Tuesday, November 29, 2011

PSME 59th NatCon notes (#2)

10 November 2011

Technical lectures and speeches from personalities that matter would be routine elements of an engineering national convention such as the 59th PSME Natcon, recently held last October 25-28 at the SMX  Convention Center. There were however two activities that did not follow the mold, but were to me quite interesting, and must have enhanced the outlook of a lot of mechanical engineering delegates. These were the plenary talks of Mr. Wilson Lee, Columnist of Philippine Star and Engr. Renato Florencio, the “Society’s” Immediate Past National President.
Mr. Lee, who also has an economics background, spoke during the second day of the convention to share his ideas about the merits of engineers, and was able to capture continuous attention despite the fact that the audience would be prone to drowsiness during his time slot. He said that he was excited to speak before the assembly of mechanical engineers because he believes that the engineers are most important for the country. He feels sorry however that, because of the not so great economic condition, many of them are abroad. He thinks that we should continue to produce more engineers to compensate for the talent drain.
According to him, he feels that even engineers don’t realize that in most of the developed countries in Asia, almost all of their leaders are engineers. He mentioned the likes of Korea, Taiwan, and particularly China which he said, based on his Google research,  is, for the last 30 years, the fastest rising economy in the world (at 8-12 % per year). Researching on and analyzing China, he came to a conclusion that the country progressed because engineers are running that country. In a convention related article that he wrote recently, he mentioned some of the past, present and even future national leaders of China during the last 30 years that have engineering degrees, namely: former Premiers Zhu Rongji and Li Peng, former President Hu Jintao, President Jiang Zemin, Premier Wen Jiabao, National Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo and incoming President Xi Jinping.
In an effort to understand the success of these engineer national leaders, Mr. Lee made it a point to discuss with successful local engineers each time he encounters them. He had opportunity to interact with at least two of them, who opined that engineers can become successful as political leaders because they are usually more systematic and are usually problem solvers.
Because of his observation regarding the involvement of engineer leaders in the economic success and progress of some Asian nations, Mr. Lee came up with the radical idea of encouraging the delegates to get interested in, and join politics. He even declared that if the Security Guards and the Balut Vendors can qualify for a party list accreditation, he thinks that PSME with its seventy plus chapters nationwide can also form their own party and get it accredited. He feels strongly about the idea because, according to him, by joining politics, the mechanical engineers will be improving the quality of the individuals that enters politics, and this would give the country a wider choice from which it can elect its local and national leaders. In addition, their technical and analytical skills, as well as innovativeness, among their traits, can help bring about the technological advancement that can help propel our country to being world class.
The delegates were also encouraged to explore (aside from politics) being an inventor, or, going into business where he/she can aspire to become a tycoon like some of the successful engineer-businessmen in the country. He mentioned four such individuals with mechanical engineering education who have become such, like, Geronimo Velasco of Republic Glass Holdings Corp, Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corporation, Henry Lim Bon Liong of Sterling Paper Group, and, Bayani Fernando of BF Corporation. ,
Mr. Lee also touched on Research and Development, and shared his impressions regarding its importance in the success and progress of not only companies, but also the economic life of nations. This thinking is born out of his interaction with successful business taipans and executives of very successful companies. He related one such encounter with the executive of a multinational company during the launching of a detergent product. When he asked about the chances of a local company in successfully competing with them, the executive said it would not be easy because the multinational company spends millions of dollars every week for research and development in their R&D Center in Beijing. In the center, they do not only continuously improve existing as well as develop new products. They also continuously monitor and study the characteristics and habits of the consumers and make the necessary adjustments to enhance their product’s market acceptability. They have done this to the extent of establishing that Filipinos spend about 1-1/2 hours a day washing, and are probably the cleanest people in the world (dahil ligo ng ligo; laba ng laba).
Mr. Lee feels that the engineers have very significant roles to play in R&D and says that if he were the government of the country, he would not only pump money into R&D, but would also provide enough resources to engineers for their continuous education and training. He mentioned this in reaction to a press release that he earlier received from a government office announcing that the allocation for R&D, for the entire year, in next year’s budget is P322 million, and which to him is meager. He thinks that government and business should invest more in R&D to create he bedrock of true socio-economic progress like the way our successful Asian neighbors  (as well as Germany and Israel) did.
Mr Wilson Lee’s faith in the engineers is very generous; and given that it comes unsolicited, and from someone belonging to another discipline, makes it more gratifying and inspiring. A hefty response to the challenges he posed would be nice to see, but this is easier said than done as there is a maze of underlying factors that needs to be addressed to clear the way. What may be significant though is that the idea has been injected. And just like a seed that is planted, it will have to go through a gestation, the outcome of which would depend on the quality of the seed, the quality of the soil on which the seed would grow, and the conditions that would nurture and shield it to maturity once it sprouts. Never the less, I won’t be surprised if there would be a few avant-gardes who –out of the pack- will take it. If this happens, then I think the profession shall have returned the favour to Mr. Lee, and shall have also done the country a favour.
Engr. Renato Florencio’s talk, shall come next as Part #3 of this series. 

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