Obstacle One - Problem Solving Strategies Simulation. The process here is simple. Take a picture on a wall in your living room and make it crooked, then invite one of your friends over. Your friend will most likely choose one of three options: straighten the picture, ignore the picture, or buy a copy of Pro Engineer and spend the next 48 hours (5 of them sleeping) designing a solar-powered picture straightening device. Obviously, if he or she chooses the last option then you’ve got yourself an engineer.
Obstacle Two - Wardrobe Selection. Take the candidate to a department store. A Marshall’s, or a TJ Maxx, something that has a wide selection of brands. Tell them to pick out an outfit. What we’re looking for here for example would be a combination of boat shoes, a Slazenger button up shirt (tucked in), and jeans. This is a typical outfit for an engineer. Similar derivations will also fit into engineer wardrobe category, just be sure to use careful discretion.
Final Stage - Place a computer in front of the subject that’s only possible function is to play games of Galaga. While it is tempting to just give in and play the classic video game, the real engineer will most likely get more satisfaction out of breaking the machine down into its smallest possible functioning components. Sick I know, but true.
In conclusion, as engineers, we are not the most “normal” people, but who cares. Without us, the world would still be trying to roll cars on square wheels, or even worse, we would still be drying all of our meat so that it would last the entire winter. Nough said. That’s all folks.
