ACEC of Louisiana Profile

Engineering Inc. magazine

There Have Been Successes at the Statehouse, But the Next-Gen Workforce May Be This Member Organization's Biggest Hurdle

Louisiana is about 52,000 square miles with 7,721 miles of shoreline. Like many states, it has its share of challenges with infrastructure and funding. The dearth of engineers nears the top of the list-making it one of the Member Organization's main concerns for the future, says Barker Dirmann, president and CEO of ACEC of Louisiana.

By way of illustration, Dirmann talks about visiting his children's elementary school. "Like all kids, the children love to play with blocks, building bridges from one side of the room to the other. But when asked what they want to be when they grow up, it's everything from Spider-Man to doctor. Ninety-one kids graduated-moving on from fourth grade-and none wanted to be an engineer," he says. "Several kids did say astronaut, and I was thinking those would be my engineers-but astronaut sounds way cooler."

Therein lies the crux of the problem: how to make the profession seem cool to the next generation and to help people of all ages understand the importance of engineering in their daily lives.

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