Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great 2019 so far. February 17th through the 23rd is Engineers Week where the American Society of Civil Engineers promotes engineers in an effort to celebrate the difference we make in the world, increase public awareness, and engage the public to illuminate what engineering is about. I think it’s valuable to have a week every year where engineers are celebrated. Too often engineers work in the background and society doesn’t really know what we do. It seems that the only time engineers are in the news is when something goes terribly wrong. I think we as engineers, and SEAoT, need to be our own advocates and make a more conscious effort to be in the public light and speak up. We are a well-educated group of people that understand many aspects of how things work, yet we tend to let others speak for us and our accomplishments. We tend to let the architects and contractors get the spotlight and contact with clients. We tend to let legislators make decision about the impact to infrastructure without consulting us. By doing this we create an atmosphere that we are replaceable and not important. We need to change the narrative so that we can better help society.
Furthermore, it is important for us to attract the best and brightest to our industry. I would speculate that many people don’t consider engineering as a career because they unaware of our industry and the important role we play in society. The upcoming generation is bright and quick and is accustomed to adapting to an ever-changing environment. We need to be proactive and adapt if we want to succeed and attract this new generation of talent.
As such, I encourage you to visit ASCE’s website for engineers week and see how you can get involved (https://www.asce.org/event/2019/engineers-week/). Our SEAoT chapter is making plans to be involved. Stay tuned for more information to follow on our website. Engineers Week is a week for us to celebrate and show the public what we are about. Let’s get involved.
I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming February meeting.
