Engineers Technology and Society presents topics intended to aid the practicing engineer in
reflecting upon the nature and purpose of their own practice within the engineering profession
and how that is related to and implicated in social economic and political issues. The series
will include external relations between engineering economic systems and social and political
practices as well as power structures and working conditions within the organisation.In an
increasingly competitive and hostile environment in which practicing engineers are forced to
spend their lives fighting for higher profit margins many engineers become despondent and
often leave the profession just a few years after graduation. They do not feel they are
engineering for those in need in the world but for a small minority who can pay. There are an
increasing number of engineers in the workplace who feel dissatisfied with these issues but do
not know where to begin to address them. It is hoped that these books will start a conversation
in many parts of the world where diverse engineers are working.This introductory book of the
series presents an overview of the key issues at stake. I consider how as engineers we might
decide what is the right thing to do by exploring rights and notions of freedom and what these
might mean in a world where we are according to some 'training for compliance'. I consider
engineering in the past and how it has been used to contribute to social contexts in the
Western world as well as in developing countries. I look at our responsibility as engineers to
learn from the past to enhance our understanding and take appropriate action related to
contemporary industrial development and globalization. Finally I present a case study of my
own engineering for others to critique. Practicing what you preach is never easy and living as
a just engineer presents many challenges. As Ursula Franklin states clearly in her Massey
lectures which I discuss in chapter 1 engineers have choices it is up to us to ensure that we
are aware of the way in which our engineering practice contributes to global social economic
and political issues so that we are able to make response - able choices.
