Josh Dobbs and UT Aerospace Engineers at Artemis 2 Launch

[volfan102455]

Being an NFL QB, especially a journeyman QB like Dobbs means that he's put significant time into learning new systems, new plays, etc.

Sure, he could be Superman and able to stay current as an NFL QB for the various new teams he's had over the years and as an aerospace engineer. 100%. Makes perfect sense.

It's ridiculous that folks here think a new aerospace engineer from UT isn't worth much more than aerospace engineering major who never worked in the field and graduated 10 years ago.

I'm not dissing Josh Dobbs but he's been a professional NFL QB for 10 years NOT an aerospace engineer.

Would you want someone sending your loved ones into space if they've spent the last 10 years playing football instead of working with rockets?

Would you want to HIRE someone who is 10 years removed from the field you're hiring them to handle in your business?

Really?

You are assuming that he has not stayed connected with what is going on in the field. You don't know. Neither do I.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

You are assuming that he has not stayed connected with what is going on in the field. You don't know. Neither do I.

I'm saying being an NFL QB for multiple teams over the last 10 years requires full-time work. I know that's stunning to you but it's probably a full-time job.

Oddly, I suspect staying current on aerospace engineering is ALSO a full-time career. I know you will find that stunning also.

I knew a guy who went to law school because his family was all attorneys. He hated it and went to med school. He maintains his law license but I wouldn't want him to write a will for me much less defend me. He's a damn good internal medicine guy, though.

I knew another lady who was a Julliard trained, Masters level, concert musician who quit because of carpal tunnel issues and became a Doctor of Physical Therapy. She's still a fine, fine musician...... for sure..... but the demands of her actual career mean that she's no longer a concert level performer.

Again, I'm not dissing Josh Dobbs. He's an extremely intelligent, highly skilled professional QB who has put a lot of time and effort into his career. He's a VFL and a credit to UT for how he's carried himself.

Perhaps I believe being an NFL QB is a full-time career and it's not. Perhaps I believe being an aerospace engineer is a full-time career and it's not.

Do you believe those AREN'T full-time careers?

 

[basspond]

Wow

 

[Tin Man]

 

[TheVolsFrog]

Being an NFL QB, especially a journeyman QB like Dobbs means that he's put significant time into learning new systems, new plays, etc.

Sure, he could be Superman and able to stay current as an NFL QB for the various new teams he's had over the years and as an aerospace engineer. 100%. Makes perfect sense.

It's ridiculous that folks here think a new aerospace engineer from UT isn't worth much more than aerospace engineering major who never worked in the field and graduated 10 years ago.

I'm not dissing Josh Dobbs but he's been a professional NFL QB for 10 years NOT an aerospace engineer.

Would you want someone sending your loved ones into space if they've spent the last 10 years playing football instead of working with rockets?

Would you want to HIRE someone who is 10 years removed from the field you're hiring them to handle in your business?

Really?

Dude it's like anything else. It's not what you know but who you know.
I have no doubt if Josh wanted a job at NASA, SpaceX or Blue Origin in some engineering role that he could get one. Yeah he may have to take refresher course and he won't be a lead but he could get a job and not just being a PR guy if that's what we wanted.

As for the sending loved ones to space comment, I'd go out on a limb and say there's people fresh out of school and wet behind the ears with no experience sending people to space at SpaceX/NASA/BO we don't know what Josh does in his off time to stay current.

Math is math and orbital mechanics is orbital mechanics.

 

[volfan102455]

I'm saying being an NFL QB for multiple teams over the last 10 years requires full-time work. I know that's stunning to you but it's probably a full-time job.

Oddly, I suspect staying current on aerospace engineering is ALSO a full-time career. I know you will find that stunning also.

As a student he balanced playing football with being a full-time student in a very demanding subject - pretty sure he can balance both if he so desired.

 

[walkenvol]

That's BS. You make it sound like leaving a field for a decade doesn't matter when it does.

Josh Dobbs made a choice to follow football not aerospace engineering. Lots of students make a similar choice out of college and pursue fields unrelated to their major. It doesn't mean they can still "pick up the phone and have a job by lunch" in their old major.

Just be realistic. Josh Dobbs is a very, very bright man and knows he's made a choice at this point in his life to pursue football, not engineering.

It's no slight on him. VERY, VERY few people could do what he's done in football and many more could pursue a career in aerospace engineering. He has done very well with the gifts he's been given.

Retired engineer here and I agree with the prior poster that JD is likely a more appealing new hire than new graduates. Can’t think of any engineering track that one’s degree provides the majority of training required. Most every company has “their way” of conducting business requiring an extended learning curve for all new hires. That’s my experience anyway.

 

[volfan102455]

Retired engineer here and I agree with the prior poster that JD is likely a more appealing new hire than new graduates. Can’t think of any engineering track that one’s degree provides the majority of training required. Most every company has “their way” of conducting business requiring an extended learning curve for all new hires. That’s my experience anyway.

Mine as well, though I am in a different career but started out in engineering. Actually, worked while in school and realized the education was great but did not really translate as is in the real world. Same was true in the path I took - you always have to learn the ways of the company. Some new hires get frustrated with that - but it is part of adulting and being successful.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Retired engineer here and I agree with the prior poster that JD is likely a more appealing new hire than new graduates. Can’t think of any engineering track that one’s degree provides the majority of training required. Most every company has “their way” of conducting business requiring an extended learning curve for all new hires. That’s my experience anyway.

You seriously don't think you'd have lost anything if you'd not started your engineering career for 10 years after graduation?

I'll yield if that's your feeling that hiring someone who didn't use their engineering degree for 10 years is better than hiring someone who just received their engineering degree but......

 

[barrylee]

Our congressman is a moon landing denyer. Of course he is.

You can’t be shocked if you follow him at all. He probably thinks earth is flat too!

There’s an entire subset on line who believe we didn’t go to the moon.

 

[kckempf]

You can’t be shocked if you follow him at all. He probably thinks earth is flat too!

There’s an entire subset on line who believe we didn’t go to the moon.

One of my favorite conspiracies is that the Moon landing were faked, but they hired Kubrick to direct and he insisted on filming on location.

There are a lot of people who absolutely need big global conspiracies to make sense of the world, because the truth of the randomness of existence is even more scary. There's a quote from Mad Men about this that I think is excellent (whether the character uses this to make moral choices is pretty much the story of the show): "There is no big lie, there is no system, the universe is indifferent."

 

[ksgovols]

Being an NFL QB, especially a journeyman QB like Dobbs means that he's put significant time into learning new systems, new plays, etc.

Sure, he could be Superman and able to stay current as an NFL QB for the various new teams he's had over the years and as an aerospace engineer. 100%. Makes perfect sense.

It's ridiculous that folks here think a new aerospace engineer from UT isn't worth much more than aerospace engineering major who never worked in the field and graduated 10 years ago.

I'm not dissing Josh Dobbs but he's been a professional NFL QB for 10 years NOT an aerospace engineer.

Would you want someone sending your loved ones into space if they've spent the last 10 years playing football instead of working with rockets?

Would you want to HIRE someone who is 10 years removed from the field you're hiring them to handle in your business?

Really?

It happens more than you think. Josh might not take the pay cut, but folks in the construction industry go back to college all the time as 30 somethings and get entry level engineering jobs. Or just professionals with the acumen for mathematics and problem solving go back and get an engineering degree later in life, which by the way, doesn't necessarily make one an engineer. The pass rate for professional engineering licenses has always hovered around 50%. The engineering experience after school is what's critical for most that hold the degree.

 

[basspond]

View attachment 823786

Exactly. Poor horse.

 

[GBO2011]

He absolutely can and those may or not be whiz kids but, he's not just Josh Dobbs the former BSAE graduate, he was an absolutely exceptional student. He didn't get dumber. He has God given intelligence; maybe higher than his athletic ability. You don't learn how to be a Aeronautical Engineer in an undergraduate program. You learn the science, theory, laws, concepts, mathematical basis of engineering, etc.. You use that educated basis throughout your career to develop and become a hopefully very skilled, knowledgeable, and valuable engineer. Many people who complete an engineering program have a natural ability to understand complex engineering type concepts more quickly and then use logic and their knowledge to find a solution to a problem. Josh has very likely not lost any of that ability. Not trying to be humorous but, he hasn't been hit too many times for me to worry about his mental acuity.

question for you. If you stopped taking math for 10 years, and then someone asked you to help them prove a limit for their calculus homework, would you be able to do it?

 

[GBO2011]

If your answer is no, then that proves the point, if you haven’t been very in touch with something, especially something as complex as aerospace engineering in over a decade, odds are you ain’t gonna be very sharp on it 10 years later

 

[kckempf]

question for you. If you stopped taking math for 10 years, and then someone asked you to help them prove a limit for their calculus homework, would you be able to do it?

I could tell it to you right now, over 15 years after I last used it, but it wouldn't make the question any more relevant. Limits are fundamental to the definition of derivatives, which are fundamental to the derivation of the compound interest formula, but you don't expect your financial advisor to be able to describe it to you. You do expect your financial advisor to know roughly how much money you'll have in 20 years if you invest $1000 and have a 5% APR compounding continuously. Maybe limits creep into their head at some point in that thought but probably not.

 

[GBO2011]

I could tell it to you right now, over 15 years after I last used it, but it wouldn't make the question any more relevant. Limits are fundamental to the definition of derivatives, which are fundamental to the derivation of the compound interest formula, but you don't expect your financial advisor to be able to describe it to you. You do expect your financial advisor to know roughly how much money you'll have in 20 years if you invest $1000 and have a 5% APR compounding continuously. Maybe limits creep into their head at some point in that thought but probably not.

I yield the remainder of my time your honor, also that math hurts my brain I’m on spring break rn

 

[GBO2011]

I could tell it to you right now, over 15 years after I last used it, but it wouldn't make the question any more relevant. Limits are fundamental to the definition of derivatives, which are fundamental to the derivation of the compound interest formula, but you don't expect your financial advisor to be able to describe it to you. You do expect your financial advisor to know roughly how much money you'll have in 20 years if you invest $1000 and have a 5% APR compounding continuously. Maybe limits creep into their head at some point in that thought but probably not.

I actually kinda disproved my case not long after I typed that because I remembered this morning when my dad was giving me a lesson about calculus and physics and how physics are used in cool **** like guns. I just was thinking about all the times where I would ask for help and he would be “it’s been 30+ years I don’t remember that ****”

 

[volfan102455]

question for you. If you stopped taking math for 10 years, and then someone asked you to help them prove a limit for their calculus homework, would you be able to do it?

I think you may underestimate how quickly some folks with certain abilities can pick up concepts they learned in the past, especially those with strong mathematical type minds. A couple of years ago I had to help my niece with statistics which I hadn't studied or directly used in over 28 years. I was well I haven't solved any of these since college, but I will give it a try. A quick online search to refresh my memories of the concepts and I had absolutely no problem helping her. The only concern was making sure the way I helped her solve it was how the professors were currently teaching it.

I understand statistics is not calculus - but the point is, depending upon how a person was taught and learned concepts picking it back up may not take as long as you would think.

That said if you "memorized" answers verses learned the logic / concepts to derive the answers, you really didn't learn it and that quick refresh won't work at all.

 

[GBO2011]

I think you may underestimate how quickly some folks with certain abilities can pick up concepts they learned in the past, especially those with strong mathematical type minds. A couple of years ago I had to help my niece with statistics which I hadn't studied or directly used in over 28 years. I was well I haven't solved any of these since college, but I will give it a try. A quick online search to refresh my memories of the concepts and I had absolutely no problem helping her. The only concern was making sure the way I helped her solve it was how the professors were currently teaching it.

I understand statistics is not calculus - but the point is, depending upon how a person was taught and learned concepts picking it back up may not take as long as you would think.

That said if you "memorized" answers verses learned the logic / concepts to derive the answers, you really didn't learn it and that quick refresh won't work at all.

Yeah this was a typical case of me getting my personal sentiment cloud my judgement

 

[walkenvol]

You seriously don't think you'd have lost anything if you'd not started your engineering career for 10 years after graduation?

I'll yield if that's your feeling that hiring someone who didn't use their engineering degree for 10 years is better than hiring someone who just received their engineering degree but......

I failed in making my point in my prior post so I’ll try again. Obtaining an engineering degree from a respected university is a formidable challenge and clearly demonstrates the graduates ability to learn complex material required for the degree along with perseverance. These are the same qualities that help a new hire learn the specific processes in the company where they are hired to work and your degree will not have taught you the real world processes used in that company. JD competing in the NFL for 10 years and repeatedly learning new complex offensive systems would enhance his desirable qualities not degrade them. The adaptation and social development over that 10 years would give him a huge leg up over a new 22 year old grad. Again, this is just my experience for consideration and not the definitive answer to the topic.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I failed in making my point in my prior post so I’ll try again. Obtaining an engineering degree from a respected university is a formidable challenge and clearly demonstrates the graduates ability to learn complex material required for the degree along with perseverance. These are the same qualities that help a new hire learn the specific processes in the company where they are hired to work and your degree will not have taught you the real world processes used in that company. JD competing in the NFL for 10 years and repeatedly learning new complex offensive systems would enhance his desirable qualities not degrade them. The adaptation and social development over that 10 years would give him a huge leg up over a new 22 year old grad. Again, this is just my experience for consideration and not the definitive answer to the topic.

I don't doubt Dobbs is bright but, as you say, so are the other kids graduating from Aerospace Engineering. Their advantage is whatever advances and new ideas in the field are "baked in" their recent degrees (since academics like to tout how much theoretical crap they know) while Dobbs has put a lot of time into learning his NFL job.

Josh Dobbs is extremely bright but he's dedicated 10 years to a career that is intellectually (and physically) demanding. No matter how much he's "kept up," he's had a job in a completely unrelated field.

These kids have had crap poured into them daily for a few recent years about the field. Granted, most of it is barely useful in the field but it's been their "thing" in recent years.

Josh Dobbs knows more about life than them, light years more, but they're hungry, probably in debt, ready to earn a paycheck, and NEED to earn a paycheck.

I go with the kids because Dobbs can walk from your job at any time while the kids need to learn their craft out of school. They need the job, need to advance a career, etc.

Dobbs might be better in management but, as an employer, do you hire a name guy and jump guys who've put in the time?

 

[volfan102455]

I failed in making my point in my prior post so I’ll try again. Obtaining an engineering degree from a respected university is a formidable challenge and clearly demonstrates the graduates ability to learn complex material required for the degree along with perseverance. These are the same qualities that help a new hire learn the specific processes in the company where they are hired to work and your degree will not have taught you the real world processes used in that company. JD competing in the NFL for 10 years and repeatedly learning new complex offensive systems would enhance his desirable qualities not degrade them. The adaptation and social development over that 10 years would give him a huge leg up over a new 22 year old grad. Again, this is just my experience for consideration and not the definitive answer to the topic.

Totally agree but some don't understand this.

It is not just about when you learned something and many times not even what you learned. The experience and dedication that you obtained in the process, whether it be obtaining a degree or working in a very different environment or industry is most often times valued more than the "what you learned". Both show that you can learn and learn quickly and will be dedicated to doing so - which implies that you will be able to learn how the new company does that quickly and be able to become productive. New hires right out of college don't always handle the fact that some of what they learned in college is ignored and not as important as they thought.

 

[volfan102455]

I go with the kids because Dobbs can walk from your job at any time while the kids need to learn their craft out of school. They need the job, need to advance a career, etc.

Dobbs might be better in management but, as an employer, do you hire a name guy and jump guys who've put in the time?

Dobbs put in his time just the same as any new graduate has. I would argue when it comes to life experiences, he would be way ahead of them.

I don't understand why you are arguing this point. Most companies hire folks from different industries all the time.