Task 3: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)

Essentially, Miceli has expressed that the sore lack of appreciation for engineers and our work stems from insufficient communication with the public in relation to our importance in society. The barrier to effective communication lies in the difficulty to encapsulate the complexities of engineering into a simple, yet convincing explanation.