What have mentors meant to you?

Bernard Dagarin is retired from engineering now, but many aerospace engineers involved in NASA programs still consider him to be one of the most important influences in their careers. It was Dagarin, for example, who led the team that designed and tested the Galileo probe, which penetrated the fiery atmosphere of Jupiter in 1995.

In a recent interview, Dagarin looked back on his career and the "dozen or so" mentors who guided him along the way. He cited these essential qualities of the mentoring art:

• A strong desire to share one's hard-earned experience and wisdom with a younger or less-experienced colleague—without expecting anything in return.
• An attitude that is laced with equal parts of discipline, compassion, and understanding.
• A willingness to admit that you don't know all the answers, coupled with the wisdom to show others where to look for more assistance.
• Advice that goes beyond technical issues and into such areas as work habits, organizational skills, and the setting of priorities.
• An ability to share anecdotes and stories from your own experience.
• The courage to get into the head and heart of the person you're helping in order to individualize your advice. One mentoring approach doesn't fit all.
• Patience, patience, patience.

But successful mentoring can't occur, he adds, unless the individual is willing to accept a helping hand. "The person being mentored must not be afraid to ask questions—no matter how stupid or embarrassing they may seem," says Dagarin. It also helps when company management encourages mentoring programs.

What role have mentors played in your own life? Test & Measurement World invites you to share your experiences with us. Just write an essay of about 600 words, which describes how others helped shape and advance your career. We will print the most thoughtful essay in our August issue, and the author will receive a Tektronix TDS-2002 oscilloscope. Tektronix will also donate a second TDS-2002 to an engineering school designated by the winning author.

Please send your essay, along with a color photo of yourself, to: Larry Maloney, Editorial Director, Test & Measurement World, 275 Washington St., Newton, MA, 02458. Or, you can e-mail your essay and 300-dpi digital image to: lmaloney@reedbusiness.com. Deadline for entries: May 1. We look forward to hearing from you.

Contact Larry Maloney at lmaloney@reedbusiness.com