Inspired Post #1: The World of Public Policy - An Engineer’s Perspective

Please don’t laugh at the ignorance of the proceeding statement, but the world of policy making and think tanks is much more complicated than I thought before taking this class. From the depth of the research necessary to back a policy decision, to the collaboration needed to determine an idea, and finally to the depth of background and experience needed to recommend a balanced and well-rounded policy solution, this career and world entails a good deal. Completing the policy brief in particular was very enlightening as the amount of work necessary to even begin to understand and/or change an existing policy. 

This whole idea is a very foreign concept to me. As an engineer, we have our equations and we have our solutions. There is a great deal of idea generation but any creativity always has these two tenets at its core. As I have come to understand, this is certainly not the case when it comes to creating and persuading the acceptance of new policy. The complexity of ideas and information needed to even start the implementation section of our final policy brief well-amounted to more than I have ever spent on an engineering project.  It is certainly a different world.

However, I think it has been very beneficial to have the rug ripped out from under me and get my hair a bit frazzled. This world of think tanks, as I perceive it, revolves around the convergence of so many different topics, subtopics, specialties, and connections that it really has helped broaden my view back out from the sort of tunnel vision towards equations and formulas that I have been accustomed to in undergrad. It makes me stop are really think about how everything is so inexplicable interconnected and how much of an education I need beyond fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. 

Although it has been a new and very difficult spin on my academic experiences here at Penn State, I think it is perhaps, and I say this with complete sincerity, one of the most impactful classes of my undergraduate career. From the influential individuals we spoke with, to the range and relevance of topics we covered, finally the experience of the final presentation, it has certainly taught me a lot about my country and myself. I don’t think politics and policy making is really for me but at least now I know the importance of being well-informed and the depth of work and knowledge needed to keep this country on its feet.