Promoting the profession - the role of the individual engineer

摘要

Among the wider public, perceptions of engineering are out of sync with the reality of the profession and the leading role played by the engineer in shaping Ireland's economic progress. This gap in perception, something most Journal readers would be aware of as a general impression, is specifically detailed in our feature, Engineering Perceptions - raising the profile of "the invisible profession" (page 478) this month. The article is based on the ground-breaking research carried out by the Institution of Engineers of Ireland as part of its overall Corporate Plan 2003-2006. The picture it paints is of a profession that is misunderstood and undervalued by the public at large. The consequences of this disconnect between reality and perception are already manifesting themselves with shortages of qualified engineers in many disciplines and concerns growing over the numbers of students entering engineering at third level.