The future of Structural Engineering

"It's the old frontier that actually presents the most interesting opportunities, because the shine has worn off. This is your platform for real innovation, innovation in a place or a market or a situation that truly is ready for it..." Seth Godin

I quote Seth an awful amount. Why? Because the future of our industry lies in connections and connecting the dots. Seth's words plants seeds, I will attempt to grow one of those here, and you - I hope, will reap a very special reward.

For many many years our industry has provided a HUGE service to the built environment and society. To coin a phrase which cropped up during one of my discussions on LinkedIn, "we are the understated risk takers of society". To be honest, I do not know where this was quoted from, or indeed if it was the first time to be mentioned... but this is who we are. Structural Engineers... risk taker extraordinares!!

If you are not a structural engineer then you probably would not have heard of the following engineering quote too. It is scary, and I urge you read it: this describes our profession quite eloquently.

"Structural engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand into shapes we cannot precisely analyse so as to withstand forces we cannot properly assess in such a way that the public at large has no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance."

I'm probably not going to be hunted down by a gaggle of engineering ninjas hell bent on my destruction for writing that, as this quote is available on google anyway. BUT I'm sure that sharing this revelation to the general public was not on the mind of the very first engineer to make that statement. Truth is many engineers after that event have also been drawn to similar parallels.

OK, I wanted to share with you a revelation I have had. It has to do with our future, our employers future, the future of our industry. We have been surviving for the last 150 years or so, dining out on the efforts of engineers during the industrial age, such as the Brunels and Telford [to mention only a few]. These incredible engineers were unbound and able to guide a wave of industrious innovation, fed by huge sums of private and public funding. They sold engineering to the masses. The world ate it up.

For this post I will deftly gloss over the historical roots of Engineers - coming to you in a post very soon.

It was not all high 5's and slaps on backs though. During this time many lives were lost due to pushing the envelope and gambling with risk over certainty. Trust me, safety was a high priority, but writing the instruction manual WHILST engineering a new future led to costly delays and fatal mistakes.

So where are we now? Engineering is a technical specialism. The risks associated with our profession have forced even our most talented practitioners to focus like a laser beam on what it is, beneath our noses. Good? Absolutely. Our attention to detail has saved lives, money... and consequently, provided respite to shareholders, the public, and government officials from overburdening themselves with the stress of potential costly mistakes. AND, in a rather melodramatic way, I believe that our greatest gift to construction and society has been strangling the life out of our industry.

It's like this, if you found a thick, rich vein of mathematically minded problem solving gravity defying magicians who - GET THIS - not only loved being shut away to deal with the technical needs of your clients/employers BUT revelled in the risk taking... then you had better hold onto them! You take them at an early age and you teach them to survive in a world of uncertainty. Not only that, you create a system where the best and the most experienced write rule books and teach the new waves to do the very same thing! Sound familiar? Society benefits. Farm after farm of eager engineering students begin their life long journey of learning and enlightenment. Once they are ready, they pass on their knowledge. There you have it, a system perfect at delivering the slightly autistically natured, mathematically minded volunteers to the coal face for another generation of built environmental servitude.

You may be reading this and thinking, WOW, this guy seems pretty cynical about engineering as a whole. Wrong. I love my profession, the opportunities are massive! You may be thinking WOW, this guy has a point... but how would we go about changing any of that? What is the point in discussing it. If you didn't feel that way and were an engineer - then I would be closely scrutinising your qualifications... we are trained very very well.

My answer: nothing needs to be done. It's already happening. Connections, connecting the dots.

Today, I am able to speak more freely with more of my engineering brethren than ever before. But not in that 'false' way were we are mildly interested in what it is that the engineers across the road are doing. I am connecting in a very real way. We are sharing thoughts, we are sharing experiences. It is early days, but the result of this kind of communication and connection is leading us all down a very singular path. We are beginning to share a common goal. For the first time since I have been an engineer, I can see the green sprouts of collaboration on a huge scale! I can visualise that one day I will freely pass work to my specialist engineering neighbours for the sake of education and giving the client the very best possible skills available.

Once engineering again becomes an infectious passion amongst us and not a life sentence of proud servitude, then we will control our destiny, our businesses and our freedom to innovate.

I make no predictions here, it is happening. Get on board, add me on Twitter, follow each other AND KEEP INSPIRING ONE ANOTHER.


Engine[er]

As promised, an additional post came to my attention. Please feel free to check out this link  written a few years ago by Jeff Asher, S.E., M.ACSE for the STRUCTUEmag. It is because of editorials and posts like these, that we must try and find a way to join in and push each other on...

I got Ideas, lots and lots and lots...

As an Engineer this is a subject which has always both tickled me and confused me over the years. Many times have I heard this very same statement repeated by entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs in waiting. "I'm the ideas man/woman", "I think about what it is that we need to do, and someone else should worry about how we do it!".

Well it goes without saying that without the 'completer finishers' or 'specialists, then not much would get done. Of course this is not the whole story as a good ideas person and manager will get the very best out of a 'specialist'. If we use the single business owner or entrepreneur as an example, then to begin with, you are the manager, you are the specialist, you are the co-ordinator, and the implementer etc. There is no-one else to hide behind. Exciting hey? Perhaps. This does mean that implementing your strategies and delivering on promises is the only currency that you should concern yourself with.. in the beginning.

As a structural engineer, you are very fortunate if you can begin designing structural elements on your first graduate assignment - day one. It does happen, and happens quite often - I am just saying that you would be very lucky to. My experience is that for the first 24 months as a trainee design engineer, I was generally filing, visiting sites with my mentor, tracing details and learning how to use CAD. It wasn't until I pushed my boss hard that I managed to wiggle my way into my first designer role.

All these experiences have been incredibly formative for me. Humble beginnings and thankful for all the knowledge which was freely passed over to me. All I had to do was turn up, look eager and make awful coffee. I got better at making coffee though.

 My route to Engineering has been a long one and I appreciate that this is not for everyone. My opinion though, is that if you don't pick a route long enough for you to learn a thing or two about your chosen career then you are doing yourself out of an education! Check this post out by Seth Godin - see if it rings any bells or speaks to you some how.

Giving your career enough time to mature,and taking every opportunity to learn from the expert practitioners of construction materials and gravity defying structures gives you an incredible advantage.

Then one day, you get to practise 'conceptual design'. This is as close as you can get to being creative from a strictly technical engineering point of view. All those years of experience, poured out during project conception to enhance the buildability of the projects that you lead. You become the ideas man/woman.

In this role, there are no nooks and crannies to hide, you are surrounded by experienced, battle hardened contractor/managers and of course - other Engineers. You have to be at the top of your game. Whether you are an Engineer or a fledgling entrepreneur - it is important to do your learning first!

My question is to those who wish to jump straight in and practice business management, lead an industry, come up with the next billion dollar, highly scalable, all-singing-all-dancing, glow-in-the-dark, mutha of a corporation is quite simply this; What are you doing about it? What have you done about? Who have you impressed and why should I believe your words... as actions, like the span variable in a bending moment equation IS the only thing that really matters. Isn't it?

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Engine[er]