Abstract

In the nineteenth century, civil and structural engineers received much public acclaim for their built works (e.g. Brooklyn Bridge, Eiffel Tower). One hundred years later, the engineer was perceived by many as “out” or as not requiring much skill. This paper examines how this erroneous perception of structural engineering can change by presenting structural engineers as heroes. Using parallels to the monomythical hero, and examples of engineers, the authors present the journey and characteristics of the structural engineering hero. The journey, which has many paths, begins with the engineer leaving the comfortable “Ordinary World” of design into a “Special World”, where new forms, new materials, and/or scale for projects is needed. For underrepresented groups of people such as women and minorities, the heroic journey could be simply becoming an engineer and developing a career in conditions of equality and equity. As structural engineering heroes enter the Special World, they may face trials of nature and criticism, and face constraints of economy, time and knowledge. In the final Act of the journey, they return to the Ordinary World wiser, disseminating their knowledge and inspiring others. The authors define the characteristics of structural engineering heroes by four “P”s: they are prepared, they are planners, they have (super) powers and they are persona grata. The education of the structural engineer should train and inspire future engineers using the lessons learned from the heroes and their diversity. By doing so, what seems exceptional today can become common in the future.

摘要

在 19 世纪，土木和结构工程师因其建造的工程（例如布鲁克林大桥、埃菲尔铁塔）而广受公众赞誉。一百年后，工程师被许多人视为“外行”或不需要太多技能。本文通过将结构工程师呈现为英雄来研究如何改变这种对结构工程的错误看法。作者使用与单一神话英雄的相似之处和工程师的例子，展示了结构工程英雄的旅程和特征。旅程有很多路径，从工程师离开舒适的“普通世界”设计进入“特殊世界”开始，在那里需要新形式、新材料和/或项目规模。对于代表性不足的群体，例如妇女和少数民族，英雄之旅可能只是成为一名工程师并在平等和公平的条件下发展职业。当结构工程英雄进入特殊世界时，他们可能会面临自然的考验和批评，面临经济、时间和知识的限制。在旅程的最后一幕，他们更明智地返回平凡世界，传播他们的知识并激励他人。作者用四个“P”来定义结构工程英雄的特征：他们有准备，他们是规划者，他们有（超级）权力，他们是受欢迎的人。结构工程师的教育应该利用从英雄身上吸取的教训及其多样性来培训和激励未来的工程师。通过这样做，今天看起来很特别的事情在未来可能会变得普遍。