Engineering 'mindset' doesn't include politics

SAN FRANCISCO — Engineers elsewhere apply their talents to the political sphere, but those in the United States, unfortunately, don't--and there are no signs the situation will change anytime soon. The overwhelming majority of American engineers choose industry and business, not government or policy, as their rightful place, even as their counterparts around the globe see no conflict between politics and their profession.

Political action can cross the line, as in the case of Chi Mak, a 67-year-old Chinese-born naturalized citizen and electrical engineer. Mak made headlines in March when he was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison and fined $50,000 for conspiring to export U.S. military knowledge to China.

Mak, who worked at Power Paragon Inc., an Anaheim, Calif., company that handled U.S. Navy contracts, was convicted in May 2007 of violating export-control laws, acting as an unregistered agent of the People's Republic of China and lying to the FBI. Prosecutors said he attempted to send encrypted disks with information relevant to the operation of U.S. warships to China.

The incident underscores the potential pitfalls of political involvement. But cases like Mak's are rarities. More commonly, engineers and technocrats in the United States have long made contributions to the public sphere in areas ranging from aerospace to networking.

Engineers in China are acknowledged as key players in the country's rapid economic rise. They're overrepresented in the Chinese Politburo and among government ministers, said William Wulf, president emeritus of the National Academy of Engineering and a professor at the University of Virginia.

Their role on the political stage is a reason for the country's success. "That's a real part of why China is doing so well," Wulf said. Lawyers predominate in American government, and while their solutions often address the immediate problems, they don't give much thought to future implications, he said.

The engineering mindset tends to focus on the long term. When you build a bridge that will be there for 100 years, you have to think about its impact, and its ability to absorb future traffic growth and adapt to new kinds of transport. "A lot of what we're seeing in China's astounding growth is that sort of long-term thinking," Wulf said.

There was a time when engineers played a greater role in U.S. public policy. NASA program directors--technocrats in the broadest sense--worked to get funding for the U.S. space program at its inception in the late 1950s. But even that effort doesn't match the role engineers are playing in other countries, according to Wulf.

"Maybe they were program directors in NASA, but they weren't in Congress, and you wouldn't have heard them opining about the economy," he said. If not politically inclined, then what are engineers? In their own words, they're logical, detail oriented and methodical. The profession attracts those who don't mind working on their own and who are confident--maybe overconfident--about their own abilities, said Vivek Wadhwa, a Harvard University fellow and professor at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.

"Common traits of engineers are that they tend to be introverts, they tend to be arrogant, they tend to be proud. That's the stereotypical engineer," said Wadhwa, a former tech entrepreneur who started his career as a programmer.

Their primary characteristics are a love of detail and the ability to work independently, he said. "You start your career writing code or doing other types of design work. For the first few years, you're really on your own. It's not a social profession," Wadhwa said.

Some engineers are more charismatic and outgoing than the majority of their brethren, and they're the ones who move into management and start companies, he said.

Engineers often are somewhat arrogant because they're generally very smart, Wadhwa said. They're different from other people, but their particular mindset is necessary for professional success, he added. Muhammad Sahimi, professor of chemical engineering and materials science at the University of Southern California, identified engineers' defining characteristics as an analytical bent and a facility for math and physics. However, social conditions play a huge role in who studies engineering, he said.

"In Islamic or developing countries, people usually study engineering simply because they think it offers them a better future," said Sahimi, who is also the National Iranian Oil Co. chair in petroleum engineering at USC.