PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA

University of the City of Manila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

THE ENGINEER AT WORK

PRIVATE PRACTICE

The great majority of engineering positions are salaried positions.

Probably less than ten percent of the engineering profession is engaged in what
is termed "private practice." In such work the compensation is generally based
on either a per diem basis or on a percentage of the cost of the work which
is undertaken.

Private practice is a concept used with respect to professional liability

insurance. Compared to general practice, private practice puts engineers at a
greater risk of being subjected to legal action, for which the amounts claimed
can be quite high. A member who provides professional services related to one
or a number of engineering fields to an external client, for his or her own
account or for an employer is said to be in private practice. Here are a few
examples of engineers working in private practice:

 those who are employed by a consulting engineering company;

 those who provide professional engineering services to an external client,

such as:
 independent consultants;
 building inspectors and others;
 engineers who work in an analytical laboratory;

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

1
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

 all experts who provide opinions relating to works that, given their
nature, fall within the purview of the engineer’s field of practice.

Consequently, it is a misconception to think that only engineers who

are self-employed are in private practice. Similarly, it is wrong to think
that engineers who work for a company are never in private practice. The
type of activity (or that of the employer in cases where engineers work for a
consulting engineering company) must also be taken into consideration.

DUTIES TO SUBORDINATES

While much has been said of the duties

of the employee in the performance of his
work, such duties are by no means reduced
when he reaches a position where others are
subject to his direction and supervision. As
previously stated, with professional
advancement higher obligations are assumed
and such obligations should be exercised not
only toward the client or superior, but toward
the subordinate as well. The engineer should advise and assist his
subordinates and give them every reasonable encouragement and incentive to
excel in their work.

Criticism and reproof where necessary should be

administered kindly and with the idea of improvement, and
praise and commendation should be offered for initiative, skill
and accuracy.

Jealousy of subordinates and the consequent failure to

advise and assist them or to give them suitable credit for valuable ideas or
suggestions is the sign of limited ability or an ungenerous disposition. The
promotion of subordinates should be made on the basis of actual merit and not
on the basis of capricious preference. If the superior is employing his
subordinates for others, he is especially bound to consider intrinsic worth
instead of personal preferment.

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

2
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

In dealing with artisans and workmen a similar course of action is

desirable. Nothing is gained and much is lost by harshness, conceit, and
overbearing conduct. A feeling of injustice and resentment is seriously
detrimental to the esprit de corps of any engineering force in the office or the
field, and every force is bound to exhibit to a considerable degree the spirit
displayed by those in authority.

DUTIES TO CLIENTS

The relations of the engineer to his clients are fiduciary in nature and
therefore involve, both legally and morally, obligations which must be exercised
even at the sacrifice of personal interests.

The client must place his trust in the personal honesty, business
integrity and professional ability of his engineer. Frequently this trust
involves not only large construction cost but the successful outcome of an
endeavor of great importance. The client is frequently entirely ignorant of the
technical features of the work and is only interested in it as a business
venture. He may know nothing of the hazards or contingencies involved, and
cannot judge of the relative values and costs of different methods of
development, different materials and machines or the effects of the same on the
ultimate aims to be attained.

The engineer must stand between his client and all adverse interests.
The desire of the contractor to cheapen the work of construction, the desire of
the manufacturer to secure the sale of more or less suitable machinery, the
desire of the promoter to finance more or less questionable ventures, and many

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

3
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

other interests must be carefully scrutinized, fairly considered, and properly

adjusted.

To be a suitable adviser for such responsible positions, the engineer's

loyalty must be beyond question; his only interest must be that of his client in
every right and proper way. "No man can serve two masters for either he
will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and
despise the other." (Matthew. 6:24). This principle has been recognized as
essential by the best men of every age and nation and in every business and
profession. If the engineer has adverse interests of any kind, no matter how
innocent they may appear, they will bias his judgment and he will do less than
his duty.

CONSULTATION

Commonly the man who is called upon to take charge of an important

endeavor is one who has developed more or less special knowledge and ability
in the principal field which with other phases constitutes the project. When a
young engineer has been advanced to a position of responsibility and authority
on a project of this nature he often feels that the importance of his position
demands an exhibition of learning and ability that is often entirely beyond his
capacity.

Nevertheless he is frequently impelled to attempt professional ventures

quite beyond his experience rather than to acknowledge that even his abilities
have their natural limitation. In this manner young man of undoubted ability
frequently attempt professional work of a special nature for which they are in
no way qualified, and risk the success of their employer's interests in a manner
that is unjust and unwarranted. While such attempts are usually attended
with more or less success, they usually fail to accomplish the results that
might be attained by such expert service and wrongly deprive the client of the
very best results.

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

4
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

No man can be uniformly expert on all branches covered by many

projects, and it is the sign of a narrow mind and limited ability for a man not to
recognize his own limitations or to fail to call in expert aid when such aid can
be used to advantage in his client's service.

DUTIES TO PROFESSION

Every professional man is greatly indebted to his profession. His

knowledge and usefulness have been greatly augmented by the labor and
investigation, the successes and the failures of those who have gone before.
The proceedings of technical societies, the articles in the technical press, the
treatises on technical subjects and the opportunities of technical schools all
afford the engineer occasion to enlarge his knowledge, expand his experience,
increase his usefulness and make himself of greater value to himself and to the
public. The high ideals and the distinguished ability that have been exercised
by the men to the profession in the past bring to the professional man a
consideration and standing which he could not otherwise enjoy.

It is self-evident therefore that he who enjoys the manifold benefits to be

derived from the lives and labors of those who are his associates or have
preceded him in his profession, is morally bound to maintain such ideals and
conserve such respect by the exercise of his best judgment and best ability and
by a high conception of personal responsibility and of personal honor, and by a
corresponding exercise of such ideals in his professional work.

Example:

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

5
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Engr. Richard Penaflor

BS Chemical Engineering
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 1989

A chemical engineer and environmentalist by

profession and a writer/youth volunteer by avocation. He
worked with different prestigious companies like Manila
Electric Company (MERALCO), Norkis-Yamaha Motorcycle Company,
Department of Science and Technology, Ginebra San Miguel, Inc., San Miguel
Corporation, Tutoring Club, ABS-CBN Foundation and most recently in the
government’s Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC). Recognizing his
environmental advocacies, Richard received in 2011 the prestigious Blue
Falcon Award from V. Mapa High School Alumni Association. With all the
professional experiences he gained in working with these various companies,
he can truly say that he is really blessed by God for He allowed him to work in
these different institutions to harness him more and prune him to be a better
person. Richard firmly believes that sufferings, pains, and poverty are just
time-bound. It is just a phase in life and not at all a permanent state. Out of
these trials and tribulations, he emerged as winner and victorious!
THE ENGINEER IN BUSINESS

Engineering training affords a suitable foundation not only for

professional work but also for various other occupations and vocations. It is a
satisfactory training for the subordinate position of foremen, superintendents,
salesmen and preliminary to entering the field of contracting for the
construction of engineering work, for the manufacture of machinery,
engineering materials and supplies, and other occupations which have to do
with or are intimately related to engineering work.

Almost all that has been said of other activities applies to these and to
any other lines of work in which the engineer may engage, whether directly or
indirectly connected with technical affairs or in fields quite foreign to such
matters.

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

6
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Honorable and conscientious service, intelligent application, considerate

action and high ideals are the passports to high standing, public confidence
and business preferment.

Example:

Lucio Tan
BS Chemical Engineering
Far Eastern University

Lucio C. Tan, Sr. is a Chinese

Filipino billionaire businessman and educator with interests in banking,
airline, liquor, tobacco, real estate industries and education. In
2013, Forbes magazine listed him as the second richest billionaire from the
Philippines with a net worth of $7.5 billion.

Some of his business interest are:

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

7
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Tony Tan Caktiong

BS Chemical Engineering
University of Santo Tomas (1975)

Tony Tan Caktiong  is a Chinese

Filipino entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of Jollibee Foods
Corporation which owns the Filipino fast food chain Jollibee, and the co-
chairman of Double Dragon Properties.

Tan founded the fast food chain Jollibee in 1978, after having started it as an
ice cream parlor in 1975. Through expansion and acquisitions of Greenwich
Pizza Corp. which enabled it to enter the pizza-pasta segment. As of August

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

8
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

2008, Tan's Jollibee has a total of 1,480 stores worldwide

including Jollibee, Red Ribbon, Chowking, Greenwich, Manong Pepe's, Mang
Inasal and Tita Frita's Uling Uling.

Alfredo Yao

BS Chemical Engineering
Mapua Institute of Technology (1962)

Alfredo M. Yao is a Filipino businessman who

founded the privately held Zest-O Corporation and the publicly listed Macay
Holdings, Inc.(MACAY) and Philippine Business Bank (PBB).

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

9
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

ENGINEER AS A CITIZEN

The failure of engineers as a class to take part in social and political

activities is largely responsible for the lack of appreciation of the public at large
for the engineering profession. The work of the engineer is often far from the
public eye, in the office and in the field. He is often away from home and his
mind is so concentrated on his work and on his duties that he is apt to avoid
the public and is often almost a stranger in his own town except among his
personal friends.

No man should become so engrossed in his business or profession that

he forgets or neglects his duties as a citizen. The engineer should lend his aid
and support to every beneficial public movement and should be especially
active in shaping public opinion and securing proper legislative action along
those lines on which he is especially informed through his professional training
and activities.

Example:

Geronimo Z. Velasco
BS Mechanical Engineering
Mapua Institue of Technology

The late mechanical engineer Ronnie Velasco was the first

president of Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC).
He was chairman of Republic Glass Holdings Corp. which used to own the

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

10
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

pioneer factory supplying 70 percent of Philippine glass requirements for home

and building construction since 1956.

Velasco also served as energy minister from 1978 to 1986, implementing

President Marcos’s then strategic goal of reducing Philippine dependence on
imported oil.

It is a duty of the engineer as a citizen to give the public the benefit of his
training and practical experience in these various matters on which he is
particularly able to render valuable service.

Efficient and effective service in such matters will not only be of benefit
to the public but will be of great value to the individual' and enhance the
reputation of the profession in the minds of the people.

TYPES OF ENGINEERING WORK

Engineering is a broad field and covers many types and covers many
types of activities. These activities may be divided into seven general classes,
namely administration, planning and design, sales and consulting,
construction and installation, production and operation, research and
development, and teaching.

1. Administration

About 30% of all engineers rise to supervisory positions where they direct
the work of other people. Of all the industrial executives about 40% are
engineers. In these positions, the engineer deals more with business decisions
than with highly technical operations. These men usually earn the highest
salaries and have maximum responsibilities.

In both general and technical management capacities, engineers find

that their education helps them cultivate the analytical ad creative approach.

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

11
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Example:

Engr. Maela Katherine Dee-Penaflor

BS Chemical Engineering
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

Currently, she works at Pilipinas Shell Petroleum

Corporation as the Regional Grease Technologist wherein she provides
technical guidance to 4 grease plants in Asia Pacific (China, Korea, Bangkok
and Singapore) in developing their method of manufacture. She help resolve
complex product specification issue in the various plants thru the use of
robust experience. Conducted training on technical topics such as grease
manufacturing and plant operation.

2. Planning and Design

In this highly technical function the engineer creates machines,

structures, electric and water-supply systems, transportation and
communication systems, and many other useful objects or services. For
instance, he or his superior may have observed some practical need, such as
lack of water or power supply, or a costly operation in a manufacturing process
that can be improved. With his knowledge of scientific principles and properties
of materials the engineer draws up plans and specifications for a machine or
system to satisfy such a need. In doing this, he keeps careful watch on the
costs involved, those build the machine or system and those to operate and
maintain it. This total cost must make the new machine or service a profitable
venture for who-ever buys it.

About 20% of all engineers are engaged in this form of activity.

Example:

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

12
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Chiyoda Corporation

Integrated engineering business including

consulting, planning, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning
and maintenance for facilities related to gas, electricity, petroleum,
petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceutical, antipollution, environment,
preservation, and other services.

3. Sales and Consulting

In the industrial field all sorts of equipment are available to do specific

jobs. Firms supplying such equipment need engineers to sell their products,
often to planning engineers who are the customers. Sales engineers must
exercise their knowledge in knowing just what the customer needs and
recommending the machines that will do the job properly. In addition, they
must have the faculty of knowing how to get along with all sorts of people so
they can sell their firm’s line of products.

About 4% of all engineers work as salesmen, while over 5% work as

consulting engineers either dependently of for consulting firms.

4. Construction and Installation

After a structure, machine, or system is designed, construction or

installation engineers take the plans and specifications and turn them into
reality. They must supervise purchase of materials and organization of
construction or installation crews. They issue and follow up orders on when
and how the work is to be done. About 7% of all engineers work in this activity.

5. Production and Operation

Factories to make an immense variety of goods, generating stations to

produce electricity, communication systems, and transportation systems all
need to be directed by men who fully understand their technical details. In this

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

13
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

capacity the engineer organizes operating crews and materials for running his
plant or system. He continuously studies the performance of his project and
looks for ways of reducing costs and improving the service or product. About
7% of all engineers function in this capacity.

6. Research and Development

Civilization advances by the discovery of new knowledge. This activity

uncovers new scientific principles or a better understanding of known
phenomena. Development of this new knowledge by experimentation often
results in creating new apparatus or machines of practical benefit.
Development precedes design.

7. Teaching

To train young men and women for the profession a staff or engineering
teachers must be available. Such engineers, in addition, often engage in
research or consulting activities. Less than 3% of engineers work as teachers.

CHE 512 | Safety Audit and Inspection Santos | Sarmiento | Torres

14