Abstract :
The AIEE has entered upon its 57th year. As usual at this stage of the Institute year a new president is in the chair. He is very happy to be your president and proud of the fact that he is an engineer. In order that you may know how interesting he has found being an electrical engineer and a member of the Institute, he is going to risk criticism for lack of good taste and tell you some of his engineering experiences — not that he would boast of any of them, but rather that he might neutralize some of the pessimism brought about by the discouraging actions of humans. He trusts that his words may cause those members of the profession who have practiced for a time to recall their own happy experiences, and may indicate to the younger members possibilities for happiness which cannot be destroyed even by tyrants lusting for power. He started being an engineer before the days of vacuum tubes and electronics, yea, even before the days of “wireless,” by climbing distribution-line poles, fixing primary-battery-powered doorbells, and displacing coal-oil lamps by wiring old houses.
