10 Clever uses for a Structural Engineer

What?! You don't need a bridge or olympic stadium built in your back garden? Free your mind man!

Do not worry though, there are a multitude of 'other' uses for engineers; apart from construction that is. Here is a list of 10 of them:

1. The A-Team. If you've got a problem, and you can find them, then maybe you can hire - an engineer.

Interview with Donald Robson [Petitioning for 'engineer' to become protected title]

"Ideally, I'd like to see the return of the respect that engineers of old enjoyed" Donald Robson, Design Engineer.

I have slated LinkedIn group discussions in an earlier blog post. I remain steadfast in my opinion of them. Even though they may advance our knowledge and learning of the topics which are being discussed, they do not achieve much else unfortunately.

I mean, if you are looking to get something done. Look elsewhere.

The following two links will direct you to two discussions which are prime examples of us engineers crowding together to share our thoughts and opinions on some hot topics, and not getting a lot done.

1. Why do we covet C.Eng status so much? Is I.Eng losing it's appeal? [54 comments in 7days]

2, Make 'Engineer' a protected title [132 comments in 127days]

After spending a large portion of my evenings this week, joining in and watching on as engineers repeatedly attacked each others opinions on the aforementioned topics, it was obvious that divides were growing [not closing]. We really are a crazy bunch of people.

There is an underlying current of one upmanship in engineering. Essentially we trade in a currency of knowledge, and our wealth is determined by our length of service, our technical experience, our problem solving ability, and our engineering prowess.

Imagine a raw talent, transcending engineering and encompassing many other industries. Politics, history, art, design, marketing, technology, leadership, architecture - the list goes on. In my experience, there are not many engineers out there who successfully embody all those characteristics. You may have known one or two perhaps, even three of these rare beasts. They of course were the engineers who amazed you with their imagination, and their grasp of technical issues both inside and outside of our industry.

WARNING Contentious Issue ALERT! You will possibly know of engineers who 'think' that they are the embodiment of those characteristics mentioned earlier, but that's another story. It is important to realise that we are technologists with our own unique combination of attributes and skills. When they come together, they form an 'organic engineering prowess', which keeps us all in great jobs - communicating what we love. We work hard to stay knowledgeable in our chosen field, and this differentiates us from the general public.

During the lengthy online discussions regarding why being Chartered was so heavily preferred over an Incorporated qualification, and why we should all be fighting tooth and nail for the title of 'engineer' to be legally protected in the UK, as it is in Germany, France and Canada. I began to wonder about the man behind the latest petition. The engineer who had gotten the ball rolling. An engineer named Donald Robson.

Who was he, and why did HE feel the need to start this? The deadline for the petition is not quite yet looming and so far it has had a fantastic response with over 23,000 signatures.

So we hunted down Donald, and contacted him. 

[The questions we posed to Donald were via email messages]

Engine[er]: When you started the latest petition, was it off your own back [if so why]. Or did it come about because of conversations with other Engineers? [who were they?]

Donald: It was both of these really. I've worked with a number of engineers, and many of them share my own view that the term 'engineer' is being cheapened by its attribution to unskilled labourers. When I decided to try to go some small way to change things, I put the idea to a very good friend (an aerospace engineer) and I think we've been ranting regularly about the subject ever since.

Engine[er]: Were you aware of the previous attempts to get the title of 'engineer' protected?

Donald: I did in fact sign the first online petition during the labour government while I was at university. It was a shame that the overwhelming response that time around was met with almost complete apathy by the government. I think it became clear that Downing Street had very little regard for any of the patents except the pay-per-mile road tax petition, which was pretty much dismissed too. Interestingly, I wasn't the first person to submit a petition under the Conservative government's scheme; a number were rejected before I submitted mine. The achievement was wording it in such a way that what I was calling for was within the power of government, i.e. to pass a law.

Engine[er]: Did you know that the past CEO of the Engineering Council, Andrew Ramsay was pivotal in achieving statutory recognition for the qualifications of Chartered Engineer [CEng], Incorporated Engineer [IEng] and Engineering Technician [EngTech] 2008 [link]? He did not think that protecting the title of 'engineer' possible or worth while. What do you think to this?

Donald: I must admit to not being aware of this. I had assumed that the Chartered Engineer title was always protected, by a royal charter. To hear it was as recent as 2008 is surprising, as this was after the original petition. I hadn't really thought about the Incorporated Engineer title. To go off on a slight tangent, I think the Engineering Council needs to promote the incorporated qualification more effectively. The IMechE insists that the two qualifications are equal, but I rarely hear about people aspiring to become Incorporated.

Engine[er]: If we get 100k signatures, and the application does not make it past the 1st stage, then will you try again? And again?

Donald: I'm not sure. I have fairly limited ability to get the message out to people. For example, my attempt to get visibility in various engineering magazines was fruitless. Professional Engineer magazine -- the IMechE publication, did pick it up twice. This was instrumental in the current number of signatories, as it had stagnated at about 7000 before they published. If the IET would ralley their more than 200,000 members, we would have more than enough. My own online presence is fairly small, so without the ability the press has to gather signatures the rumour mill works very slowly. Maybe someone more influential could pick it up next time?

Engine[er]: If the title is granted, how do you see this directly affecting the status and pay of engineers for the future?

Donald: Ideally, I'd like to see the return of the respect that engineers of old enjoyed. Some engineers in history have an almost celebrity-like status even today; notably Brunel and Leonardo. With engineers better respected we can expect an increase in students, and graduates who want to join engineering companies rather than their local council, Delloitte, accountancy firm et cetera. When we're producing only a fraction of the engineers of our economic rivals like China, every new able mind counts.
While the discrepancy between the pay of Engineers and other professionals – who are often less skilled, is a sore point for me as much as any other engineer, financial gain was not a significant factor in doing this. I stay in engineering because I enjoy the work, though a few pay increases wouldn't go amiss...

Engine[er]: Is there anything else that you have done in the past that you can tell me about, to raise the profile of engineers in the UK?

Donald: I'm afraid not, though having been out of university for less than five years I still have plenty of time...


This was a great interview and many thanks to Donald for agreeing to do it. The rest of you; be sure to write and tell us what you think.


Engine[er]

When Collaboration Fails

First off, thank you to everyone who had contributed [comments/pledges] to our attempt to raise enough investment, in order to print a famous engineers Top Trumps© style deck of cards.

Hopefully by now, you will all have seen your pledges returned via pay-pal.

Once the time had elapsed, and the project closed, we decided set aside some time to take a close look at why we may have failed, this time round. Learn from the experience.

Firstly, the definition of a collaborative failure is;

• Project did not reach intended goal. In this case - there were not enough pledges or the target was set too high.
• It did not get the recognition it needed. This is possible, but the amount of views on our blog alone would have secured us victory. So not convinced that recognition was a real reason for failure.
• Inadequate credibility. Very possible. We had seen enough interest from our engineering community - but perhaps there was not enough official weighting to the proceedings to call enough of us into action. Not one retweet by the IStructE, or ICE or ASCE, ACE... or indeed any engineering institution, community or group. This would not look good.
• The message was lost. More likely to be the real cause. You simply did not know what was going on. Why we were doing this, and how it would help...WHY?!

The lack of a common vision was apparent from some of the comments coming in. Unfortunately - by the time we began to recognise the lack of direction, it was too late to change the project details.

It occurred to us that this was not a collaborative effort at all, and this was why it ultimately failed.

The project suffered because crowd funding is still quite a new thing to all of us. Again it had became obvious by chatting to a few of those who asked questions, that the idea of crowd funding was alien to them. Understanding it was just another thing to learn. 

Another small detail which proved to be a barrier to success was pay-pal. What a joke. More and more people are signing up for pay-pal accounts to pay for online merchandise, but if you are anything like me, I hate the thought of having to pay 80p to pay-pal for what was effectively supposed to be a fun project. 

The list above is heavily staked in favour of failure, and the straw which broke the camels back, was that the investment target was set far too high. 

In reality, only a very small target was required to get this project off the ground. We genuinely believed that we wouldn't be able to provide everyone with a deck of cards - so we raised the target amount to support a heavier response and pledge rate. You live and learn.

What next?

Well we know that some of you still want this project to happen. We want it to happen too.

So we will make it happen from this end and let you know when we have printed them of ready for distribution. It's a great idea and deserves to see the light of day.

Many thanks, and please give us your comments.

Engine[er]

What Engineers Want [Part Two] - Day in the Sun

Thanks for joining me for the almighty conclusion to a subject visibly heart felt by Engineers, the world over.

Pay & Status of Engineers. Or lack of.

I am not big on repeating time and time again the same debate until someone gives up. A war of attrition. It annoys me because no one seems to learn anything, and in the long run, no one wins. Trust me.

Sitting in the Mud Dock Cafe, near to the resting place of SS Great Britain had given me an inspirational shot in the arm to deal with our dilemma.

Dilemma for some, storm in a tea cup for others, and exciting realisations for a small group of us.

I don't agree that the pay is low. There is money to be made in structural engineering. There's money in any field and every type of career. You just have to be excellent at what you do and have a knack for business that goes along with it. You have to be driven by money to make money. [Structural Engineer]





Isambard Brunel was known for a great many things. If you are an Engineer or engineering student and haven't quite found the time to read up on some of the all time engineering greats [see my blog posts or #greatengineers on Twitter for a list] then do it. Do it now.

Quite simply we have a responsibility for the betterment of our industry, to learn about histories greatest engineers. I will one day bring a few to life in a blog post, but for today add this job to YOUR 'to do' list.

Brunel teaches us an large amount about how to overcome our concern for the perceived lack of appreciation [appreciation = money + status] of our profession.

During the mid 1800's existed an Engineer who was insatiable in his desire for the lime light. A shameless self promoter who created newsworthy spectacles over the entire country.

He profusely sacked poor and average performers, he put countless builders out of business before they knew what a real contract looked like. Above all he worked hard, so that he could keep all the professional accolades to himself.

Selfish and unstoppable? No. Selfish and partial to a mistake or two. Brunel struggled with continuous political in-house squabbling. Criticism from Architects and Engineers flooded in from the north whilst he built the great western railway in the south.

He status and knowledge was not beyond being sniped at either. In fact he built himself up so high that it became too easy to have a go at knocking him of his perch.

Luckily for Brunel, he is better known for his courageous spirit and engineering talent - rather than his failures and his susceptibility to stress and poor health.

So what has this got to do with our quest to understand why in society we as Engineers still feel like a square peg in a round hole? Why are some of us satisfied [the minority] and the rest of us are only satisfied to mutter discontent from the shadows?

Echoes of the Pareto Principle grows all over this discussion. This suggests that 80% of the value of our Institutions deliverables comes from a measly 20% of us. If you haven't guessed yet, we are the 'tail' end of that graph. Look it up.

We are holding on to an ideal. We think that we are doing more for the society today than we actually are .Yeah sure we take the risks. More importantly though, is we are actively taking on the risks. Why? It is in our education and upbringing.

The Profession of Structural engineer shall be compared to doctors. Each doctor's mistake cost people health or even life. The same can be said of the failure of structural design. Even small mistakes may cause big problems. It's risk, stress, pressure at work on daily basis.[Structural Engineer]





There was a time when we 'built the world', there was even a time when we 'rebuilt the world'. Don't misunderstand me, the engineering 'behemoths' like Arup and Atkins are still wowing the world at large. Mega structures like the Milau Bridge are testament to our professions engineering creativity. Question. Do you feel part of that community?

The good news is, even if you don't feel like part of that 20%, the engineering masses [like my good self], we are still able to bring value to what we do.

Perhaps we are guilty of under selling ourselves, or not even bothering to 'sell' our skills, but what we lack in taking advantage of the opportunities to reinforce our social ranking, we make up in grit and determination to do a mighty fine job.

I believe that more often than not, structural engineers are our own worst enemy. We have to understand what we provide and appreciate the importance of our service before we can expect our clients to do the same [Structural Engineer]

After digesting all the pleas made by our brethren, demanding that the 'ultimate umpire' call 'new balls' on our industry and the change the game for us, I came to realise that this will never happen easily. Well, not without tapping into some of that trademark grit, and innovative thinking that is...

The engineers which lead our industry into the new world are software engineers [Steve Jobs RIP], environmental engineers, product design and industrial engineers [Sir James Dyson]. These guys and gals will be aspiring to change the world around us. Invention by invention. Step by step.

We had our time in the sun.

Don't be despondent though. We have options. Our skill-set is still incredibly useful. It's quite exciting really, you all hold the raw abilities to apply our analytical and thoughtful design processes to business too. Some of us are already doing it. These guys and gals are making it happen and definitely not complaining about a lack of status. They are taking back our professional respect by doing good business.

Warning. I have witnessed signs of lack of caring for one another though. Perhaps this is a by-product of the frustration that our industry delivers to us, generation after generation. I implore you, we have to care and nurture one another too.

We have the technical skills, the motivation which we need to grow personally and professionally. So where's the frustration? We appear to have forgotten what the most important part of our industry is.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel needs YOU!

YOU, me and us.

I touched upon this point during a discussion a few days ago. It was mentioned that there were very little by way of barriers to engineering, hence we dilute our industry, generation after generation.

Wrong. This is so wrong. We have the ultimate barrier to success in our industry and it is us.

We are obligated to not only carry out our duties as technicians and engineers, but to train the next entourage of talent too. It is one of our Institutions promises to society, and the built environment. They take this job very seriously, and deliver, year in, year out. How? We do it for them.

So, my conclusion?

It has taken me 2 weeks of typing, retyping and a few sleepless nights to eventually feel comfortable with what i am about to say. I'm not afraid of the future. I am pretty excited to tell you the truth, and the as the dust settles on the poll, the discussions become more meaningful and emotionally charged.

The answer is correctly identifying our customer first. We know that our small scale works may well go unnoticed in the publics eyes. We live to be involved in a project which is enjoyed and marvelled at by generations. That one sexy project where our piers can finally recognise the hard hard work we put in... and it's just a pipe dream for most of us.

What if you were to look at it from a slightly different angle? What if you were able to train the next generation of world changing, and pioneering engineers? How would that make you feel? Good?

When I said that I had answers, I meant that I had a vision. If we were to stop being so self indulgent and blinkered only to our personal business aspirations and careers, then just imagine what we could achieve by sharing the responsibility of shepherding a new generation.

Can you you remember your first engineering job? I ask you this, do you remember the Engineer[s] who advised, and helped through your formative years? So do I.

Our customers? They are engineering graduates. We have to educate them, nurture them, and let them loose on the world. We also have to make a huge effort to make an impression on their lives.


Engine[er]

PS this post is likely to change slightly over the next few days. Keep checking back for comments and DEFINITELY read it twice before commenting. Do me proud.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel needs YOU!

You ever wondered what it would be like to own a Top Trumps pack full of the Greatest Engineers of all time? Yeah so did I. So I made this...

Top Trumps - The Greatest Engineers of all time

Well actually I created 35 of them. Each with their own statistics, but not wholly accurate at the moment. Since researching the lives of each and everyone of the chosen 35 Engineers lives or reading their biographies would have taken me years, then let's get a little bit of Christmas online collaboration going!?


[Stage 1]
I have already begun the task by naming the 5 attributes by which they are to be measured. Experience [in years], this represents the years which they were in the industry of engineering. Buildability [1-100], representing technical expertise. Creativity [1-100], how inventive and concerned they were with design subtleties. Business [1-100], did they run their own business? How successful were they? Inspiration [1-100], how well were they received by piers and the public. Did they inspire a generation?


If anyone has any better ideas, then please drop me a message!


[Stage 2]
The naming of the Engineers has taken me a small amount of research - and I did not want to name only Civil and Structural Engineers. Therefore I chose a representative sample of mechanical, product design, electrical and industrial engineers to cheer up the soiree a little. 
So here they are - please give me your input.
1.Isambard K Brunel    2.Sir Marc I.Brunel    3.Steve [Wozniak] 4.Sir James Dyson   5.Robert Stephenson    6.Eugene Freyssinet    7.Nikola Tesla    8.Archimedes    9.James Watt    10.Thomas Brassey    11.The Wright Brothers    12.Henry Ford    13.Thomas Edison    14.Leonardo da Vinci   15.Gustave Eiffel    16.Sir Henry Royce    17.Sir John Fowler    18.Othmar H Ammann    19.Sir Benjamin Baker    20.Anthony Hunt    21.Sir Ove Nyquist Arup    22.Alexander Graham Bell   23.James Brindley    24.Edgar Cardoso    25.Sir John F.Baker    26.Arthur Casagrande    27.Charles de Coulomb    28.Henry Darcy    29.Dr Oscar Faber    30.Clifford Holland    31.James Buchanan Eads   32.Joseph Locke   33.Thomas Telford    34.Fazlur Rahman Khan   35.Lillian Gilbreth

[Stage 3]
Once I have set the designs from the earlier stages, the final step [and most arduous] is to set some accurate levels for the each Engineer and their attributes. 
Doing this will take some effort. I suggest the best way to enable it is to set a maximum number of top level and lower level statistics. For example; only 5 individual attributes can be set at 100. We then decide which Engineer gets them. Then we set a total of 5 attributes at the lowest level of 10, and apply them to Engineers.


Finally we arrange each of the 35 Engineers in order of their perceived value for each available attribute. 

So please try this at home over the next few weeks of the holiday season. I will do the rest. 


Finally, the open poll and debate flooding the LinkedIn Engineering Groups dealing with Pay & Status will be concluded tomorrow [currently 99 votes / 88% voting not happy]. Watch out for that one.




Engine[er]




[update - Replaced Steve with Steve] Thanks Anon.