Paddy Purcell sits in his office on Dublin's Clyde Road, smart suit, short haircut, gold-rimmed glasses, every inch the proper image of the chartered engineer that he is. As director-general of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, he is concerned about the image of engineers and the consequent failure of the profession in attracting new entrants in sufficient numbers.
You would be surprised, then, to find that when he's not beavering away on behalf of the profession, he and his wife, Julienne, like nothing better than hiring a car and taking off into the jungles of Peru, or in Zambia, or Namibia, or Tanzania or Kenya. "Once you do it, it really is very easy," he says, as if he was talking about broaching something less intimidating than the M50.
For the fiftyish Clonmel man, this kind of travel is as normal as his other interests: cross-country riding in Devil's Glen in Wicklow or Flower Hill in Galway and hill-walking with his wife and Aran, the Scottish terrier, "who makes us all jump".
After 30 years of "fascinating and exciting" work with the ESB, Mr Purcell took over the top job in the institution. "I thrive on challenges, I like new things and excitement. The challenges in the company wouldn't have been as challenging as coming here - the image we have, the voice we are seen to give to the profession in the media and with Government and a lot of opportunities to contribute to the profession which has given me so much," he says.
The biggest challenge facing the Institution of Engineers of Ireland right now is the shortage of engineers.
"The Celtic Tiger is founded on industry and our success is very much due to engineering. It's been a surprise to some people to know the likes of Intel, Motorola and Analog are actually manufacturing companies. The contribution of the engineering profession to the Celtic Tiger isn't really appreciated. The industrial and economic well-being of the country is dependent on a supply of high-capability engineers at degree and sub-degree levels.
"All of the gadgets and services we take for granted have been produced by engineers - whether the mobile phone, the hifi, the new stand at Croke Park, people going to the moon - it's all engineering. From artificial hips to the ventilators that keep people alive in hospitals, to U2's hi-fi equipment, to roads, there is such a variety of areas young engineers can get into. We have to try to create the kind of excitement about engineering that engineers have in their jobs.
"It's because we have been successful that there's a shortage. To a certain extent, we are a victim of our own success."
An ESRI/Forfas report based on 1998 requirements concluded that there were 3,400 engineering vacancies at that time and that we would need 6,400 in the following year, yet only 1,500 engineers graduate every year.
And look at these figures: only 6 per cent of practising engineers are female; only 16 to 17 per cent of engineering students are female.
In the early 1980s, more than 15 per cent of all graduates were engineers; today it has fallen to 10 per cent, although in actual numbers there are more engineers. At sub-degree level (certificate, diploma) it was 35 per cent in the early 1980s, today it is 19.5 per cent. There is a requirement for 500 to 700 more engineers for the design and planning of the roads programme of the National Development Plan alone. "The need hasn't been met overall, but has been partially met by the success we have had in attracting Irish people back and a certain number of foreign nationals. We're going to have to solve it internally," he insists.
"It's very well paid, provides opportunities of all sorts, provides flexibility in relation to future career development; they end up working as human resource managers, production managers, finance directors . . . a very significant number of managing directors in this country are engineers. It provides a flexibility that a lot of young students don't realise and fantastic opportunities to travel."
A lot of the problems seem to be with image. "There would be a perception of the hard hat on a rainy day on a building site with rain trickling down the back of your neck or an engineer with his or her head stuck into a rusty engine. Most images are so far from the reality. It's a high-tech, inter-personal profession, with a large amount of teamwork with colleagues, the use of computers, of high-tech equipment, financial analysis and planning. It's very far removed from the stereotype."
This is why the institution has embarked on its Steps project for schools to attract more pupils to take the science and maths subjects they would need in order to study engineering. Many girls' schools historically have not provided chemistry, physics, applied maths and honours maths and girls have not been aware of the opportunities.
Salaries, he says, are very competitive. A graduate engineer, just out of college, can expect £20,000 a year, which quickly moves to £30,000. Engineers move into senior management quite quickly, he adds. "Their analytical training, project management training, ability to solve problems - all of those absolutely are what managers need and what engineers get during undergraduate training."
The Institution of Engineers of Ireland, formed in 1969 by the merging of the Institution of Civil Engineers - founded in 1835 and the second-oldest professional body in Britain or Ireland - and Cumann na nInnealtoiri - started in 1928 - represents 17,000 engineers in industry, the public service and State bodies. It acts as a register of chartered engineers in Ireland and registers them for work abroad.
It also accredits engineering courses in colleges and provides a conciliation and arbitration service where disputes arise between contractors and consultants, as well as lobbying the Government on behalf of its members.
Mr Purcell, a former pupil of Clonmel CBS, says he has the highest regard for the Christian Brothers, adding he would not have gone on to be a civil engineer without their help and the scholarship to UCD, where he qualified in 1968 and then took his master's.
After joining the ESB, he worked on the design of power stations, including Poolbeg and Aghada in Dublin and Moneypoint, where he had a significant design role - it was the largest construction project in Ireland at the time.
He spent two periods in Bahrain, with his family - Mark is now a chemical engineer, Clare a medical student, Fiona a civil/structural engineer and James a science student. He also worked for ESB International, and in Sierra Leone for the World Bank.
"What was great was the high value both clients and the large international companies we were working with placed on ESB engineers and Irish people in general," he says.
Back in Ireland in the 1980s he was strategic planning manager, training and development manager, and then he became group auditor. During this time, ESB International became involved in consultancy work in St Petersburg, Ghana, Lithuania and the Czech Republic.
"The opportunities really were fantastic. A very large number of people in the ESB have had those opportunities. It gives you a great pride in the quality of Irish professional and Irish craft people. It's an indication of how we can continue to produce the technical and engineering people the economy needs," he says.
