Last weekend in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan we undertook a simple ceremony called the Order of The Engineer. Over seventy students approaching graduation elected to participate in the event and join the order. The students recited an oath, and then lined up to proceed, one-by-one, to have a stainless steel ring placed on the small finger of their working hand. It’s the only meeting of the Order of The Engineer in which they will ever participate. Huh… what’s up with that?
The ceremony has a very simple purpose: it’s a moment to pause, right before their last set of final exams, and think about what they have committed to in undertaking to be engineers.
As part of the ceremony we recall an episode in engineering history when American and Canadian engineers building a bridge in Quebec screwed up. During construction, on August 29, 1907, the bridge collapsed, killing over 70 workers. The collapse was the fault of poor design, poor analysis, and poor construction management: errors squarely on the shoulders of the engineers. Because of this collapse Canadian engineers commonly wear iron or steel rings, said originally to have been made from the wreckage of the bridge. This ring is a reminder to the engineer of her obligation to those who rely on her skill for their livelihood and safety, and by its wear against paper as the ring moves over pages of plans and calculations the experience of the engineering is symbolically judged.
In the United States this same tradition has taken hold over the last 40 years through the Order of the Engineer ceremony for graduating engineers, reminding American engineering students to reflect on their obligation to society.
What do you imagine is your obligation to society?
Honesty
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