These posts always get me to chuckle.
Can an Electrical Engineer do anything an Electrician can do?
Can a Mechanical Engineer do anything a Mechanic can do?
Which always gets me to imagine…
Do you think being a Civil Engineer would qualify one to be a bulldozer operator?
Do you think being an Aeronautical Engineer qualify one to be a fighter pilot?
Years ago, I ran a testing lab for a heavy manufacturer. We tested the products manufactured by the plant. Mostly mechanical tests. I had several technicians working for me. For the most part, the technician’s job consisted of machining the test specimens and performing the test, with most of the time spent on machining the specimens. They had to be able to operate an engine lathe, manual mill, etc… and perform simple mathematical operations (using a calculator) to calculate the results. This was back in the 20th century and it was a much simpler time.
Well, as this was years ago, the electronics in the testing equipment were all analog and as these analog circuits aged, it became harder and harder to find replacements. So, around the time of Y2K, management (at my pleading) made the decision to upgrade to digital testing equipment, which, of course, had to be run by a computer (PC). Now, this was in Houston, TX, and one of my technicians had worked for Compaq in the 80s, assembling PCs. He was a bit apprehensive about the new equipment as he had never operated a computer. Not a completely unwarranted apprehension, since as he was getting older, re-training for new skills was a real concern for many people, particularly with computers since the perception was that you had to be a young kid to understand computers.
I told him, “Relax, this will be a piece of cake for you. You used to build these things”.