The online journal The Politico recently reported Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey as stating the following:
Markey, who is against new offshore drilling, said BP’s response should mirror the “Apollo project, not Project Runway.”
Is Congressman Markey correct in his advice? Do we live in the world of huge Apollo-like project capabilities, such as the 10-plus year program that took us to the moon, or are we much more limited and theatrical in our national engineering endeavors? The Apollo program lasted from 1961 to 1973 and cost $25.4 billion in 1973 dollars (roughly $170 billion in 2005 dollars). The program was marked by several key attributes - - a decade long time period to achieve the goal; national political consensus; adequate and unlimited funding; national pride; and a highly collaborative effort between the public and private sectors. This seems far removed from what is needed and what is occurring in the gulf emergency operations.
Much has changed since the 1960s along with the constraints that the engineering community must operate under. We all operate under the influence of a Project Runway mentality - - with Project Runway design consultant Tim Gunn directing us all to “Make it work,” - - where we have an hour long news cycle to “Make it work.” We must “Make it work” in the gulf - - in a very short time frame, without the luxury of $170 billion, under the theatrics of 24/7 news cycles, and without the integrated and collaborative efforts of the public and private sectors. Ed Markey just replaces Project Runway host Heidi Klum (Ok, not exactly) - - where Congressman Markey may want an Apollo type project, but what he wants most is to play the role of Ms. Klum in front of a national audience.
For better or worse - - we had all better get very comfortable with the Project Runway mentality regarding national engineering endeavors and emergencies. The engineering problem and crisis as national reality show. Modeled as a contest with judges and winners and losers - - where results at any one moment can be highly subjective. Where creativity, imagination, and originality are the primary engineering skill sets necessary to balance the limited time, resources, and funding that might be available.
In some respects - - the “Houston, we have a problem” statement of 40-years ago is answered in 2010 with “Make it work.”
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