No Respect

I am at the SEAOC Convention in Hawaii.  We are about halfway through and so far, I am pleased with the technical content and social activities.  I will write a full report later, but I wanted to briefly discuss the SEAOC Excellence in Engineering Awards.

First, some background. A common theme (officially and unofficially) in the last couple of Conventions has been the desire to raise the general public’s perception of the structural engineering profession and our impact on society.  We are constantly envying how revered doctors are and how much lawyers get paid.  We complain about not being highly paid for our services and expertise.  In general we complain about not getting the respect we deserve.

The SEAOC Excellence in Engineering Awards Ceremony was one of the most poorly attended events at the Convention thus far.  It was embarrassing.  Not only was the initial attendance poor, but it dwindled by about half towards the end of the ceremony.  Yes, the ceremony went a little long, and yes, we are in Hawaii, and yes there are other things going on; but we need to support our fellow structural engineers.

The submitting companies spend valuable time preparing their entries.  The judging panel (made up of one engineer from each of the five SEAOC sections as well as an architect and contractor) spends days assessing each project and writing opinion statements.

How can we ask society to get excited about our award winning projects when we can not get excited about them?  How can we demand respect from society as a whole, when we are not willing to give respect to our fellow engineers by honoring their achievements through an hour and a half long awards ceremony once a year?