January 14, 2012
Mitigating the Engineering Brain Drain Threat
The impact of the retirement of Boomer engineers is something I have been tracking for some time. It poses a serious threat to productivity in engineering organizations. While there are process and organizational changes that can be made to address that threat, there are also some technologies that can make an impact as well. The folks at Cadalyst approached me …
August 30, 2011
The Best Domestic Talent Pool for Engineering?
It seems like finding the right engineering talent for your organization is never easy. There’s the STEM shortfall issue where we aren’t graduating enough engineers to fill the roles needed domestically. And even with a number of engineering roles available, organizations, as one article from EETimes suggests, are getting more picky about hiring the right engineers. Want proof? Engineer unemployment …
Do you know of any engineering project that is overstaffed? Yes. That was a serious question. But I’ll take that as a no nonetheless. In that context, I’ve seen increasingly that engineering managers, even though they have taken on more responsibility in terms of managing a team, are still asked to work as an individual contributor. With regard to that, …
April 1, 2011
Are You Losing the War for Engineering Talent?
I have to admit, I am ready to move on past all of the talk about the recession and recovery. But there’s some good news that deserves some attention. Most notably, some relatively recent research is showing that executives at manufacturers are planning on hiring again. An article in Industryweek titled Manufacturers Expecting to Hire cites a KPMG study says …
January 26, 2011
Research on CEO’s Priorities: What it Means for Engineering
Ever wanted to know what exactly was running through your CEO's head? Well, you're not alone. Sometimes, it can be a little difficult to discern exactly what you can do best to help the company. And gaining insight into what your CEO is really concerned about sheds some light on that.
January 24, 2011
Integrating Simulation and Test: From Conflict to Collaboration
There's nothing quite like a good old war between departments, is there? As disruptive as it can be, conflict between organizations happens all too often. And engineering's had more than its fair share. But instead of focusing on how engineering's agenda might be at odds with another department like manufacturing or procurement, I'd like to hone in on a dynamic within the engineering organization between the simulation office and the test lab.