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Autumn 2007
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Stempra newsletter
FEATURE: Do engineers need a facelift? The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Engineering and Technology Board (ETB) recently surveyed the public to find out what they think of engineers and engineering. Not surprisingly, some familiar stereotypes reared their heads; the mechanic, the boffin and the techno wiz, to name a few. Yet while these images might make engineers cringe, they should be celebrated because the most overwhelming feature of the survey was not that the average person had a bad opinion of engineers, it was just that they didn't have an opinion at all. Engineers just did not show up on the radar. So it seems that rather than needing an image overhaul, engineers just need an image. They need to be visible (the fluoro-vests should help) and bold. Depressingly, for a press officer like me, the survey also found that the public did not get information about engineering from the media. In fact, the media even ranked lower than word of mouth, and when was the last time you heard a good engineering rumour? Once again it seems to be a problem of image. This year, engineering has featured in some of our biggest science news stories, from terrorist threats in Glasgow and London to the beaching of a ship off the Devon coast, but the engineers in these stories are not always easy to find. Often they are hidden behind titles like 'Naval Architect' or 'Head of Technology' making it almost impossible for journalist to use the word engineer without trawling through their CVs. And while a change of name might be a quick solution, I also don't think it is quite that simple. It is not just a case of language, it is also a case of volume. In an average week, the Science Media Centre runs at least 2 press briefings, each attended by an average of 14 national news journalists. Despite this, and my science colleagues being approached with press briefing ideas almost daily, I can count on one hand the number of engineering ideas that have been pitched to me by press officers. Also, our office is inundated with interesting and newsworthy science press releases and yet, with rare exceptions, the only engineering press releases I seem to receive are about new qualifications, changes of leadership, evening lectures or education policy. There is clearly room to shout louder. Given how important engineers are in solving global problems, why aren't they banging down my door with amazing ideas? Journalists on the national newspapers don't seem inundated with exciting engineering stories either; one national news technology correspondent begs me on a regular basis for an engineering story just to distract her from writing up product press releases about the latest MP3 player. Journalists are willing to listen but no one seems to be shouting. The media is often imprecise, image driven and sensationalist. But what they are ultimately after is heroism, drama, conflict, the amazing and the new - all things engineering has to offer. Do engineers need a face lift? No, just a megaphone. Lyndal Gully | |