 Norris Allman, P.E.
Senior Supervising Test Engineer
Public Service Electric & Gas
Union, NJ
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 BS, Mechanical
Engineering, Cooper Union |
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Engineering manager
in charge of testing functions for a large northeastern power
utility. |
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Norris worked on
Wall Street before going on to complete his engineering degree.
He finds that his business experience is helpful, for as an
engineer he often deals with the business side of projects. |
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"I think an engineer
should be flexible enough to go from one field to the next. I
think the lines of just being a mechanical engineer or civil
engineer or electrical engineer, a computer engineer, are fuzzy
nowadays. You have to have the ability to go from field to field
almost." |
 
"I would highly recommend that people learn how to get along with others
because it's a lot of teamwork. Unfortunately, some people cannot work as
part of a team, and they're not going to be successful. But yes, all of
your engineering classes, all of your technical skills are important. But
being able to work with people -- that's paramount as far as I'm
concerned."
"I think one of the reasons that you will find that you have more foreign
students or more minorities getting into engineering is that people are
judged by what they know, more so than by their friendships or what school
they went to. It's a technical business, and industry and business are
looking for people who know things. And if you're technically competent, I
think you'll do very well."
"I think the opportunities are different, not necessarily more, not
necessarily less. I think that they are different. A person cannot put
themselves in the box of saying that I'm a thermo-engineer or I'm a
mechanical engineer who's just going to specialize in HPAC. You have to be
more flexible. You have to be able to adapt more so today than perhaps 15
or 20 years ago."
Q: Right. Tell me a little
bit about your experience in college and how you first became interested
in mechanical engineering, and then how that interest progressed?
Allman:
Right. Well, initially, I started off as a business major. The reason I
got involved with business is I had a summer job working at a company on
Wall Street, and the fellow there tried to get me to major in business,
and I tried it for one semester, and after taking some of the business
classes I found that really wasn't me. My interest was really in
engineering. So, I decided to switch after the first semester. I had
originally started going to NYU, and I transferred to Polytechnic
Institute of New York and switched to engineering.
Q: Do you remember
what it was, the course you took, that really took your interest and when
you first decided to become a professional?
Allman:
Well, probably the "Thermo" classes. They're
probably one of the tougher classes to take. But, engineering was
something that I always enjoyed in high school. I was always a very good
math and science student. So, it was natural for me to continue in the
engineering field.
Q: Let me ask you,
Norris, the things that you looked at coming into the profession that you
felt were offered to you and the opportunities that made themselves
obvious to you, in your career path thus far; have you been disappointed,
or have you been more than happy about where you've gone? And tell me a
little bit about how your expectations have been fulfilled, in specific.
Allman:
Well, it is different than what I thought it would
be. When I first started, I was thinking that engineering would be nothing
but sitting at a desk, doing calculations all the time. As I got into the
field, I gravitated more towards management. That's something that sort of
evolved. When I first started with the public service, I used to do
nothing but calculations. Accident analysis of nuclear power plants. But
now my major responsibilities are really administrative. So, it has
changed greatly over the years.
Q: And for young
people looking at this career today, do you think the opportunities are as
numerous and as diversified as they were, let's say, 20 years ago? Less so
or more so?
Allman:
Well, I think the opportunities are different, not
necessarily more, not necessarily less. I think that they are different. A
person cannot put themselves in the box of saying that I'm a
thermo-engineer or I'm a mechanical engineer who's just going to
specialize in HVAC. You have to be more flexible. You have to be able to
adapt more so today than perhaps 15 or 20 years ago.
Q: What advice would you
give for women and people of color and people from other minorities --
whatever they might be -- considering coming into this profession today?
Allman:
Well, I would highly recommend it. I think one of the reasons that you
will find that you have more foreign students or more minorities getting
into engineering is that people are judged by what they know, more so than
by their friendships or what school they went to. It's a technical
business, and industry and business are looking for people who know
things. And if you're technically competent, I think you'll do very well.
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