I have been saying a lot about making engineering not only a profession but the means for building a promising society with passion. This is a wonderful vision – one that I myself have just recently come to realize. However, as I evaluate my four years in engineering education, I see that more has to be done to pass on this vision unto us future engineers, us future movers and shakers, future leaders of society. Indeed, we receive good engineering training that prepares us for being absorbed into the industry. Though there are professors that do remind us of this role we will be playing, I personally believe that more opportunities should be given and perhaps more programs be done to build us up as responsible engineer-leaders. That our mindset be not solely on career and profitability, but on service and society. And so, we can only enter the vision by laying a good foundation. Now, while receiving a UP engineering education, let us build a heart not only of profession but of passion. Then, after our education, whatever path we take, our engineering education will not be a limitation – that that is all we can do and know how to do to which we are stuck if not forced to practice purely technical expertise – but an addition – that our passion and profession come together to positively impact and transform our present society into a better, more promising one for the Filipino.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Considering the Function
Engineers are builders.
We build infrastructure. We build goods.
Let’s build lives, by
Not only engineering perfect machinery as profession
but by engineering a promising society with passion
through actively taking our engineering to a leading position.
Answering the Question
This time, I will answer the questions I have earlier posed.
What are the roles of engineers in transforming our society?
Before and always, foundationally, engineers are mainly concerned with the production profession. In the past, the role engineers have taken to transform society has always been centered on purely technical expertise – process handling, infrastructure development, corporation employment. This is largely limited, society being transformed in the third or fourth hand link of the chain.
What are the significant contributions of engineers in forming and transforming our society?
Before and always, foundationally, engineers mainly contribute in the field of the production profession. In the past, the contribution engineers have made to transform society has always been centered purely on technical expertise – process handling, infrastructure development, research, education. This is enormously indirect, society being benefited in the third or fourth link of chain.
-------------------------------------------------
NOW, however, engineers are becoming more equipped AND more involved, and more courageous in venturing into more active roles in leadership within the society we live and move in. This in itself is like one step for man, a giant leap for mankind.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
From Profession to Passion to Position
----------------------------------------------------------------
Chairman Bayani F. Fernando was born on July 25, 1946 in San Juan, Metro Manila. He is married to the present Mayor of Marikina City, the Honorable Maria Lourdes C. Fernando. He is a licensed Mechanical Engineer who has acquired his managerial skills from the company he has established – the BF Group of Companies, a steel fabrication, general construction and manufacturing business. His success in private business coupled with his aspiration to help people, motivated him to pursue a career in government.
Chairman Fernando ran for public office and became mayor of Marikina City in 1992. Because of the significant transformation of Marikina City from a “rape capital” into one of the country’s model cities, he was re-elected as Mayor for two consecutive terms.
The Chairman was conferred with 55 major regional and national awards during his incumbency as Mayor of Marikina City. Among the major awards are: The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Awardee for Government Service in 1998, conferred by the Phil. Jaycee Senate and Insular Life Assurance Company; the Philippine Quality Award in 1999, Silver Award / Proficiency Level for Organizational Excellence, given by DAP / DTI; and the Galing Pook Hall of Fame Award for his various programs in Marikina City.
_________________________________________
DPWH Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan, the 38th head of DPWH, has spent more than half of his life in the Department as a Civil Engineer having started his career as civil engineering aide in 1967 during his senior year in Civil Engineering at the Mapua Institute of Technology. A year after, he passed the licensure exams and was promoted as Junior Civil Engineer, a job he held for only seven months, after which, he was again promoted as Civil Engineer of the then Bureau of Public Highways. From then on, he rose from the ranks until his appointment as DPWH Assistant Secretary for planning in 1987 and as Undersecretary in 1994. To beef up his civil engineering knowledge, Secretary Bonoan has finished his graduate diploma in Highway Engineering at the University of South Wales in Sydney, Australia in 1976. Secretary Bonoan, married with two children, is both a licensed civil engineer and environmental planner.
__________________________________________
Diosdado Banatao, a native of Iguig, Cagayan and an Electrical Engineering graduate from Mapua Institute of Technology in Manila is credited for eight major contributions to the Information Technology. Banatao holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology in the Philippines and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Stanford University.
Banatao is most known for introducing the first single-chip graphical user interface accelerator that made computers work a lot faster and for helping develop the Ethernet controller chip that made Internet possible. In 1989, he pioneered the local bus concept for personal computers and in the following year developed the First Windows accelerator chip. Intel is now using the chips and technologies developed by Banatao. He now runs his own semiconductor company, Mostron and Chips & Technology, which is based in California's Silicon Valley.
__________________________________________
Edith Mijares Ardiente, Vice President Environmental Affairs for International Truck and Engine Corporation of Warrenville, Illinois and 2005 President of the Air and Waste Management Association was given the prestigious Pamana Ng Pilipino (Heritage of the Filipino) Award by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at ceremonies held on December 7, 2006 at the President’s Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines.
Ardiente received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering, valedictorian, magna cum laude from the University of San Agustin in the Philippines. She was valedictorian of her high school class at the Colegio de San Jose in Jaro, Iloilo City. In college, she was a full university academic scholar and a Philippine Science Development Board scholar. She received her M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She is a registered professional engineer (PE) and a qualified environmental professional (QEP).
Ardiente is the top environmental officer of International Truck and Engine Corporation. She is responsible for establishing corporate environmental policies and guidelines and providing technical and regulatory assistance to all International locations and operations. Under her leadership, the company has been recognized for its environmental excellence and leadership as evidenced by over 100 environmental awards received by its operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and India. These awards were mostly for pollution prevention efforts with documented savings of over 80 million dollars.
Ardiente was previously manager of environmental protection for Borg Warner Corporation (1986-1987); served as section chief for the hazardous waste permitting program and section chief of the air enforcement program at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5 (1979-1986); and was senior chemical engineer for Sargent and Lundy Engineers (1973-1979). Prior to coming to the United States she was an engineering instructor at the University of San Agustin in the Philippines.
__________________________________________
Cesar “Buboy” Montano was born on August 1, 1962 in Manila. He is married to Sunshine Cruz and is with five children. He was educated at the Lyceum University in Industrial Engineering. He is now an actor/director/film producer and businessman. He was also appointed last May 19, 2004 as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Philippine commissioner for culture and arts. Currently, he is running for office in a senatorial seat.
___________________________________________
Antonio Trillanes IV was born on August 6, 1971. He is married to Arlene G. Orejana and is with three children (1 died). He was educated at the University of the Philippines, Master in Public Administration, and at the Philippine Military Academy, BS Naval Systems Engineering, 1995. He is an AFP Officer under trial because of his involvement in the Lakewood Mutiny. He is currently running for office in a senatorial seat.
They were engineers. They are engineers. Engineers actively engaged in the creative process of idea generation and problem solving in the real world practicing constructive profession attempting to make a better world through change. They are the personification, the representation of those others like them who have
To not only engineer perfect machinery as profession
but to engineer a promising society with passion
by taking their engineering to a leading position.
From Profession to Passion
Alas, not too many engineers choose to pursue this path.
In my search, I have stumbled across this article from a book. It qualifies different stages of moral development of an engineer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gunn S. Alastair, P. Aarne Vesilind (2003)
“Hold Paramount the Engineer’s Responsibility to Society”
Moral Development of Engineers
Stage1: Pre-professional I
The engineer is not concerned with social or professional responsibilities. Professional conduct is dictated by the gain for the individual, with no thought of how such conduct would affect the firm, the client-engineer relationship, or the profession.
Stage 2: Pre-professional II
The engineer connects conduct to marketability. While the engineer is aware of the ideas of loyalty to the firm, client confidence, and proper professional conduct, ethical behavior depends on the motive of self-advancement.
Stage 3: Professional I
The engineer puts loyalty to the firm above any other consideration. The firm dictates proper action, and the engineer is freed from further ethical considerations. The engineer concentrates on technical matters, becomes a “team player” within the firm, and ignores the ramifications of the job on society and on the environment.
Stage 4: Professional II
The engineer retains loyalty to the firm but recognizes that the firm is part of a larger profession, and that loyalty to the profession enhances the reputation of the firm and brings rewards to the engineer. Good engineering practice becomes that which helps the profession – and not necessarily society in general.
Stage 5: Principled Professional I
The engineer recognizes that service to human welfare is paramount and that this brings credit to the firm and to the profession. The rules of society determine professional conduct. Where professional standards do not apply or are in conflict with the prevailing morals of society, society’s values take precedence.
Stage 6: Principled Professional II
The engineer follows rules of universal justice, fairness, and caring for fellow humans. This level is the most complex because acts of justice and caring can often contradict the prevailing social order and/or professional code of ethical conduct.
While we believe this account identifies different types of engineers, we think it is unlikely that engineers actually go through such a moral development. In fact, most engineers probably start out in the higher stages of moral behavior, and as their career develops, they drop lower on this scale as responsibilities increase.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Certainly, engineers are first and foremost, engineers. Alastair and Vesilind say that, “Engineers produces things that succeed… Throughout history, engineers were special people because they could get things done.” True, chemical engineers, civil engineers, computer engineers, electrical engineers, geodetic engineers, industrial engineers, marine engineers, mechanical engineers, metallurgical engineers, mining engineers…they are people who study if things can get done, know how to get things done, and make sure things get done, in each respective field. Production is their main profession. This focus and function must not be abandoned. However, we must not only be professionals but principled professionals. Not only in the workplace but in the world we move in. This is a challenge, a challenge that must be seen.
Yet there is also a call that must be answered.
It is to rise up. To step up.
but to engineer a promising society with passion.
Opening the Issue
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David E. Goldberg (1995)
“Life Skills and Leadership for Engineers”
Engineering is an Engaging Profession
A creative profession
-as engineers we create that which has never before existed, through a combination of imagination, ingenuity, and perseverance. We therefore have many opportunities to become engaged in the creative processes of idea generation and problem solving.*
A real-world profession
-a profession that requires streetwise application of mind to means. This leads us to recognize that our profession is firmly rooted in the real world.* It forces us to face up to the limitations in our modeling, and it forces us to confront difficult variables that defy analysis – variables such as time, money, consumer preferences, the impact of government, and the impact of technology on society.
A constructive profession
-engineering is an inherently constructive profession, attempting to make a better world through change.*
A people profession
-engineers often work in teams
*emphasis mine
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Though to me these statements are accurate, if nothing but truth, I find it rather disheartening to not hear of more engineers actively engaged in the creative process of idea generation and problem solving in the real world practicing constructive profession attempting to make a better world through change…
They exist. Yet, they are less heard of, less exposed, less recognized, and therefore less made an inspiration and role model of aspiring engineers such as you and I. I usually hear of so-and-so landing a good job with a promising career in this renowned company assigned in this production plant, or of so-and-so earning this much doing this much for this company… I have nothing against this or them, and even acknowledge them for having made it thus far because of their proficiency and perseverance. However, there is something more I am searching for. Perhaps, I, who cannot exactly imagine taking the same path, am looking for another trail to tread on.
You know, certainly, we engineers (or aspirants) have a very busy, seemingly-detached world from the rest of studentry. May sariling mundo. Thus, the stereotype apathetic engineering student body indifferent to campus, social and national issues seems to stand. Walang pakialam. And this somehow, is carried on to the practice of the profession. Where are our engineers? A large percent are in company plants here, in company plants abroad, in the academe here, in the academe abroad…and though they may effect constructive social change through these avenues, they are not and should not be limited to these alone.
If ours is a creative profession, a constructive profession, a people profession…a real world profession, then finding engineers impacting society onto transformation and positive changes in the fields of government, public administration, leading roles in non-governmental organizations, breakthrough sciences, business, and the like should not be a daunting task…should it?
Because engineering is an engaging profession, engineers then have the necessary faculty to step out from the process plant and take his/her place among society’s influential bigwigs and make a positive difference.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Topic: Role of Engineers in Transforming the Society
Objectives:
Ø to open an issue exploring the roles of engineers in transforming our society
Ø to gather data regarding the past and present roles and significant contributions engineers have played and made in and to Philippine society
Ø to thoughtfully consider the relevant emerging roles and functions of an engineer in transforming our present and future society
(a personal assessment based on relevant facts gathered)
Focus: roles the engineer play on impacting society onto transformation and positive changes in the fields of government, public administration, leading roles in non-governmental organizations, business, and the like…
Rationale:
Elections are here yet again. Politicians promising political, economic and social reforms spring up left and right. This is the light in which social formation, reformation, transformation and change are most viewed. However, a very important yet seldom seen sector is the engineering sector largely hidden in the profit-driven industry sector.
I believe that good leaders are not only found seated on political offices, the same way that good engineers are not only found seated on manufacturing plants. The government is not the sole body responsible for effecting positive changes in our society. The engineering sector is not and should not be bound by the four walls of a plant.
It is with these in mind that I would personally like to explore the various roles and functions of an engineer in forming and transforming the society. I believe this would contribute not only to a personal understanding but to an awakening of my peers that as we graduate from engineering, our significance of being an engineer is not confined in landing a job in a people-less plant situated in some faraway province. As to what or where that road/role will lead, that is what I am about to find out.
Brief Background:
As I’ve been taking my majors ever since third year, I have been conditioned to learn and understand chemical engineering principles as applied in light of processes in a manufacturing plant. And though that is just appropriate, I still can’t imagine myself making a living off this. ^_^ Surely, there must be something other than this… I wonder, does a chemical engineer, or any engineer for that matter, have a place in the frontlines of effecting positive influences on society towards beneficial changes alongside our nation’s political leaders? How come no (or few) engineers are heard of, or recognized, as really impacting our society? I’m sure there are those out there significantly contributing to how this nation is run, how our society is built and rebuilt. I’ll be on the lookout for them.