Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Opening the Issue

I’d like to share this article I found in a book. It describes that engineering is a multifaceted and engaging profession and states a few of the reasons why.
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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
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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.

1 comment:

David E. Goldberg said...

Hi Jakky, Thanks for the nice quotes from LLE. You might be interested in the 2006 update of that book, "The Entrepreneurial Engineer." The chapter you quoted has been overhauled and is now called "The Joy of Engineering." I'm completely with you regarding the postmodern need for more creative engineers. See my new class on Creative Modeling for Tech Visionaries at http://online.engr.uiuc.edu/webcourses/ge498tv.
See my blog on related topics at www.entrepreneurialengineer.blogspot.com/.