interpritation of quotation

 "I contend that we (engineers) are undervalued because of our widespread

inability to explain what we do to the general public (and why it is so important)

It is one of the hardest goals to accomplish, to be able to boil down difficult

concepts into a short and easily understood presentation or elevator pitch."

Marybeth Miceli, President, Miceli Infrastructure Consulting, USA (2011)

In my own interpritation, it is generally hard to explain to the general public what an engineer does as it usually involves a lot of complex knowledge. Engineers gain the knowledge over a period of time, while the public needs to understand the concepts and ideas within a few minutes. Hence when things go wrong, it is hard it is hard for the general public to understand why it goes wrong and instead blame the engineers for the poor design.