The ‘E-factor’

I’m an engineer,” says John Morton. His job classification falls far short of the real picture. He is, in fact, is one of the UK’s leading engineers. His 30-year career stemmed from a background in mechanics and materials, and includes work on oil storage containers, impact dynamics on Formula 1 racing cars, along with research and teaching appointments. His impressive CV even includes a spell at NASA working on the Space Shuttle, which he joined three weeks before the “gut-wrenching experience” of the Challenger disaster.

He says it was “the opportunity to solve problems and to provide solutions” that attracted him to engineering in the first place. Now, 30 years after entering the profession, Morton is facing probably the toughest challenge yet. His task is to attract better candidates – and more of them – into engineering. It is a challenge he appears to be relishing.

The ETB was not part of his original career plan. On his return from the US he worked for the UK government’s Defence Research Agency. Following the its privatisation, he was appointed chief operating officer of the future systems technology division, which operated under the name of QinetiQ. He was later head-hunted for the chief executive post at the ETB, taking up the position in July 2006. “I'd reached the stage where if I’d stayed much longer at QinetiQ the business would have moved beyond my competence,” he admits.

The ETB’s role is to promote engineering. He describes his job at the organisation as “inspiring young people to pursue a career in engineering”. The organisation’s remit also includes raising awareness of the profession. “It is about engaging the public in what engineering is about and the contribution engineering makes to the economy,” he explains.

Sitting at the white-topped meeting table that occupies part of his capacious sixth floor office, Morton’s tousled grey hair gives him the appearance of an absent-minded academic. It is an impression reinforced by his considered, intense manner as he talks about engineering and about his role in promoting the profession. This academic persona undergoes a transformation, however, once he starts to outline the four-year campaign he is organising to attract young people to take up an engineering career and to raise the profile of the profession.

The £20 million campaign will be launched in 2008 and will run until 2012. The ETB is hoping that all the engineering institutions will want to get involved, including CIBSE. “I'm going to be sitting down with Stephen Matthews, CIBSE’s cheif executive; I want our plans to become CIBSE’s plans,” he states. By involving everybody from institutions to government Morton is hoping to get a critical mass of interest in engineering established, which he then hopes will raise the profile of the profession. “At the moment it is not there,” he states firmly.

One of his biggest challenges is to encourage more talented people, and women in particular, to take up engineering to help the UK compete globally. “If you haven’t got the brightest individuals you won’t be able to compete,” he says. He appears to be serious when he suggests a solution to attract more women to the profession would be to get Prince William – “an attractive young man” – involved as a patron of the organisation.

His approach to increasing the pool of students engineering can draw from is to encourage school children to study mathematics. “We need to inspire young people to study mathematics and science at school so they have the basic skills to become engineers,” he explains.

Morton keeps referring, esoterically, to science, mathematics and engineering as being part of a “continuum”. He is referring to the interdependency of engineering on the other two disciplines. His logic is that mathematicians study mathematics for its own sake; scientists then take the work of mathematicians and use it in their experiments to increase knowledge; finally, engineers apply this knowledge to offer up solutions.

Six months into the job and Morton has already made a start in raising the public’s awareness. He has succeeded in hijacking National Science Week for the engineering profession by offering to contribute resources to the event. In exchange for the resources, National Science Week will be known from now on as National Science and Engineering Week. “We’ve got the E-word in there,” he says triumphantly. The ETB will now put on over 500 additional events between 9-18 March.

With his aim of inspiring school children, he produces a wall-chart from a pile of papers. It is entitled ‘What is engineering?’ and the poster features a caricature of an imaginary town and annotations to show the contributions different engineering disciplines have made to the town, including environmental, lighting, sound and transport engineering. He says the poster gives “an insight into the world of engineering written in a language to engage school children”. He also hopes the chart will have the secondary effect of helping inform teachers and careers’ advisors about potential engineering opportunities.

But it is not just the institutions that Morton is looking to help raise engineering’s profile. He says one of the things he learnt in the US was that individuals are the key to raising the profile of engineering by talking about their involvement in projects. “In terms of improving public perception, engineers can do more than anyone else to raise their profile by projecting pride in their contribution to a scheme and by feeling good about what they do,” he says.

Morton cautions against those expecting an instant rush of new students joining the profession. “If it is successful, those who’ll be aware of the campaign’s existence will be young people. But I don’t think even they will be saying ‘love an engineer’,” he laughs.