I n construction circles, the Roebling name is as well known as the name Wright or Pei. Not many people outside of bridge building circles knows of the person who for 35 years has been the guiding design and construction force behind more than 100 bridges in the U.S., Canada, Chile, El Salvador, Brazil, Germany, Algeria, China, Malaysia, Korea, Australia and Israel. Six of his bridges were record holders at the time of completion and no other engineer can make that claim. It is a pity, but understandable, that his reputation has not spread further. The general public has a hard time understanding exactly what engineers do and an even harder time identifying who leaders in the profession are.
Engineering is viewed more as a group endeavor working behind the scenes with little fanfare.
Engineering organizations have been struggling for years to change this public perception, or lack of it. The industry now has the opportunity to honor and publicize the accomplishments of Man-Chung Tang in innovative engineering, technical excellence and beauty in design of bridges with his recent selection as the 1999 winner of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Roebling Award. As chairman of the board and technical director at T.Y. Lin International, San Francisco, Tang is providing final design for the self-anchored suspension bridge. Demand for mainframes and minicomputers is fading as the power and popularity of desktops grows. When computer timesharing was popular in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, users did not need to build, equip and maintain expensive computer rooms and the staff to go with it.