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When I was a child, our family doctor who later became one of the leading cardiologists in Los Angeles, told my parents that he had started out to become an electrical engineer but that it was too hard.

Indeed, it is "hard" to become an engineer which is why the field is lucrative for those who succeed. It's not enough to be a bright kid who likes to take things apart although that is a desirable quality as long as you can put them back together again. The prospective engineer must have superior:

1. Academics

2. Work ethics

3. Motivation

4. People skills

5. Creativity

The academic requirements for engineering vary in college depending upon the specialty selected. Aerospace, architectural, bioengineering, chemical, civil, computer science, electrical, environmental, industrial, manufacturing, materials, mechanical, nuclear each has a subset of specialized coursework but all engineering students need a high school background in Advanced Algebra, Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, Computer Science, Language Arts (because engineers have to write!), Physics, Foreign Language, and Trigonometry. Doing well in these subjects in high school will be an indication of both aptitude and study habits needed for college.

Prospective engineers should spend their summers either as volunteers or interns in engineering fields. Job shadowing real engineers will give the student an idea of whether or not this is the correct field of choice. My brother, an electronic interference specialist, waited until he was a junior in college to find out for sure he was in the right field. Our father was an audio engineer and so electronics was a table conversation. Everything in the house was wired and unwired on a daily basis. An oscilloscope was the prized Christmas present; room privacy was guaranteed with a Ford coil wired to the door knob. My brother had done quite well his freshman year, but then the classes got much harder. Suddenly, he was floundering and because math and science had always been "easy" for him, he had never had to develop real study skills. He was so upset that he dropped out and that is when he discovered: MOTIVATION. He went to work for a friend's father in an engineering factory where he built filters and wound coils. He liked the work and suddenly it all made sense. So he saved enough money to buy a blue VW and went back to school where he completed his engineering degree with a high g.p.a. Today, he travels all over the world making sure electronic signals on everything from

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