'Budget, time and expectations!': your say on the biggest problem facing engineers

We asked readers of the magazine what the biggest problem facing engineers is today. Here's a selection of what they had to say...

"Finding a fulfilling job in the UK that pays an adequate wage. The engineering sector is under-supported by the government, and Brexit will potentially damage the industry further. Especially with respect to high-tech industries such as Airbus threatening to jump."

Rich Pearson

"The future post-Brexit, the landscape for engineers may look a whole lot different than it does today. Be prepared to pack up your toolboxes..."

Dave Hughes

"For individuals – the sheer pace of technological change, combined with the cost of getting a university education and securing a post that’s as well paid as other professions. For companies – attracting sufficient high-calibre individuals into the profession just to stand still (given the ‘demographic time bomb’). Engineering also still has an image problem, not helped by companies who seem to expect to attract high-quality hires on the cheap."

Mark Lee

"A lack of understanding of what a ‘typical’ engineer does, and also encouraging more young people into the profession because of this lack of understanding and ‘coolness’."

David Montgomery-Fox

"Replacing fossil fuels with clean, zero-waste, renewable electricity and heat generation technologies that render coal, gas and nuclear-fission fuels obsolete, such that we eliminate global pollution and ensure that our children can breathe clean air and drink clean water."

Richard Young

"Recruiting young, bright minds into a profession that has been ignored by successive governments. The future of engineering is bright. Technology will enable many innovations and discoveries that will continue to advance mankind. Space and the deep seas are still relatively uncharted and not yet understood but we need the brains!"

Jason Baylay

"De-carbonising everything from power and heat to manufacturing and transport. Great strides have been made with new solar and wind being or becoming less expensive than new nuclear, coal and gas but there is more progress to be made and it needs to be rolled out on a massive scale. The most significant problem that remains is grid-scale energy storage to provide power when there's no sun or wind. There are many candidate technologies that need to be developed and I am confident that many of them will succeed."

Stuart Kirby

"To get engineers in parliament to influence critical infrastructure and investment decisions."

Bill Pinfold

"My perception of the biggest challenge facing engineering today is to get employers to understand that the 'hire and fire' philosophy which has permeated our industry has resulted in potential engineering students deciding that this is not a safe and rewarding profession to pursue.

"Whenever times have been hard over the last 40 years, the accountants on the board have seen fit to cut both R&D and apprenticeships, both of which are the seed corn of our profession. The problems now facing these engineering companies are, by and large, of their own making as a result."

Stuart Uttley

"Coming to terms with automation and AI. Avoiding being seduced by the hype while remaining focused on the practical reality."

John Thorogood

"Same as they’ve always been: budget, time and expectations!"

Chris Elliott