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Judgement...The Important Correlation Between Wisdom and Qualification

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I still remember the very first day that I had reported to duty as Design Engineer in a small Engineering Consulting Firm. My superior simply handed over a sketched structural key plan and instructed me to perform the structural analysis and design. I did as he requested. Well, as many of the typical fresh graduate traits, I design strictly as what I had learned in the university.

However, the nagging feeling of uncertainty struck me. Although I manage to design according to the codes, I am still unsure if the design was workable or not on site. Then, I refer my work to my superior. Mind you, he has more than 15 years of experience in structural engineering. Only two (2) things he looks at, the load and the sizing / reinforcement of the beams and columns. Within a minute his verdicts was: my design is not workable based on his "judgement". I was instructed to review my design.

So, how to develop the so-called engineering judgement? One thing for sure the engineering judgement cannot be learnt in the class. In this respect, Engineers need to accumulate experience and learn from other Engineer's experience as well before it manifest into an effective judgement. Like in my case, I actually disagree with my superior and defended my design as it follows the codes and fulfill the safety requirement. He pointed out that even though I supremely confident with the structural design adequacy, I did not have the insights on how the structure should behave with the actual loads on site. There will be some degree of uncertainty on how I approach the criteria of design and assessment. 

Regulations and codes are generic as they were developed to deal with the anticipated events. They were unlikely to solve and predict every possible circumstances. However, Engineers need to exercise their judgement appropriately and do not exceed their level of competence or they will doomed to failure. I have learned my lesson and indebted to my superior. One more thing, do not overly confident with the Engineer's term, 'safety factor'. Always cross-check and exercise your engineering judgement with greater understanding of the relevant mechanism.

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