2010 Issue

9 Message From The Council’s Chair MIKE BUEHNER, SE Utah Engineers Council Chair 2009-2010 How Jealously Do We Guard Our Positions As Engineers? Reflect upon what we have accomplished and be proud to be associated with the council through each of your respective societies I FIGURE THAT AT ONE TIME engineers were revered because everyone and anyone who wanted to make their job sound more prestigious called themselves some kind of engineer. GarbageMan = Sanitation Engineer is the best example I can think of. I am very proud to call myself an engineer but I murmur like many other fellow engineers that we don’t get enough respect and recognition for our work. We all want to be regarded as equals to doctors and lawyers – heaven knows we’ve studied and worked hard to get where we are. I also agree with several commentators that our status is mostly our own fault. One writer asked in an engineering journal article “howmany times have youmumbled off some lousy description of you job, like ‘I design stuff,’ when asked what you do for a living?” Are we so arrogant that we think what we do is too complicated for common people to understand so we don’t make the effort to explain, passing off our dismissive response as humility? Only those who truly understand their subjects are able to explain them in simple understandable terms. We should always be mindful of how we can communicate the coolness of our jobs. We lament how it seems like less and less young people want to become engineers. If we make an effort to demonstrate to others the great projects we create, maybe we can reverse this trend. The Utah Engineers Council (UEC) is supposed to help enhance and promote the engineering profession. We have 15 member associations representing a wide variety of engineering disciplines who each appoint a delegate to UEC. These delegates report opportunities to the Council to assist engineering related programs with either money or volunteer time. We disseminate information about these opportunities to our full member- ship to the greatest extent possible. But we certainly can’t make anyone do anything. You, the individual has to make the decision to contribute. As far as results are concerned, you can only get out what you first put in. My sister is a MESA teacher in another state. She recently asked if she could use me as a contact for her students to complete an assignment to interview a practicing engineer. She was told not to bother the engineer- ing professionals in her large west coast city with such trivial time-wasting drivel. I hope we have a more accommodating attitude toward creating interest in our young students in Utah. I am grateful to the people in UEC who demonstrate their commitment to the engineering profession by volunteering their time and effort to the cause. UEC would cease to function if it were not for people who recog- nize the value engineers bring to the greater good of mankind. After all, as stated by aerospace pioneer Theodore von Karman, engineers seek to create what never was. How many others get to do that? Mr.Buehner,analumnusoftheUniversityofUtahwithdegrees inAsianStudiesandCiviland EnvironmentalEngineering,isaregisteredprofessionalengineerandstructuralengineer. Heis associatedwithReaveleyEngineersandAssociatesinSaltLakeCity,withnotableinvolvementsinUniversity ofUtahMarriottLibrarySeismicRetrofit,UniversityofUtahWarnockEngineeringBuildingprojects.