Beyond Nuts and Bolts: Preparing Problem-Solvers for the Engineering World
As Lee Iacocca (former president, Ford Motor Company) once said, "We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems." There is no solution manual to the world's needs, but those needs are many. As engineers, we must embrace the ambiguity in order to create new solutions for our brothers and sisters.
Engineering Majors: Approaching Problem-Solving
Saint Francis University's Engineering programs are designed to build not just your technical skills but also your ability to grasp the world as it is, enabling you to meet the challenges of tomorrow head-on and reveal opportunities where others see only unsolvable problems. Check out what some of our students, all of whom draw from their experience both at Saint Francis University and with engineering companies that they have worked for, have to say about this approach to engineering and life.
Video Transcript
Austin Wheeler, Class of 2027, General Engineering
Problem-solving is probably the most important thing that you're going to see as an engineer, because you spend your life solving problems that no one has approached before. As much as you'd want to be able to look up, "Hey, how do I solve this problem?" sometimes no one has done it before. Going through an engineering program—especially here at St. Francis, in my experience—really forces you to think. The development of those problem-solving skills is humongous, especially when you go into the real world and there's not really any way to get around just attacking a problem head-on.
Lauren Farabaugh, Class of 2027, General Engineering
My vision when I first started, was I think I had a very different impression of the word “engineer.” I came in thinking, “Oh, engineer—okay, it's a lot of nuts and bolts and fixing stuff.” Then as I came here, I realized I actually really like CAD, I really like designing stuff, and that the term “engineer” encompasses so much more. Before, I would have said that I wanted to be just fixing stuff that people broke as an engineer. But now, I really like designing and problem-solving.
Austin Wheeler, Class of 2027, General Engineering
It seems like every day that goes by, there's more and more information to learn. Every day you think, “How on earth could I learn everything there is to know?” because there’s always some crazy concept you've never heard of. Over time, one of the important things you start to realize is that, as an engineer, you're never going to know everything. You develop an attitude toward continuous learning—not only while I'm in school, but I'm sure 50 years down the line, I’ll still be running into problems I don’t know the answer to and need to learn about.
Brenden Miller, Class of 2022, Environmental Engineering
My time at St. Francis was very beneficial in helping me understand engineering as a whole—not only the technical components, but also the ethical and moral components of being an engineer, and the honor that comes with doing the work.