The functions of an engineer can be encapsulated in one sentence: the promotion of the wellbeing of people. Hendrik van der Bijl, South Africa’s remarkable industrialist, made this statement to the Scientific and Technical Societies of South Africa in 1926. To be fair, though, the same function should apply to other legitimate professions.
But Van der Bijl’s remarks, speaking for himself as an engineer, are as profound today as they were back then. His beliefs had driven him to establish the Electricity Supply Commission (Eskom), and later the Iron and Steel Corporation (Iscor). The two companies would become major catalysts of South Africa’s large-scale industrialisation...
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