It may upset some of you to read this, but just because the UK 2019 General Election is two months behind us, politics isn’t something that’s simply going to go away for another five years. It’s a topic that’s stressful, complicated, often boring, but also undeniably important since it impacts almost every aspect of our daily lives in ways that we generally take for granted... a lot like engineering! When was the last time, for instance, that you stopped to think of all the ways in which engineering shapes your daily life?
In this blog, I want to highlight some ways in which engineering and politics are aligned, and show that sometimes political struggle is integral in facilitating our broader goals as engineers. I believe the next generation of leaders in engineering need to be engaged with politics now more than ever before, which is difficult given that many young people are disenfranchised and inactive where politics is concerned.