James Dyson and the myth of standalone engineer
12/02/09 18:19 Filed in: Service Engineering
James Dyson is something of a hero of mine. A man with a flair for engineering design, a keen sense of need combined with the organisational and business sense to make things happen (boats, wheel barrows, vacuum cleaners, washing machines...).
But, when I read his piece (a polite and well written diatribe) in the British Observer last week bemoaning the lack of recognition for design technology (popularly known as DT in the UK) and the status of the ‘eginuurre’ in Britain I had to respond.
Dyson makes an extremely good case for re-examining the role of the engineer in the UK. Pointing out that ‘The Millau bridge in France was designed by Norman Foster, but it was French engineer Michel Virlogeux who made it work. A magnificent achievement, but whose name do people remember?’ and ‘In 2005, Ellen MacArthur became the fastest person to sail round the globe, but little was made of Nigel Irens, who engineered her trimaran.’ Very true.
Much of this article resonates with another British engineer. I moved abroad (to the US) to get funding for my ideas - and funding there was. Finding the same backing for innovation in the UK was tedious and ultimately we just went somewhere else.
What does concern me about Dyson’s article however is his almost final throw away paragraph - ‘We've built our modern economy on the service sector’ - targeting finance and the ‘McJob (by implication) parts of our economy, but in effect damning services as a whole.
Very few manufactured products stand on their own any more. Organisations develop, sell and maintain products in context. The product per se is not what many people purchase, it is the effect of that manufactured good (immediate and maintained). Services are, like it or not, an integral part of any product (and Dyson themselves run a maintenance and repair programme that is very well thought of and must surely underpin even the most humble of vacuum cleaners).
Design technology is all about design for usability, manufacture and management. Services are an integral part of that. Tarring all services with the ‘financial quicksand’ brush won’t help. A good engineer is not just a technically competent designer, but rather someone who understands the context of their product, its implications and the world in which it will deliver value. Giving a talk at the UK ITMB ‘Guru Lectures’ at the beginning of the year, the context of engineering and engineering decisions in services was central to our discussion.
An engineer - someone who can design, manufacture, deliver and evolve a system for $1 when any fule can do it for $10.
Caroline Bosworth {caroline.bosworth@concinnitas.co.uk}
But, when I read his piece (a polite and well written diatribe) in the British Observer last week bemoaning the lack of recognition for design technology (popularly known as DT in the UK) and the status of the ‘eginuurre’ in Britain I had to respond.
Dyson makes an extremely good case for re-examining the role of the engineer in the UK. Pointing out that ‘The Millau bridge in France was designed by Norman Foster, but it was French engineer Michel Virlogeux who made it work. A magnificent achievement, but whose name do people remember?’ and ‘In 2005, Ellen MacArthur became the fastest person to sail round the globe, but little was made of Nigel Irens, who engineered her trimaran.’ Very true.
Much of this article resonates with another British engineer. I moved abroad (to the US) to get funding for my ideas - and funding there was. Finding the same backing for innovation in the UK was tedious and ultimately we just went somewhere else.
What does concern me about Dyson’s article however is his almost final throw away paragraph - ‘We've built our modern economy on the service sector’ - targeting finance and the ‘McJob (by implication) parts of our economy, but in effect damning services as a whole.
Very few manufactured products stand on their own any more. Organisations develop, sell and maintain products in context. The product per se is not what many people purchase, it is the effect of that manufactured good (immediate and maintained). Services are, like it or not, an integral part of any product (and Dyson themselves run a maintenance and repair programme that is very well thought of and must surely underpin even the most humble of vacuum cleaners).
Design technology is all about design for usability, manufacture and management. Services are an integral part of that. Tarring all services with the ‘financial quicksand’ brush won’t help. A good engineer is not just a technically competent designer, but rather someone who understands the context of their product, its implications and the world in which it will deliver value. Giving a talk at the UK ITMB ‘Guru Lectures’ at the beginning of the year, the context of engineering and engineering decisions in services was central to our discussion.
An engineer - someone who can design, manufacture, deliver and evolve a system for $1 when any fule can do it for $10.
Caroline Bosworth {caroline.bosworth@concinnitas.co.uk}