Tomorrow's Engineers

Abstract

The Great Exhibition of 1851 marked not only the industrial supremacy of the United Kingdom but also the competition that was to come. It led to a cyclic pattern of self-examination which persists to the present day. Although our relative decline is long-standing, it has only recently become dramatic. There is now a serious danger that it will become absolute and contributory factors are discussed. Yet many British companies still excel against all competition. The changes in engineers’ education and training, and in recruitment to the profession, are viewed against a 50-year perspective. In the future, we can expect a longer period of systematic instruction, better integration between education and training, increasing attention to business factors and more opportunities for keeping up with new technologies. Two objectives are essential. First, the dependence of national prosperity upon engineering and engineers must be recognized at all levels of decision-making, company and national. Secondly, we must realize that the difficulties we face will test the abilities of our best young people to the limit.