I am not doubting that it is still the standard in may industries iam just illustrating the reality of 2006 universities (almost 20years after you graduate).
Nowadays in any engineering class (across the board; even agricultural), the text books are half in BU half in SI . Hence, my statement that it is extremely rare for a class to be only in BU anymore (the only one i took in BS, MS or PhD was an obscure topography/land survey class...).
Now, i am aware that BU is still standard in many industries... within the USA. But, i am afraid you are a dying breed. Particularly taking in account that 1/2 of the students in upper level engineering classes in american universities are foreigners(that will try very hard to forget the mindnumbing effect of those BU problems).

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Aquilae non capunt muscas! (Eagles don't hunt flies!)


1979 300SD Black/Black MBtex239000mi
1983 300TD euro-NA. White/Olive Cloth-MBtex 201000mi. Fleet car of the USA embassy in Morocco
1983 240D Labrador Blue/Blue MBtex 161000mi

Rashakor, what are your degrees in, when did you get them, and what industry do you work in now?

I sorta agree, but when I got an undergrad mechanical engineering degree in 1980, all the classes were about 50/50 between SI and BU (because that was the peak of the U.S. initiative to adopt the SI system - remember meter signs on baseball outfield walls). When I was in grad school in the early 90s and teaching some undergrad engineering classes in the late 90s there was less of a push to use SI units. It's really not much of an issue in advanced classes where there are basically no numbers or units used (all theory).

I'm not sure what the current academic fad is, but I'm sure it will change again in another 10 years. Throughout all this, most U.S. industries just keep using BU units internally because they have an enormous infrastructure cost based on BU. It's more complex now, with more manufactured components moving around the world, but units are just not a big issue in the real world. Anyone in the industrialized world will provide components in whatever units you specify, as long as the check clears. Any decent working engineer can also work comfortably in whatever units you like.

Regarding foreign students, many of them will stay in the U.S. and use whatever units their boss tells them to. When they are in a position to actually make a decision (in about 20 years) they will also be using whatever the standard units are in their industry at that time.

The point is, these things change very slowly because of the cost (and lots of institutional inertia). Industrial equipment has a very long life, and industry standards are usually controlled by a bunch of 60 year old guys who have been working in their industry for a long time. The kid who graduated from engineering school last week may be more comfortable with SI units, but he isn't even allowed to go to the rest room without permission, so it don't matter what he wants.

When I was an engineering student in the 70s, we all thought we would be using only SI units in a few years. Not so much.

I just graduated with a Civil Engineering degree. All classes were 50/50 here at Washigton State.

And I can go the the rest room when ever I please!

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Just kidding about the rest room.

Seriously, a 50/50 split is probably appropriate these days, none of us know where we will end up working. I just got an e-mail from a VP of an engineering company I used to work for, he was asking if I would be interested in a project he's proposing in China, with a 15 year duration. Interesting.

BTW, if you haven't done so yet, read The World is Flat by Friedman.

I am an agricultural engineer i have a MS and PhD from U of Arizona. The industry I work in is emminently retrograd and even slower to adopt any new standard than any other... Yet... a lot of the best equipment available is Metric (and No! the manufacturers will not make that equipment in BU, economics). Agriculture may lag behind many other industry (even that is highly debatable!!!) but in a globalized world (which should i remind you is SI) the standard tends to the majority.
As Craig said it is a slow process...

Just get the gauge face you bloody want
Stimulating discussion though... but completly off-topic by now.

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Aquilae non capunt muscas! (Eagles don't hunt flies!)


1979 300SD Black/Black MBtex239000mi
1983 300TD euro-NA. White/Olive Cloth-MBtex 201000mi. Fleet car of the USA embassy in Morocco
1983 240D Labrador Blue/Blue MBtex 161000mi