Why foundation repair is not a math problem

It is not unusual for a lay person to think that engineering is a branch of mathematics. Some engineers, usually young and inexperienced, agree. But, while engineers study a lot of math and use math on a regular basis, engineering is not a branch of mathematics. If that were so, mathematicians could easily be licensed as Professional Engineers, and that is not the case.

It usually starts with algebra

Engineers are usually the students that took a lot of math in high school. They typically take agebra, trigonometry, geometry, precalculus and calculus. The will also take physics and that course will include vectors.

Students will be told that they have to take all this math or they cannot major in engineering. So it is easy to get the impression early on that engineering is a kind of mathematics.

It grows a lot worse in college

In college the heavy emphasis on math skills continues. Even the engineering courses are heavily weighted toward math.

Virtually all the engineering courses are engineering mechanics courses: statics, dynamics, strength of materials, mechanics of materials, thermodynamics. Even the design courses are heavily mathematical.

So it is easy for an engineering student to go graduate with the idea that design is essentially math problem. Not only that but it is a math problem in which you are given certain data and you use that data with a prescribed model to get the answer the professor wants.

Recovery begins with your first engineering assignment

When you go to work in the real world things are quite different. First computers do most of the math. Second there is limited given data.

If you are doing something beyond addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division you are doing something wrong