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BeachBot, Team 330 Hoax Response
Trustworthy Engineers and Trustworthy Engineering
November 17, 2002
The prank instigated by Joe Ross has just about run its course and it is time to reflect on some of the lessons learned from episodes like these. As the leader of BeachBots, Team 330, I am sorry and apologize that one of our past team members caused this mess.
Engineers have been given a great responsibility by society to provide the buildings and machines that we all use in our daily life. In many cases, our lives depend on the successful operation of these machines, e.g. airplanes, cars, buses, etc. In general, the people that use these machines have little insight into how they work but trust that they will. This trust is based on a past history of successful use.
In the brave new world of the World Wide Web, a few people know about the inner workings of web page design, how URLs work, use of html, etc. The great majority of users look at the web browser as a window to the web and knows little more about its inner workings. Someone with superior knowledge of web mechanics can devise a hoax that can fool other members of the community. Our natural inclination is to trust the word of others and behave accordingly. If the messenger has been trustworthy in the past then the message is more believable.
This is what makes the prank so sad. As an engineering manager with 28 years of engineering experience, I look for trustworthy engineers. I base recommendations to launch satellites on the recommendations of my employees. The outcome of anything less than the best possible effort causes a satellite to land in the ocean. There is no room for practical jokes or hoaxes in my business. I suspect that there is no room for them in any other engineering field either. As engineers, the coin of the realm is trust. We must tell the truth all the time and we must not lead others astray.
The motto of FIRST is gracious professionalism. Its value is to show what energy, skill and knowledge can accomplish. My job is to represent the values of my profession to those students involved in FIRST who are considering engineering as a career. To be a successful engineer you must tell the truth and be trustworthy. I know of no other way to be truly successful.
Tom Freitag, Leader
BeachBots, Team 330
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