The Executive Officers and Executive Directors of the Founder Societies met last week in Kansas City. Representing the major branches of engineering, the discussion revealed a number of common challenges. I find it interesting that even though we deliver different value to our communities and the marketplace, we are remarkable similar in our aspirations for the profession.

You might wonder what civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, mining, and materials engineers have in common. Each group recognizes that we are essential to the continuation of civilization and that we can use our expertise to accelerate the development of Third World communities. We learned that most of the societies have ongoing efforts to reach out in humanitarian programs around the world. Collaboration may allow us to reach more people with the same resources. Each group is keenly aware of the need to reach a new generation with the incredibly creative story of engineering as a career. Again, all of us have outreach programs of one kind or another to K-12 students. Collaboration may allow us to reach many more students as they decide how best to spend their lives.

I remain impressed by the inventive process going on in each discipline related to sustainability. Engineers will truly establish the way that we live in the future. For some reason, engineers tend to define ourselves as being materially different from other engineers in other disciplines. I suppose that we like living in silos. Believe me when I say that we have more in common than we think. We are educated professionals who creatively dedicate our lives to making the world a better place for everyone. I say Hooray for engineers, whatever flavor they represent.

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