2007 Issue

www.utahengineerscouncil.org 18 NOBILITY OF ENGINEERING — continued • Design equipment for agriculture and manufacturing. • Design equipment and processes to turn chemicals into life saving medicines. • Design roads, bridges, tunnels and highway overpasses to facilitate our continued mobility. • Design power plants to supply us with a constant supply of electricity essential to life in the twenty first century. • Design building infrastructures of medical and laboratory gases, heating, air conditioning and ventilation so essential to operating rooms for life-saving operations. • Design boiler, chilled water and cogeneration plants which supply needed electricity, heating and cooling needs for buildings. • Design safe structures and electrical systems in the buildings we occupy. • Design bobsled and luge tracks for world class athletes to compete in Olympic events. • Design the computers that are ubiquitous in our ever changing lives. The list could go on and on as one contemplates the vast impact that this noble profession has on the world in which we live. Engineers create the environment for all others to practice their trades. The contributions of the engineers allow the judge to exact justice in a warm, well ventilated, air conditioned court houses; allow doctors to provide healing care inmodern day hospitals; allow scientist to conduct research studies in safe laboratories where toxic gases are exhausted away; allow teachers and professors to provide needed education in air conditioned environments and allow us to reside in residential, commercial, industrial, and educational facilities where there is an ample supply of clean water and systems which remove waste products and protect us from the elements. Not only are engineers necessary to provide us with the vast tan- gible infrastructure of our society, the engineer and his profession is an essential cog in the economic vitality of our local and state economies. The State of Utah has wisely understood that economic stability and growth of our state is fueled by an investment in higher education and research, which in turn leads to patents on technologies, which foster new businesses, which hire engineers to develop the technologies into consumable products, which adds to the economic base of our state. To this end the State began an investment in the engineering and computer sciences departments at institutions of higher educa- tion in 2001 with Senate Bill SB 61, known as “Enhancements To The State Systems Public And Higher Education”, establishing the Engineering and Computer Science Initiative. This yearly investment has produced a 53% increase in engineering graduates between 2000 and 2006, which trend has outpaced the national average by a ratio of two to one.. In addition the State initiated the USTAR project last year which will provide funding to create cross collaborative research centers at the University of Utah and Utah State University. These programs will focus on the integration of the fields of engineering, science and medicine and the resulting scientific research will eventu- ally spin out companies that will hire engineers. The engineers will be the key to the eventual outgrowth of this research to provide the tools for commercialization. We, who are blessed to be in this special profession, hope that the magic, excitement and challenge of this profession will be passed on to the generations emerging from our elementary and junior high schools, that they will see the opportunities that this profession can offer for them, but more importantly, what they can contribute to so- ciety. In a world where “ what’s in it for me” seems to be the prevailing attitude, lets hope that the young students of the day will see what a career in engineering can do for them and to enhance life for future generations. As engineers we can help promote interest in engineer- ing in the schools by supporting many of the outreach programs that are already in place to educate the young populace on the merits of entering the field of engineering. Engineering is not for the faint of heart who hope somebody else will solve build the infrastructure that we will all use, but rather it is for the bright young student who wants to have a hand in developing the future. This requires dedicated schooling and studies, finding internships where early exposure to the engineering field will spark renewed interest in pursuit of this lofty career and a desire to be part of a career which daily adds value to the society in which we live. Engineering is a career in which one becomes absorbed. Many people in our society go home at night hoping to forget all that they had to do during the day. The engineer who loves his work thinks continuously about more efficient design options and creative solutions to complex design problems. Many times the answers come when riding up a ski lift, boating on a lake, or sitting in the back yard observing the greatest engineering feat of all, the beautiful earth on which we live and the solar system in which we reside. On a personal note, let me say how grateful I am for the oppor- tunity I have had to be engaged in this glorious field of employment. I give my thanks to John O. Reeve, since deceased, who gave me a chance to witness how exciting the field of consulting engineering was and to keep me employed for five years while I toiled at the University to develop my engineering skills. In addition I have been blessed to have worked for many years with wonderfully skilled and talented partners, co-workers and clients who appreciated well-engineered systems. I can truthfully say that I can’t ever remember a day when I wasn’t excited about going to work. This is truly a noble profession and I am proud to be a part of it and to still be actively involved on a daily basis in doing what I love to do, providing added value to humanity in the engineering projects we design.