Having not posted for a while, I've been sitting around contemplating where I'm at with how I feel about engineering. After having talked to recent graduates from engineering programs and non engineers, I see that there are a few of the former that have come across the same weird feeling as I have, whereas the latter does not seem to see the reason for my concern.
I tried searching the internet for other people that may be blogging about their mixed feelings on the medical, law, or engineering professions, and there's surprisingly little about the profession group organization itself. Most things that come up are issues that engineers face, or how engineers have had to face a corrupt group that they had to work with. I'm wondering if the topic of corruption or issues with the governance of the PEO is just something I perceive, or that people aren't speaking about it. Recent graduates have told me that they've contemplated why the PEO acts the way they do, why their literature is packed full of "gossip" over who sued who over improper engineering practices (this seems like petty squabbling to me when engineering designs are not compromised). Apparently, I'll learn more about the PEO during the Iron Ring Ceremony that I will have in about 2 years time. Some of the information provides insight into why the PEO is organized as it is, and some information will make silly concepts even sillier. One of the aspects of the PEO that I find silly is how the PEO portrays itself to the public, requiring engineers to make the public aware of the profession, yet many of their resources and decisions seem closed-book.
Non-engineers have generally been of the opinion that these type of professional organization woes happen with multiple professions such as doctors, lawyers, architects, and anything with a registered organization. It was pointed out that at this point, what matters is that my life's work is what I am interested in, and that I just have to deal with the ridiculousness of the self-governed organization because I will get it almost anywhere. Essentially, I'm being told to, as in the words of my very good friend Chris, "suck it up, princess". Not desirable, but I see the truth in what they sat, I just have a hard time accepting it.
The good that I have concluded about the professional engineering is that it is essential to have a governing system to structure engineering design in order to protect the public. I see this moreso than anything in structural engineering. As a sidenote, it is interesting to see how the general media covers the consequences of the breaking of dams in Alberta. This type of catastrophe is the kind that an engineer hopes to never have associated with their name for the livelihood in the engineering industry. I have been finding through my co-op terms that your engineering reputation in the industry is extremely important as a measure of trust, though this is perhaps one of the profession's weaknesses. Engineers would rather jump through as many hoops as possible within the PEO to maintain a clean design history free of major errors. Therefore, I see nothing majorly wrong with the PEO Act which instructs engineers on their duties, roles, and obligations since I believe these are essential common sense (should this exist) ground rules. On the other hand, the human aspect of the PEO seems a bit flawed with respect to the information that I know.
And now for something completely different...
I may yet have an outlet for my engineering profession queries. During my next school term in fall 2010, UW is setting up a course to explore the current issues facing the engineering industry. These topics will hopefully branch into sustainability, economics, and politics. The actual purpose of this course is to improve communication skills via conventional (written, spoken) and non-conventional (blogs, vlogs, audio recordings) means. Now, this course is by application only, which I had done (in a oh-so-boring conventional letter mainly because I wanted to use a form factor for my appliation that I was comfortable with). I hope to be accepted where I may be able to ask my questions about the engineering industry and the function of the PEO and other societies for engineers. This could be a good think tank pick-other-peoples'-brains opportunity that may strengthen the resolution of my questions. I have no problem in admitting that I was wrong about my feelings of the industry or the profession, I just feel like I have a lack of information available, or that it's just not a common enough viewpoint to be able to find that many others to discuss this with. Why are fresh ideas hard to find?
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