Faith of an Engineer

Faith of an Engineer

[Author Unknown]

I AM AN ENGINEER, in my profession I take deep pride, but without vainglory; to it I owe solemn obligations that I am eager to fulfill.

As an Engineer, I will participate in none but honest enterprise. To him, that has engaged my services, as employer or client; I will give the utmost of performance and fidelity.

When needed, my skill and knowledge shall be given without reservation for the public good. From special capacity springs the obligation to use it well in the services of humanity; and I accept the challenge that his implies.

Zealous of the high repute of my calling, I will strive to protect the interests and the good name of any engineer that I know to be deserving; but I will not shirk should duty dictate, fro disclosing the truth regarding anyone that, by unscrupulous act, has shown himself unworthy of profession.

Since the Age of Stone, human progress has been conditioned by genius of my professional forebears. By them have been rendered (usable to mankind) nature’s vast resources of material and energy. By them have been vitalized and turned to practical account the principles of science and the revelations of technology. Except for this heritage of accumulated experience, my efforts would be feeble. I dedicate myself to the dissemination of engineering knowledge, and especially to the instruction of younger members of my profession in all its arts and traditions.

To my fellows I pledge, in the same full measure I ask of them, integrity and fair dealing, tolerance and respect, and devotion to the standards and dignity of our profession; with consciousness, always, that our special expertise carries with it the obligation to serve humanity with complete sincerity.

Our ability to increase productivity and at the same time cut down inefficiencies and costs and this is an engineering problem. But technology is not all; engineers also play important roles in management and policy making. As one authority has written:

“A substantial share of responsibility for the management of American industry has habitually been given to he engineers, and this share has been increasingly marked during the last half century. It is no longer sufficient for an engineer to be just technically competent; he must be prepared also to make decisions on matters of business policy based on all the manifold factors involved in the conduct of modern industry…. Here is a challenge to the engineer. You have a vital role in the operation of our national economy, both as technical and as administrators.”

The engineer stands ready to meet this challenge today and in the years to come, confident in his faith in India’s future and in the ability of his profession to meet whatever needs that future may demand.

[This piece was presumably written in early 1950s. I found in a cyclostyled sheet among my father's papers. He was an Engineer. Try to replace the word Engineer by the Vocation you are in, I trust it will fit through a few minor alterations. Then you might like to use it to improve the sensitivities of those who work with you.]