Engineering Management Institute

Never Give Up

TSEC 25: Yes, I Am an Engineer! But You Don’t Look Like an Engineer!

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In episode 25 of The Structural Engineering Podcast, we talk to Kayley Seawright, an aeromechanics structural analyst. Kayley talks about her career journey and provides some great advice to our listeners on how they should never give up on their dreams no matter how people may perceive them — and especially when people tell them they don’t look like an engineer.

Engineering Quotes:

Look Like an Engineer

Here Are Some of the Questions We Ask Kayley in This Episode:

  • You were the 2013 student body president at Clemson. You do not often hear of engineers holding that position. Tell us about how you obtained it.
  • EMI originally found you through an article on a website called Vision Balm that talked about how some (or many) people told you that you didn’t look like an engineer. Can you talk about the effect this has had on you and your career?
  • How has saying “yes” to opportunities and finding a way to make opportunities work affected your career as an engineer?
  • COVID-19 has drastically changed our lives and our careers. How has it impacted you and how do you see it impacting your job or career long term?
  • Please tell us about your journey as a Disney Performer.
  • Our listeners are mostly engineers working on structural projects. Can you share any career advice with them that might be helpful in their career journey?

Here Are Some of the Key Points Discussed in This Episode:

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11 Lessons from Elon Musk that can be applied to your Engineering Career

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This is a guest post by Jake Voohrees.

Elon MuskElon Musk is the most famous engineer alive today, is the inspiration behind the modern image of “Iron Man”, and is responsible for running five companies (Tesla, SpaceX, Solar City, The Boring Company, Neurolink). There is a lot that we can learn from him. His original story highlights include selling a video game at age 12, double majoring at UPenn in physics and economics, co-founding Zip2 and selling it for $307M in 1991, and co-founding PayPal and selling for $1.5B to eBay. This sale left him with $180M after taxes, and Tesla / SpaceX / Solar City were born after that.

Everyone told Musk he was crazy, he’d lose all his money, and none of the ventures would be successful. Tesla had a rough start, SpaceX had three rocket explosions (including a live payload loss), and Solar City began when solar panels were nowhere near as cool as today. But all three survived. Elon is famous for his futuristic vision, work ethic, and his ability to create a team to literally accomplish anything. Here are 11 lessons from Elon Musk that you can apply to your professional development efforts as an engineer and beyond.

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