Who Is An Engineer/Designer?

In the past year, growing and everything related has become a topic of interest to me. This doesn't just apply to cannabis, but being a toker, it has a fair amount to do with it. I especially like indoor growing, as it comes with more complications to overcome. With my slight obsession for growing, most people would be surprised to learn I only go through about an eighth to a quarter at most a month during the school year. Maybe a little more during the times of the year when I don't have to worry about anything in the evenings.

The design of a grow room or cabinet is exciting to me. I feel like a lot of the information on the "proper" way to set these things up is pretty narrow minded. I have so many ideas outside of the norm for things I would like to try, but the information isn't there. Rest assured, I have no interest in gimmicky products or badly engineered, pre made, 110*F, starter grow cabinets. I'm all about performance.

I am a college student, and money has been tight, so testing my ideas is kind of hard to accomplish. I have a Co-Op this summer and next semester, and the pay should allow me to experiment more.

I'm getting tired of school. Supposedly, I am attending a very reputable engineering school. The reality is many professors haven't actually done anything real, and many of them would fail miserably in a "real" job outside of their research. I have learned most of my engineering material on my own while working on a student built race car. I know I am far ahead of a lot of my peers, even though the GPA says otherwise. At least the company I am working for was able to see past the GPA.

Sorry, I'm rambling. Bear with me.

My purpose behind this post is to see who else out there is an engineer, designer, or having some other related title, official or otherwise. What do you do? Do you like your job?

I would love to get a job were I can be directly involved in the design of grow systems. Does anyone have any experience with that?

I am just getting burnt out as the end of the year gets closer. I'm struggling in a couple classes, and spend all of my free time (and then some) on getting this race car done. I need something to work for; another set of options I guess. I'm going to carry this hobby for much of my life, so why not try to make it a job? I want to learn more, and have the resources to bring some innovations to the grow room. Anyone know where to start?

Ok. I'm off my soapbox. I thank, and salute, anyone who read through my novel.

I'm attending school to be an engineer as well, very strange but I'm exactly the same as you minus the building a race car. I've worked in the industry since my freshman year and while my grades are not at the top of the class I have 4 times the experience of anybody I know. Someday once vertical farming becomes a reality I would like to design the large scale hydroponics systems that these buildings would incorporate..

i would consider my self an engineer of sorts-

through schooling(not degreed), but mostly through real world common sense.
i have 25+ years in the construction industry and have worked on everything but nuclear power plants. from trenching to tile.

i find that most engineers, architects, designers, have little "touch" or feel for real world application and performance of the given material they are working with.
my experience says to tell you to get your hands on everyhting you can. evrything is relevant to everthing else in some way, and experience is king.

some of the most intelligent, and witty people i have had the pleasure of meeting had no more than a middle school education.

I'm an mechanical engineer. Product development for coming up on 20 years. Over the years I've mostly been a contracter or consultant. I've worked on all sorts of stuff; from sensors to electronics systems to sonar systems to hydrogen fuel cells to hybrid vehicles, etc. etc. Right now I'm a principle engineer doing development of medical devices. I'm lucky enough to be able to stick to the "engineering" stuff more so than the documentation stuff (of course both are important). I've had some shitty jobs over the years and some hard times to boot, but right now I'm very happy. My growroom development is just a hobby (although if I find myself out of work again I might consider producing/selling them).

Regarding your, I guess I'll call them "doldrums", I understand completely. My recomendation is to just be patient and get some job experience. Co-ops are a great thing. These kids I have working with me, they're getting awesome on-the-job experience, a much better education than I got. When I graduated, I knew how to take the tests and derive the equations, etc. but didn't know jack squat about being an engineer. Stuff like how a company works, how the product development cycle works, how to act in a meeting, etc. I had to learn on my own.

You're young, you're getting a good education. You've got the world by the balls. Just hang in there, do some co-ops and get your degree. With any luck your coop might turn into a job eventually, but if it doesn't then that's fine too.

Good luck!

Murfy said:

i would consider my self an engineer of sorts-

through schooling(not degreed), but mostly through real world common sense.
i have 25+ years in the construction industry and have worked on everything but nuclear power plants. from trenching to tile.

i find that most engineers, architects, designers, have little "touch" or feel for real world application and performance of the given material they are working with.
my experience says to tell you to get your hands on everyhting you can. evrything is relevant to everthing else in some way, and experience is king.

some of the most intelligent, and witty people i have had the pleasure of meeting had no more than a middle school education.

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Exactly. Many of my heros/mentors from the racing world are self taught engineers, and known to be the best at what they do. I agree completely when you say many engineers are out of touch with the real world. That's why I have a hard time sitting through a class full of theory when I can pick up basic concepts in a short amount of time, and then understand how to use it through practice.

Uncultivated said:

I'm an mechanical engineer. Product development for coming up on 20 years. Over the years I've mostly been a contracter or consultant. I've worked on all sorts of stuff; from sensors to electronics systems to sonar systems to hydrogen fuel cells to hybrid vehicles, etc. etc. Right now I'm a principle engineer doing development of medical devices. I'm lucky enough to be able to stick to the "engineering" stuff more so than the documentation stuff (of course both are important). I've had some shitty jobs over the years and some hard times to boot, but right now I'm very happy. My growroom development is just a hobby (although if I find myself out of work again I might consider producing/selling them).

Regarding your, I guess I'll call them "doldrums", I understand completely. My recomendation is to just be patient and get some job experience. Co-ops are a great thing. These kids I have working with me, they're getting awesome on-the-job experience, a much better education than I got. When I graduated, I knew how to take the tests and derive the equations, etc. but didn't know jack squat about being an engineer. Stuff like how a company works, how the product development cycle works, how to act in a meeting, etc. I had to learn on my own.

You're young, you're getting a good education. You've got the world by the balls. Just hang in there, do some co-ops and get your degree. With any luck your coop might turn into a job eventually, but if it doesn't then that's fine too.

Good luck!

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Thanks. I'm not giving up, I just want to get my options opened up now. I have a few ideas of what I would like to do, I just need to find the way in for as many of those as I can.

i did electricial engineering apprenticeship, but now i have moved onto HVAC, designing the control strategies and then writing the program to go inside the controllers, and then commissioning too.

you could set up a very good grow setup using programmable controllers like i use, you could also then have it email you if there are any alarms going on, and also monitor it in realtime whether it be via animated graphics or a webcam.

I don't get it. Are you looking for other engineers that have made a living without going to school or have dropped out and what not? Or are you looking for an engineer to discuss making a setup with? Or are you looking for an excuse to not finish school? lol. All of the answer to those questions are "Stay in school and get yer fricken degree!" It may not be needed to make it in the engineering world, but i guarantee it'll make things easier on ya.

Murfy said:

i would consider my self an engineer of sorts-

through schooling(not degreed), but mostly through real world common sense.
i have 25+ years in the construction industry and have worked on everything but nuclear power plants. from trenching to tile.

i find that most engineers, architects, designers, have little "touch" or feel for real world application and performance of the given material they are working with.
my experience says to tell you to get your hands on everyhting you can. evrything is relevant to everthing else in some way, and experience is king.

some of the most intelligent, and witty people i have had the pleasure of meeting had no more than a middle school education.

Click to expand...

Working with my Dad, who is in all sorts of construction from heavy steel, to house renovations, some of the dumbest people I have met are accredited engineers.

My Dad and I were looking at plans to a mall addition and we both noticed the engineer had drawn the beams going parallel with the trusses. Fucking brilliant. My dad had to tell me to walk away, because I started bitching about how retarded this "educated" engineer was and forgot a very basic principle. Funny thing is this engineer worked for an engineering and design company......and not one person at this company noticed this HUGE design flaw.

By no means am I generalizing about all engineers or similar.....I have a few friends in various different engineering type roles in the oil patch, and they are brilliant, but a college degree doesn't make you smart.............just scholastically educated....that is all. Wit and real world smarts are something you either have or you don't.

Some of the "smartest" people I know sell coke for a living, or grow MJ, and/or work blue collar jobs.

Software Engineer for 10 years. Cultivation Engineer for 1 year.

Slojo69 said:

I don't get it. Are you looking for other engineers that have made a living without going to school or have dropped out and what not? Or are you looking for an engineer to discuss making a setup with? Or are you looking for an excuse to not finish school? lol. All of the answer to those questions are "Stay in school and get yer fricken degree!" It may not be needed to make it in the engineering world, but i guarantee it'll make things easier on ya.

Click to expand...

I'm mostly trying to figure out if there are any engineers in the grow supply business around here. I am also curious to see some well engineered grows, ones that are planned ahead well, spec'd, and actually work out as planned. Don't get me wrong, I have seen sweet grows from people who wouldn't consider themselves engineers, but I want to see more. I don't think I need to have a straightforward question in the toke-n-talk forum. I'm just shooting the shit.

I'm not leaving school... I don't have the balls to do that after being here for 3 years.

Devildog93 said:

Working with my Dad, who is in all sorts of construction from heavy steel, to house renovations, some of the dumbest people I have met are accredited engineers.

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Fact.

DIY electronic engineering and design, as well as, technical drawing and designs, I'm pretty multi diciplinary but master of none.

Electrical engineer here as well, but I do not use the degree at all, it's simply a very good backup in the event I lose my flight medical or pilots license.

dava said:

i did electricial engineering apprenticeship, but now i have moved onto HVAC, designing the control strategies and then writing the program to go inside the controllers, and then commissioning too.

you could set up a very good grow setup using programmable controllers like i use, you could also then have it email you if there are any alarms going on, and also monitor it in realtime whether it be via animated graphics or a webcam.

Click to expand...

If you're looking for a cheap but capable controller, look up IDEC Smartrelay. <$200 with software&cable. I've got code I might be convinced to pass along to someone in need...

my son has a masters in accounting and his CPA, seriously the kid doesn't know how to use a hammer or screw driver and all he effing talks about is some band named Phish, geezus what motivates people now adays?

Uncultivated said:

I'm an mechanical engineer. Product development for coming up on 20 years. Over the years I've mostly been a contracter or consultant. I've worked on all sorts of stuff; from sensors to electronics systems to sonar systems to hydrogen fuel cells to hybrid vehicles, etc. etc. Right now I'm a principle engineer doing development of medical devices. I'm lucky enough to be able to stick to the "engineering" stuff more so than the documentation stuff (of course both are important). I've had some shitty jobs over the years and some hard times to boot, but right now I'm very happy. My growroom development is just a hobby (although if I find myself out of work again I might consider producing/selling them).

Regarding your, I guess I'll call them "doldrums", I understand completely. My recomendation is to just be patient and get some job experience. Co-ops are a great thing. These kids I have working with me, they're getting awesome on-the-job experience, a much better education than I got. When I graduated, I knew how to take the tests and derive the equations, etc. but didn't know jack squat about being an engineer. Stuff like how a company works, how the product development cycle works, how to act in a meeting, etc. I had to learn on my own.

You're young, you're getting a good education. You've got the world by the balls. Just hang in there, do some co-ops and get your degree. With any luck your coop might turn into a job eventually, but if it doesn't then that's fine too.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Coops were how i got my name known .

EE Tech here.

Electrical eng. tech that is.

I can personally say i wouldnt have a job right now if it werent for the coops i went on.

if you were a real engineer or designer you wouldnt be so interested in something so simple as a grow room. Go do something "real" as you say, like designing an electric car, or modern contemporary modular homes. "Grow rooms"...you make me sick.

Uncultivated said:

If you're looking for a cheap but capable controller, look up IDEC Smartrelay. <$200 with software&cable. I've got code I might be convinced to pass along to someone in need...

Click to expand...

good price, have recently started playing with iLon Smartservers and Jace-2/6's
(well played with the ilon for nearly 2 years now just starting with the Jace)

very powerful front ends for the BMS systems, we are an SI to a rather big controls manufacturer tho so we get really good prices, and also all of your programming now is done in GFX!

Uncultivated said:

If you're looking for a cheap but capable controller, look up IDEC Smartrelay. <$200 with software&cable. I've got code I might be convinced to pass along to someone in need...

Click to expand...

Something similar is on my list of projects.

YungMune said:

if you were a real engineer or designer you wouldnt be so interested in something so simple as a grow room. Go do something "real" as you say, like designing an electric car, or modern contemporary modular homes. "Grow rooms"...you make me sick.

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This is unfair. Anything can be as simple as you make it.

Not a fan of either of the 2 subjects you mentioned. Race cars and grow rooms are interesting to me. Who are you to say they are not worthy?

I`m studying electronic engineering and I`m fucking bored with the theory of it. I`m miles ahead of most of my class in practical applications but I`m an average student with the lessons. Its ridiculous, they are just teaching us mathematics we are going to forget (well %95 of us!) and never use apart from passing exams.

When I look around me, I can just see people into drinking and pissing around in my university learning things they will never understand or use.

Whats worse is, the exam system is very cracked and flawed. Study the right things (or memorise) and u will pass. Univeristys now require A-A* students to enter their courses. And thats students which crammed that bullshit in their head!

Me personally, gonna stick to my job and build an electronic controlled grow room in the future

The theory, even though nobody is going to use it, its a part of science, and science is one! So learn it!

YungMune said:

if you were a real engineer or designer you wouldnt be so interested in something so simple as a grow room. Go do something "real" as you say, like designing an electric car, or modern contemporary modular homes. "Grow rooms"...you make me sick.

Click to expand...

Oh yea? Some of the simplest things invented tend to be the most useful. And your saying its something so so so simple? What if he designed an all in one smellproof growroom which is very affordable with a full user interface and can be turned into a sea of green by adding in a rack or some other functions like that. I think your lacking the insight that grow rooms are going to be very popular for growing a lot of things in the future.

So now your around cracking the whip tell us, what do you do yourself??