Young Americans today—unlike when I entered the field in 1960—want to know what their lifetime earnings will be as structural engineers. Additionally, would-be engineers and emerging engineering leaders want to know the profession’s long-range plans for dealing with competition from low-cost labor markets around the world. Plus, they’re asking why more engineers aren’t prominently involved in public and industry leadership. This all begs for an answer to the question, "How can U.S. structural engineers become better communicators and more well-known to the public and media?"

These questions and concerns always remind me of that part in Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland, when the heroine asks the Cheshire Cat which way to go. The cat replies, "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to." Alice says, "I don’t much care where." The cat then comments, "Then it doesn’t matter which way you walk." When Alice adds that she doesn’t care "so long as I get somewhere," the cat says, "Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough!"

The tough issues engineers face will not be accomplished by embracing Alice’s casual approach—that is, aimlessly wandering around hoping to get somewhere. Decidedly, a more direct and focused technique is needed. Critically important is the need to improve the communication and leadership skills of engineers overall preparing them for meaningful roles beyond engineering.

If the U.S. engineering community does care about being known as the world’s structural engineering leader in the future, it can’t be vague about its direction, as Alice was. For its members to be more involved as well-spoken, respected leaders—and better paid over their careers—a roadmap clearly needs to be drawn. Where do we need to go? How long should it take to get there? The structural community needs to be more proactive in answering these questions, the sooner the better.

Because the world will become more technologically sophisticated and access to international labor pools will be further available, engineers in the United States would be wise to get out of the backrooms and step into the spotlight. I believe that the world is run by those who show up. Increasing the number of structural engineers as leaders in the broader community fulfills that requirement. Why? Because there are certain nuances in a world dependent on technology that engineers can address better than other professions.

Only by taking on "big-picture" leadership positions and coming across as innovators capable of running things will structural engineers in the United States be able to reverse many trends now detrimental to the profession. The goal is to be perceived as a valuable and needed service, not as a commodity that’s purchased at the lowest price.

In the process of becoming societal leaders, engineers must maintain their core expertise as makers of complex structures. They must constantly lead in the development of new structural materials and systems, as well as advance nanotechnology as it relates to structural engineering. They must become activists, ensuring that structural engineers receive due credit, payment, and recognition for their achievements.

For our profession to reach its highest stature, it requires public recognition, respectability, and proper compensation for the responsibility and risk structural engineers assume. All this suggests that we stay away from the directionless Alice-in-Wonderland approach. Instead, we have to show up as well-versed leaders able to run things, not as humble and subservient followers.

Only by getting away from low bidding that supports the practice of hiring the cheapest labor around can we convince users of the value of our services. That requires doing the best engineering possible and producing the most value for the money. In the process of becoming industry and societal leaders, we must protect ourselves against becoming generalists who broaden their expertise so much that they know too little about everything. On the other hand, we have to also guard against becoming too technical and narrowly focused—experts who know everything about a tiny specialty bog us down in minutia.

How can you initiate a better direction and draw your own road map? You can help define the engineering profession of the future by becoming active as an individual and by participating as a member of an aggressive professional society.

There will be a day when your grandchildren ask you what you were doing in the early 2000s when the structural engineering profession in the United States was struggling to define itself on the world stage. Were you a wanderer like Alice in Wonderland? Or were you a major trendsetter? If you weren’t active in setting the direction for our profession, then what preoccupied you? Be sure you have a response you can feel proud of.