For many centuries now engineers have been thought of as people who build high-rise buildings, shopping malls and monuments. Today, not only do they play a vital role in the growth of service sectors but also design, manage and help in the decision making process in banks, health-care systems, early warning systems and manufacturing systems.
One of the reasons for this sudden expansion of an engineer’s territory can be traced to the flexible training an engineer receives from tertiary institutions. An engineering education provides a new outlook to problem solving. During their course of study, they are trained to solve problems systematically. This is achieved by modularization i.e. breaking the problem into small cohesive units and solving them individually, hence thwarting any chance of inaccuracy. As Prof Seeram Ramakrishna, the Dean of Faculty of Engineering in NUS rightly says “an engineer’s training helps to systematically analyze complex information and apply a holistic (systematic) approach in designing solutions”.
With globalization, the scope of engineers has broadened. Globalization has added to the need to make quick decisions, to design and process information faster in a short period of time. This calls for a workforce that does not ‘fear’ technology but embraces it and thrives on it. The solution to this lies in the experience the engineer has gained in a particular field. Thanks to the tertiary institutions which provide a flexible, diversified and application oriented training, thus facilitating engineers to relate their skill to the real world issues.
Finally, I would like to conclude saying that an engineer's training helps to systematically analyze complex information and apply a holistic (systematic) approach in designing solutions. A creative mind trained suitably, can undoubtedly resolve the great challenges in the future – global warming, increasing need for clean water, energy, food and security keeping in mind the advantages of sustainable development.
