IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019 - 71

List of Traditional Professional Engineer Characteristics
1) Synthesis ability.
2) Practical creativity.
3) Logical reasoning.
4) STEM education.
5) Problem-solving capacity.
6) Oral and written communication skills.
7) Ability to work in multidisciplinary teams.
8) Willingness to continued learning.
9) Attention to details.
10) Masculinity features.

List of Complementary Characteristics
Now, we introduce the ten new characteristics associated with a mindful engineer. The function of each one of
these new characteristics is to expand, or complement,
the corresponding characteristic in the traditional list.
All of the new characteristics are inspired by the 2030
UN Agenda in the sense that they reflect, or are implied
by, some of the susta inable development goa ls
described in the Agenda.

1) Wide comprehension of the context
In a world with ever growing interrelationships, interdependencies of all kinds cannot be ignored. Science,
technology, economics, and politics are not independent realms; they have never been, but today this is
even more apparent. Engineering activities are not an
exception to these global dynamics. Investments in
research, the development of new products and systems, the technologies that prevail, the obtaining of raw
materials and their trade, and the relocation of production are some of the daily factors that have a significant
impact on different regions and societies of the planet.

2) Ability to work with diverse and limited resources
Global engineering should be flexible and adaptable, as
it requires the ability to work with the different resources available in each place and situation. Real engineering problems are not always like standard problems
analyzed in the laboratory or in a classroom. Even when
the most suitable technology is not at the engineer's disposal, when materials and supplies are scarce, or when
infrastructure is far from optimal, some solution is
expected, and it cannot wait indefinitely for the unlikely
betterment of the current shortcomings. Perhaps this
causes an awakening to what genuine engineering creativity is really about, when uncertainty emerges and
the comfort zone is lost.

3) Ability to guide oneself in complex environments
Complexity may appear suddenly in the form of a diffuse and non-controllable difficulty. It may appear when
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not all the significant information is available, or
because the situation or problem incorporates heterogeneous demands that are not straightforward to integrate
in a spreadsheet. Also, unexpected problems may occur
when a technological product or system is transferred to
a setting for which it was not designed. This has happened in Third World countries when aid programs have
routinely transplanted technological products from First
World countries [10]. In such cases, logical thinking
might be not enough because formal logic cannot easily
manage exceptions or ambiguous premises. Hence, the
engineer must be ready to guide herself across a situation that requires going beyond technical routine and
standard procedures.

Three pillars required for real
sustainable development are social,
environmental, and economic.
4) Consciousness of social responsibility
This aspect synthesizes many of the needs that arise in
global engineering that do not depend on science,
mathematics, or technology. It urges efforts to apply
certain values, particularly those values that professional codes already cite as fundamental for conducting the profession, that is, service to social progress
and human welfare.
Unfortunately, professional codes quite often encourage a minimum necessary implementation of such values, and they cannot provide particular instructions.
Therefore, consciousness and defense of the common
good must be already present in the engineer, otherwise it will not appear, out of the blue, when the context
becomes challenging.

5) Consciousness of environmental issues
There is accumulated evidence that the environmental
impact of the way of life and industrial production that
prevail worldwide have reached a critical point, posing a
serious risk to the continuity of both human and nonhuman lives [11]. Concepts like prosperity, progress,
growth, earth resources, and human well-being should
be critically revised in this new global context. Therefore, engineers and the engineering profession should
always be acting accordingly, that is, working to diminish energy waste and environmental devastation
imposed by our economic system. Certainly engineering can contribute to moving in this direction by offering
new, feasible, and sustainable alternatives.

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019