Jack L. Wells

Engineering Management: an Irreverent Primer Jack L. Wells

Engineering Management: An Irreverent Primer is a "how to do it" book on the management of the engineering function in industry. This book was written for the new engineering manager and for those who aspire to becoming an engineering manager. The step from senior engineer to manager is a big one and the management of other professionals is not easy. Engineering management is both technical and business management. It is a learned skill and every engineer so inclined can learn it. This is my attempt to get the things I have learned over multiple years in engineering management on paper. Since I had a varied career from front line, hands in the gear, technician through all the intermediate steps to top engineering management for multiple businesses and industries, there are a lot of lessons learned. I also had the opportunity to attend multiple in house and external training programs. Each had value although some more than others. Over the years I became convinced that engineering management was either not very well taught or not taught at all at engineering schools. I guess new engineering managers were supposed to pick up the additional skills required through osmosis like I did. It was a painful process and took a long time. Consequently, I made a concerted effort to train my engineering directors and managers as best I could. Now that I am retired, I can pass my approach to engineering management on to others.