The Greater Good

This article focuses on engineering professionals, who started to see themselves as agents of change for the better with the start of the 20th century. A machine-tool boom ensued during the early years of the 20th century, as mechanical engineers brought their inventive skills to bear on precision machinery that cut and ground metal, pressed steel, and automated assembly tasks. At a time when engineering analysis was an imperfect science, Frederick Taylor performed exhaustive tests on engine lathes and diligently recorded data on stresses and other capacities. Taylor promoted the establishment of central planning departments to administer the standards and schedule workloads. The principle of scientific management systematized production, in the process radically changing the relationship between employer and employee. Today, ASME impresses upon engineers the need to embrace their sense of public worth, and understand that their work contributes to the greater social good.