Engineer Stereotypes

In this and recent generations, the engineer stereotype can include calculating, cold, and sometimes greedy attributes (especially petroleum engineers). Some view the occupation 's activities as pinching pennies, making the most acceptably flimsy product, all while dodging regulations and trying to squeeze the most profit from an enterprise. It would be understandable to think of these as a selfish sort of people until the train enters the tunnel. Things go dark as you soar 100 miles an hour into the heart of a mountain, but for some reason we remain calm.

For the same reason that we don 't scream for our lives when dentists scrape our mouth with razors, when a doctor sets a broken leg, or when you trust another human to keep you from receiving a life sentence in prison, we have a contract of trust with the engineer. Engineers are the protectors of the environment and fellow man. Anything can be built. From bridges and skyscrapers, to cargo ships and forty thousand foot holes in the ground. The reason we confidently drive over these bridges, ascend these skyscrapers, drill these

All of these occupations encompass what a petroleum engineer is and what they do. An ethical engineer puts safety before profits, and an ethical petroleum engineer 's concern is that of his staff, the environment, and the surrounding population. In my summer internship, I worked on drilling and workover locations where safety meetings were held at every juncture, displaying occupational hazards and training the procedure to maintain everybody 's safety, as described by the engineer. As a result of management 's efforts, few to no injuries occurred, and those rare injuries only when ignoring the safety procedure. Of highest importance is the wellbeing of the environment that we live in and pass down to next generations. In the vein of Thomas Paine 's philosophy on shared civic responsibility, the engineer must guarantee the wellbeing of the environment and