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Take a look around, at least two or three things that have been designed by an engineer. With all the current technological advancement, it might be simple to think that we definitely need more engineers; however, many graduate engineers end up working in non-engineering disciplines. Is the number of graduate engineers more than the current demand?
Engineers are not obsolete. In fact, we live in the best time in history, and it is all thanks to the Engineers. The world still needs more creative engineers that can create new jobs and imporve the level of life. Engineers develop solutions to existing problems that can bring value to the people and make life easier.
It took 70 years of engineering to get from the first flying plane to a rocket that got us to the moon. Just imagine what will happen 70 years from now. We live in an age where space travel is commercialised. Yes, it is expensive now; in fact, Space X charges an average of 50 million per person to get to the International space station. But with a lot of future engineering, there is no dought that eventually, space travel will be accessible to anyone.
It is easy to see the trajectory of things if you think in the mind of an engineer. There is a problem, and there are engineers who are working on a solution. And after lots of testing, trial and error and Iterations take place, a product is developed that is both easy to use and cheap that can be mass-produced.
Therefore, if you are thinking of pursuing a career in engineering, be confident that no matter what you are getting to, it will still be relevant years from now because engineers create value, minimise risks, and imporve the livelihood of things which makes them essential in our lives.
However, there are few challenges engineers are facing today.
What Engineers should focus on now?
Almost every engineering industry is highly competitive. Around 90% of fresh graduates find jobs in engineering or something close to their field, with few working in other majors. A degree in engineering definitely, can open a world of possibilities for you with many options. However, there are not many engineers that end up creating a company. The latter is more important because they are creating jobs and employing people.
Creating jobs is highly required of engineers today. In a world where giant tech companies are trying to make inventions that eliminate and kill people jobs, there must be engineers who can create new jobs to hire people to create balance. The world probably does not need fresh graduates going after jobs, but creative engineers who know how to bring business and hire more people.
Provide a solution to the problem
They say for every new technology, there is a competition trying to imporve that technology and make it cheaper. Competition makes things accessible to people by driving the price down, thanks to engineers.
However, competition has driven people to think in one direction to the problem. For example, the world first electric car was developed in 1888. However, because of the practicality of the combustion engine cars, the technology reminded the same because the competition was focused on providing a better fossil fuel car, which made cars cheaper and more accessible to anyone. Yet, environmentally, fossil fuel cars were not the most eco-friendly solution. That all changed when the Tesla Roadster came out in 2008.
Competition is narrow-minded because companies focus too much on customer demand rather than Inventing the next logical thing. They run after the customer needs to increase sales, rather than inventing something completely different that can set them aside from their completion.
Inventing the next logical thing is what made steve jobs make the first iPhone in 2007, a smartphone that does not need styles! Imagine if he only wanted to fulfil customer demand. Would you be holding a smartphone today in your pocket?
People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page
Steve Jobs
Balance technological opportunity with technological risk
Engineers should never compromise on safety. It does not matter what the discipline is; if there is an element of risk to the product, it can be hazardous and lead to loss of lives. Many things are built without considering possible risks and threats to the design. Identifying potential flaws in the design is what distinguish diligent engineers from others.
For example, the Tacoma bridge collapsed a few weeks after opening because engineers did not allow for wind in their design, making the bridge vibrate and twist until failure. Luckily, no lives were lost; however, we learned great lessons from the collapse of the third largest suspension bridge at the time.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was not as forgiven as the Tacoma bridge, and it is the perfect example of what poor maintenance can do. Ignoring routine tests and safety procedures to natural gas pressure caused an explosion at Deepwater Horizon, the death of 11 people, and the largest oil spill in history. If engineers compromise on safety, they basically fail as engineers, accidents happen, and people die.
If you are looking for a movie to spend your Saturday evenings on, the Deepwater Horizon movie is quite detailed and accurate to the events that led to the explosion.
The bottom line
The world needs more engineers now more than ever. We are living in the best time in history, thanks to the technological advancements that engineers created. Competition between companies has provided us with many options and made things accessible to us. Therefore, what seems difficult to achieve today, will surely be cheap and accessible to everyone in the future.
However, engineers should focus more on creating value by creating jobs and focusing on innovations that can potentially be environmentally friendly and easy to use. Finally, engineers should never compromise on safety and ensure that everything is kept up to standards and allowing for all the safety measures such as scheduled maintenance and customer instructions to eliminate any hazardous factors that can lead to disasters.
