Critique of pure engineering
Critique of pure engineering
- by Alex Möllers
What does it mean to be an engineer? The answer seems to be very easy. Children are likely to describe him as somebody who builds things, students may say he is a designer and someone that converts his ideas into reality. Nevertheless, the truth is much more complex than expected and covers many different fields of society and sciences. In the first place, being an engineer implies being responsible. Professionalism can save many hundreds and thousands of lives and coming up with a new idea can raise the standard of living for a whole country. A mistake may be fatal but on the other hand success can bring great improvements. For instance, the introduction of wastewater systems and of a steady water supply for most households has brought life expectancies and general comfort in Europe to a higher level. Unfortunately, many engineers tend to be very proud of their important position and stopped asking what else they can do for society. They believe that with their work they contribute enough. This results in an exclusion of engineers from volunteer activities and from influential political positions within European democracies. There are medics, physicians and lawyers that take responsibility for others every day without questioning their actions or asking for payment. But who has heard of an engineer as mayor or president?
Many journalists, bloggers and reporters have started to pay more and more attention to this topic in the past few years. One of them, the association for “TEDx Talks” has uploaded the video “Engineers beyond Engineering” in which this painful truth is discussed. The engineering student Phillip Rival from the Imperial College London, who is the key player in the video, draws the conclusion that it is up to every single one of us to change something and escape from our isolated position. He is right! Especially for people who have a major interest in developing machines or objects which make life easier and solve daily problems, it is essential to know where demand is and to understand the struggles of an average person. Moreover, there is a need for engineers to participate in public and political debates. In the end they are also affected by the decisions taken and more importantly they are able to provide input from a different point of view.
The responsibility of an engineer is to provide input to the community. Hence the first question an engineer should ask himself in the beginning of his career is, how and where can I improve society? This should not just be the key question for his professional work but also for his every day life. He has to be aware of the fact that being an engineer is not only part of his identity in the company but also in his leisure time. In fact it is a “full time” job.
This is why being an engineer consists of two parts. One is the work you do and the things you invent and build for humanity. The other one is the same duty every person has: to speak up for the values you believe in, to participate in political processes and to ask what you can do for society. Unfortunately, the second part is often underestimated or not even considered. Many engineers only define themselves with their work and tend to forget about many other aspects their job includes. They only see the machines and technology, but this is wrong.
Therefore, this text attempts to be a gently reminder that an engineer is in the very first place a human. Hence it should be self-evident to care for fellow human beings and contribute actively to society in order to promote the values he believes in. Nevertheless, being an engineer yields the advantage that it provides the influence and social standing needed to change things on a bigger scale. This puts us in a unique position. It gives us the possibility to design the future, not only in the laboratory but also in the street, where actions speak and matter.
