2013 Issue

46 I. INTRODUCTION In juxtaposition to how acting attracts an effervescent personality type, engineering attracts a quieter personality type. Readers of the UEC Journal likely share an analytical, and sometimes detached, approach to life’s experiences. This predilection to contem- plation makes involvement in the messiness of politics unnatural to engineers. President Obama’s acceptance speech [1] describes this messy nature of politics and why political action matters: That’s why we do this. That’s what politics can be. That’s why elec- tions matter. It’s not small, it’s big. It’s important. Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy andmessy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy. That won’t change, and it shouldn’t. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget, people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did in November. I have found myself gradually wooed into political action by a growing concern for the apparent lack of public comprehension of the profound economic issues facing us. These issues should be perceived as nonpartisan, but today’s destructive bantering of the two parties obfuscates themagnitude of these issues. Very few engineers get involved in politics, and I thought you might like to read about this engineer’s impressions of politics. This past year has been my political year beginning with co- authoring the ASHRAE contribution to last year’s Utah Engineers Council Journal withMarshall Wright from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development [1]. As a member of the IEEE-USA Career andWorkforce, I wrote an article in Today’s Engineer on the loss of STEMcareers inMarch 2012 [2]. I beganmy electrical and computer junior seminar at the University of Utah in September [4] with one of these economic issues, to witness a room alive with wide eyes. Finally, I dived into politics by running for the Utah House of Repre- About Daniel N. Donahoe I grew up in the Sputnik era and loved technology as a child, but I have witnessed American technical willpower atrophy since the end of the Cold War. I believe that we can reverse this trend by taking action on one particular problem at hand, sustainability. Sustainability is the buzz word for technical policies to face both long and short term environmental limits of air, water, hydrocarbon and minerals in the face of a growing population. Most engineers see these issues as simple tech- nical policy choices, but the public sees these as emotional hot buttons. Engineers should become more active in politics to help close this perception gap. This closure requires helping “every man” understand technical aspects of is- sues such as sustainability and also to help elected officials understand the details that create good policy. In taking on politi-