The Universe and Other Things (sound)

[Applause] e la la the world is full of a number of things most of which are either matter or energy unless you believe Einstein is right and matter is [Music] energy in which case everything is one thing except for Consulting Engineers they are something else uh pardon me sir uh what's the first thing you think of when you hear the word engineer engineer well I think of uh well uh [Music] that at one time in his career an engineer is easy to spot that's when he's in college and can wear his new slide rule like the fastest gun in the west whatever his field of engineering the program of study is lengthy and demanding it reaches from the known past into the unknown future as a professional engineer in private practice he will have undergone rigorous academic preparation survived oral and written examinations proven himself on the job under supervision and demonstrated to the satisfaction of his mentors that he is competent to discharge his responsibilities to the public his seal granted only after he has fulfilled all the requirements of professionalism is comparable to the Seal of Professionals in the field of health or public service where licensing is required by law to protect the public but long before then engineering students begin to disappear in the crowd the songs Linger on but they don't do much to establish an image for the profession although an engineer's training is just as rigorous and sometimes longer than theirs he hasn't developed an image like some of his friends in other professions his professional ID by the time he enters private practice is about as obscure as it can get if he turns out to be a Consulting engineer he is an even greater puzzle to most people who as we have seen generally think of Engineers as railroad men uh pardon me sir we're conducting this survey to find out what people think a Consulting engineer is what he does for a living up ma'am [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's going to be another one of those days I don't know Peach me well I'd say he's a guy that's uptight about nuts and bolts you know likes to talk about it Jee even his own family may not understand just what he does as bread winner hey boy why don't you raise that with a rope and pulley giving advice like that for a fee is what a Consulting engineer does only his clients usually have problems a little more complex than getting a mattress up into a treehouse his range of professional interest and competence spans the reaches of outer space and probes the Inner Space of human personality where is the Consulting engineer in this picture well he designed the operating theater its power supply system its lighting its air conditioning and heating and his work makes possible most of the equipment of modern Medical Science by training and experience the Consulting engineer is preeminently qualified to work on most of the major problems currently facing us and he does but all he has to sell is time time and talent and that on a business basis he earns his livelihood by making choices between design [Music] Alternatives such choices must be made at every step on any project and the Consulting engineer job is to choose that which will best serve the interests of his client the tangible product of his work are plans in the form of drawings and specifications as a businessman he has to be concerned with politics with economics with salesmanship he has to operate at a profit and provide for the growth and stability of his firm professionally he is concerned with blighted cities polluted air and [Music] water Tangled transportation and decay in Rural America well he's gone all the time he's very busy but I really don't know what he does away from home his wife may not know for sure what he does but his services are sought around the world wherever men are committed to improving The Human Condition by developing their resources through science and technology is what we call in the Old Country find Al girl you have no word for that in your language a oneman gang I think he means that's good that's very good not bad at [Music] all but not all together accurate there are Consulting Engineers who specialize in one field and there are firms in general Private Practice who are staffed by Specialists however in an age of specialization the Consulting engineer is a generalist he must be because his practice may take him anywhere in on under or out of this world each assignment is likely to be different in size in complexity in cost in its social and political ramifications wherever he goes he must adapt to the customs and traditions of his host nation [Music] compared to other professionals the engineer works at a disadvantage himself an engineer president Herbert Hoover explained it in terms like these his works are out in the open where all men can see them he cannot bury his mistakes in the grave he cannot argue them Into Thin Air or blame the judge he cannot cover his failures with trees and Vines he cannot screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope the people will forget if his Works do not work he's damned but like other professionals he has a Heritage and tradition reaching back into Antiquity even the dark ages could not extinguish the talent of Engineers for in that time such monuments as notredam Cathedral and Old London Bridge were begun the engineers code of ethics can be traced back to the code of hamurabi 2000 BC like the hypocritic oath of medicine it pledges the engineer to use his talents and training for the benefit of mankind [Music] like other professionals he has to work with the knowledge that what he knows today may not be so tomorrow time was when people believed all that goes up must come down not anymore it may go into orbit science and Engineering have made that possible it's important to distinguish between science and engineering Engineers are not so interested in tinkering with basic principles and natural laws or in finding new ones as they are in applying the ones that exist for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction and we got jet engines among other things certain bacteria and drinking water cause disease and we got water filtration and treatment plants among other things the behavior of atoms and molecules can be studied and described and we got linear accelerators and Cloud Chambers among other things the point is that but the work of Engineers is founded on what is called scientific thinking in unscientific thinking our thoughts are Tangled and nodded thinking scientifically means straightening out all this mess engineering applies such thought to concrete problems in order to reach practical Solutions within time and budget limitations and we do that very thing in putting together together the uh scenes from a motion picture don't you see Film Production has that in common with engineering so do many other things but most professions are devoted to a rather narrow range of inquiry and action well now Mr they approach the problems of human existence in this complex Universe like the blind man approach the elephant is very like a wall it's really a social problem it is very like a tree when all is said and done it's fundamentally a religious problem it is very like a snake frankly it all gets back to politics T very like a rope it's a matter of diet really we are what we eat it is very like a fan now basically everything is economics the narrow view will no longer do in engineering or in any other profession the interrelatedness of all things must be considered to depths never before plumbed Earth a bias spere a complex subtly balanced life support system because because it is too intricate to grasp by conventional wisdom and traditional methods new methods have been pioneered by Consulting Engineers to cope with problems of global urgency take environmental pollution there is only one atmosphere to support life on this planet today that atmosphere is poisonous around many of our Urban centers we don't know as much as we should about the the ability of the atmosphere to cleanse itself but we suspect that photochemical processes triggered by pollution could cause the atmosphere to change so that life would be threatened everywhere well that seems far-fetched remember it was not so long ago that most American lakes and waterways were clear and teeming with life today many are dead take Urban Decay a city is itself a kind of system in the past cities have always attracted people because that's where the action is that's where things are happening today many of them repel people because of what's Happening take the transportation tangle Transportation facilities make it possible for the city to function as an integrated system yet where Transportation networks break down the city breaks down as a system indeed Improvement in the traffic system can lead to deterioration in the overall system that's what has happened where Bridges tunnels and freeways have improved travel to and from the suburbs but increased congestion in the cities take rural poverty and The Exodus from our Farms a nation whose political system was designed on the assumption that it would serve a largely rural population now finds less than 20% of that population living on the farms and the rural to Urban trend is worldwide such are the problem [Music] problems no program of action not equal to the complexity of the problems can promise much more than temporary relief Consulting Engineers in private practice are dedicated to this kind of comprehensive planning the complexity of the problems is in direct proportion to the population density that density is expected to increase rapidly and as it does the game will become more [Music] complicated no one knows whether or not the game has a time limit but Consulting Engineers do know that each move affects the lives and well-being of millions of people many of whom are still unborn therefore each move is calculated and plotted in advance with every available resource a whole new language has been created with which to direct the computers that must cope with the Avalanche of arithmetic involved in each decision it is a language that defies interpretation by the Layman but Consulting Engineers know what it means as do our poets this is the way the world ends this is the way the world ends this is the way the world ends not with a bang but a [Music] whimper the failure of a system to sustain itself can end only in disaster in Practical terms the first step in developing A system that will not fail is to forecast the load that system will have to Bear now and 5 10 15 years from now our hospitals schools shopping facilities utilities and Waste Disposal Systems must be designed accordingly and engineered to function compatibly with each other and with all the changes that will inevitably occur the techniques of Consulting engineering and design have one simple goal to improve upon the guesstimating or crystal ball gazing by which designs have often been decided this all new planned city represents the fruit of systems engineering applied to the field of Urban Development sociologists Architects economists anthropologists engineers and Specialists from other relevant disciplines all worked together to design a city that would embody the best that is known about how people can live together in a free community it's one alternative to the fragmented peac meal growth that has marked our national progress in so many ways on a smaller scale this instrument for measuring the curvature of the front and rear surfaces of the lens of the living human eye represents the fruit of Cooperative planning between one Consulting engineer and specialists in [Music] Optometry this continuous process manufacturing facility exemplifies the way in which Consulting Engineers can serve [Music] industry a complete scale model including all major Mill structures serve to minimize field changes and construction time as well as provide a check on engineering the model serves as an orientation and training aid for new employees now that the plant is in [Music] operation projects such as these illustrate the scope of activities being undertaken by Consulting engineering firms and suggest the depth of their involvement in the social political and economic programs of people everywhere committed to the free enterprise system and dedicated to the highest ideals of professionalism America's independent Consulting Engineers are proving that engineers in private practice have much to contribute to the solution of major public problems they have mastered the trick of working within budget restrictions and delivering their projects on schedule and with all due respect to their fellow professionals they have earned more recognition for their work than is generally granted this spectacular World Fair attraction is about 90% engineering but visitors to it will not learn of that fact from the plaque at its base nor will more than a handful of the half million people who ride over this gate way Arch each year appreciate that the safety and comfort of their trip is assured only because of the engineering that went into the project those who shop for free Engineering Services would do well to ask themselves if they really want to take such a trip on equipment designed for free or by the lowest bidder lawyer Indian chief buter Baker firem children play what they know not many play Consulting engineer maybe it's not a game for children but the fact is future Generations will either come to understand and appreciate the importance of Engineering in their environment or run the risk of turning the future into a thing of the past for everyone the environment is vast and complex it may be said to include the universe and other [Music] things but in terms of observed behavior for most of us it is limited to where we live who we know what we do we know better but few of us act on our best knowledge Consulting Engineers do are you by any chance a Consulting engineer [Applause] [Music] oh