2006 Issue

www.utahengineerscouncil.org 19 UECJOURNAL February 2006 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS SOCIETY FORUM The following is an excerpt from the President’s message as published in the Octo- ber Civil Source publication for the Utah Sec- tion of ASCE, written by Chris T. Garris, President, ASCE Utah Section: I was speaking with an engineer- ing colleague who shared with me his ob- servations and perspective on the state of the engineering profession over the last few decades. He commented how he remem- bers a time not to long ago when an engineer’s professional opinion and recom- mendation was first sought after by the cli- ent rather than being required by govern- ment statute. Marketing of engineering services was not so much required since your reputation and respective discipline and expertise was known and respected by the engineering community and other professionals. A quality-based, rather than low-bid selection process was the norm, not a program or alternative format for so- licitation of proposals. We have all likely heard similar ac- counts demonstrating an erosion of respect for the engineering profession. But why this negative perception? If it is true, who is to blame? I believe in the concept that respect must always be earned and can never be demanded. Wemight consider that the loss of respect for our engineering professionmay be attributed to the fact that somewhere along the way we stopped earning it. Philosophers have explained how the concept of Respect is two-fold in that first, we must have respect for self, and then, respect for others. We can apply this con- An Erosion Of Respect For The Engineering Profession We might consider that the loss of respect for our engineering profession may be attributed to the fact that somewhere along the way we stopped earning it. By Chris T. Garris, P.E.,President, ASCE Utah Section AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS www.asce.org Utah Section President Chris T. Garris, P.E. PSI President-Elect D. Robert Davis, P.E. Sunrise Engineering, Inc. Secretary/Treasurer Dale K. Bennett, P.E. & L.S. Benchmark Engineering and Land Surveying, L.L.C. Past President Christopher T. Trusty, P.E. UEC Representative Rick Campagna, P.E. UDOT Newsletter Editor Kelly Njord Contact Information: Chris Garris Phone: 801-484-8827 E-Mail: chris.garris@psiusa.com cept to our profession. For example, as engineers we can, and should develop “self-respect” by performing quality work with integrity, adhering to the highest stan- dard of care and code of ethics for the work we do. This evidence of “self respect” is tangible and observed by the public we serve, and is the basis for other’s percep- tion of engineers, and the engineering pro- fession in general. This respect is ultimately reciprocated when our clients come to us for our professional opinion and recom- mendation as an Engineer. I believe each of us can increase the respect others have for the engineering pro- fession by deciding to “raise the bar” and re-committing ourselves to work for a higher standard of care as Professional En- gineers, rather than allowing or waiting for other factors, such as demanding competi- tion, economic conditions, or other fac- tors to dictate our standard of care. ■