Engineering Management Institute

Setting goals

How to Set SMART Goals in 2022 and Make Them Achievable

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It’s the end of the year. You know what that means for you, right? It’s time to set your goals for 2022.

Setting Goals Requires You to Reflect on What You Did and Did Not Accomplish in 2021

  • What new tools did you learn to use?
  • What new experience did you gain about working with clients?
  • What accomplishments are you most proud of?

Take time to reflect on your wins.

Then Turn Each of Those Questions Around to Ask Yourself What You Want to Accomplish in 2022

  • What new tools do you want to master?
  • What new interactions can you have with clients?
  • What accomplishments do you want to brag about at this time next year?

I’ve learned certain goal-setting strategies will help me — and you — be more successful. And as one CEO told me recently, “The difference between having goals and not having goals is results.”

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Understanding and Optimizing the Long Game That Is Your Engineering Career

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This is a guest post by Jacob Valentien, PE 

Understanding and Optimizing the Long Game That Is Your Engineering Career

As I reflect and think about the various blog topics that I could write about for the Civil Engineering Collective, I wanted to start off by summarizing one of the biggest concepts that I see young engineers struggle with in their first few years after graduating college and starting their career. The issue is that your engineering career is quite the long game, and it has only truly started. Engineering school is step one and obtaining your professional engineering license should be the step where everything accelerates (and not slows down).

Establishing a challenging and rewarding engineering career is very important to me, and I hope to break down some foundational concepts so that you can set off on your own challenging and rewarding engineering career. I think the following four major components are most critical to take into consideration for your career development:

  • Mindset
  • Experience
  • Continual learning
  • Goal setting

You can find tons of content on each of these topics from all kinds of sources, both internally focused on the engineering field and externally. I think there is value in immersing yourself in these topics early and often to continually remind yourself of the value of each.

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7 Mistakes to Avoid As an Engineering Mentor

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This is a guest blog by Lauren Groff

The mentor/mentee relationship is one that needs to be defined early on to ensure that engineers get what they need out of it. Most of the time it goes great, and everyone is happy. Sometimes though, things go wrong and that’s how relationships get damaged. Because of this, you need to ensure you’re not making the following mistakes as an engineering mentor. Review the mistakes listed below to ensure everyone is on the same page.  

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TSEC 21: Structural Analysis Using Finite Element Modeling and Hydropower Dam Inspections

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TSEC 21: Structural Analysis Using Finite Element Modeling and Hydropower Dam InspectionsIn episode 21 of The Structural Engineering Channel podcast, we talk to Aimee Corn, PE, who is a civil and structural engineer at Gannett Fleming. Aimee will be talking to us about structural analysis using finite element modeling and hydropower dam inspections. She also talks about her career journey and shares some great tips on communication and overcoming failure in your engineering career.

Engineering Quotes:

Finite Element Modeling

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

  • Your technical work has focused a lot on dams. You’ve developed non-linear models of 40- to 300-foot-tall arch dams. Can you talk to us about the structural engineering that goes into that?
  • What are some of the places where you use finite element modeling or where you find it most helpful?
  • What goes into a hydropower dam inspection?
  • How important are written communication (e.g., email, technical reports, memoranda) and verbal communication (e.g., presentations, phone calls) skills on these projects and in the workplace in general?
  • What is the Potential Failure Mode Analysis (PFMA) process and how it is used?
  • What are some of the resources and ways that students can get into the dam industry?
  • How can a person evolve their professional association participation beyond just joining as a member?
  • Do you have an overall life or career philosophy you can share with us?

Here Are Some of the Key Points Discussed About Finite Element Modeling and Hydropower Dam Inspections:

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