Engineering is an ingenious profession! It is driven largely by highlevel application of brainwork. ‘Engineering’ entails doing what one has never done or been specifically taught and literally means “Doing brainwork or mindwork” as well as ‘Working with one’s brain or mind’.
The word ‘Ingenier’ (ie Engineer) was gotten from “engine” derived from ‘Ingenium’, the Latin word for mind or brain.
To “ingeniere” means to do something you had never done or been specifically taught by working with your brain or mind. Though a craftsman has tactical skills of ‘what to do’, they need the strategic skills of Ingeniers for ‘how to’ ingeniere and create innovative – revolutionary and/or iconoclastic – products and/or processes. For instance; a Welder or GFRP craft, irrespective of the length of years of experience, can never be able to build a submarine or ballistic without taking instructions from Ingeniers.
Generically and/or fundamentally; Ingeniers are “myth busters” or ‘demystifiers’. A competent Ingenier should be able to unbundle challenges behind a tasking or felt need he or she had never been privy of and structure it in a way that ordinary persons can be employed to get it done.
Most often; there are skills employed to do this and called Engineering Personnel, as a result. However; on rare occasions, other skills/crafts – like tailors, bakers, etc – not considered as Engineering Personnel and unskilled hands are also used.
The problem, however, is that Ingeniers are often taught-of as some glorified crafts or handworkers in the unique Nigerian society and system. For this reason, they are often wrongly assigned such tactical duties which they have often proven not being cut-out for. Instead of taking correction to retrace the steps that led to this low level of productivity, admins at the MDAs have resorted to unconsciously removed the career path of Ingeniers. Ignorantly; they end up blaming Ingeniers, who had been forced to abandon their profession for a different career and are victims of the situation, as being responsible for their seeming lack of prowess. Much as we often bend to these overbearing attitudes from them, just to make a living, it is onus on us to educate them on or about it.
The media is awashed with various programmes talking about different aspects of Medicine, Law, Finance, Accounting, etc, there is not a single programme – I stand to be corrected – about pure, generic, Professiong Engineering in the Nigerian media.
Recently, certain amendments were made for COREN. This is remarkable and commendable. It shows our senior colleagues are not relenting. However; the reward for hard work, they say, is more work. We need close collaboration with the media to create the needed awareness.
We need to have programmes on the various types of media to discuss Engineering in its purest and professional form. Science and Technology shows doesnt really address the question as should. Some of us even go, though unconsciously, to the extent of thinking engineering is science or some glorified Physics and/or Mathematics. I and you know, from practice, the error in such assumption. Science and Maths are mere tools. Just because one made a design using a computer does not make it automatically correct. The computer is only a tool and the design is only correct to the extent of the correctness of the software and the health of the machine itself. A competence Ingenier should be able to isolate discontinuities in the design on sighting it.
Also; when Ingeniers are grossly underpaid, like it obtains currently, I come to realize that it grossly affects their productivity. This is because the profession is sophisticated and needs no precedence. Ingeniers are required to have working models of their innovation before approaching management. These appreciate it better, from experience, that way. So, Ingeniers need to be well paid to do that.
Lastly, my posts are aimed at stirring us into action and not any particular interest.
You are blessed!
Ing. Eke, AESS.
God bless Nigerian Ingeniers!