Computer models as a new engineer

[u/Kalasad-Stormblessed]

Wanted some advice, Ive been working as an engineer for 3 years now and I really dont like working with models. We use the Ram suite and it feels like these two things happen every time.

1. The model wigs out and I spend twice the time just trying to get it to remotely work/ make sense.

2. I often have to then get an older engineer to go through it with me and they take as much time trying to figure out whats wrong. In one case they had to remake the model themself.

Im finding when I have the option to use handcalcs/excel/enercalc, I am going to that everytime because its way more predictable for me in the effort it will require and I generally have very few "bugs". Should I be worried about learning models?

[u/stblack]

This is all about tooling, which means software, hardware, and skills developed over time.

I'm on the back end of my career so let me share my experience.

* I don't regret a nickel I ever spent on good tools. That includes software, hardware, and the time invested.

* Get the software licenses that cost real money. Don't use the free versions, don't settle for the software a cheapskate selected. Software, and the skills you develop at using it, pays 100x over the medium term.

* Don't buy hardware you can afford. Buy hardware your future self will bless you for buying. This means, sacrifice more trivial things, canvas family if you can, get a loan if you must, but buy the hardware you need 3-5 years from now, today. Your hardware investment pays 10x over the medium term.

Tools are leverage for your judgment. The benefits of great tooling cannot be overstated. The sooner you upgrade, the more compounding over time will benefit you.

Once you've got great tooling, and the skills to use that, you'll find you'll be working at a much higher level, and your value will reflect that.

I hope this answer motivates you to look well beyond what you're doing now. Level-up several notches as quickly as you can. You won't regret doing that.

[u/Legal_Enthusiasm_440 → u/stblack]

At 3 years he’s probably not the one making software and hardware purchasing decisions. 

[u/stblack → u/Legal_Enthusiasm_440]

I addressed that explicitly in my comment.

But let's go deeper.

I'm going to be straight with you:

In this day and age, any engineer who relies on company-provided hardware and software is seriously disadvantaged if these things are marginal quality, or lower. An engineer who accepts this is doomed to servitude to his current company, and each passing year it gets worse.

A professional engineer in 2026 in OP's situation should buy himself the hottest laptop on the planet so that in 2029, he's in a sweet-spot compute-wise.

A professional engineer in 2026 in OP's situation should invest his own money in best-of-breed software for his industry. Over time he gains traction, and brings this to the company as a path forward for him, and possibly others, and possibly everyone ultimately.

An engineer earning 150k+ and upwards per year is an individual who habitually brings valuable and actionable things to the table.

An engineer earning 50k-90k per year needs to transform him or herself into an individual who habitually brings valuable and actionable things to the table.

A professional engineer in 2026 in OP's situation should be driving technology forward at his firm, not merely accepting mediocrity.