Final Dialogue

On our final session the topic was engineering in the world. As usual we had a guest lecturer but this time also one of our classmates got up and spoke about the topic. An interesting topic, about which a lot could be written, no doubt but I would like to take this space and write about my own opinion and thoughts on the matter. Well, actually I will narrow the subject down a notch as I am a little bit pressed for time. What I would like to share with you are my views on the importance of engineering in the world of today.

First off, where would we be today without the engineers? Engineers are today’s inventors. Looking back to the Stone Age one could argue it was the engineers of their time that built the first tools and weapons. But fast-forward to our time and engineering is a mundane profession. There are a lot of engineers and they aren’t really considered to be that special anymore, albeit they are needed perhaps now more than ever.

There are a lot of problems in the world, some of which already have a technical solution (thanks to engineers) but the problem still persists (due to finance and politics). Perhaps the time has come to involve engineers in politics. Me and some of my friends were discussing some new political decision when we came to the conclusion that the people who made it happen really couldn’t have a clue what it was about. That is when we started to try and find a single engineer in the Parliament of Finland.

Perhaps if engineers got involved in matters that did not concern them directly they could change the world for the better? Engineers are used to think in terms of practicality, numbers and absolutes. Either a structure will hold or it will not, there is no maybe, and perhaps this view on things is what is needed in politics?

If we were to look at it from the viewpoint of there not being any clean drinking water in large parts of the poor world. Is it due to engineers not being able to clean water, transport it to houses and transport wastewater away? I think not. In many places waste is dumped in the streets and this creates a poisonous environment, is that because engineers have yet to create a method for collecting waste and disposing of it? I think not. Many places lack a public transportation system, is that because engineers have failed to invent a vehicle large enough to transport several people at once and build a structure on which said vehicle could travel? I think not. A lot of people die needlessly because of diseases easily cured, is that because of engineers? Well that is because of lack of medical personnel, but a lot of the tools M.D.’s use are created by engineers and the machinery used when manufacturing medicine is created by engineers.

I think you see my point. Now we stand at the crossroads. Engineers have done their part for the world already, now it is time for the other professions to stand up and do their part or the engineers really do need to involve themselves in matters that are actually not a part of their profession?