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Presidential address delivered at the inaugural of 96th annual sessions of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka at the BMICH

by B. R. O. Fernando, Engineer

Engineers belong to that sector classified as 'Services' in the national economy. It accounts for about 53 percent of GDP. In 2001 it recorded a negative growth of 0.5 percent according to the Central Bank Report but not in the areas in which engineers were involved. For example, transport and communications recorded moderate positive growth rates with the telecommunications sector growing vigorously and showing a 25.5 percent growth in 2001.

In an area that impacts significantly on the interests of engineers, the Central Bank has approved and recommended to the Cabinet the removal of the remaining restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the area of Construction (among others), enabling the sector to attract further foreign investment.

Engineering has been and still is the forerunner for the development and progress of any country. But for engineering where will you and I be today. To be more precise how could we boast of our ancient civilization. We should never forget that we are key people in building and sustaining civilization. Engineers are creators, designers, fashioners and builders. Our ancestors of prehistoric ages were the great designers and builders, who used indigenous methods to fashion and build mother earth. They did not have the modern methods of today such as the use of computer software programming. But they did wonders. The pyramids of Egypt, Tajmahal of India, The Great Wall of China, The Great Indus Valley, to name a few. Then look at our own country, the Sea of Parakrama, the Great Ruwanwelisaya Dagoba, the Sigiriya Palace in the sky, the Yoda Ela or Giant's Canal and countless other works too numerous to mention which are living memories of their great feats.

With that I come to the theme of our session 2001/2002 "The Role of Engineers for Social and Economic Development". You will agree with me when I state that all engineers have a key role to play in the development of the infrastructure in any country in the globe. This key role is not limited to power and energy, water supply, transportation or the environment. The roll of the engineer extends to housing, railways, roads, highways and bridges, irrigation, telecommunications, airports and harbours, information technology and scores of other specializations and subsections therein.

The Johannesburg Earth Summit held in September 2002 discussed a 500 page report consisting of 40 chapters. The first eight chapters was on "Social and Economic Development". We professional engineers the world over should take a lesson from the mistakes made by humanity in the twentieth century and promote the spirit of sustenance and zeal in all spheres of our activities. This very concept will definitely change the life style of people and bring with it a social order through out the world where our future generations will live in peace, harmony and fellowship.

The role of an engineer is far reaching and beyond the vistas of human thinking and imagination. The merging technologies of communications and computing have brought about a revolution in everyday life during the twenty first century.

The familiar mobile phone, C D players and fax machines are being joined by digital broadcast radio and television which offer more channels and much clearer sound and pictures. The invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 has taken dramatic developments in the technology of telecommunications to seek to improve communication between people globally. Today we see the conversion of analog systems to digital, the dominance of the computer in both operations and management, the widespread use of microelectronics technology, and perhaps more significant in the longer term, the transmission of speech not by electrical signals but by light.

Todays business leaders are able to communicate worldwide without paper, and can have meetings with key staff across the globe without leaving either their office or even the home.

Thus the principal assets of a company have become information, or to put it another way, we are in a knowledge based economy. The greatest single technological input of the decade absorbed by Sri Lanka has been information and communications technology. Everything else pales into insignificance in the face of the digital electronic revolution sweeping the country and penetrating its remotest parts.

The single greatest factor that facilitated this revolution is the fact that it enjoyed broad partisan support across the political spectrum. Even if politicians and powerful decision makers did not grasp the full implications and impact of the ITC revolution, they did not oppose it. Now, the pressure is to take ITC to the rural villages, and make everyone electronically literate to e-literate. The most appreciated gift by a school principal is the gift of a computer, the most appreciated scholarship is in computer science as the entire country tries to catch-up with the rest of the world.

Managers and leaders

As engineers go through their lives they are increasingly called upon to act in a management role. That requires a particular skill set. Some end up as leaders of technology based companies or in other parts of the manufacturing, construction or service based industries or government that requires a different skill set.

It is important to distinguish between management and leadership. If I am to quote a simple contrasting definition, "Managers do things right, leaders to the right thing". In other words, a leader will know what is best to do, while a manager knows how best to do it.

Some engineers make excellent managers and never want to be leaders. Some have a desire to be a leader early in their carrier. Some find, when they look within themselves, that they don't have leadership potential, nor do they wish to find it. When it comes to engineering and technology sectors of industry, however, companies need engineers with leadership skills to run them, not accountants, lawyers or administrators. In this context the Chairman of Sony summed it up by comparing business with sport. "Just as you would not have a rugby coach who never played the game, how can someone who does not understand the working of technology or engineering take up the reigns of a technology operation?

An excellent definition of what it means to be a leader comes from the former Governor General of Australia, Field Marshall Lord Slim, "There is a difference between leadership and management", he said, "Leadership is of the spirit compounded of personality and vision, its patience is an art. Management is of the mind, a matter of accurate calculation, its practice is science. Managers are necessary, leaders are essential."

In the 21st Century, success comes from multi - disciplined teams. The leader does not need to understand the detail of each team member's job, but must appreciate the role they play. The massive changes brought about by the explosion of technology will be experienced by engineers at their places of work today Markets will be global, with companies operating from anywhere and competing for business worldwide against other global companies. Employers will be global. We will see the growth of virtual companies as well as virtual Universities and centres of learning. The hours of work will be flexible and many people will work from home or transient offices. They will work in geographical locations to suit their family needs.

This brings with it to place before you the dilemma faced in Sri Lanka in some establishments when important appointments as Secretaries of Ministries, Chairmen of State Corporations which are engineering based are held by non engineering executives.

Some of these appointments are political and thus result in a detrimental effect to the progress and output of these establishments. One of the bottlenecks viewed by IESL are in the provincial secretariats. The related works based mostly in engineering covers construction of bridges, roads, highways, buildings, housing, irrigation projects, water supply and drainage works and power and energy. We feel that policy decisions pertaining to engineering should be the bedrock of engineering and not of administrators.

How could administrators make decisions on engineering? Is this not a case of filling square pegs into round holes. We have eight IESL provincial centres in the country and our engineers working in the outstations are doing an important and responsible role in the social and economic development in the provinces.

It is important for our professional engineers to hold the key posts of secretaries in the Provincial Secretariats where the work is purely technical and engineering based and not merely a post of a Director or Deputy Director of Engineering, in the provincial secretariat set-up. Immediate action should be taken by the Government to rectify this anomalous position and prevent a recurrence of a similar situation as has been witnessed by many state corporations which are today on the verge of collapse or liquidation.

University - industry co-operation

The application of Science and Technology is the main agent of industrial economic and social development. The promotion of co-operation between Science and Technology knowledge produces in the Universities and Research and Development (R&D) Institutions and Science and Technology (S&T) knowledge users in industry and the private sector is vital in the process of innovation and commercialization of R & D. This is extremely important for a developing country like Sri Lanka with economies in transition at a time of globalisation and changing work organisation.

Universities, public and private research institutes, industry and government have to become more closely involved and aware of the importance of co-operation with S&T to promote sustainable economic and social development. Industrial development requires education, training and technology transfer.

This process should be facilitated by the promotion of University - Industry co-operation. We are glad to note that the process is already in motion with assistance from the Asian Development Bank.

The adaptation of University engineering education to address and promote industrial, economic and social needs is of paramount importance. The industry players need the promotion of partnerships between universities and industries in continuing engineering education for professional engineers.

The IESL seeks the assistance of industrial organisations to provide this important service to our engineers who are following engineering education at universities which is a pre-requisite to have a structured course of training. With the rapid development of technologies in the industry it is also essential for the University teachers to keep abreast with the latest developments by engaging in research studies in industry. We request industrial establishments to provide the necessary opportunities to the academics.

I mentioned earlier that engineers are creators. Let me illustrate that by saying that the words "engine" and "ingenious" is derived from the same latin root, 'ingeneare' which means to 'create'. The early history of creative engineers provides vital evidence of the values, character and basic attitudes that establish their 'core' attributes. These are unlikely to change through their life.

The entrepreneurs sense of values and self awareness help to establish their self-belief and confidence. From an early age creative engineers set themselves targets, usually over a short time-scale. Achieving goals increases confidence to tackle more ambitious projects. Overcoming setbacks and other trials in life helps to develop the entrepreneurs' characteristics, the ability to persevere and the resilience to bounce back, particularly when the going gets tough.

It is to give budding engineers this innovative and entrepreneurial skills that IESL is conducting the Junior Inventor of the Year (JIY) competition annually, open for students between the ages of 14 to 20 years. Today we have 5 students in the audience who will carry away awards for their innovative skills. We request school principals and teachers to inculcate and encourage the students to demonstrate their skills by taking part in the JIY competitions. IESL has awarded 5 scholarships for the second year in succession to enable talented and innovative students to improve on their creative skills. The scholarships are tenable during their balance school carrier as a student and also for their undergraduate studies at the University provided they choose engineering subjects for their course of studies.

Power crisis

The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka in keeping with the Corporate Plan that was prepared from 2001 to 2006 was alive to its Vision and Mission statements, and to its goals and objectives.

The power crisis of 2001 resulting in an increase in electricity tariffs with extended hours of power cuts upto five hours was viewed seriously by IESL as a retrograde step for the economic development of Sri Lanka.

The delay in the implementation of the coal power project by successive governments since 1990 brought about this end result which burdened the domestic consumers, industry players, hoteliers and the construction industry. IESL made intensive coverage in both the electronic and print media including presentations to the Minister of Power & Energy with memorandum to HE the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers requesting the urgent implementation of Norochcholai Coal Power Plant a cheaper form of energy than diesel plants in order to avert a catastrophic situation to the national economy.

We are however glad to note that the government has approved the coal power plant to be installed in Trincomalee, which would enable commissioning by the year 2008. However we regret the delay in its implementation which if delayed further will see more diesel power plants connected to the National Grid.

IESL also views with regret the delay in implementation of the Upper Kotmale Hydro Project despite the availability of funds to commence the project. IESL views the protests made by various sections pertaining to other development projects which have received environmental clearance as a further setback to the development process and economic uplift of Sri Lanka.

I will be failing in my duty if I do not mention another matter of national importance. The problems faced by the construction industry. Our Sri Lankan engineers have received accolades and acceptances internationally in undertaking projects as contractors and consultants. But on our own soil, where our engineers could excel we have to depend on foreign consultants and contractors due to the conditions tied to foreign funded aid packages. Is this another way of frustrating our engineers when they are very much capable of delivering the goods? IESL calls upon the government to give our Sri Lankan engineers their due place in the construction and building industry.

Engineering in the 21st century is a great challenge and a social responsibility for our membership. Engineering being a multidisciplinary profession, we can no longer remain narrowly confined to a single discipline, and hope to be good practising engineers, or good professionals. We must therefore venture out and have our co-values revolving around conscience, ethics and accountability in the work undertaken by us for the social, economic, cultural and political development of our country. I call upon our membership to demonstrate their professional and social responsibilities in all matters related to the nation building process. It is very important for the Government to recognize the potential and capabilities of the professional engineer, in this premier Engineering Institution in Sri Lanka.

A professional engineer is one who is capable of assuming professional responsibility for the analysis of engineering principles in the solution of problems and able to communicate his ideas clearly, concisely and intelligibly to others. His or her works requires the exercise of original thought and judgement and the ability to supervise technical and managerial work of others. Thus by setting our goals and carrying out our objectives in the correct direction, I am certain that when we celebrate the centenary of this professional institution in 2006 that we would have achieved the aims of the vision and mission statements of this Institution and that our engineers will be exemplary managers and leaders.

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