During my most recent co-op, I worked as a Systems Engineer at a small Cambridge startup involved in the emerging field of carbon nanotube (CNT) production. A production machine with the price tag of a mansion in a place called something like ‘Quiet Rivera,’ and the appearance of a grunge rocker’s winnebago is at the center of the company’s undertakings.
Given the unexplored status of CNT production, the unique element of necessitating research with engineering is the defining aspect of working at N12. You have to be focused intently on what it is that you’ve been trained in — as you are likely the only one doing it — and yet sensitive to the demands of the other specialities so that motors spin fast so long as CNTs grow thick. If I had been asked a week ago as to the degree of interconnectedness of the mechanical engineers, computer engineers, electrical engineers and chemists, I would have no doubt have ranked it as high as the scale I was given allowed for.
After reading Leavy’s paper however, some now evident points were brought to light that display the potential for greater levels of interoperability, in addition to the realization that the workplace could even have been categorized as multidisciplinary by Leavy’s definition. In hindsight, although engineers worked alongside each other and chemists in a familiar and highly accommodating manner, a deep understanding of each other’s processes beyond observable properties was minimal amongst the majority of the team. Some engineers would certainly fit the bill for transdisciplinarity, however the general attitude is that only the chief engineers of each field should be able to transcend their discipline — and with their analysis other engineers could be delegated.
It’s difficult to imagine how this bridge might be mended without taking team members off of their projects of interest. Thinking back on N12 fills my head with only positive adjectives, and yet I still don’t think that I will step back into my role there upon graduating. Questions over how I will bend my degree toward hardware or software, where in the world I might locate myself to do so, and the dreaded question of if I can truly see myself being a lifetime engineer are still present. Luckily there is still some time to figure that out, and maybe broaden my specialties as I do so.
