Engineers Week is an opportunity to honor the men and women who are driving engineering innovation. We are a company made up of engineers who provide engineering services to some of the world’s most innovative companies, so we know a thing or two about what makes a great engineer.
As founder and CEO of G Systems, I’ve had the opportunity to hire, train, and work alongside talented teams of engineers for almost 30 years. And while there are countless combinations of traits that can lead to success, I’m going to focus on the top 3 characteristics I’ve consistently seen in exceptional engineers.
#1: Curiosity
Every successful engineer I have worked with holds the innate quality of curiosity…especially technical curiosity. This quality is evident in their hobbies or in their natural interests, tendencies, and inner desire to solve problems or improve processes.
The most successful engineers that I know never stop learning or creating solutions. This trait is especially required of software engineers, since software engineering is a field of constant learning. The technology is continually progressing, which requires continual learning of new tools, architectures, and concepts.
#2: Resourcefulness
Great engineers also possess a special resourcefulness that enhances their troubleshooting skills — all necessary skills for solving engineering problems or proving out engineering designs. It’s as if these engineers are naturally guided by instinct in troubleshooting issues or finding new ways to solve old and new problems.
They are intrinsically motivated by the process of finding these solutions or creating something innovative. In other words, these engineers do what they do for the love of doing it, rather than doing it solely to meet job responsibilities.
Resourcefulness combined with intrinsic motivation and a love of technology can lead to opportunities to apply continual learning and to engineer and design things that matter.
#3 Solid Communication Skills
Good communication is also key as many of today’s engineering roles require collaboration and teamwork to solve complex problems. Engineers with honed communication skills can serve as a bridge between people with different needs, domain expertise, and creative approaches, helping to create a more comprehensive, well-vetted solution in the end.
I am fortunate to work with a team of engineers at G Systems that exhibit these traits every day, which results in a fun, innovative work environment and consistent success for our customers.
From testing the structural integrity of a new manned spacecraft to instrumenting wind tunnels to validate new aircraft designs to testing the development of the next generation of military aircraft, the engineers at G Systems are impacting the world by ensuring safety and protection. On this Engineers week and every week, I’m honored to work with a staff of such exceptional engineers.
To learn more about the G Systems team, visit: https://www.gsystems.com/our-approach
