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Imagine that, as early as 1750, it was stated that engineers’ first priority should be to do less harm to the earth than their predecessors. Such a career is likely to appeal to any decent person. But that’s what we suggest today’s engineers should be focusing on.
There is growing recognition that current approaches to carbon-intensive engineering projects are not good enough given the pace of climate change. This approach must change—and change quickly. As a result, the National Engineering Policy Center’s Engineers 2030 working group, of which I am a member, began consulting on a new vision and principles for Engineers 2030. You might be surprised at where we’re headed.
Low-carbon design, even net-zero design, is a good example of how to reduce harm to the planet. While both have strong support for sustainability, they still have an impact on the environment. “Regenerative” design, on the other hand, seeks to bring positive benefits to the planet—restoring and enhancing ecosystems—rather than just reducing harm. The engineering community needs to adopt this approach quickly if we are to mitigate the environmental crisis.
So where do we start? Engineering education in college is always a good place, but the truth is, we need to start before that. I don’t mean in schools, although it is clear that we need well-educated thinkers in universities. What I’m saying is that we need to rethink the types of engineering degree graduates we recruit. If engineering is to be regenerative (and it must be), then it needs to attract holistically thinking caregivers.
Just imagine how differently our profession would be viewed if it were seen as a caring profession. Doctors and nurses make people better. Engineers are needed to make the world a better place. However, to do this, they need a broader set of properties than what we have currently selected.
Traditionally, engineering has been thought of as a physics-based career. I’m an example. I became an engineer because I was good at math and physics. Most engineers have similar stories. Clearly there will always be a place for the technically minded in engineering, but our industry is in dire need of a wider range of thinkers. In short, with a huge amount of empathy for all the technically minded people reading this, future engineers will have to have attributes that are, for the most part, different from ours.
Needless to say, this is a very hard sell!many of us tend to believe our The background is this The background to make a good engineer, isn’t it? But this narrow-minded attitude is one of the key reasons why our industry has yet to attract the talent it needs.
Unfortunately, many secondary schools in the UK do not offer students a full range of STEM subjects, especially in deprived areas where funding and specialist teachers are most in short supply. Mathematics and biology are usually offered, as the former allows students to enter a wide range of degrees and careers, while biology ensures that the school’s brightest students have the opportunity to enter medical school. Chemistry is another popular choice, but physics ranks much lower.
Under current recruitment standards, this limits the potential engineering talent pool and, more importantly, limits the range of personal backgrounds and attributes we can offer to the engineering profession. These STEM-focused entry criteria exclude students who prefer other popular A levels such as psychology, English, sociology and history.
Let’s be clear first: mathematics is a very important tool for engineers. But it’s just a tool. Empathy, worldliness, holistic thinking, creativity, and a caring mindset are more important traits. Therefore, as long as someone is not afraid of math or other STEM subjects, university engineering departments can accumulate knowledge and skills in these fields within a few months. But instilling empathy, worldliness, holistic thinking, creativity, and a caring mindset in STEM students can take a lifetime.
Our greatest challenge, then, is not the skills we add to our students (often controversial), but that we select the students in the first place. Admission requirements must place more emphasis on a holistic perspective, a caring mindset, and a desire to change than on the ability to solve differential equations.
Engineering students who can answer a few test questions perfectly will get what they pay for. Engineering students who are able to ask big-picture questions when faced with new tasks are rare. But that’s only because most of them have chosen other careers. If people and the planet are to thrive, we need people in engineering. Now.
Tim Ibell is Professor and Dean of the School of Engineering and Design at the University of Bath.He is also a member of the organization Engineer 2030 First consultation of the working group event today at the Royal Academy of Engineering.
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