If I were to participate in an internship in Great Britain or France, I would try to study past projects that have been completed by companies and engineers from either country. More specifically, I would study the interactions between the engineers, how the engineers communicated with other members of the project, and what processes they would use to complete a project or solve an unexpected problem. After analyzing the engineering culture of the particular nation, I would research the country’s history to find the reason behind such behaviors and beliefs that form the culture, because the “why” and “how” is just as import as the “what.” One of the most important things I could do is to try to contact an engineer from the country in order to learn what things I might expect while working in an unfamiliar place. If I can’t get ahold of an engineer from that country, I would then try to contact an engineer who has either worked in that particular engineering culture, or worked with engineers that are natively from that engineering culture.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Week 4- Prompt 4
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I agree with you method of research pertaining to learning about the cultures and various interactions in different parts of the world , and also finding out about the engineering practices in different parts of the world. But it think just working with one engineer or learning from one may not be enough. He or she might provide different viewpoints but may not necessarily represent the trend in viewpoints for that culture . I believe immersing yourself in the culture for extended periods of time has a more of an effect that simply learning from one person. If one chooses to work in a separate culture for a period of time, one can learn more not only about engineering practices but also about behaviors , resource management , and regional feasibility for future projects in the area.engr103
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good idea to study the past projects from each country, and viewing how the engineers from the two different countries interact is essential to understanding how the major engineering projects are accomplished. But I do also think that it is more important to live in the country to get a more real sense of that country’s culture. Interviewing one engineer only (or maybe a few) probably will not be enough to learn about the engineering culture. A single person can give you the details of everyday life but engineers from the same country might even have different ways of accomplishing the same task. (engr 103)
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