# Do you wear your engineering ring? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 7, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583 "2008-11-07T03:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/41 "2008-11-08T05:16:45Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’ve now met two engineers who said - honestly, I am not making this up - “Engineers do not make mistakes.” That’s right! It’s not a “mistake”. It’s a trial, or a pass in the testing cycle. Life is an iterative design loop, don’t you know? Much more accurate is Dilbert’s summary of his profession to a bunch of elementary school kids during a Career Day: “The goal of every engineer is to be able to retire without being blamed for a major catastrophe.” ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/42 "2008-11-08T06:24:05Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Is the Rice ring distinctive? Somewhat, IMO. There are a couple of images [here](http://ww2.balfour.com/ORP/default.aspx?sec=rings&id=TX129). ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/43 "2008-11-08T13:39:21Z")
Add me to the list of engineers who hadn’t heard of such a thing until this thread. I’m not likely to run into Canadian engineers in my job (certainly not day-to-day, and I avoid professional conferences like the plague), so maybe that’s one reason I’ve been in the dark about this. Nice idea, but I don’t see the need to have jewelry show my professional affiliation. I’ll let my horrible fashion sense to that for me. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/44 "2008-11-08T13:58:13Z")
Never heard of it. Would never wear it - much too pretentious for me. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/45 "2008-11-08T14:20:47Z")
I’ve never heard of an Engineers Ring. And my dad was an Engineer. (And, being from Detroit area, we have a massive infestation of Engineers here. massive ) I think it is a neat idea, but frankly, if you don’t have a fez to wear with it, what is the point? I mean, honestly! ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/46 "2008-11-08T15:17:49Z")
I wear mine all the time. I’m an environmental engineer so I don’t have to be concerned about losing a finger since we don’t do any hands-on work. The closest I come is walking around a forest taking water levels from wells; it barely counts as work. ETA: I don’t think I paid for my ring. I didn’t receive it from the school that I got my degree from…so thanks to University of Toronto for saving me $10. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/47 "2008-11-08T16:05:30Z")
> [@Kid\_A](#): > > I wear mine all the time. I’m an environmental engineer so I don’t have to be concerned about losing a finger since we don’t do any hands-on work. > > The closest I come is walking around a forest taking water levels from wells; it barely counts as work. As a fellow environmental engineer, you have got to be kidding–or you have had a sheltered career. :dubious: Have you never had to jump in a trench to take soil samples, or lacking the assistance of an excavator, had to dig the test pit by hand? Or had to drill concrete samples from PCB-contaminated transformer pads? How about sampling 25 deep groundwater monitoring wells surrounding a landfill with a bladder pump–in one day–then coming back the next day to sample the other 25 wells? Oh, and you have to find the wells in high grass (summer) or snow (winter). In the summer, despite the hoards of mosquitoes, you can’t wear insect repellent because it might contaminate the water samples. Or what about sampling groundwater monitoring wells at an abandoned auto body shop in a sketchy neighborhood? Bonus points for sampling the wells in mid-January when the high temp is 6 deg F. Even more bonus points if you have to spend an hour trying to find the wells with a metal detector, because they are covered with a foot of snow. How about going into a boarded-up factory with a geoprobe machine? (The building was full of asbestos, too, as it turned out.) Oh, and my favorite: sampling the contents of three abandoned septic tanks, one of which turned out not to have actually abandoned. (The septic tank in question was used both for a toilet that was not connected to the public sewer, as well as a sink where the owner had poured chlorinated solvents. :rolleyes: ) It was even more fun transporting the sample containers in my own vehicle to the testing lab. ☹ Fortunately, after a few years of the above, I moved into remediation design, and still later to working for a water/sewer utility. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/48 "2008-11-08T16:25:28Z")
> [@robby](#): > > As a fellow environmental engineer, you have got to be kidding–or you have had a sheltered career. :dubious: > > Have you never had to jump in a trench to take soil samples, or lacking the assistance of an excavator, had to dig the test pit by hand? > > Or had to drill concrete samples from PCB-contaminated transformer pads? > > How about sampling 25 deep groundwater monitoring wells surrounding a landfill with a bladder pump–in one day–then coming back the next day to sample the other 25 wells? Oh, and you have to find the wells in high grass (summer) or snow (winter). In the summer, despite the hoards of mosquitoes, you can’t wear insect repellent because it might contaminate the water samples. > > Or what about sampling groundwater monitoring wells at an abandoned auto body shop in a sketchy neighborhood? Bonus points for sampling the wells in mid-January when the high temp is 6 deg F. Even more bonus points if you have to spend an hour trying to find the wells with a metal detector, because they are covered with a foot of snow. > > How about going into a boarded-up factory with a geoprobe machine? (The building was full of asbestos, too, as it turned out.) > > Oh, and my favorite: sampling the contents of three abandoned septic tanks, one of which turned out not to have actually abandoned. (The septic tank in question was used both for a toilet that was not connected to the public sewer, as well as a sink where the owner had poured chlorinated solvents. :rolleyes: ) It was even more fun transporting the sample containers in my own vehicle to the testing lab. ☹ > > Fortunately, after a few years of the above, I moved into remediation design, and still later to working for a water/sewer utility. It’s early…and I probably should have put I smiley in there. When I tell most people what I do, they either: a) stare at my blankly b) ask me how I’m going to fix global warming or the amount of garbage produced c) think I wander around a forest looking at plants (thus negating the whole existence of ecologists) Great post thought that really sums what we do. And don’t get me started about the mosquitoes…:eek: ETA: Or hunters…2 field technicians that I sent out this week to do some monitoring almost got shot by guys hunting deer. I didn’t know that deer wore orange safety vests. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/49 "2008-11-08T16:43:13Z")
Over the years I have worked with many engineers and I have never heard of an engineering ring. I will have to ask the engineers I know if they have heard of it. Maybe it isn’t so common in the states. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/50 "2008-11-08T16:47:46Z")
> [@wolfstu](#): > > “Engineers don’t make mistakes” is an awfully stupid thing to say. I can only hope it’s childish jingoism and not sincere. I’ve worked with a coupld of these engineering types before. They were sincere. Thankfully, most of the engineers I worked with in my career (I was a technical writer) were great people, aware that their rings did not give them superpowers or place them above the rest of us. But those “I don’t make mistakes” ones stand out in my memory because they were real PITAs to work with. > [@Kid\_A](#): > > Or hunters…2 field technicians that I sent out this week to do some monitoring almost got shot by guys hunting deer. I didn’t know that deer wore orange safety vests. [Check this out.](http://www.dwad.net/nra.html) ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/51 "2008-11-08T20:45:43Z")
The ring is the reason I’m going an engineering degree! It’s all about the Bling! Actually, the career I’m interested in pretty much demands a mechanical engineering degree, but the ring is a huge motivator for me, even though it’s just a couple dollar’s worth of stainless steel. I don’t know why I want one of my own so much, but I do! I’m an older student, and getting that ring (and the diploma) will really show what I’ve gone through to get to where I want to be. Besides, I want to work in a safety-oriented domain, and the ring signifies that pretty well already! My husband has one and he wears his all the time (he’s a software engineer). I take it from him sometimes, but unfortunately, it doesn’t fit my little finger! ---
**Author:** ![Galena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Galena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galena)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/52 "2008-11-08T21:24:15Z")
> [@Kid\_A](#): > > Great post thought that really sums what we do. And don’t get me started about the mosquitoes…:eek: Don’t know what you guys are talking about…Tyvek suits do a great job in keeping the mosquitoes away…Course, if you were _real_ environmental engineers, your lists would have also included wearing Hazmat gear in 100F weather… 😉 I’m starting to think that we must have had a transplanted Canadian professor bring the ring ceremony to my school or something, since it seems so uncommon here in the US. We weren’t exactly what you would call on top of the trends. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/53 "2008-11-09T08:21:33Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Over the years I have worked with many engineers and I have never heard of an engineering ring. I will have to ask the engineers I know if they have heard of it. Maybe it isn’t so common in the states. I never heard of any such ring in 4 years of MIT, and in many years after that of alumni activity. Of course our finger is occupied by our [class ring.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_class_ring) ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/54 "2008-11-09T15:17:10Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Of course our finger is occupied by our [class ring.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_class_ring) You wear your class ring on your pinky finger? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/55 "2008-11-09T15:41:32Z")
I believe that engineering ring of which you ask is now called a necktie! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/56 "2008-11-09T16:56:04Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > I believe that engineering ring of which you ask is now called a necktie! 😃 What’s a tie? I wear jeans and a T-shirt everyday. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/57 "2008-11-09T19:13:33Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > I believe that engineering ring of which you ask is now called a necktie! 😃 The attire at my company is a t-shirt with either jeans or shorts. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/58 "2008-11-09T19:16:33Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > I believe that engineering ring of which you ask is now called a necktie! 😃 :dubious: I’ve not seen too many women wearing neckties. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583/59 "2008-11-21T17:10:14Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Not any more than any other in group’s rituals. > > Apropos of nothing, I’ve now met two engineers who said - honestly, I am not making this up - “Engineers do not make mistakes.” But they seem to be the rare exception. Perhaps they had an allergic reaction to iron. How far out of school were they? There’s an unfortunate tendency in engineering schools of ‘educational chauvanism’ that breeds people with an unspeakable arrogance and more or less this same sentiment, though it tends not to last too long against the real world. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wear-your-engineering-ring/471583.md?page=2)