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The Ritual Calling of the Engineer
- potatolicious 16y agoFor the non-Canadian-engineers in the audience, the picture is the Iron Ring that is given to all engineering graduates in Canada. It's worn on the pinky of the working hand, the original purpose being that it will smudge as you draw/write and generally serve as a constant reminder of the oath you've taken. I know a couple of people who have stopped wearing it since graduation despite still doing engineering work. It's a little disappointing.
- qq66 16y agoMaybe they don't want their work smudged?
- phugoid 16y agoHard to smudge a mousepad...
- jrbedard 16y agoI lost mine somewhere in California :/ I would be curious to see the percentage of my graduating colleagues of 5 years ago, who still wear it.
- chollida1 16y ago> the original purpose being that it will smudge as you draw/write and generally serve as a constant reminder of the oath you've taken. Really? I always thought it was so you would see it when you where about to sign off on drawings so you would do one more mental check in your head to make sure you are doing proper due diligence. I guess it's the same idea:)
- joegaudet 16y agoI think the ring it self was supposed to wear down over time. There is also a thing about it being as far away from your 'gold' wedding band as possible, signifying that your primary goal in work should be the work... not the gold.
- adambard 16y agoIt's worn on the pinky finger so that you can feel it when you rest your hand to write (sign something). Just to remind you to not screw up and kill people. The ring itself wears down over time, obviously, and I've heard some symbolism about "rough edges" going away as you age associated with it. I've even heard an anecdote about a senior engineer who lost his ring and got a replacement. He was seen in the machine shop taking a belt sander to it because he "felt like a kid." The symbolism about other rings is that the mofo is steel and rough, meaning that you can't really wear another ring next to it without damaging it (unless you have another steel ring). The symbolism is about the pursuit of good engineering trumping the pursuit of wealth. I'm sure the fact that hardness of the ring makes it capable of (and good at) opening beer bottles is entirely unintentional.
- koenigdavidmj 16y ago>I'm sure the fact that hardness of the ring makes it capable of (and good at) opening beer bottles is entirely unintentional. They're Canadians.
- amackera 16y agoIt's worn on the pinky finger of the working hand so that it drags across your work, serving as a constant reminder. It doesn't smudge, it just presses against your skill all the time. That's also why it has the rugged "hammered" look. It's rough because the ring is not jewelry, it's meant to be rough to remind you of the symbolism.
- psnj 16y agoAlthough it is a bit goddy for my tastes, I've always liked the Ritual Calling of the Engineer and the Iron Ring that goes with it, which is unusual because I'm certainly not one for ceremony. But I appreciate the serious tone and quiet underlining of the importance of the discipline. I'm not an engineer, but one of my top software dev industry pet peeves: "Software Engineers" who aren't actually engineers. It drives me nuts.
- darthpanda 16y agoYeah some good points in there. But it reads like Tolkien.
- jrbedard 16y agoPet peeve for me too, specially at Silicon Valley startups, where a political science grad student who codes some Ruby on Rails on the side, joins the company as a "Senior Software Engineer".
- joegaudet 16y agoI couldn't agree more, that's why I like that in Canada you have to be a PEng to get to out right call your self an engineer on your resume or business card. Me personally I am an EIT (Engineer in Training) which means I have a degree but not enough work experience (you need 4 years under a PEng) to be a full fledged Engineer.
- dmm 16y agoRegardless of what the official reasons stated for the creation of such government enforced monopolies on professional titles are, the true motivations are always the same: protectionism. Requiring someone to have an official certification and then limiting the number of such certifications, either explicitly or implicitly by requiring extensive education and experience, reduces the number of certified individuals, resulting in higher wages.
- rbanffy 16y agoWould you be fine flying planes designed and built by professionals without extensive education and experience? I thought so...
- vishaldpatel 16y agoPretty good oath for being a good human being all around ... not just for engineers.
- joegaudet 16y agoCouldn't agree more.
- wazoox 16y agoAbsolutely unreadable dark grey on black. Are you nuts?
- mbrubeck 16y agoYou can use http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/ http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/ or just disable the stylesheet in your browser ("View -> Page Style -> No Style" in Firefox).
- joegaudet 16y agoI was about to plead the old, I am an engineer, cut me a break deal. But actually, in all honesty, I don't often look at my blog from the outside of tumblr perspective. And this is the first thing I've posted of my own on here. So long and short, point taken, I'll look at some of the other built in tumblr themes... I don't want to spend time making a fancy one my self. .joe
- wazoox 16y agoThank you, and sorry for the harsh tone, in daylight I winced and could read nothing :)
- ab9 16y ago"Here in Canada we take the term fairly seriously (it's copyrighted)." Wow, I can understand a tweet being a creative work and therefore copyrightable, but a single word?
- russss 16y agoIt's not copyrighted (of course you can't copyright a single word), but it is a protected term. You're not allowed to use it unless you're qualified. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_over_the_term_Engineer#Canada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_over_the_term_Eng...
- _delirium 16y agoSeems strangely Orwellian (in the sense of his politics-via-language writings, not the police-state kind of Orwellianism). It's a descriptive word that long predates these organizations, so it's sort of weird for them to retroactively take ownership of it. I can see specific, narrower terms, like Professional Engineer or Licensed Engineer, but engineering is just a description of a kind of activity that people have done for millennia, and an engineer is someone who does it.
- yurisagalov 16y agoInterestingly, very few Canadian schools still offer _iron_ rings, most of them nowadays are made out of stainless steel. I believe Camp one (i.e. University of Toronto and Ryerson) are the only schools left who offer real _iron_ rings (they're actually often rings returned by people who have retired/passed away, since it is asked that upon retiring from the Engineering profession you return your ring)... I'm not sure it's possible, but if you're a Canadian Engineer I'd highly recommend to drop by the Engineering Alumni office at UofT and getting yourself a real iron ring if you can, they're absolutely amazing.
- potatolicious 16y agoSee, I like the idea of the iron ring, but there's a certain sentimental value to the one you got at graduation. I think I'm going to try and keep this for as long as I can even though it's stainless :S
- amackera 16y agoNah all the camps still offer them, you just need to ask. I wanted a stainless steel one, since the only thing that really matters to me is the symbolism.
- thisduck 16y agoI don't wear the ring because it has undertones of being a status symbol. "I'm a smart engineer, with a ring to prove it."
- joegaudet 16y agoWhich I always find amusing, because its intent couldn't be farther from a status symbol. I feel as though the actions of a few arrogant engineers have ruined what is a very good tradition.
- xster 16y agolol, isn't the idea of the ring humbleness and humility in face of their roles and responsibilities?
- bitsurge 16y agoI think of mine as a +1 ring of responsibility.
- crpatino 16y agoYou could wear your ring "a la Frodo", you know? I'd be kind of cool, not wearing it on your finger, because of the effect it may have on your personality; but a ring-bearer you're non the less.
- lleger 16y agoThat's a really interesting tradition, Joe — thanks for sharing. As an engineering student in the US, I was unaware of this, but I kind of wish we took part in such a sacrament too. Being an engineer is an honor and truly is something you must be called to do. On a side note, I get really offended when people nonchalantly call themselves engineers. It's a title you have to earn, not one you just can decide to call yourself.
- joegaudet 16y agoI believe some schools in the states are starting to do a similar tradition.
- lleger 16y agoAccording to Wikipedia, there is a similar organization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Engineer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Engineer), but the chapter at my university is inactive (according to their website). Such a shame.
- adambard 16y agoI think my favorite part of the ceremony was the poem Rudyard Kipling wrote about engineers, entitled "The Sons of Martha." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_Martha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_Martha
- prodigal_erik 16y agoA good antidote to "Work fast and don't be afraid to break things". Even when there's a legitimate business case for sloppy work, somehow it just never sits right.
- jarek 16y agoNitpick: as the text itself says, but the title doesn't, the name is "The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer".
- hoprocker 16y agoFascinating. Strikes me as somewhat a parallel to the Hippocratic Oath. Being that engineering often deals with taming huge forces (somebody here referred to a collapsing bridge), and also with the welfare of the public, the argument for a ritual hilighting personal responsibility can definitely be substantiated.
- jff 16y agoI just entered the American equivalent, the Order of the Engineer. Our ring is smooth, polished stainless steel and the obligation is not as ponderous (written around 1970 as I recall). I think it's definitely a worthwhile thing.