Human beings are created for one fundamental reason: to make the life of another human being better. This is not religion, and this is not something that I have dreamt up. It is part of our human chemistry and constitution, it is the way we are built. It is a scientific fact.

The amazing thing about structural engineering is that our profession makes life better for all of humanity on a daily basis. Just look at what we do. Our retrofit work preserves the past, our new work is building the future, but above everything, we are in the business of saving lives! Our work protects humanity from the devastating ravages of natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes and wind storms. People become heroes by saving just one life. Structural engineers are saving lives every time the wind blows!

Structural engineering is the reason we have an economy and an economic infrastructure. If structural engineers stopped work all of human progress would come to a screeching halt!

Structural Engineering is clearly a profession that is indispensable to humanity, but then why don’t our professional fees and compensation reflect our profession's immeasurable contributions to civilization?