Answer extracted from the Empowering Industry Podcast - A Production of Empowering Pumps & Equipment — listen to the full episode below.
What ethical principle from Elemar McKay's engineering motto guides professional integrity in technical roles?
In engineering, integrity and honesty are limited resources you introduce only once in your career. If you do not know something, you must say so and find out—misrepresenting knowledge erodes the trust that is essential when your designs affect people's lives.
This principle, learned from foundational Hydro engineer Elemar McKay, sits at the foundation of engineering ethics. The core idea is simple but unforgiving: once your reputation for honesty is damaged, it cannot be fully restored. In a profession where decisions directly impact human safety, that loss of trust becomes catastrophic.
The distinction matters. Other professions can often recover from lapses in credibility or recover from limited misjudgments. Engineering is different. As Glenn Powell explains in the episode, when engineers design systems affecting people's lives—whether it's a pump in a critical infrastructure application or a pressure relief valve in a hazardous environment—perfect honesty is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
The practical implication is direct: admit uncertainty rather than guess. If you lack knowledge in a specific area, the ethical response is not to bluff your way through or present partial understanding as complete expertise. Instead, acknowledge the gap explicitly and commit to finding the answer. This builds credibility rather than eroding it.
"Your integrity and your honesty is kind of a limited resource, and you only ever have the chance to introduce yourself once in your career."
Glenn Powell — Senior Engineer at Hydro, where he has worked for 13 years across the reliability services group, pump test lab operations, and global engineering initiatives. Powell's career began during the 2008–2009 financial crisis with a master's degree and CAD drafting work before joining Hydro, where he absorbed this foundational principle of professional honesty from mentors like Elemar McKay and has applied it across major engineering projects.
This principle also reflects a deeper truth about engineering culture. Knowledge builds on previous work—if the foundation is dishonest, everything built above it becomes unstable. A junior engineer who hides a knowledge gap may pass that problem to colleagues downstream, creating hidden risks. A senior engineer who misrepresents expertise can lead entire teams off course.
The logic extends to team dynamics. In discussions on how Hydro approaches complex projects, this ethic shows up constantly: engineers who will openly say "I don't know, but let me research this" are trusted far more than those who speculate or overstate their capabilities. Trust enables collaboration. Without it, teams fragment into silos of defensive experts.
Why this matters more in engineering than elsewhere
Engineering is one of the few professions where a dishonest decision doesn't just affect a business outcome—it can directly harm people. A financial advisor who misrepresents market risk causes monetary loss. An engineer who misrepresents system capacity or material properties can cause injury or death. This asymmetry makes honesty non-negotiable, not aspirational.
It also means the standard for integrity is higher because the stakes are higher. You can often rebuild professional relationships in other fields through apologies, corrections, or time. In engineering, some decisions are irreversible—they're built into steel, concrete, or hydraulic systems that will operate for decades. Once you've cut corners or misled colleagues on a design, that mistake might be discovered only when the system fails in the field.
For anyone building a career in technical fields, this principle from Elemar McKay is worth internalizing early. The full conversation with Glenn Powell explores how this ethic plays out across Hydro's approach to reliability, testing, and innovation—showing that engineering excellence and professional integrity are not separate virtues, they are the same thing.
Key takeaways
- Integrity and honesty are finite resources—you have only one chance to establish yourself as truthful in your career.
- In engineering, admitting what you do not know and finding the answer is far safer than speculating or misrepresenting expertise.
- Engineering differs from other professions because dishonest decisions can directly affect human safety, making perfect honesty a technical requirement, not just an ethical preference.
- Trust enables collaboration and accelerates problem-solving; its loss creates silos and hidden risks across teams and projects.
See also
What is Hydro University and how does it address the skills gap in the pump and hydraulics industry?
Hydro University is a training initiative designed to transfer knowledge and skills to younger engineers entering the industry as older engineers retire, ensuring continuity of expertise across the sector.
How is research and development being applied to smart pump technology for building systems?
Hydro has a current research and development project using its test lab to validate smart capabilities of pumps for building circulations and heating systems, advancing automation and efficiency.
What testing capabilities does Hydro's pump test lab provide to the industry?
Hydro's test lab facility can accommodate up to 5,000 horsepower, up to 40,000 gallons per minute of discharge flow, and three to 4,000 PSI, enabling comprehensive testing of pumps across a wide range of industrial applications.