ENGINEERING IN THE TECHNOLOGY ERA: A political profession

Modern historians characterize the world of the early twenty-first century as entry into a new era, defined primarily by a constantly advancing technology. However, the engineer's place in this new technological society does not seem remarkable for this historical vision. In this paper argues that the pace of industrialization in the production for consumption is a decrease in the prestige and importance of the engineers, because deciding what to do to sell is not engineering. Engineering is captive in a management agenda that drives the market, engineers must exercise their profession within that agenda. Here propose that if the profession hopes to change that and play an influential role in the development of this particular era, must first recognize that technological action is a social construction; then must commit to rebuilding the foundations of engineering education on principles more centralized in the human, just as it always has on the physical principles. Is needed is not only a new vision of engineering for the future, a radical change in professional culture of engineering.