A day in the life of an engineer

A day in the life of an engineer

ENGINEERS AND THEIR CREATIONS MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN EVERY ASPECT OF OUR WORLD. ON THE OCCASION OF ENGINEER’S DAY, YASMIN TAJ MEETS A FEW ENGINEERS TO FIND OUT WHAT A TYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ENGINEER IS LIKE

SOUMITRA SANA, head of Technology Centre,Bangalore,Nokia Solutions and Networks: 

 
    The engineering dream: I completed my engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur and then worked in Canada for 15 years before returning to India. I have worked as a hardware engineer, software engineer and now manage large engineering, research and development operations primarily in the areas of data and wireless communication. Tinkering with things, building things with my own hands and simplifying complex problems in the areas of technology have been my passion since my school days.

    A typical day: A typical day in an engineer’s life is a combination of activities like designing, testing, troubleshooting and documenting interspersed with a number of meetings for reviews, planning and brainstorming. The key to delivering successful projects apart from the technical skills is a sound knowledge of the big picture, ability to multi-task and work in diverse teams and a great amount of self-discipline. For example, for an engineer like me working with NSN, I need to be thoroughly aware of the immense opportunities and challenges that the mobile telecommunication industry goes through, but at the same time, be cognizant of the huge dependencies and expectations of individual subscribers on this technology in today’s life. 

    The usual glitches: The environment in which an engineer works today has undergone a sea change. Products are more complex and specialised; development is made by global distributed teams; life cycles have shrunk considerably and disruptive
    technologies are the order of the day. Agility in execution, accepting and adapting to frequent changes, influencing a multitude of colleagues and teams and balancing personal life are challenges that today’s engineers are facing every day. 

Janardhanan Pathangi, director - technologies, CTO, Networking, Dell R&D: 

    The engineering dream: I completed my under graduation (84-88) and Masters (88-90) from The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras and have since then worked in various roles in the operating systems and networking space. I was also an independent consultant for a period of four years. I was mainly motivated by the satisfaction of solving problems, especially the ones which take time and are difficult. 

    A typical day: I usually try to start the day with a review of what was done and needs to be done for the day. Most of the time, the challenge is to ensure that you get the planned items completed without activities slipping to the next day. 

    The usual glitches: Given the volume of demand and pressure at the work environment, it is easy to become focused on just finding solutions, but lose focus on innovation. The ability to stay focused on important things to be solved and innovate is a key challenge.
Ganesh Bhadti, AVP (operations) & mill manager – Kadiam, The Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills:
    

 The engineering dream: I graduated in Pulp and Paper Technology from Karnataka University in Dharwad in the year 1982, securing second rank in the University. I have also received the national merit scholarship for intermediate and degree courses. My academic record remained very good throughout my student career. Technology has always fascinated me and it further created a lot of curiosity about stunning technical achievements around me. 

    A typical day: My day starts with the planning of all the problems that are waiting to be solved. I think and plan about how things could work better and explore the different options that can be implemented. Organising and delegating the right job to the right person is also an important task. I also plan to ensure that the resources are aptly available and safety and environmental issues are taken care of. I always ensure that responsibilities are very well-defined at every layer. For making the projects successful, I firmly believe in providing moral support and encouragement to boost the progress of the people. Also celebrating success gives confidence and builds trust in people to face new challenges and make new projects successful.
 

The usual glitches: According to me, the real challenge for any engineer is the speed and accuracy of the task. Even a very small mistake can lead to the failure of not only the project, but at times disasters too.