This is Engineering

A few months ago I was at an event locally to promote Metalcrafts Community Fund when I got into conversation with someone and the topic of engineering came up. The person I was speaking too said they didn't have any idea what engineers did which was disappointing if not unexpected. I started to talk through a few things that everyone relies on as part of our daily life and they were gobsmacked at the breadth of engineering and how important it has become to our very existence.

I've written previously about the concept of how we could develop 'Celebrity Engineers' along the same lines as Celebrity Chefs or Famous Gardeners, we need a few to stand up and make it their mission. Elon Musk (@elonmusk - think Tesla & Space X - if you don't know who he is) is doing a great job of bringing exciting new technology in a whole host of areas, we need more of his drive, ambition and spirit in our profession. 

We could have a reality show centred around engineering but I doubt we get the kind of characters involved who would portray the profession in the way it should be!

I saw an animation that Atkins had put together which was really good for getting young (and older) people interested in Engineering.

Maybe we should be doing much more on social media?  'The Year of Engineering' is great but we need so much more.

Getting the media more switched on to engineering, particularly when iconic & exciting developments in technology, infastructure, transport, etc. are reported will also help, Steph McGrovern (aka @stephbreakfast) is really good at this, some how we need to get her more 'gigs' to be able to wax lyrical on it and also find and promote more 'Steph's'.

The bottom line for me is that all of us shouldn't be modest and humble about what we do, we should be taking every opportunity to tell anyone and everyone how great engineering is and not be so shy and reserved.