Let us start with the premise that Istanbul is the greatest city in the world. For those not already familiar with its history, it spans millennia. Originally settled by the Greeks, strategically on the strait that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean/Mediterranean, it has had many incarnations; known by various names such as Constantinople and Byzantium over the years. These days there may be some press about the occasional and unfortunate attack, but historically that region always been familiar with conflict, whether the latest menace came from the Scythians, Hellenes, Romans, Persians, Crusaders, Ottomans, or Allied forces.

Spooky Subterranean Istanbul – nice and cool in summer though

The astute reader will raise objections – why not Rome, Paris, Shanghai, or New York? They might all stake their claims, but for me Istanbul is far more powerful as a metaphor for engineering career principles. So let’s situate ourselves there, at least psychologically. Here’s why.

Intersections of Disciplines and Peoples

Istanbul sits on a strategically important position, essentially a gateway between Europe and Asia (and proximate to Africa), with key land and sea transit routes through it. Conflict always focuses on these key gateways – take other examples like Rome in its day (“all roads lead to Rome”), Vicksburg in 1863, Stalingrad in 1942, or Bastogne in 1944. You will find in your engineering career that when you take on a project, 20% of the challenges will come from your own discipline and the efforts within it. You have your own calculations to perform, drawings to prepare, specifications to draft. But 80% of your difficulties will result from your intersections with other disciplines when trying to get something done. A classic example for a mechanical engineer is a pump. For us it is no big deal to specify a pump with the terms we are familiar with – materials, flow, TDH. When we consider the complete installation though, we recognize that a slew of people and disciplines need to come together to execute the works. In approximate sequence of operations, it might fall as follows:

  1. Mechanical – choose pump process conditions, define piping connections
  2. Electrical – driver (motor) specifications, cable, raceway and switchgear design
  3. Structure – foundation and structural steel design
  4. Civil – excavations and area drainage
  5. Controls – associated instrumentation and interface with control system

Here’s the trick – the sequence in which the design progresses (can’t design the foundations without knowing the pump selection, can’t design the excavations without knowing the foundation size) is not the same as the sequence in which the work progresses (the bulldozer operators are sitting around idle burning cash while you are still finalizing the pump process design, mechanical engineer). So there are naturally conflicts in terms of schedule regarding interfaces between disciplines. There are also conflicts in terms of scope  – did the mech engineer properly wrap the motor requirements into the specifications, or did we skip the electrical’s input in our rush to get the package out the door? Is the mech engineer wise enough to spot that there is missing information on the pump vendor’s documents that the structural engineer will find essential for their design? Thus, bringing together these different disciplines to coordinate on this Intersection will introduce the same potential for conflict as a city that had to manage the passage of as many people as Istanbul. The solution is not to isolate oneself and say “I’m an engineer of discipline X, I shouldn’t have to know about/deal with disciplines Y, Z, etc.) – rather, you will have to anticipate and embrace knowledge about how to manage these interfaces in order to avert these potential conflicts. The better you are at directing traffic at these intersections of disciplines, the more valuable you will be to your organization.

Intersections of Technologies

You could make the case that Istanbul historically was akin to ‘Silicon Valley’ – a place that saw the passage across it of influences, trade and technologies across the world – China via the Silk Road, Venetian trade, the math and science of Islamic empires. If you are a tech entrepreneur now you likely would want to place yourself in Palo Alto, at a nexus of new tech developments. If you were a writer in the nineteenth or twentieth centuries you likely would favor a cultural crossroads like Paris. So in your engineering career, it can be useful to consider your selection of companies, readings, and projects to give yourself exposure to a range of technologies.

Cross-pollination of ideas is  one of the key advantages of this intersection. In my own field, I could choose to focus only on my own renewable or conventional power plant technology, and turn a blind eye to others. However, someone may be developing a new control system or plant maintenance management solution in another field like photovoltaics, combined cycle gas turbines, hydro power, or battery storage. If we place ourselves at some sort of nexus where we can be more aware of tech currents, we can be the first to see if these technologies might be applicable to our field, and then reach across and be an early adopter of them, giving us a competitive advantage.

Intersections of Communications

In order to manage these interdisciplinary or intertechnology aspects, consider choosing your physical location with a “Live in Istanbul’ mentality. Given the choice, choose a nexus-type site where you will have a view of what is going on – politically and technologically, so you keep up with intel naturally. The open office concept is a classic example and dilemma – yes, it can be hard to focus in an area that is busy, or keep up with what is happening on multiple projects of different natures. One might prefer to have one’s own sheltered office with thick walls, shut the door, grind away on one project, and be left alone. But long-term, one is going to reap rewards by avoiding isolation. Sun Tzu would call this kind of terrain at communication crossroads “Intersecting Ground”, in the translation I have, and states “So if you get it you are secure, if you lose it you are in peril.” I tend to take an inordinate interest in where people set up their offices, or sit during meetings, with an eye towards promoting this kind of communications awareness. It doesn’t mean one always needs to be the center of conversation, but one should at least be able to tap the communications of the center from where one is.

Not that you would have wanted to be here, but fortunately the Greatest Generation was (Globeatwar.com)

Summary

It can be a challenge to manage competing demands. A new engineer may say “I’m not even an expert in my own discipline or technology – how can you expect me to keep up with so many others?” Quite so. But, one needs to be open to the need to expand in and be aware of other currents, and by deliberately placing oneself at nexuses, one will naturally even through osmosis start to pick up these capabilities. Since Istanbul is a classic Intersecting Ground, it serves as an excellent metaphor for where a young engineer might want to “live.” Also, great museums and tasty food.

Postscript – 2018

If you want to make it out to the Turkish countryside, one great area is around Denizli. The area between Aydin and Denizli contains a lot of Turkey’s geothermal plants, tasty produce in the right season and at the eastern extent of that one should visit the UNESCO site of Hierapolis-Pamukkale. Site of, yes, the Portal to Hell. The portal itself is rather nondescript these days (one seems to be able to find little portals to hell everywhere now it seems, some are politicians) but the Plutonium must have been quite the scene back in the day.