NSPE Speaks

I ordered the Tinker Crate and Doodle Crate for my kids after I listened to your last podcast. They’ve got two crates so far and LOVE them! Thanks for the great idea.

Leanne Panduren, P.E., F.NSPE
Flint, MI

Financial Engineering

I recently saw an ad for a degree in financial engineering and looked it up. Wikipedia defines it as follows: “Financial engineering is a multidisciplinary field involving financial theory, methods of engineering, tools of mathematics and the practice of programming.” A YouTube video admits it is not a recognized field of engineering. I guess it ranks up there with “train engineer” and “sanitation engineer” (garbage collector). When the term “engineer” has been so diluted, we should concentrate on using the term “professional engineer” rather than trying to push against the tide that has diluted the term “engineer.”

John Kampmeyer, P.E., F.NSPE
Springfield, PA

This is why professional engineers shouldn’t ever simply call themselves engineers. When a PE is asked what they do, their default response should be “professional engineer.” If asked what that is, they can further elaborate on specifics and take advantage of the opportunity to further differentiate a professional engineer from an engineer, a term that marketing departments have diluted to include any position they feel like “adding a bit of bling” to the title of.

Jack Kettler, P.E.
Pocatello, ID

Over the past 40 plus years I have enjoyed engineering to the fullest and encouraged many others to join in. But what has been disturbing to me is not the engineering but the overall obsession with the professional engineer title, being promoted as a prestigious title to have after your name, even if you never use it. If you don’t use it for why it was created, for those providing engineering services directly to the public, then you are not a professional engineer and you shouldn’t be masquerading as one. The problem is we have an identity issue, we want the professional engineer title to mean something more than for what it was created. We want it to mean we are more knowledgeable, invincible, we never make mistakes. We want the glory we perceive is held by a doctor or lawyer. We don’t understand that greatness does not come from self-proclamation or from the level of education we achieve; it comes from what we produce and how we apply it, what we contribute to the betterment of society. Perhaps we should change the name to “public engineer” so that the focus is on the public and not ourselves.

John Pollock, P.E.
Cleburne, TX

TNSPE

@TNSPE Jan 9

Excited to welcome Rep. Kevin Vaughan, PE (@wkevinv) to the TN House of Representatives. Great to have a Professional Engineer in the House! #TNLeg

Nevada Society of Professional Engineers

STEM and Brownies~ — at Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada.