Hello there!
I came across this quote in class and would like to share my opinion on it.
"I contend that we (engineers) are undervalued because of our widespread inability to explain what we do to the general public (and why it is so important). It is one of the hardest goals to accomplish, to be able to boil down difficult concepts into a short and easily understood presentation or elevator pitch." Marybeth Miceli, President, Miceli Infrastructure Consulting, USA (2011)
Personally, I do agree that engineers' inability to explain what they do to the general public may be one of the reasons why they are undervalued. Engineering tends to consist of many challenging concepts and those concepts can be rather dry and even boring to those without any engineering background. As a result, trying to boil down difficult concepts to the general public is probably not effective. Instead, they should try to be as layman as possible and focus more on their success stories and how it affects people's lifestyle now. This way, the general public can better relate and understand what engineers have contributed. Engineers need to market themselves better.
Edited: 10/09/2019, 11:45AM
Commented on Chek Eu's blog
Thank you, Yuan Kai, for being the first member of Group 5 to set up a blog and also the first in making this well articulated post. I appreciate your effort!
ReplyDeleteThank you Prof Brad! (:
DeleteHi Yuan Kai. This is Tiara commenting on your blog.
ReplyDeleteGreat suggestions on how we(engineers) should be valued. However, there are some minor mistakes/unclear phrases i would like to highlight to you:
-"Personally, I do agree that this may be one of the reasons"
(What does "this" refers to? You might want to state it in your introductory sentence)
-"Engineering tends to consist of many challenging concepts and those concepts can be rather dry and even "boring" to those without any engineering background"
(Since you are trying to explain that the concepts are mundane, you should separate the sentences into 2. One for it being challenging and another for being dry)
(Also, not sure why is the word "boring" being quoted)
-"As a result, trying to boil down difficult concepts to the general public is probably not going to be effective"
("not going to be" is a singlish phrase)
-"Instead, we should try to be as layman as possible and focus more on our success stories and how it affects their lifestyles now"
(Wrong pronoun for "their" as you have mentioned "we" and "our" in your sentence)
-"This way they can better relate and understand"
(You might have forgotten to put in your comma (,)and also it would be good if you mention who is "they")
Despite some of the errors made, good initiatives and interpretation of the quote! Thanks.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog (: I will consider your suggestions! HEHE
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