The importance of communication skills for engineers

“I contend that we (engineers) are undervalued because of our widespread
inability to explain what we do to the general public (and why it is so important).
It is one of the hardest goals to accomplish, to be able to boil down difficult
concepts into a short and easily understood presentation or elevator pitch.”
Marybeth Miceli, President, Miceli Infrastructure Consulting, USA (2011)

Hard work being undervalued or short sold is a genuine fear. Especially the work of an engineer, it encompasses so many technical aspects that the engineering job does not have just one job scope. It varies from tiny phones, to new body parts (bio-engineering), to satellites up in space. Building these fantastical digital age products however will never be enough. If it lacks proper marketing and advertising it will slip into the realms of what it could truly have been. In this day and age, everything is a business. Having the ability to market a revolutionary product is what will carry it to the widespread public and to do that is mighty difficult. It is the reason why numerous start ups fail initially. They fail to market the product or create a hype surrounding the very product they built to satisfy a need. Hence, investors lose interest in the potential that they display. Thus the ability to engage the user is equally important as creating the product. This is what I believe Ms Miceli was trying to convey via her statement above.