I was musing about the word “engineer” and what it means, and how it is often underappreciated, both in the word and in the practitioner. As a youth I was very interested in science, and I still am. I looked at it as my future career and thus studied to a higher level. One would meet on occasions with chemical engineers coming to share breaks in the canteen, we would often mingle and converse. I was a student chemist, and I imagined I would one day discover something and be famous for it, even though poorly paid, I could work in my lab and change the world from my fume cupboard. As time went on a more lofty aspiration was to study theoretical chemistry and avoid the acid burns. ( Also I must confess to an experiment in the fume cupboard with peracid acid and iodine where the magnetic stirrer got bogged down. I stepped away for something and heard a thunderous bang!! Much of the apparatus had gone up the chimney ). Anyway, I was not good enough at maths to think I could get a postdoc in it, so I graciously put down my beaker and found another career. But still, I regarded an engineer as second rate, more concerned with practical stuff, like making engines etc. ( ever hear of quantum mechanics? ). Or Casey Jones?
And so it was, until we bought a house. It was a big one, large plot, and in basic good shape, but needed a generous amount of refurbishment. We decided that whilst walls were being plastered we could take a few out and build a few new ones. A swimming pool on the cards, and a small apartment at the back for guests. New floors and my dream kitchen. It was not exactly a blank piece of paper, more of a canvas to paint by numbers.
Enter… Philipe !!!.
An architect was needed, but coming dear and me being tight we wanted a junior or maybe a student. Keen, and cheap. The architect’s job was to be to design, draw up plans and deal with The Maestro. As luck would have it there was a gang working on a project just up the street, so we went and asked when they would finish. The fresh faced architect happened to be there and said his dad was an architect, he was an intern in the firm and was looking for his next gig. We said to jump in the car and come look at the house we bought a few days ago and so he did. He had worked a few projects with the Maestro Don Mees and would recommend him if he got the job. Philippe quoted a good price provided we did part of the work which involved buying and choosing materials. Sort of quantity surveyor. Philippe would come once a week to monitor progress, check the materials, check the payments to Don Mees and deal with plans, permits and all that jazz.
Don Mees was a tall robust man of later years who had earned his title, and reined in terror over a gang of between 5 and 20 depending on his other projects. A mix of regulars, specialists,and day labourers. He turned out to be very approachable and friendly.
On the Friday, when Philipe came, we would plan out the work for the next few weeks. This was where the fun bit came. I soon built up a good rapport with Phillippe and enjoyed creating our dream house with him. All was negotiable. I remember sitting on the bog and stretching my hand to be sure I could reach the toilet paper. Everything done to the inch. All great fun. My plans for a swimming pool were changed when Philippe suggested a better place to build it. The kitchen slabs to suit my stature. The cupboards made from local hard wood, based a photo I saw on Pinterest. You get the idea. Once the idea was there Phillippe would check feasibility, materials, costs and explain the practicality and we would reach a joint decision.
Philippe was an engineer, though he could work out stresses, shapes, what material did what etc. He was not a scientist, but he was an engineer. From that I learned respect for the engineer.
Here’s a paragraph from Robert A. Heinlein’s “The Notebooks of Lazarus Long” where he reflects on engineers:
“An engineer is someone who can do for a dime what any fool can do for a dollar. The real genius of an engineer doesn’t lie in what he knows, but in what he can do with what he knows. An engineer isn’t just a technician or a designer; he’s a problem solver who uses science, mathematics, and imagination to make the world work better. He turns the dreams of others into reality, often under constraints of time, money, and materials. To engineer is to create, to innovate, and to improve upon the human condition through practical application”.
Years afterwards I would reflect that medical doctors are engineers, combining a mix of constraints to produce and agreed result with their patients. ( Well, the best ones are ). Cooks are engineers, balancing the budget, healthiness, family food preferences, negotiating the myriad of decisions in making lunch. In a sense we are all engineers, with various levels of experience and science. I later became a software engineer, and I think that term is often misunderstood. I’ve sailed between a rock and a hard place many times but never struck bottom.
Anyway, over budget and over time estimate we got our dream house, and very pleased we are. In fact it was under budgets by my person estimates, Philipe over promised and I knew how it goes. We used Philippe again, years later when I designed a small out building, which am very proud of.
The last thing I remain to say on this subject is that his name was not Philipe, but it was Ernesto. He put me right pretty soon, but I continued to call him Philipe because I knew it annoyed him.
It’s not about him