Ungrateful Clients 1

[655321]

Has anyone else experienced completely ungrateful clients, who seem to have no idea what we do for them and little respect for our profession?

I don't know how many more meetings I can sit through with our clients slobbering all over the attorney and the architect (no offense architects) but never a kind word for the engineer... and we are the ones that actually take their ill-conceived ideas and make them work.

What I am doing wrong?

 

[MedicineEng]

Stop whinning!!! They don't pay you for that

 

[plasgears]

D.B. Steinman, the bridge engr, spent a segment of his career boosting the image of the graduate engineer. He combatted the use of the title 'Engr' in non-related fields. When business owners were confronted with Steinman's objections, they usually changed the name of the company.

He discovered that architects frequently gave engineers low recognition. The Empire State Building dedication plaque excluded all references to the key engineers involved, even though the project was an engineering marvel.

I have made presentations to high school seniors on the field of engineering and the types of practical solutions that engineers are capable of executing. Let's face it: engineering is not generally understood by the general population. Secondary school students study math and science, but the connection with the engineering profession is freqently skirted.

 

[csd72]

plasgears,

Good point regarding the empire state building. I have seen plaques on many high rise buildings and they never mention the engineer.

High rise buildings are an engineering achievement, not an architectural one. The engineers work hard to get it to work whereas the architecture involved in a two storey building can be far more complex than that in a highrise.

By the way, did you realise it was the elevator that made high rises possible, before that was invented, they could build them high but nobody wanted to walk up to them.

csd

 

[epoisses]

well some high rise buildings (if you can call it one) do mention engineers:

http://famous-paris.cartapuce.com/2006/02/72-names-on-eiffel-tower.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower

but it did already have an elevator in 1889

 

[csd72]

With 72 names on there, it would be a massive insult if the engineer was not mentioned. Particularly since the building is 90% engineering and 10% architecture.

 

[EddyC]

I'm busy enough dealing with ungrateful employers, let alone ungrateful customers.

 

[MortenA]

To csd72:

But the Eiffel tower is NAMED aften an engineer - can it be any better?

The Hoover dam is actually also named after an engineer (Herbert Hoover) allthough he also became to the an US president later on.


Best regards

Morten