New World Engineering...

[spartonboat1]

Here is a link to a significant issue installing the "extra room" to the Space Lab/Station. This is the world I live in, albeit software/computer engineering. A big fight to get parties (read very young, sometimes senior people too) to follow standards and prove out systems before deployment. Toyota is now going through it with the software in their Prius' cars and it is leaking out that other carmakers as well. Mercedes pulled their 100% automated, i.e. computer controlled, brakes from some of their earlier efforts. Oh, well, caveat emptor!

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8gpZRl3t8mV2RxsVjIuPU75dJeAD9DR90NG0

 

[krush]

"Managers" are viewed as being more important than people that actually do stuff (crafts, engineers, etc). Combine that all these "know alls" getting MBA's and being "experts" and you get screw-ups like this, the Challenger accident, the bridge collapse, etc.

Everyday somebody that knows what they are doing has to deal with some "higher up" that doesn't have a clue. NASA has been worthless for quite some time.

 

[spartonboat1]

Unfortunately, people die ("tombstone engineering"), or $billions are wasted. The literally $billions wasted by the Federal Gvmt on failed IT projects is legendary and runs to the $20-50B mark. I have personal knowledge of a St of MI project that was $440M over budget (that I know of). My point of fascination is now well past horror, but rather I am either a) incredulous or b) unbelieving as related to what is the massive extent of non-performance that organizations can tolerate, without any penalties. Oh, well.

 

[krush]

I grew up working hard for small businesses and my family was all "hard workers". I just assumed people did good work because that's what expected of them and they had honor.

When I got more entrenched in the "real world" I learned that 80-90% of all people are incompetent, lazy, stupid, or all three. Corporations and organizations are built around below average--and they don't want smart people either.