifetime to master.

After nearly 30 years in this business, here is the list I have found to be most effective.

1. Know your customer
2. Shut up and listen to your customer
3. Understand what your customer really needs and wants
4. Don’t oversell, have the discipline to sell only what the customer needs or wants, and shut up about all the cool features that they don’t see a value in

I find the best references in understanding the sales processes are the business books that are available everywhere. Go to Amazon and enter “Selling Ideas” and see how many books you can get for $10-15 containing gems of wisdom that will help you sell your ideas. Let me know which books you've found useful.

Now it’s time to hear from you. Please feel free to share your experiences, or opinions on this blog entry or any other subject that is of interest. I can be reached at blogger@eng-software.com.