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)

The author of this quote agrees that engineers are undervalued mainly due to how engineers are incapable of translating their field of expertise to the general public in simple and relatable terms. 

In my opinion, engineers communicate with each other using technical terms to prevent miscommunication. At times, it can be difficult to come up with layman terms as we are so used to the technical terms. More often than not, each and every engineering field requires some form of expertise before one begins to understand.

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