I Need Engineers

An off-topic post to be sure, but I need to find some engineers who want an opportunity to get rich while working in a ‘green’ job. My company, Accsys Technologies PLC, is looking for more engineers to support our Accoya® business. You can see a complete listing of our job openings here. However, what I am looking for is more specific.

I need process engineers, from fresh out of school to highly experienced. I need people who are prepared, at least for the first six months, to spend two weeks a month in the Netherlands working for our Titan Wood division and learning our wood acetylation process. For WWII buffs the city is Arnhem, home of Operation Market Garden (aka A Bridge Too Far).

These positions report to me, and I am very picky. I have gone through 100 resumes to find the right person. So let me be very specific on what I need. My ideal junior candidate will have a chemical engineering degree, a high GPA, some work experience, an interest in sustainability, an interest in travel and other cultures, the ability to get along with diverse groups of people, and most importantly they will be a creative thinker with the drive to see their solutions implemented. I am looking for inventive solutions to unusual problems. The person will be tenacious, but respectful. They will be persuasive without being overly pushy. They will demand high standards from themselves. Our process doesn’t exist commercially anywhere else in the world, so you will see some problems that are unique from a chemical engineering perspective.

My ideal senior candidate will have design experience. They will understand mass & energy balances, equipment sizing, PFDs, P&IDs, and will have been involved in some major projects. This candidate will help support the design and construction of the Diamond Wood facility in China, followed by the Al Rajhi facility in the Middle East. They will also help mentor and develop the junior engineers, who may be involved in unit support, or helping to support the new facilities. They will be able to assume the lead position when I am away.

For legal reasons, I am advised that applicants must be either U.S. citizens or hold a green card for positions that will be based in Dallas, Texas. Separately, I am looking for applicants who are authorized to work in the Netherlands. I think this includes citizens of all EU countries. This position will be based in Arnhem.

I don’t want to sort through a bunch of resumes, so let me provide some guidance. For entry-level engineers, if your GPA is not on your resume, I will ask you about it. I will ask for references. I will call your professors to find out their opinion of your ability. I am looking for people who excelled in their science and engineering classes. I am looking for someone who, without any references, can approximate the answer to this question: If you dropped a cannon ball from the surface over the deepest part of the ocean, how long would it take to reach the bottom? And they will understand why I asked that sort of question.

If I haven’t scared you off, and you are prepared to be shipped to Europe right away, look up my e-mail address in my CV and e-mail me a copy of your CV and any questions you might have. You may also feel free to ask general questions following this post. If your qualifications look like what I have described, I will call you back.

29 thoughts on “I Need Engineers”

  2. Hey, I know that, it is about 11k. I can also find the solution for the cannonball problem up to a factor of 2 or 3, I believe. R^2, if you ever need a physicist with a PhD in cosmology, just give me a ring ;^)

  3. This is unfair. You have a bunch of regular lay readers who are fans of yours. You MUST at some point in time explain why that that question is so important. I’m a finance guy (so not that bright) but assuming the density of the ocean is constant, and assuming that the greatest depth of the ocean is common oceanographic knowledge, is the solution not fairly straightforward? There, I’ve revealed my ignorance….

  4. You MUST at some point in time explain why that that question is so important.

    I will explain in a few days. But here’s a hint. It isn’t the question, it is the structure of the question. When I ask that in an interview (only new grads ever get asked this question), it can be very revealing. When I ask it here, people can go do research to figure out the answer. That isn’t the point.

    Cheers, RR

  5. What a fun problem (cannonballs)!

    Assuming a British Standard 18 lb. cannonball of 5 inches diameter, and Stokes law for drag, Archimedes principle for bouyancy, density of seawater to be about 1.03 g/cc average from surface to great depth, the depth of the Marianas trench to be 11,034 meters, viscosity of cold seawater (5.0C) to be about 104.5 pascal-meters/sec … then the starting points are:

    R = (5 * 2.54)
    R = 12.7 cm = 0.127 meter
    g = 9.8 m/sec²
    η = 104.5 pascal-m/sec

    plugged into Stokes/Archimedes:
    Vt = R²g(1030-7800)/18η
    Vt = 0.5689 m/sec

    then extrapolated for the depth:
    T = 11035/0.5689
    T = 19,397 sec
    T = 5.36 hours

    And there you be. It sounds like a long time, but then again 11 kilometers is a LONG way down.

    Now, on the other hand, if you had a 4 inch cannonball … and a cuppa tea …

    Sounds like a fun job, R-squared. You’re right that the candidate would need to know a lot of practical thermodynamics, engineering physics, materials properties and a good ‘gut feeling’ for whether “the calculator answer” sounds plausible.

    As I recall from that Cal Chem class a few years back, isn’t acetylization of cellulose in general a method of making the starting materials for viscose rayon? (or a really good glues).

    I can see why you would need the cannonball/viscosity Stokes equation: your process is going to produce all sorts of viscous fluids that will in turn reflect on the degree of acetylization that the cellulose and hemicellulose wood fibers undergo.

    Email me if you care to discuss further. I’m game, and travel. So long as tea is involved.

    rlynch@datalyser.com

  6. Hmmm. I’m not an engineer nor do I play one on TV but my view of the way the world works is that water is more compressible than steel and, with a fuse hole, the interior pressure will equal exterior pressure so the sphere won’t collapse under pressure. So the density of the water will be considerably higher at depth. I’d expect some interesting things would happen to the speed of the cannonball as the water density increases and the nature of the flow around it becomes less turbulent.

  7. “If you dropped a cannon ball from the surface over the deepest part of the ocean, how long would it take to reach the bottom?”

    That cannonball will never reach the bottom.

  10. Sounds like a great job except for the report to you part.

    Ah, but that’s the best part. 🙂

    You would find that I am quite easy to get along with. I believe in setting and meeting goals, but I am not difficult. I look out for the well being of the people who report to me. In fact, I have been faulted for looking out for my direct reports at the expense of the best interests of the company. So you could probably do a lot worse.

    Cheers, RR

  11. Smart Guessing

    That’s getting to the heart of the matter. The answer is less important than the approach. This is a problem with several pieces of data missing. You have to make some assumptions, and you have to understand some basic engineering concepts.

    This is similar to any number of problems you will face as an engineer. You have a problem. How are you going to go about solving it. In a live interview, how you approach that problem gives some insight into how you might approach future problems.

    Cheers, RR

  12. FYI, my blog is currently locked. I have a post ready to go on the Miscanthus report that just came out, but Blogger’s spam bots have decided that I post too much, and therefore can’t possibly be a real person.

    So, while I wait for them to verify that I am actually human – and if they can do this, I take my hat off to them – I am locked from posting. They say the review of my status – person or some type of cyborg – should only take 2 business days. However, that could put it into Monday, and I will be traveling back to Europe then. So I may not update for several days due to this screw up.

    Amazing that something like this can happen. I would think they would actually investigate prior to locking. But their policy is apparently to lock first, ask questions later.

    Sorry for any inconvenience.

    RR

  13. Stating that “he dropped it on his toe, not in the ocean, so it never reaches the bottom” seems more like a “gottcha” than a useful comment on the person’s thought processes. People worrying too much about “gottchas” doesn’t productive either. So from a metacognition perspective, how can one learn to think the best and evaluate their processes for improvement?

  14. Oh, Robert, just fess up and admit you’re a robot. 🙂

    Seriously though, that stinks, albeit in a slightly humorous, “what on earth were they thinking” kind of way.

  16. So from a metacognition perspective, how can one learn to think the best and evaluate their processes for improvement?

    The best way I know – and what I try to teach my kids – is try hard not to have preconceived notions, and always wonder ‘why.’ Don’t be afraid to ask ‘dumb’ questions. Imagine that you had to do a design in a completely different manner. Imagine you had to redesign from scratch. What would you do differently?

    Those are the kinds of thought processes I like. I like oddball ideas, even if they have a flaw in 90% of the cases.

    Cheers, RR

  17. Hopefully you are looking in a few years! Got my chemical engineering bachelor’s , had a good GPA, but just the one year of experience. It is with big oil as a process engineer. I’m staying put for now. Leave for greener pastures after year 3.

    Not knowing nearly enough about drag. I’d take the fastest speed of free fall known for a person, roughly 300 miles an hour (in air obviously), multiply by 3 because a bowling ball is roughly that much denser. Get 900 m/h. Water is 900 times denser than air (had to calculate that). So go back to 1 m/h. 7 miles deep is the trench, gives you 7 hours.

    Considering that goat guys number is close enough to my gut method, I’d call it a day.

    There are lots of good ways to get there. It would be kinda fun to see how others would get to an answer.

  18. Note: m/h probably should be mph, so as not to confuse with meters.

    And I don’t know if I’d leave big oil for greener pastures, I’d hard to see the future.

    Also, you have to love problems that can be answered with “thats close enough”. Makes me miss school.

  20. Robert wrote The best way I know – and what I try to teach my kids – is try hard not to have preconceived notions, and always wonder ‘why.’

    Any good books to recommend on the thinking process?

  21. “Any good books to recommend on the thinking process?”

    Yeah. Just wait about 6 months until I publish my book. Then you will know what creative thinking is all about and you will be quite surprised.

  22. When Robert describes this…
    These positions report to me, and I am very picky. I have gone through 100 resumes to find the right person. So let me be very specific on what I need. My ideal junior candidate will have a chemical engineering degree, a high GPA, some work experience, an interest in sustainability, an interest in travel and other cultures, the ability to get along with diverse groups of people, and most importantly they will be a creative thinker with the drive to see their solutions implemented. I am looking for inventive solutions to unusual problems. The person will be tenacious, but respectful. They will be persuasive without being overly pushy. They will demand high standards from themselves. Our process doesn’t exist commercially anywhere else in the world, so you will see some problems that are unique from a chemical engineering perspective.
    …

    He is really giving a description of himself. The best way to get him to like you as an applicant is to mirror him to the extent that is possible without being obvious about it. (i.e. Laugh at his jokes and compliment him on his jocularity. Just make sure that he is trying to be jocular when you laugh.) Just a little FYI to all applicants.

  23. It sounds like a good job opportunity like many others. Netherland’s bike/transportaion culture looks cool, but my grades sucked and I’m still too burned out on civilization to accelerate it further. Any ideas on how I can change that viewpoint? Seriously, it’s hard for me, how do y’all do it? Travel? Brainwashing? Whiskey? Baby seal clubbing?

    My answer: An engineer would not care how long nature would act on the cannon ball. That is speculative, profitless scientific poppycock, for which the best answer would be statistically estimated from a large sample of bean counters. Any usable engineer would want to know how much $ can be spent on the ball, and at what time it needs to arrive on the floor.

  24. He is really giving a description of himself.

    Believe me, you aren’t the first to suggest that I try to hire people who are like me. That’s partially true, but I also try to hire people to fill out gaps in my skills.

    Cheers, RR

  25. Hey Robert,
    Not to tell you what to do, but you may consider looking for one or two people who have some skill sets that are orthogonal to yours. Also, high GPA does not = creativity. In fact, neurobiology studies suggest that creativity increases in certain personality types that also include other odd characteristics. A person with high creativity will likely have some associated bizaare behaviorial characteristics. However, if you want to assess creativity, then you should ask a question along the lines of “name all the uses that you can think of for this common household item.” Most folks come up with eating cereal or dishing ujp food. More creative people will come up with more off-the-wall uses like hanging some from a string to make wind chimes or using them upside down as a door stop. I could go on, but its already off topic.

  26. The houehold item that I was using above was a spoon, but I forgot to include it in the paragraph above. Sorry.

  27. Robert, do Europeans usually present a Grade Point Average in a CV??

    I wouldn’t even know whereabouts to find out what mine might be, (its been a while since I completed my Mech Eng degree….)

    All we get is a degree classification, Masters, 1st class Honours, 2nd class Honours etc.

    I’d love to apply as it sounds interesting, but I have a suspicion you wouldn’t have much use for a Mech Eng with extensive experience of modelling water distribution networks…

    Still I qualify on two fronts, getting along with people and a love of travel 🙂

    Andy

  29. Here is my take on this:
    I am pretty rusty in my fluid mech, so please go easy on me if you find this egregiously wrong 🙂

    Lets assume that the canon falls with terminal velocity through 10 km. In this case, the weight (mass * acc due to gravity)is balanced by the drag force (1/2* Cd * Area * U^2)

    Going through the math, taking Cd = 0.3 (actually it is ~0.4), we find
    U (terminal velocity) = square root of (2/3 * Cd* r * g) where Cd is the drag coefficient, r the radius of the canon and g the acceleration due to gravity.

    Taking r=5″, we find U ~ 1.5 m/s.
    Distance to fall: 10 km, velocity 1.5 m/s, time = 10/5.4 = ~1.8 h

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