Why do we do engineering?

James Trevelyan
 Summary
The great innovations of this century will come
from an understanding of people combined with
technology

The engineering education research community

is best placed to create these innovations
 Graduate Attributes
Competencies are necessary but not sufficient

We need to shape graduate expectations

 Graduate Attributes
Global economic growth depends on
productivity improvement which has stalled

Productivity improvement depends on

engineering: we have to lift our game globally
 Graduate Attributes
Engineering is all about improving productivity

Engineers enable people to do more with less…

Less effort, less time, less materials, less energy,

Less uncertainty, less health risk, less
environmental disturbance.
 Outline

• Some engineering challenges

• Real engineering
• Ideas from economics
• Engineering value creation
• Why is this important?
• Questions
 • Conceived 2004 – AUD 1.4 Bn
Ravensthorpe • Cost till 2008 – AUD 2.6 Bn
• Sold to First Quantum for USD
Nickel Refinery 250 Mn in 2009
• Closed 2017

2.9 Billion Dollars in value destroyed

 Success rate for engineering projects
(except building construction)

USD 100 million – 1 billion?

> USD 1 billion?

(Success is when investors receive > 50% of promised

financial return)

Merrow, E. W. (2011). Industrial Megaprojects: Concepts, Strategies, and Practices for Success. New
Jersey, John Wiley & Sons.
 Challenges
• Project delivery performance
• Environmental degradation, climate change,
pollution
• Sluggish economic growth
• Widespread stubbornly resistant poverty
• Slow productivity improvement
• Disdain for engineers
• Engineers neglect critical aspects of their work
• Engineers complain about low status
 Engineering Practice Research
• 15 years of research by 25 contributors
• Australia – Pakistan – India comparison
• ~330 engineer interviews
• 10 field studies
• Longitudinal and occupational surveys

Rich data on engineering work practices

 Research tells us…
• What we teach is only a small part of practice
• Engineering practice is not taught
• Engineers deny that most of their work is engineering
• Students’ critical thinking gets worse!
• Creativity deficiencies
• Students don’t learn why we do engineering
• Engineers neglect critical inspection, checking work
• Engineers cannot explain the value of their work to others

No wonder we have some challenges!

 Outline

• Some engineering challenges

• Real Engineering
• Ideas from sociology & economics
• Engineering value creation
• Why is this important?
• Questions
 What do engineering graduates do in
their first job?

Calculating, modelling – discipline specific

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
none 1-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%

Trevelyan, James P., and Sabbia Tilli. 2008. "Longitudinal Study of Australian Engineering Graduates: Perceptions of
Working Time." American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, June 20-22.
 What do engineering graduates do in
their first job?

Social interaction, searching for information,

partially discipline specific
30

25

20

15

10

0
none 1-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%

While it may see non-technical, analysis shows the social

interactions are largely about technical issues
Engineering Practice
Technical Collaboration Performances
 What do we teach?
• Engineering science 2-20% of practice

What do we not teach?

• Technical planning, foresight
80-98% of practice
• Technical collaboration
– Delivering practical results that meet client and society
needs

• Why we do engineering – value creation

Engineering problem solving?
 Theory-based education shapes a discipline

Engineering students at university learn to write

mathematical solutions for narrowly defined technical
analytical problem in examinations.
 Outline

• Some engineering challenges

• Real Engineering
• Ideas from sociology & economics
• Engineering value creation
• Why is this important?
• Questions
A view of engineering practice
 Engineering education

   

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 NOT Real Engineering?

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“non-technical” work

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Value Creation

Value
creation
 Low Pay for Engineers?
Marginal revenue productivity theory of wages
– Labour market constraints?
– Regulation?
– Unions?
– Power of capital?

• Low pay  low value addition

o g !
N ch in
Tea
 Value?
• X=2.7266754?
• $, €?
• Exchange-value
• Artefact acquisition, or entitlement to service
• Use-value (actual, or anticipation of)
• Subjective experience, perception
• Unique to each person
• Depends on circumstances, time
•Ng, Co-created by provider and user
I. C. L., Parry, G., Smith, L. A., & Maull, R. S. (2010). Value co-creation in
Complex Engineering Service Systems: Conceptual Foundations Forum Markets and
Marketing: Extending the Service Dominant Logic (pp. 19): University of Exeter
Business School Discussion Papers in Management 10/04.
 Co-created value?

gadgetadda.com, March 2016

 The firm (or enterprise)

Ch5, The Making of an Expert Engineer

 Value System (Porter)

Ch5, The Making of an Expert Engineer

Porter, M. E. (1985). Competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance.
New York: Free Press.
 Porter’s Value System
• Each firm (or enterprise) operates with a “value system”

• Product exchange-value >

sum of input exchange-values (profit)

• Firms differentiate their products to

– Reduce firm’s input costs
– Increase buyer value
– Increase product exchange-value (margin)
 Outline

• Some engineering challenges

• Research on engineering practice
• Ideas from sociology & economics
• Engineering value creation
• Why is this important?
• Questions
 Compliance Engineer
Detailed checking of documents prepared by
other engineers, checks for compliance with
standards.

- No design work contributed

- Increases cost, time
- How does this work create value?
Investor Expectations
Reducing perception of uncertainty
• Minimize innovation: only use technology that has been used before
• Follow standards, strict checking and review
• Less exciting?
• Less challenging?

but… investors…

• Tolerate lower return

• Tolerate longer payback time
• Provide more capital
Hence value created
Investor Experience
 Engineering Value Creation, Delivery
Reduce human effort, material, energy
Reduce uncertainty, reduce design margins
Design for improved buyer and end-user experience – product
differentiation
Innovation – transformation of ideas into innovative products
and services
Shared value creation – health, safety, environment, education,
capacity building
Providing commercial and technical predictions to build
confidence for investment
Organisation, coordination for reliable delivery with sufficient
performance to justify repeat business
 Engineering Value Protection
Defence equipment and services
Environment protection, safety, health (HSE)
Reduce consumption of non-renewable resources
Sustainment: operations, engineering asset
management, maintenance (Trevelyan)
 Outline

• Some engineering challenges

• Research on engineering practice
• Ideas from sociology & economics
• Engineering value creation
• Why is this important?
• Questions
Expert engineers understand value creation!

• Earn 2-5 times more than other engineers

• Provide sufficient value for employers to pay
high salaries
• Use skills and knowledge that any engineer
can learn
 Checking and inspections
• Engineers relegate, defer or skip critical
checking and inspection work
• Engineers currently believe this is non-
productive work
• Value creation, delivery, protection not
understood
Where to learn more
Engineering practice: the
work that engineers do
that is common to all
disciplines.

Knowledge used by expert

engineers.

Help younger engineers

develop attributes of
experts quickly.
 Why we do engineering?
What is the value of engineering?

Engineers conceive, deliver and sustain

technologies meeting human needs, from safe
drinking water to medical implants and mobile
phones.
 Why we do engineering?
What is the value of engineering?

Engineers reliably conceive, deliver and sustain

technologies meeting human needs, from safe
drinking water to medical implants and mobile
phones, creating confidence for people to invest
sufficient resources.
 Education Changes

• Pose problems in appropriate contexts

• Check for missing or incorrect assumptions, missing logical
steps
• Carry drinking water
 Education Changes
Prescribed practical content 1800 – 1960s
Prescribed science and theory content 1960s –
2000
Prescribed competencies 2000 – ?
(ABET, Washington Accord)

What is missing?
Appropriate expectations!
 Mistaken expectations

Learning-repellent minds impede workplace learning

 Examples
• Socio-technical factors are non-technical issues
• Engineering is a hands-on occupation
• Engineers are naturally logical
• Engineers work with objective facts stated in numbers
• Engineers are problem solvers
• We need to know it all
• Self-learning is needed because technology keeps
changing
• + 96 others!

The Making of an Expert Engineer, Taylor & Francis, 2014

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www.jamesptrevelyan.com

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Engineering Investments
Investor Perceptions of Risk
Ch11: The Making of an Expert Engineer
Perceptions of risk & cost

Ch11: The Making of an Expert Engineer

Perceptions of risk & cost

Ch11: The Making of an Expert Engineer

Influencing Investor Perceptions
Influencing Investor Experiences