Address of the President Archives
December, 2009
Masahiko Tsuchiya, PE
President of the Japan Society of Professional Engineers
It is my great pleasure and honor to assume the president of JSPE the year 2009 – 2010. Let me introduce myself a little bit by taking this opportunity. I took PE exam at Yokosuka Navy base in 1996 and got registered in Oregon 1997. Since then I was in India for more than three years. I could not be involved in the start-up activities of JSPE. I sincerely respect previous directors of JSPE for their self-devoting effort to establish today’s foundation. After returning to Japan, I started my JSPE career with FE exam volunteering proctor and PMP seminars lecturer. From the year 2005 to 2006, I was a JSPE director in charge of accounting & finance, and served as a vice president and a director for general affairs from the year 2007 to 2008. Well, I would like to urge you once again to think why we Japanese engineers promote US professional engineer’s license. This must be a trivial question for all of us who had already licensed, but it may be worthwhile rethinking what we have to do and why we exist.
As everyone see, the landscape of global economy has changed drastically since the credit crunch in the last year triggered by the collapse of US house-mortgage-based securities. Due to the globalization, the speed and the amplitude of change either good or bad seems to have been increasing. Someone says having PE license will help engineers survive in this very volatile environment, because licensed engineers may be paid better than non-licensed in the States. It is very clear motivation to drive people, though. Will the license automatically guarantee his or her high performance or high value? I think the answer will not be always Yes. I would dare to say that PE license means just like an ordinary drivers’ license, but never be the one for formula one racing cars. As the result of technical advancement in automobile design, one can just start, turn and stop a car without license. However, if you get a driving license, you will be required to understand properly the driving mechanism, traffic rules and why they are, in addition to just driving skills. I hope PE license motivates and promotes engineers’ pride and professional integrity. Once an engineer is licensed, he or she becomes more conscious of his or her responsibility and commitment to the society. This is one the most crucial point.
The next question will be why we have to seek for foreign license. For this, let us think about the situation of our country Japan. As nobody denies, Japan is just small islands without any natural resources other than human brain. How come we will be able to maintain our competitive advantage in science and technology? Our population has already peaked out and descending from now on. It naturally results in the fading out of energy consumption, gross domestic production and potential bargaining power. Our domestic market size is too small to focus and truly on the verge of erosion. Therefore, globalization is the only option for Japanese to exercise.
When it comes to globalization, I think first of all we have to accept cultural and social diversity before being accepted by others. Science & technology-based talents are quite limited pool of resources, especially in OECD countries. Japan is not an exception. Demographic change and young people’s reluctance to science & technology worsen these phenomena. We Japanese got used to be so homogeneous in community that we are apt to make decision informally. Thanks to Japanese language, we have been enjoying high-context communication without making everything public in a logical fashion. Although we unwillingly tend to create a kind of communication barrier between “us” and “them”, it is no longer possible for Japanese engineers to stand alone. Eliminating “We vs. They” phenomena, we always have to work as a member of global integrated team.
Let us get back to the opening question that I raised at the beginning, “why we Japanese promote US professional engineers.” We will strive for assisting young people to get qualified as globally-accepted engineers. US professional engineer qualification must be a very good turning point for their mindset. We confirm that we are technically-competent as well as good communicator in global arena. Among all, we are proud of ourselves with professional integrity, fully responsible for the health, safety and environment of society. I have been outside Japan almost seven years within 30 years of job experience, and lived both in developed countries and developing countries, too. It gave me a lot of fun and lessons of working across the border. I swear to make my best and take leadership to enhance the presence and status of JSPE and will transfer to the next generation. I would appreciate your collaboration in advance, and let us try together to achieve our mission.