Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

AN OVERVIEW OF ENGINEERINGprocess of diffusion or circulation. But if mediation includestranslation from isolated worlds of researchers into termsand means of implementation that must fit the conditions ofaffected communities and lives of diverse stakeholders, suchwork is a crucial site of creative contribution. In recent years,engineers engaged in sustainable community developmenthave found themselves mediating the perspectives and formsof knowledge of local communities, municipal governments,national government agencies, and international organizations.Is such work external to engineering practice or an integralcomponent?Engineering Studies researchers thus call direct attention to theexistence and presence of engineers, as well as to the technicaland non-technical contents of engineering work. They seekto increase the visible presence of engineers and engineeringwork and to contribute to improving the abilities of engineersto both serve and critically analyse the projects they engage.Built into engineering knowledge and engineering work is asense of altruism that has received relatively little criticalanalysis or attention. Preserving the work of putting engineeringknowledge into service, making more visible what is bothincluded and excluded from that service work, and enhancingthe extent to which engineering service benefits widely distributedpopulations, including those at low-income levels,all depends upon both understanding and critically engagingwhat engineering is, who engineers are, and what engineers do.Engineering studies researchers aspire to such contributions, inorder both to understand and to help.AcknowledgementsThe authors thank Saul Hafon, Olga Pierrakos and MatthewThe authors thank Saul Hafon, Olga Pierrakos and MatthewWisnioski for for their their helpful helpful comments comments on earlier on earlier drafts. Gary drafts. Downey GaryDowney acknowledges acknowledges support from support the U.S. from National the U.S. Science National Foundation ScienceFoundation through Grant through #EEC-0632839: Grant Engineering #EEC-0632839: Leadership Engineering through Problem LeadershipDefinition through and Problem Solution. Definition Juan Lucena and acknowledges Solution. support Juan Lucena fromacknowledges the U.S. National support Science Foundation from the U.S. through National Grant # Science EEC-0529777: FoundationEnhancing through Engineering Grant # Responsibility EEC-0529777: with Enhancing Humanitarian Engineering Ethics:Responsibility Theory and Practice with of Humanitarian Ethics: in Theory Graduate and Engineering PracticeofEducation.Humanitarian Ethics in Graduate Engineering Education.4.5.2 Engineering, science andtechnology policyTony MarjoramIntroductionEngineering and technology policy consists of backgroundinformation, discussions and debates, policy papers, plans,regulatory frameworks, legislation and laws underpinningactions, funding prioritization and decision-making of government,governmental entities and agencies, non-governmentalorganizations and the private sector. Policy perspectives areparticularly represented and reflected in legislation and budgetarypriorities. Engineering and technology policy includesthe process relating to the need for, development of and decisionsrelating to policy issues being considered and implemented.This process includes various power interests, actorsand lobbies in government, industry and the private sector,professional organizations, universities and academia; policyresearch, institutes, journals and reports are an important inputinto the policy process, particularly in developed countries.Various models of decision-making may be used to analysepolicy issues and formation, these include rational-, politicalandorganizational-actor models, although one person makingan influential presentation to a relevant government ministercan also make a difference – for example, to make referenceto engineering in a national Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.Engineers can make a difference at the personal, political andpolicy levels, and need to develop and share skills and experiencein these areas.Policies include political, managerial, financial, and administrativeguidelines for action to achieve general or specific goals inthe public and private sectors, at institutional, divisional andpersonal levels. Policies may be broadly distributive (e.g. publicwelfare, education) or constituent (executive or legislative),and more specifically regulatory or sectoral; most policies, likedevelopment plans, are sectoral in nature. Policy is usually producedas part of a ‘policy cycle’, which includes the followingphases and processes:■■■■■■Issue presentation, identification of scope, applicability,responsibilities.Policy analysis, consultation, dialogue.Policy formulation, coordination, instrument development.Policy decision, adoption.Policy implementation.Policy monitoring, evaluation, review, reformulation.While policies are goal-oriented, there may be policy ‘interference’and counterintuitive, unexpected and unintendedeffects and impacts, hence the need for policy coherence,review and possible reformulation. Governments may havepolicies to promote renewable energy for example, and atthe same time have high tax/import duties on solar panels.At the organizational level, executive decisions may similarlypromote renewable energy but make cuts in the engineeringprogrammes necessary to support such activities. Policiesand policy frameworks are usually explicit, in the form ofpapers, instruments and processes, but may also be implicit;the absence of policy statements does not infer the absence of171