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Monday, March 14, 2011

What STEM professionals say about their careers: Steve Krueger

A lot of attention is currently being given to encourage more students into science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses and careers. I have spent my career in the STEM domain and so have many of my best friends. I asked them, after decades working in STEM fields, what are the best and worst about it?

Steve Krueger
Education: SB, MIT, Electrical Engineering; SM, MIT, Computer Science
Steve is currently a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Texas Instruments

I like engineering because I like to build things.  I like engineering because I am fascinated by how things work and sometimes I know I can make them work better.

Building is helping make the world a better place.  It embraces the philosophy that you can change the world for the better.  It is about imagining and then making what you imagine into something real.  It can be about helping others, solving a need or just because.  And when you've built something, it is immensely satisfying to look at this new thing and think, "I did that!  I made the world a little bit better."

It is fascinating to figure out how something works.  I'm not really OK with using a tool or even watching a magic trick that I don't understand. I want to know how, or rather, I need to know how.   And, as you study how things work, you come to see that some things work much better than others, and maybe you'll begin to figure out why.

Then you are ready to move on to the next step, to improving the world around you.   You can start by improving something simple.  Maybe you have a rake that needs a special place to hang in the garage.  Maybe you are short and need a step stool to reach a high cabinet.  Maybe it would help your mother to find a bell she can ring to call the family to dinner.  These are the beginnings of a life of making the world a better place by building, designing, creating, engineer

Posted at 12:00 AM Keywords: STEM 3 Comments

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