The pursuit of knowledge is an endless path, and we work hard to pave a road.
Ultimately, our goal is to increase the speed of human knowledge dissemination,
and equity on knowledge acquisition.
Professional identity and practice
The terms “professional”, “professional identity”, and “professionalism” are cited interchangeably in education. The American philosopher Mortimer J. Adler defined a professional as “a man or woman who does skilled work to achieve a useful social goal. In other words, the essential characteristic of a profession is the dedication of its members to the service they perform” (Manning and DeBakey 2003).
Competence = Knowledge + skills + ability + attitude
competence is understood as a broader concept than knowledge but also an affective component, including attitudes, values, behaviors, and motives, as well as personal traits, such as self-efficacy and self-confidence, and socio-communicative skills (Nilsson 2007). Competence or “know-how” is the ability, not yet put into practice, to do something as a result of knowledge in the presence of experience and judgment. It is the strategy an individual would apply in practice if an opportunity exists. It is divided into a formal aspect (formal merits and credentials) and an actual aspect (an individual’s capacity to appropriately manage a situation or complete a task).
On the other hand, performance is based on competence but is adapted by system factors and other circumstances. It is the implementation of learned strategies. Professional performance may be influenced by knowledge, competence, or by other factors external to the individual, including the system within which one practices (for example, incentives, resources, expectations, or demands). In brief, performance is competence implemented, or applied in actual practice: “show-how”.
Engineering practice
Engineering is one of the oldest professions, along with medicine and law. However, it differs from the other professions in that doctors and lawyers generally provide their services to specific individuals or corporations. Engineering is a profoundly creative, social activity; it tends to design and build things under constraint, as well as providing services. An engineer’s responsibility is more often to society than to specific people (Habash 2017).
Engineering defined
Being A Professional: Dale Atkins at TEDxYouth@EHS
The word “engineer” has its root in the Latin word “ingeniator”, which means ingenious, to devise, in the sense of construct, or craftsmanship. Several other words are related to ingeniator, including ingenuity (Johnston et al. 2000). The term “engineer” was used in the 1300s for a person who operated a military engine or machine such as a catapult or, later, cannon. The word “engine”, in turn, is derived from the Latin “ingenium” for ingenuity or cleverness and invention. The terms “art” and “technical” are important because engineering arranges elements in a way that may or may not appeal to human senses and emotions, and relates also to the Greek “technikos”, which involves art, craft, skill, and practical knowledge and language (UNESCO 2010).
History of engineering
The history of engineering as a profession, where payment is made in cash or kind for services, began with tool and weapon making, indicating that engineering is one of the oldest professions. The professionalization of engineering is illustrated by Imhotep, who built the Step Pyramid at Saqqara in 3000 bc and was one of the few commoner mortals to be accorded divine status after his death. That continued with the development of craft and guild knowledge and the formalization of associated knowledge and education. Leonardo da Vinci, for example, had the official title of Ingegnere Generale, and his notebooks reveal an increasing engineering interest in how things worked (UNESCO 2010).
What makes us feel good about our work? | Dan Ariely
Habash, R. 2017. Green Engineering: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Design . Boca Raton, FL: CRC Taylor and Francis.
Manning, P. R., and L. DeBakey. 2003. Preserving the Passion in the 21st Century . 2nd edition. New York, NY: Springer.
Nilsson, S. 2007. From higher education to professional practice: A comparative study of physicians’ and engineers’ learning and competence use. Linköping Studies in Behavioural Science. Linköping, Sweden: Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University. https ://pd fs.se manti cscho lar.o rg/80 e4/2b 95e1f 3ee7c 9e511 108c5 df14c 7440b ee4d. pdf.
UNESCO. 2010. Engineering: Issues, challenges, and opportunities for development. United Nations Educational Report, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, France, UNESCO Publishing.