Had the privilege to listen to Dr. E Sreedharan , who was addressing the new joiners of the APJ Adbul Kalam Technological University at the programme ‘Sanketha Pravesham’. For the benefit of any students and friends, posting herewith, the notes that I could capture from the speech

Dr. Sreedharan spoke of 5 things that are important for Engineers
1. Discipline: An Engineer has to practice the importance of time. Being punctual is not just going to help the work that we are engaged in, but it is a way of showing our respect to others time. He mentioned about the timeliness of Delhi metro Rail service, where the average delay of trains is only 60 Seconds, where as the world average of metro rails is around 2.5 minutes.
2. Integrity: Integrity should be the passport that one should be always carrying in your pocket! Integrity is upholding the Righteousness (Dharma) and it is an important way to build reputation. He shared the records that all the major projects that he handled (such as Konkan railway, Delhi Metro, Kochi metro projects) were assigned to him by Govt. of India after his retirement from service. All the projects were of very high budget programme and according to Dr Sreedharan, it was purely because of his reputation of being a professional of highest integrity
3. Professional Competence: At the end of the day, everything revolves around this. Knowledge is power and if you know your job well, you will get to work on various interesting projects. He said campuses and teachers play a significant role in building Engineer’s professional competence and urged students to be very respectful of it. He spoke sharply against the horrible campus incidents, students getting distracted away from studies and getting involved in violence and strikes at the hands of external forces. He also explained the importance of life long learning and narrated the incidents of how even now (at the age of 85) he get to learn new things from people on railway platforms
4. Contribution to Society: Dr. Sreedharan spoke in length about every Engineers duty to serve the society. He narrated the example of how he and team were able to restore the Pampan bridge within 46 days as against the targeted timeline of 90 days. This, he said, was possible only because of everybody’s desire to help the poor pilgrims, who were entirely dependent on the train services, to have their spiritual needs fulfilled. Dr. Sreedharan mentioned about the importance of building a career of one’s interest and choice, but highlighted the need to continuously keep in mind the need for giving back to people who helped us to reach those heights. Though he didn’t find it appropriate to go the details, he did mention that he doesn’t miss any chance to contribute to his Alma matter (I do remember a post from the Hon. Finance Minister Dr. Thomas Isaac, mentioning about Dr. Sreedharan’s meeting with him with a request to extend the school digitisation programme to Govt. LPS in Pattambi, where he studied). He urged students to graduate from ‘studies’ to ‘service’, as they pass out from their colleges Dorris Wedding prom wears for busty women
5. Being healthy: The life of an Engineer can be very demanding. Dr. Sreedharan recollected his experience of bringing back a damaged railway track in Maharastra, by working continuously for 48 hours without rest or proper food. He said Engineers should not become a burden for the organisation or individuals around and asked the students to inculcate the habits of being healthy – i.e. to eat healthy food, take adequate rest and do regular exercise

He ended saying that character excellence and behavioural majesty are the important virtues of Engineers.

What a fabulous set of advises ...Felt so inspired to be known as an 'Engineer' ! Let us all strive to live up to some of the above expectations set by one of the finest Engineers of our time !