Well, here it is, the poor little thing. Sorry it took so long to get around to it, I've been involved in a few other projects ( some Internet and some not... after all, I'm an HVAC tech and it's a hot summer ! ).
A whole 21 people responded. I guess amongst other things, the readers here don't care much for surveys :~).
College backgrounds :
A total of 55 years of college in the responses, thus an average
of 2.6. This was spread out between 8 BSME's, 2 MSME's, and several
2 year degrees, as well as those with no college ( like me
Field experience :
A total of 138 years, avg = 6.5. Low was one, high was 30.
Typical = 10-15.
Desk jobs ( Including engineering and other ) :
140 years total. avg. = 6.6 Typically 15 -20.
Where do they live ?
Oregon, Kentucky, North Carolina, Iowa, Tennessee, Washington,
New Brunswick Canada, Alberta Canada, Russia, U.K., New Jersey,
Missouri, Florida, Pennsylvania
What do they do ?
Project engineers, pressure switch design, TXV design, HVAC
Software, solar design, refrigeration control design, IAQ, ozone and
alt. ref's, residential and commercial field work. There was a strong
emphasis on commercial/industrial design work, in a wide variety of
areas, such as high-rise, specialty environments, etc.
Who do they work for ( some of the major companies )
T.I, Sporlan, Union Carbide, Martin Marietta, the EPA, JCI, NASA
My perceptions :
Obviously, the group doesn't care much for surveys. I would
estimate that maybe 5 % responded. If that were the case, and the sample
at all representative, the total years of education, field, and desk
experience here in this group is astounding, literally thousands of years
of education, engineering and design, and field experience.
The readers of course have above average skills and interest in at
least two fields - HVAC, and computers ( to be Internet literate enough
to use Usenet ). The other specialties are so wide ranging, from the
mundane to the exotic, that it would be hard to define the range.
Application and refinement of old technology, development of new
technology, just about every facet of our industry.
There is at least one person who reads this group via a computer
program that translates it into Russian.
There are people working on environmental control in space, and
there are those who live in countries where A/C is a rare luxury.
Most of the readers seem to be actively involved in making their
living in this field, rather than in educational settings. There is a
strong emphasis on engineering backgrounds, not suprisingly.
That's about it for the survey, folks !
While I have you this far.....I'm interested in any suggestions
for the 'Interesting Threads' pages. If you have the text captured for
your favorites and can send it, that would be a big help. Otherwise I
have to search through several meg of text file looking for key words.
I've been keeping an eye on any new URL mentions, and adding them
to the list, which will be updated soon. I've made a few corrections,
too. Any other suggestions for additions would be welcome.
Paul
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