Engineer Quotes

“When Henry Ford decided to produce his famous V-8 motor, he chose to build an engine with the entire eight cylinders cast in one block, and instructed his engineers to produce a design for the engine. The design was placed on paper, but the engineers agreed, to a man, that it was simply impossible to cast an eight-cylinder engine-block in one piece.

Ford replied,''Produce it anyway.”
― Henry Ford

“If we are not apt to steer our life and engineer our individuality, we become preys of the pecking order or panting cardboard characters turning into walking dead. ("Terra incognita" )”
― Erik Pevernagie

“He's a sturdy fellow, bald as a hen's egg, and like all engineers, practical as a pensioner.”
― Steven Pressfield, The Virtues of War

“A scientist studies what is, whereas an engineer creates what never was.”
― Theodore von Karman

“First, you can assume all the engineers are players. They obviously have technical knowledge they may throw on the table, otherwise why were they invited? The product-management person is also a player as she represents the sales folks in this meeting. Program managers in these meetings are pawns. They’ll make sure action items are recorded and that the meeting ends on time.”
― Michael Lopp, Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

“The Wolf. The single most productive engineer you’ll meet. You’ve heard of the 10x engineer, but I am here to tell you about the Wolf. They are engineers, and they consistently exhibit the following characteristics: They appear to exist outside of the well-defined process that we’ve defined to get things done, but they appear to suffer no consequences for not following these rules. Everyone knows they’re the Wolf, but no one ever calls them the Wolf. They have a manager, but no one really knows who it is. They have a lot of meetings, but none of them are scheduled. Inviting them to your meeting is a crap shoot. They understand how “the system” works, they understand how to use “the system” to their advantage, and they understand why “the system” exists, but they think “the system” is a bit of a joke. You can ask a Wolf to become a manager, but they’ll resist it. If you happen to convince them to do it, they will do a fine job, but they won’t stay in that role long. In fact, they’ll likely quit managing when you least expect it. Lastly, and most importantly, the Wolf generates disproportionate value for the company with their unparalleled ability to identify and rapidly work on projects essential to the future of the company.”
― Michael Lopp, Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

“My gig is the care and feeding of engineers, and their productivity is my productivity. If they all leave, I have exactly no job. Part of your credibility as a leader is your public and repeated declaration that it’s your job to help your team succeed.”
― Michael Lopp, Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

“My advice for maintaining an engineering mindset: 1. Use the development environment to build the product. 2. Be able to draw a detailed architectural diagram describing your product on any whiteboard at any time. 3. Own a feature. 4. Write unit tests.”
― Michael Lopp, Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

“A visiting student in La Palma was working with astronomical detector engineer and routinely breathing nitrogen gas. He later unexpectedly fainted, collapsed to the ground and went to hospital.”
― Steven Magee

“If I had been shown how far electromagnetic fields extend out of electrical and electronic products, I probably would never have worked as an electrical and electronics engineer.”
― Steven Magee

“First, you can assume all the engineers are players. They obviously have technical knowledge they may throw on the table, otherwise why were they invited? The product-management person is also a player as she represents the sales folks in this meeting. Program managers in these meetings are pawns. They’ll make sure action items are recorded and that the meeting ends on time.If you’re sitting in a meeting where you’re unable to identify any players, get the hell out.”
― Michael Lopp, Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

“Incompetence is prevalent in the engineering field.”
― Steven Magee, Magee’s Disease

“Spoken like a feeble scientist, lad. You must learn to think like an engineer! To a scientist nothing is proven until it is demonstrated, every way up, before the eyes of a dozen of his sober-suited peers. But an engineer seeks what is possible. I don’t care if this theory is right or wrong; I ask instead what I can do with it.”
― Stephen Baxter, Anti-Ice

“What I witnessed at the dangerous DeSoto Solar Farm went against my training as a Chartered Electrical Engineer.”
― Steven Magee

“Most managers I have worked for have told me I have some of the best technical skills they have seen in an electrical and electronics engineer.”
― Steven Magee

“As a Chartered Electrical Engineer working for one of the largest electrical utility company’s in the USA, I found I was working in an environment that my training told me was completely abnormal and dangerous!”
― Steven Magee

“Good engineer designs gadgets, great engineer designs society.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“What do you call an electrical and electronics engineer with Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity? Unemployed!”
― Steven Magee

“Who scouts through wilderness and cold
And finds the stone that turns to gold,
The gems of Nature's wealth untold--
The Engineer.

Who gets five paltry plunks per day
To give the thing he finds away
To some one else who makes it pay--
The Engineer.

Who's heart is always in the game,
When trouble comes it's just the same,
But when it comes, who gets the blame?
The Engineer.

- Robert Elmer Horton (Water Power and Water Supply Preliminaries, 1913, Michigan Engineer)”
― Robert Elmer Horton

“The real happiness of an engineer is when your product or service is used by the people.”
― Rupesh Sreeraman

“The engineer who created this has grand and lofty ideas— but not much practical sense.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Rhythm of War

“Difference between toys and innovation is that toys are for the privileged, innovation is for everyone.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“The Humanitarian Nerd
(Sonnet 1538)

Machines have a tendency of
disconnecting mind from society.
Unless you're driven by a humane dream,
silicon dreams only facilitate inhumanity.

Worse than silicosis is silicon psychosis,
Worse than septicemia es la indiferencia.
Worse than writer's block is fighter's block,
to settle in ice-age is insult of la conciencia.

Before you master raspberry and arduino,
learn to master common everyday humanity.
If you're not burning with the fire to do good,
there's no point to your gray's anatomy.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Before you master raspberry and arduino,
learn to master common everyday humanity.
If you're not burning with the fire to do good,
there's no point to your gray's anatomy.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Worse than silicosis is silicon psychosis.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“The golden age of startups is behind us,
today it's mostly filth, fraud and smut.
Amidst the crowd of trust fund termites,
be the humanovator to humanize the world.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Divine Refugee

“Innovation that outlives its usefulness,
is no longer innovation but carnivoration.
Innovators not in touch with soil-n-roots,
are predators of the concrete jungle.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Divine Refugee

“Silicon and Sapiens (The Sonnet)

Once upon a time,
I put down my soldering iron
and picked up the keyboard,
for I couldn't afford to sustain
my passion for electronics any more.

But now that I look back,
It was for the best.
The world has plenty tech genius,
what it lacks is reformer scientist.

My inside awareness of machine intricacies
has been an aid to my neuroscience.
In a world torn between mind and machine,
I bridge the shores of silicon and sapiens.

Biologists often diss the potential of machine,
just like gadgeteers are oblivious to life.
Life is a cosmic miracle, machines are a human one,
and with added purpose, machines could be
the mightiest defense of life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Biologists often diss the potential of machine, just like gadgeteers are oblivious to life. Life is a cosmic miracle, machines are a human one, and with added purpose, machines could be the mightiest defense of life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Life is a cosmic miracle, machines are a human one, and with added purpose, machines could be the mightiest defense of life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets