We, the Engineers of the nation.
“Normal people believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broken, it doesn’t have enough features yet”.
-Scott Adams
India made its mark on the history of engineering in the 1860s when Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya received recognition for his contributions as the country’s first engineer. Every year, India observes September 15 as Engineer’s Day in his honour. A recipient of the Bharat Ratna Award, he founded an engineering and educational institute, created block irrigation, and constructed the KRS reservoir. After being knighted by the British, he became known as Sir MV and is regarded as the best civil engineer from India.
The year is currently 2022. Engineering as a field has expanded and flourished by leaps and bounds. Let’s take a look at the question.
How can we conceptualize engineering?
It simply doesn’t come down to the word’s definition or some internet facts that claim civil engineering is the origin of all engineering sciences. There are now numerous innovations in this field that are just as awe-inspiring to explore as they are complex to implement.
The invention of transistors kickstarted the insatiable inclination to innovation. Since transistors are involved, we can now view and seize the world digitally.
In recent times, engineering which incorporates biology is gaining traction. Various bioinspired bioengineering approaches are being created and put into practice.
Given the right working expertise, this profession now offers enormous prospects. Unfortunately, in India, more than half of science students choose to major in engineering without really understanding why they are working so hard to pass an exam to get into a school. This is due to peer pressure and exam pressure.
Our nation undoubtedly has a wealth of creative problem-solvers who can logically put ideas into practice and build beautiful structures.
The relationship between India and engineering spans several millennia.
The architectural structures of the monarchy and religion were admirably made to endure. The Indus Valley culture, which dates to the fourth millennium BCE, has also been linked to engineering. During this time, other engineering specialties were developed, including irrigation engineering and transportation engineering. Between 3000 and 1500 BCE, urban communities grew and included modern advancements, like brick homes, drainage systems, water harvesting, sanitation systems, etc.
When we come back to the present day, we observe that the major reason for this field of study not getting enough recognition is due to over crowdedness in this domain, making specializations even more valuable, and thus the term itself has become overused over time.
The majority of today’s youth are picking career paths that are not in line with their passions and are misinterpreting the meaning of the courses they are pursuing. Despite the ambiguous situation, engineering continues to be touted as one of the most enthralling and profitable fields of study. It is a discipline which ignites a fervour for innovation and encourages its disciples to work for the advancement of humankind.
So let us spread the word that the need of the hour is to pursue even the smallest area of study in this field, with the right amount of application-based knowledge.
New generations are looking up to prospects with aspirations, and the educational context of the community comes into alignment with the existing ideating mind of the nation to build things that matter.
We can only hope that as we continue to study this fascinating topic, we will learn how to put what we have learned into practice and interact with our fellow citizens in a way that will make their lives easier through the engineering solutions we develop.
Team DAKSH SASTRA would like to wish everyone a very Happy Engineers’ Day.
We build things that matter.
