Part 1 of 5 for the August edition of "Converging over Coffee"
We live in a time when we count on the quality and pace of innovations to deliver the answers to today’s problems such as climate change, sustainability and digital transformation. And the engineer is at the heart of this movement. People don’t talk about it very much but engineers know that our work is behind the wave of technologies making our daily lives better, as well as the vast web of ‘invisible infrastructure’ that powers all our economic and social activities. The esteem owned by the engineer is a result of this important role.
But this esteem does not mean that engineers can expect to call the shots. The problems we are trying to solve today are not always more technically challenging, but almost always more complex. And as complex problems go, getting to the right answers require the combination of competencies on all fronts. If we seek to lead the solution forming process, engineers can’t afford to close ourselves from engaging other disciplines’ views and interests. If we are to own this important role in delivering technological and infrastructure solutions that advances society, engineers can’t afford to think ourselves better than other disciplines.
