Kip A. Wedel

The Obligation: a History of the Order of the Engineer Kip A. Wedel

A History of the Order of the Engineer Engineering is more than number crunching. It is a matter of life and death. In 1907, when engineering errors led to a Canadian bridge collapse that killed seventy-five men, the profession's moral obligations were stark and obvious. Engineers increasingly realized that technical expertise was not enough, and in 1925, a group of Canadian engineers formally and publicly promised to uphold the highest ethical standards. To remind themselves of their pledge, they fashioned iron rings to be worn on the outer finger. Unfortunately, for decades engineers in the United States had no similar institution. Then, on a summer day in 1970, 170 engineers, students, and teachers met on the campus of Cleveland State University for the first ceremony of what would become the Order of the Engineer. Today, the stainless steel rings worn by the Order's members are recognized throughout the world as the outward sign of an inward commitment to ethical engineering. This is the story of the Order's origins and expansion.