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A lot of technical people steer their children away from technical careers. Sure, the career itself can be rewarding — but companies always want to hire people who are younger and cheaper. It’s definitely not a field for people over 50, and I’m not sure it’s a field for people over 40.
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Your blanket statements “but companies always want to hire people who are younger and cheaper” and “It’s definitely not a field for people over 50, and I’m not sure it’s a field for people over 40. “ are not true in my experience.

I have seen multiple examples of engineers over 50 being hired (in fact preferred) for a number of roles in my company. A smart company uses the experience and wisdom of older people and brings in fresh perspectives younger professionals.

Anyone in a technical or scientific field needs to “keep up with technology”, if they choose to stopping learning then I can’t understand how they would continue to find their career challenging or rewarding.

I don't mean to paint with too broad a brush. I'm over 50. I've never been unemployed, and I'm doing fine. I've worked in a variety of industries using transferrable skills which I have improved over time. Certainly it can be done.

But I've seen a lot of people who got shafted through no real fault of their own. US business managers sometimes look to India for SW development, or China for cheap manufacturing. These choices do not always work out well for the US business manager, but the allure of possibly saving money has convinced many in the US to layoff their technology workers in favor of younger, cheaper labor, or else foreign-born labor.

It's not true 100% of the time, but let's not pretend that this isn't happening and isn't an issue when we try to convince the next generation that engineering is a field with a bright future. Kids can see that the path is somewhat riskier than some other paths.

Your blanket statements “but companies always want to hire people who are younger and cheaper” and “It’s definitely not a field for people over 50, and I’m not sure it’s a field for people over 40. “ are not true in my experience.
I have seen multiple examples of engineers over 50 being hired (in fact preferred) for a number of roles in my company. A smart company uses the experience and wisdom of older people and brings in fresh perspectives younger professionals.

Anyone in a technical or scientific field needs to “keep up with technology”, if they choose to stopping learning then I can’t understand how they would continue to find their career challenging or rewarding.

Agreed on all fronts.

Then you add my stellar personality, and it becomes a Must Hire Him situation.