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It is not easy to choose what you want to study when you finish high school. How smart do you have to be to pursue and career in engineering? Does your IQ need to be above average? Do you need to have a unique ability to become an engineer? How can you measure such a thing? Those might be some of the questions you ask yourself. Before I became an engineer, I asked myself what makes an engineer so bright? is it a gift and does experience play a role?
Smart is subjective, and there are different kinds of smart. Engineers possess a way of thinking that makes them logical people that can analyse problems to find solutions. However, it is not a gift; it is a skill you grow with time. You are not born smart to be an engineer; you can become that smart to be an engineer.
Smart is a word that is often used to describe engineers. Do you think people that became engineers showed signs of intelligence when they were young? Doctors are intelligent, too, yet they are not engineers. This means there is a different kind of intelligence, and engineers possess that logic that allows them to use math, science, and strategies to solve problems.
However, many make the mistake that they are born intelligent, which makes them go to an engineering school, and once they get their exam grades, they go into shock when they see that they are struggling in this course which makes them switch majors or quit.
However, we can not deny that some people show strong signs of logical thinking when they are young. Throughout my university degree, I have realised that hard work makes all the difference between smart and not so smart. You can improve and elevate your thinking by putting in more effort than the next person.
Is Engineering difficult to get into?
Engineering is not complicated if you put in enough effort, yet we associate difficulty with it because it is hard to understand and complicated. The same can be said about law, medical degrees and any other skilled degree. It is only difficult if you do not try to understand it.
Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience. You need experience to gain wisdom.
Albert Einstein
The ones who spend hours learning and solving problems naturally develop their logical side more. On the other hand, the ones who believe that they are not gifted for such a thing and instead of practising they quit and decide to switch majors are not fit to be engineers. In my experience, you can develop that kind of smart with resilience and hard work.
Even before I made it to an engineering school, I practised and studied a lot to be good at math and physics – It did not come naturally; it came with hard work, which is why I pursued engineering. The hard work concept applies to everything in life, so believing that you are gifted at something is dangerous. The truth is if you have a gift and you do not use it, you will eventually lose it, but experience will stay with you for a long time.
Recently, universities lowered the entrance to an engineering course to allow for more admissions, which made people think they are fit to do a course in engineering. They are surprised to see how much they are struggling in this course. I have seen many who quit too early, that is not because they are not smart enough, it is because they did not want to put the hours to studying, So they decide to quit.
Although it is true, we are not equal and possess different mental abilities, and some need to put more hours into studying than others. That should not discourage you because the more effort you put into something, the smarter you can get at it – just do not give up and keep believing in yourself.
How engineers become smart?
The following are features that distinguish engineers from other disciplines.
Focus
Engineers have the ability to focus on tasks and minimise distractions. Attention to detail comes from blocking all distractions and concentrating on the task at hand. This is how you can spot mistakes. Focus makes you more productive and less likely to waste time doing one task.
Practice
They say practice makes perfect. The more effort you put into something, you become more accustomed to it. Suppose you are struggling at something. You need to spend more time learning the theory and try different solutions. Resilient people practise their craft, and their mastery comes from repetition. Your mind is a muscle just like your body; the more you train it, the stronger it gets. This is very common in engineering, and it is how people succeed.
Experience
The longer you do something, the better you get at it. If you do a particular job for the first time, you might spend a tremendous amount of time doing it. However, the second time you do it, you will spend less time because you have built up experience the first time.
Collaboration
Making practical engineering solutions is complicated, and you can not do everything on your own, and that is when collaboration comes at. Collaboration builds experience and makes engineers look smart by looking at the problem from different angles. Teamwork makes things come to reality through feedback, making you less likely to make the same mistake again in the future.
The Bottom Line
Engineers possess a logical type of thinking that makes them intelligent, allowing them to solve complex problems. However, that does not mean that they are smart at other things. The same can be said for non-engineering disciplines.
Therefore, anyone can get to engineering if they are good at math and science and willing to put the time and effort to nurture their skills. Specific features such as attention to detail, experience and collaborations make engineers smart. If you want to learn more, check this article How Do You Know If Engineering Is Right For You?
