Outcomes of the Meeting
of the Committee on Engineering & Environment on 17 October 2006  at Chicago               ........... 7

From the dawn of civilization, five thousand or more years ago the catalyst for change has been the unobtrusive, self-effacing engineer. The magnificent survivals unearthed by archaeologists bear the names of emperors, pharaohs, satraps, generals and other potentates. Not a single engineer's name has come down to us and it is perhaps the reason why engineers generally shy away from publicity. Makes one think that they never sought it, anyway, because their works endure as an everlasting memorial to their professional skills.

Indeed, where would anybody be if there hadn't been any engineers? Who would have laid out the first cities with their amazing sewage disposal systems? Where would be the enormous irrigation canals that watered the fields? Where would be the enormous fortifications that protected the inhabitants of these cities if not for the skill of bygone military engineers? Indeed, civilization would not have happened and we would all have been in the Stone Age or before!

The very essence of ancient knowledge has been bequeathed us and we have taken this forward, refining it with our analysis, research and study, reaching new heights, solving .insoluble. technological problems and pushing the frontiers of knowledge further and further to the outer limits, towards the ultimate horizon! That's magnificent as the entire enterprise builds up an irresistible momentum of its own.

For example, in the 20th century, we acquired more knowledge and understanding than in the entire 50 centuries that preceded it!! That's awesome and also humbling when we stop to consider what we possess and what we are acquiring, every day. It means tremendous responsibility to use this huge legacy wisely and well to shape and create a tranquil future. Indeed, a future where the impoverishment of the spirit and the body would only be faint memories sliding into the realms of myth and legend.

Engineers, by virtue of their professions, are Agents of Change, catalysts, playing a pivotal role in creating the future, and not impotent creatures merely watching the future unfold. By no means are engineers spectators, they are the players, with the other learned professions, in fashioning and weaving the new tapestry of civilization.

A strict insistence upon and promotion of the Code of Ethics is a sine qua non for all practicing engineers.

In a value-based society, the religio-cultural environment encourages adherence to ethical and moral principals and the Code of Ethics so as to strengthen and enhance the value-based infrastructure. Therefore, by and large, the engineering community should adhere to the laid down principles as a matter of course and as a matter of fact as it adds to their stature in the community at large, adding luster to the profession and giving the individual engineer an honoured and respected place in society.

We look forward to a glorious future that we can build together with our colleagues in the world wide fraternity of engineers.