Page 14 - The Art of Designing Embedded Systems

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Any idiot can write code. Even teenagers can sling gates and PAL
equations around. What is it that separates us from these amateurs? Do
years of college necessarily make us professionals, or is there some other
factor that clearly delineates engineers from hackers? With the phrase
”sanitation engineer” now rooted in our lexicon, is the real meaning behind
the word engineer cheapened?
Other professions don’t suffer from such casual word abuse. Doctors
and lawyers have strong organizations that, for better or worse, have
changed the law of the land to keep the amateurs out. You just don’t find
a teenager practicing medicine, so “doctor” conveys a precise, strong
meaning to everyone.
Lest we forget, the 1800s were known as “the great age of the engi-
neer.” Engineers were viewed as the celebrities of the age, as the architects
of tomorrow, the great hope for civilization. (For a wonderful description
of these times, read Zsamard Kingdom Brunel, by L.T.C. Rolt.)
How things have changed!
Our successes at transforming the world brought stink and smog, fac-
tones weeping poisons, and landfills overflowing with products made
obsolete in the course of months. The Challenger explosion destroyed
many people’s faith in complex technology (which shows just how little
understanding Americans have of complexity). An odd resurgence of the
worship of the primitive is directly at odds with the profession we em-
brace. Declining test scores and an urge to make a lot of money now means
that U.S. engineering enrollments have declined 25% in the decade from
1988 to 1997.

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