Engineers do have a sense of humour

Engineers might seem terribly serious about their work, but Engineers laugh too. And of course, what makes them laugh is as unique as the work they do. The classic Dilbert series of cartoons by Scott Adams are a case in point.

This first example of Engineering Humour is is a classic piece of Dilbert humour titled “The Knack”

In a recent blog post on Embedded Software Testing I also shared one of the jokes that looks at the way different Engineering Disciplines go about looking for faults or problem solving. It goes like this:

There are 3 Engineers in a car going for a drive. The first is a Mechanical Engineer, the second an Electronics Engineer and the third is a Software Engineer. Fortunately the Mechanical Engineer is driving because the brakes fail and they are going downhill. The Mechanical Engineer eventually brings the car safely to a halt and gets out to examine the hydraulic systems. The Electronics Engineer gets out and checks and body computer, ABS system and the power train CAN bus. The Software Engineer stays in the car and when queried about it says that they should all just get back in the car and see if it happens again!

And another of my favourite pieces of Engineering Humour is this joke:

The optimist says, “The glass is half full”.
The pessimist says, “The glass is half empty”.
The Engineer says, “The glass is twice as big as it needs to be”.

And an excerpt from a classic piece of Mechanical Engineering humour with the Engineers Guide To Drinks.

Engineers Guide to Drinks 2010

Anyone who subscribes to our blog will automatically get a full copy of this sent to them. Thanks to Steve DeLosa of DeLosa Design Services for sharing this with me.

Over time I plan to add more content here but this will get the process started. Please feel free to add any jokes or humorous stories as comments and if you know who first told any of the jokes listed here, please also let me know that so I can properly recognise the creators. As Engineers, one thing we do respect is the right be be recognised for what you do and create.

Ray Keefe has been developing high quality and market leading electronics products in Australia for nearly 30 years. For more information go to his LinkedIn profile. This post is Copyright © 2010 Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd.