The Engineer's Role In Public Policy

Engineers in industry are increasingly involved in compliance with laws and regulations. As our society becomes more technologically sophisticated, a growing number of engineers are also becoming involved in the processes for developing new public policies. Consequently, university engineering education should address the intent and significance of public policy as it relates to the practice of engineering. The engineering department at McNeese State University recently created a new course entitled The Engineer’s Role in Public Policy. This was an interdisciplinary course (involving students in the chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering disciplines) that provided an opportunity for an interdisciplinary examination of current and future public policies. This paper primarily focuses on the material covered by the new course and briefly addresses the teaching methods that were used. Much more could be said about the teaching methods, and the authors are considering developing a separate paper on this topic. While the initial offering of the course was very successful, the authors are currently seeking ways to improve upon the course and collaborate with other engineering faculty who have similar interests or relevant experience. The new course identified issues of primary concern to engineers and trends toward international standards making and international forums for debate on environmental and safety issues. Case studies focused on business ethics, the clean air act, the clean water act, super fund legislation, the activities of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, electric and magnetic field effects, nuclear power, and deregulation/restructuring in major U.S. industries. The new course allowed students to be involved in participative activities such as role playing as well as lectures. The importance of credible engineering analyses in public policy development was emphasized. Students used the web to critically review the position statements developed by engineering societies and trade associations. Issue management techniques were discussed, including communication with policy makers and the development of one-pagers. The course involved student participation in focus groups and discussed technologies for sampling public opinion. Page 8.130.1 Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education Introduction We live in an age of increasing political and technological sophistication. In the United States the political system has been profoundly influenced by educational advances, changing attitudes, and the impact of television and other media. Walter Cronkite, Marshall McLuhan and Alvin Toffler have discussed and documented the sweeping changes that have occurred in the political environment. Beginning in the 1960’s, and continuing to the present, an increasing number of U.S. citizens have became political activists. It has became commonplace for individuals with political agendas to demonstrate, to form special interest groups, and to develop funding warchests to influence issues. Today about 700 million dollars is spent each year for lobbying at the federal level. Almost every major industry and professional group has a presence in Washington and develops materials describing policy positions and legislative proposals. The effective interest groups have become masters of the seven second soundbyte, and employ highly educated teams of policy analysts to do extensive research, use focus groups, and craft messages with the proper “spin.” To function in our modern society it has become necessary to understand the meaning and connotation of the terms shown here in quotation marks. We not only live in an age of increasing political sophistication, we also live in an age of increasing technological sophistication. About thirty years ago Gordon E. Moore made the, at that time, startling prediction that the number of transistors per integrated circuit would double every two years. This prediction proved to be accurate and to this date technology change in many areas continues to be exponential. The rapid changes in technology have helped society in many ways, but technological sophistication has also created new challenges and difficulties. There are societal implications associated with the introduction of new technologies. Like most of the people in our society, public policy makers have a limited understanding of the new technologies and/or the societal implications. Public policy makers are struggling to become sufficiently knowledgeable to address issues like cloning, the handling of the waste products from nuclear power plants, and prospect of possible global climate change. What Do Engineers Do? Perception versus Reality There are many definitions of engineering. Most of them suggest that engineers use mathematics, science, and analytical methods to design things or build things to make people’s lives more comfortable or more productive. Many articles have been written about the popular perception that engineers are geeks, technonerds, or loners who have highly developed technical skills, but lack social skills. The popular perception (as illustrated in the Dilbert cartoons) is that engineers work alone, doing boring work in small offices surrounded by computers, and take a hygiene break about once a week whether they need it or not! Of course, the popular perception as described here is very far from reality. The truth is that engineers increasingly work in teams. Engineers can not function effectively in isolation. It is critically important that engineers understand the business environment they work in and it is P ge 8.130.2 Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education essential that engineers understand the laws and regulations affecting their work. Because of their technological expertise many engineers are called upon to comment on the economic, environmental, safety, and health implications of corporate policies, and in some cases, engineers are asked to support efforts to influence public policy development. Future Engineering Shortages: Quantitative and Qualitative The popular perceptions about engineers discussed in the preceding section provide a certain amount of humor, but this is a very serious matter. It will be critically important that engineers make efforts to correct these false perceptions about engineers because the perception of what engineers do influences interest and enrollment in engineering. During the last two decades interest and enrollment in engineering has been declining. The following data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) makes this point: U.S. Graduates in Engineering (B.S) by Year 198676,00