Talking to engineers (thought)

Internet, I have a request for you:

Take a look at this imbibing device, the drinking tool, a hollow transparent cylinder with one impermeable side.

Gee, it’s a glass.

Imagine trying to explain concepts like this to people all day of varying degrees of technical prowess.

Pratt and Whitney doesn’t have names for the multiple million different parts on different engines, but has to use coded identifiers.

General practice in different departments are well accepted, but there are few to no standards bridging the departments. As a process engineer, my job was that bridge. Communication and clarification to create jet engine instructions.

This sentiment is shared across the technical realm. Engineers need to guess how much information you actually want when you ask them a question. We need to guess if you want us to tell you why to fix your computer, how to fix your computer, and if we come off as terribly rude when we assert way more help than you wanted.

So please be vocal with us, there’s lag while we think of a response and some of us might miss a key facial expression.