The Institute - March 2007 - 9

Presi d ent's co lu m n by LEAH
M ichae
H .lJAMIESON
R. Lig htn e r

Head
Improving
the Public's
Awareness of Engineering
The
close of the 20th century was a natural time to look
XXXX
back on the accomplishments of the previous 100 years.
One such retrospective, compiled by the
U.S. National Academy of Engineering,
enumerated the 20 greatest engineering
achievements of the century, and IEEE
fields are front and center.
Electrification tops the list, followed
by the automobile, the airplane, safe
abundant water, electronics, radio and
television, the mechanization of agriculture, computers, the telephone, air
conditioning and refrigeration, highways, space exploration, the Internet,
imaging technologies, household appliances, health technologies, petroleum
and gas technologies, laser and fiber
optics, nuclear technologies, and highperformance materials. Around the
globe, lives are fundamentally different
because of our technologies.
We have every expectation that the
same will hold true for this century.
Early front-runners for expected impact
include nanotechnology, alternative
energy, telemedicine, and quantum computing, but the end-of-century list will
almost certainly contain technologies as
unimaginable today as the Internet was
in the year 1907.
With engineering playing a role in

eveyone's life, it is natural to ask this
question: Does every person on the
planet-the "general public"-need to
know what engineers do and how we
benefit society? Almost certainly not,
but I believe there are many segments of
"publics" within the general population
whose awareness of what we do-and
have done-can benefit our profession
and increase the impact of our work.
For example, if governmental decisionmakers understand technologies such
as wireless communications, nanotech-
nology, and developments in energy,
they will be better informed when making laws, considering policies, and passing budgets related to standards, safety
and health, security and privacy, and
science and technology research. Voters
armed with an understanding of technologies would have more information
to help choose the most knowledgeable
leaders. Other crucial publics include
educational organizations, teachers,
guidance counselors, and parents-who
inf luence who will become the next
generations of engineers. In the private
sector, senior corporate executives and
other industry leaders, as well as inves-

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tors in new technology endeavors,
can have a direct effect on the
growth of technologies.
Public awareness also bolsters
our profession because when we
engineers receive public recognition for our contributions, our sense
of pride and accomplishment grows.
In turn, this encourages us to continue
in the profession and to develop skills
needed to advance in our careers.
GREATER VISIBILITY IEEE members tell
us our organization could be doing a
better job in addressing public awareness of engineering. In 2002, in the
last member survey to address the issue,
45 percent of respondents said it is important to promote the engineering profession to the general public. However, only
31 percent were satisfied with how well
we are doing in that regard. At the 2005
IEEE Sections Congress, the triennial
gathering of IEEE volunteers from across
the globe, one of the recommendations
was "to find means to increase awareness of the value and expertise that IEEE
members add to society, but particularly
to their employers."
One of my goals as 2007 IEEE President is to foster programs and activities that promote greater visibility for
the IEEE and our profession, not only
to employers but also to a wide range
of publics.
We have a good start. With programs
such as TryEngineering.org (try it!)
and the expanding Teacher In-Service
Program (http://www.ieee.org/web/
education/preuniversity/tispt), we are
working to create awareness of engineering and engineering activities
among teachers, guidance counselors,
and school-age children. In the United
States, the IEEE contributes to Discoveries and Breakthroughs in Science, brief
televised segments about scientific and
technological developments, and Design
Squad, a new public TV program for
preuniversity students. IEEE-USA also
issues position papers related to U.S.
technology policy for legislators and

other interested parties.
Other public awareness outreach
includes the IEEE Milestones in Electrical Engineering and Computing program, with more than 75 milestones
dedicated worldwide so far (http://www.
ieee.org/web/aboutus/history_center/
about/milestones.html), IEEE Spectrum
Radio (http://spectrum.ieee.org/radio),
and IEEE.tv online programming (http://
www.ieee.org/ieeetv). This year will see
the launch of "Technology Discourses,"
which will explore the societal and economic impact of some of our emerging
technologies, with activities planned
to engage the public (http://www.ieee.
org/web/emergingtech/home). The IEEE
also has a new program to build stronger
relationships with industry around the
world, including plans to raise awareness of the IEEE and to identify ways we
can work together for the benefit of our
members and the profession.
I encourage you to explore opportunities to engage in dialogue with your
local publics about what engineers do.
You can do this individually or through
your section or chapter. The task is
demanding because it is not "one size
fits all": each audience requires a specific approach. And while you are helping to raise the awareness of engineers
and the IEEE in your local area, the
potential for professional and personal
rewards is enormous.
I welcome your comments on this
topic at jamieson.column@ieee.org. *

The Institute | March 2007

3p.president.lo.indd 9

2/7/07 3:44:11 PM

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