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OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena?
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I feel like I'm going through my late 20s crisis here! :)

I studied electrical engineer for my undergrad and masters (wireless networks) and have been working for a large data storage company for the past 8 years... for 7 years in research and development and in the past year as a technical consultant (just trying to get a little taste of business and working directly with customers/sales ppl). It's definitely very different and have to travel a lot which interfers a great deal with my ironman training (so keeping my priorities straight, I'm starting to look for a new job!). Jokes aside, it's just not fullfilling and I feel there's something missing. So I've been thinking... and trying to find what's out there for engineers in the sports arena? I would love to work for some company such as Polar, TImex, Adidas, Garmin, etc or some company I could match my engineering background with my passion for sports (running and triathlon in particular).

Any thoughts what engineers are doing in the sports field? I just thought this would be a good place to vent and brainstorm...

Any ideas?

Thanks for reading and I would appreciate any good inputs ;-)

Andrea.
Last edited by: torito: Jun 27, 06 5:57
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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It's not what you are looking for, but the best place to find a sports related engineering field is in auto racing. If not the best at least the most plentyful.

Of course if you went into that, your training time would really go away. Some folks I know who work in that field (especially the engineers with NASCAR teams) never see their house, let alon have hobbies.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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Timex in located in Connecticut. Nice area. Lots of triathletes...

"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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bump





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“You can't coach desire.” --Dathan Ritzenhein
http://xtreme4.com/ -- an extreme ride for extreme change: go green
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [Rappstar] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the comments. I am checking out Timex. I would like to see what opportunities they have available.

Thanks,

Andrea
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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Well, this topic pops up every now and then, and it's funny, because I just had a couple of conversations with guys at companies related to our business (I sell a FEA - finite element analysis - software package that would help these companies solve throwing money down the perpetual Taiwenese black hole ;-).

The problem with engineering and the bike/tri industry, is that while many engineers have claimed to want to transition into the industry over the years, the reality is they do not want to give up good salaries and (usualy) lower workload. Even in the "large" companies in this industry, there is not a slew of engineers. I can think of most of the majors only having one or two who does the designing, testing, working with the guys overseas, etc. They are maybe getting paid half of what they would in another industry (or 1/3 of either aerospace or auto/boat racing). They are working twice the hours.

Some of those companies who HAVE been around awhile, reward their employees, and thus, nobody leaves. So you may have a company of 5-20 people, not making great money, but dividing up what profits there are, so the company is VERY lean. Personally, I get the impression that many companies would love to have engineers work with them, but they just can't afford it. To be able to go through and think of all the possibilities (with "tubing", time had been their "engineering"...but now with composites...it's a completely different ball game), and test accordingly. What a novelty.

Right now, I can only think of 3 companies here in North America that actually do any ADVANCED engineering analysis (some utilize FEA in a basic way - but mostly to throw pretty pictures on their marketing collateral ;-). It's not bad, it's just not fiscally allowable to have people concentrate on this.

It might make sense for a group of engineers (design, mechanical, electrical, etc.) to band together and form their own consulting group. There is alot to be said about integrity on the manufacturing side of this business, and so if designs and engineering could be done here, perhaps there may be a bit tighter control on companies intellectual property.

So, go at it. M.E.'s probably have a larger pool to select from than you electrical guys, but just realize whether your "happiness" factor involves free time and $$$'s. Best of luck...

Craig Preston - President / Preston Presentations
Saving the world with more professional, powerful, and persuasive presentations - one audience at a time.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [Craigster] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks a lot for your comments Craigster! It is good to know what to expect and totally agree with you, maybe the way to go is get together with other engineers and come up with something good. (easier said than done..but not impossible!)

Thanks,

Andrea
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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What is the fourth root of i (or j)?


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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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No problem. I have recently found that friend of mine is designing some products, and I may start recommending his company to those people I speak with in the bike industry (at least here in North America). Maybe we should start the "Slowtwitch Consulting Tribe". Just another way for a retired industry founder turned journalist to get 10% of all fees paid to contributing members for projects ;-)

Craig Preston - President / Preston Presentations
Saving the world with more professional, powerful, and persuasive presentations - one audience at a time.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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Plus, for a small state, we have plenty of racing here.. and within a pretty short driving distance (re: Timex). Plus, some pretty fast dudes / dudettes.

Griskus series is located about 1/2 mile down the road from Timex headquarters in Middlebury, many sprints / olys throughout the year, Harriman 1/2 iron mid-May, new ITU points race in Bridgeport early August, Thurs night sprint series in Marlborough through summer, Tues nite? mountain bike tri series in summer, pretty much a race every weekend here within an hour's drive. NYC is only about 1:40 drive from Middlebury too.

IMLP is about a 4:45 drive, as well as Tupper and Musselman halves.

F.I.R.M. racing series out of Mass is always going every weekend too. www.firm-racing.com

www.trifind.com/ct

Tons of running races here throughout the year also. www.hitekracing.com

Good luck!
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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I have a friend who works for a exercise equipment company-treadmills, weight machines etc.. Precor is the name of the company. they're near Seattle,wa.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [Craigster] [ In reply to ]
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Now we are talking! :) "Slowtwitch Consulting Tribe" I like it! I think it could be a good idea, get a group engineers from different fields to come up with technical solutions for sports (triathlon in particular) needs!

Let's keep thinking and stay in touch!

Thanks,

Andrea
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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We are always looking for good EE's here at Agilent (especially if you have background in wireless) . We have locations worldwide including Colorado and Nor Cal. Great riding here in Santa Rosa. Lot's of cyclists work here as well and they really support bike commuting.

see www.agilent.com
Last edited by: TriMike: Jun 27, 06 10:34
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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Aside from my Race Director responsibilites, I work for a bicycle company as a prototype engineer. Basically a fancy way of saying I play with bikes all day! The cycling industry is great if you dont mind a lower pay scale. I know specialized and cannondale are both hiring for designers/engineers at the moment.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [endurathonrd] [ In reply to ]
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I believe Zipp is also looking for a project manager/engineer...

Craig Preston - President / Preston Presentations
Saving the world with more professional, powerful, and persuasive presentations - one audience at a time.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [Craigster] [ In reply to ]
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What an unbelievably timely thread! I just finished my ride today and was sitting down to continue my job hunt. Having just finished my Masters in ME, I was hoping for good opportunities in sport.

I am disappointed to hear that bicycle manufacturers aren't using virtual prototyping yet -- that's where I could really help. Of course, hands-on work is often more fun than sitting in a cube in front of a screen all day.

And to be frank, the lack of fluid dynamics/structural modeling makes the really cool bikes seem a little less cool to me. The geek in me likes to think that these machines are painstakingly optimized, but it sounds like bike building is still more of an art.

I'd found some of them but Cannondale, Specialized and Zipp are all great leads, thanks. Can anyone think of additional companies who could use a Mechanical guy?
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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I am in the Upstate SC area, and there are several companies that are nearby.....Cane Creek and Adidas. Also, there are several kayak companies within an hour or so, up in Western NC. Echoing what everyone else has said, the problem is not availability, but lack of pay. As an ME in R&D for a company in the area, the drop in pay is not huge, but it is there. If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact me. As far as the community in the area, the running, biking, tri population is fantastic.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [kpjoyce] [ In reply to ]
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Shoot me a PM and I will give you my email. I sell a Nastran product and have been working on "the industry" for a little while to try and show them the benefits of doing virtual modeling. The problem is, we are fighting cheap salaries paid to engineers overseas ($300/month to an engineer who received his M.E. degree here in the U.S.) so it is still more cost effective for them to throw labor at the problem.

There ARE some VERY cool companies in the business who ARE utilizing advanced modeling. The key is to look at those who are doing alot of composite design work. This is where the science will take over from the old world artisans ;-)

Craig Preston - President / Preston Presentations
Saving the world with more professional, powerful, and persuasive presentations - one audience at a time.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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[reply]
I studied electrical engineer for my undergrad and masters (wireless networks) .....[/reply]

From the above I can not decide if you really are an enginner or faking it. Clearly your english skills are on par with most engineers, but EE's are not real engineers.

Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [Craigster] [ In reply to ]
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So how much testing/Analysis do they do? Are they performing Modal Analysis, on there frames, any kind of vibration testing?

And what is a not good pay for an Engineer. Depending on who you ask some people think all engineers make 6 figures, others will tell you much less. Automotive engineers are in the 60K - 80K range moving to 90K for senior engineers with leadership responsablitiies. So what is it in other areas?

Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [torito] [ In reply to ]
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this is probably outside your realm of interest, but i'll tell you what i think somebody smart should be doing: coming up with a bike case (and or maybe bike component) that allows us to get our bikes in under 62" so we don't get charged for every freaking flight. (can you tell i just flew my bike??) seriously, there has got to be a huge market for this - i would pay a lot to have one nice case that saves me money every time i fly.
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [irongeek] [ In reply to ]
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You just need the right bike
Titanflex travel case 35"x 26"x 10.5" - 9990 gms empty

http://www.ttinet.com/tf_old/images/open-case.jpg

http://www.ttinet.com/tf_old/images/case-side.jpg

Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.
Last edited by: DavHamm: Jun 27, 06 14:46
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Re: OT what are engineers doing in the sports arena? [DavHamm] [ In reply to ]
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Aerospace engineers can be in six figures...

...but I'd guess most bike company engineers are under $50k? Some bike company engineers may also dream of making $50k ;-) (as you must also remember, many of these are not degreed engineers, but people who learned the "craft" the old way with tubes...but now that carbon can generate completely unique designs, there may be more "science" required)

Craig Preston - President / Preston Presentations
Saving the world with more professional, powerful, and persuasive presentations - one audience at a time.
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