An engineered world

Press, 10 February 1982, Page 20

An engineered world

Christchurch is host this week to some 500 members of a profession to which New Zealanders owe much of the convenience, and safety, productivity, costs and savings, and some of the disadvantages of their late twentieth century lives. They are the engineers attending the sixty-eighth annual conference of the New Zealand Institution of Engineers.

The skills of engineers have played a major part in the development of New Zealand since its European settlement. Their hands can be seen in buildings, in major works that supply energy to consumers, in roads, mines, railways and irrigation schemes, factories and industrial plants; the list is long. The extent to which New Zealanders depend on engineers’ getting their calculations right is shown occasionally by the disastrous results when they get their i calculations wrong. The rarity of such occurrences, however, shows that the trust which New Zealanders put in engineers is rarely misplaced. Such trust is generally unconscious, though it may come to mind occasionally when crossing a particularly daring bridge, looking over a large dam. or when buildings endure winds and earthquakes.

Many major engineering projects up and down the country provide evidence of the high level of technical skills attained by the profession in New Zealand. The Rangitikei bridge, opened to traffic late last year, is a recent example of note. Before the conference opened, its director, the Christchurch City Council’s buildings engineer, made a plea that full use be made of the resourcefulness and skills of New Zealand engineers before overseas consultants are called in to work on the major projects with which the Government is pressing ahead. New Zealand engineers

are happy to admit that in some specialised fields they have much to learn from colleagues overseas. They are entitled to assurances that where there is work within their capabilities, it will be directed towards them. New Zealand engineers, it should be remembered, also make their contributions to works in other countries.

Engineers are not everybody’s favourite people. Some see them as responsible for works that disfigure the landscape with obtrusive structures, or as people anxious -to solve technical problems ,in the most economical way possible, with scant regard for appearances. Some works of engineering justify this criticism. Some engineers have also shown a capacity to answer engineering problems with solutions that have great aesthetic appeal. Community appreciation of the best works of engineering could well encourage „engineers to pursue more vigorously the goal of solutions that are pleasing or dramatic in appearance as well as technically efficient.

Among the great advantages in engineering today are the achievements in the strength of materials and the miniaturisation of technology. These advantages mean less bulk, in machines and structures, even to the extent that results of engineering skills are inconspicuous. Many products of engineering skills are also money-savers or time-savers. A conference such as is being held in Christchurch this week is a reminder that the best information and experience in the profession are things to be shared as widely as possible — ultimately for the benefit of the community.