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Shrijith Venkatramana
Shrijith Venkatramana

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The Making of a Professional Engineer: Admiral Rickover

What does it mean to be a professional or to practice a profession?

There is no one better to define this for us than, Admiral Rickover.

He truly walked the talk, and got the job done.

These are my takeaways from Admiral Rickover's essay: "Engineering in Practice".

What exactly is a profession?

Practicing a profession means - mastering theoretical knowledge in a field, and applying it to everyday problems.

A profession is "intellectual in content, practical in application".

The reasons why the professions receive respect

Traditionally - the professions have been seen with respect for these reasons:

  • Esoteric content
  • Useful to everyone
  • Long & Costly preparation to practice
  • Usually practiced by people of above average intelligence, education & character

Till 19th century only the university faculty in theology, law and medicine were called professional men.

Advent of Engineering

With the expansion of knowledge, new professions started appearing.

"Engineering" is a relatively new profession.

From remote antiquity, we've had useful "skilled crafts".

The old crafts became engineering.

With the advent of science & massive energy sources it flourished.

A body of organized knowledge and procedures which require lengthy course of professional study emerged as a result of intense development.

Continue reading the article here

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