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4
CONCLUSIONS
The United States faces several national problems-such as unprecedented
technological change and rapid transfer of information-that many people believe are
approaching crisis levels and whose solutions will require an even more adaptable
engineering work force. Evidence on the adequacy of existing mechanisms to facilitate
adaptability is not sufficient to guide the development of policy.
Emphasizing mobility as a key aspect of adaptability minimizes the benefits derived
by society from engineers who contribute-not by moving and developing new products-
but by staying in one place and making incremental improvements in existing products and
processes. In the context of nonmobility, adaptability is manifest by being open to new
ideas about and new techniques for improving existing products and their production. This
"cyclic development" of successive iterations is a competitive process carried out by
product engineers to refine the product, customize it for more and more consumer
segments, make it more reliable, or get it to market more cheaply.40
If the definition of "adaptability" encompasses the ability to transform new scientific
and technological knowledge into product and process applications, then adaptability
improves a nation's competitive advantage in the global marketplace not only by enhancing
the production of snore engineers but also by facilitating the production of more versatile
engineers who constantly seek improvements in products and processes. Adaptability is
facilitated-or impeded-by the way in which engineers are supervised and managed.
Further research is needed on the aspects of daily on-thejob activities that facilitate and
impede adaptability, including the ways in which engineers solve problems and the
allocation of project assignments. Moreover, data on demonstrations and pilot projects
undertaken by industry, academe, and the professional engineering associations need to be
40Ralph E. Gomory, Op. Cit.
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collected and analyzed to increase our understanding of how to enhance adaptability in the
engineering work force.
The issues of education and paining are always with us: scores of committees have
produced recommendations for education reform at ah levels. One of the most widely
quoted was A Nation atRisk, which focused on grades K-12.41 One of the most
thorough treatments of eng~neenng education is the Haddad report, which includes separate
volumes on undergraduate engineering education, engineering graduate education and
research, and continuing or lifelong engineering education.42 Before embarking on
additional ~ni~aanves, it would be beneficial to find out whether recommendations from
previous studies were implemented, and win what results.
In the committee's view, by exploring adaptability now, the NAE is on a track that
is both mnely and necessary.
4iNanonal Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational
Reform, a report to the nation and the Secretary of Education, Washington, D.C.: The Commission, 1983.
42Committee on the Education and Utilization of the Engineer, 1985b. This report was prepared under the
guidance of the Committee on the Education and Utilization of the Engineer, chaired by Jerkier A. Haddad.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
engineering work
