Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page R1
ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND
PRACTICE IN THE UNITED STATES
support
Organizations for
the Engineering
Community
Panel on Support Organizations
for the Engineering Community
Committee on the Education and
Utilization of the Engineer
Commission on Engineering and
Technical Systems
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1985
OCR for page R2
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS · 2101 Constitution Ave., NW · Washington, DC 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing
Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of
the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Insti-
tute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen
for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures
approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy
of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of Sciences
in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's
purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. The Council
operates in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy under the
authority of its congressional charter of 1863, which establishes the academy as aprivate,
nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The Council has become the princi-
pal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy
of Engineering in the conduct of their services to the government, the public, and the
scientific and engineering communities. It is administered jointly by both Academies and
the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of
Medicine were established in 1964 and 1970, respectively, under the charter of the
National Academy of Sciences.
Support for this work has been provided by the National Science Foundation, the
Department of the Air Force, the Department of the Army, the Department of Energy, the
Department of the Navy, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Addi-
tionally, assistance has been provided through grants from the Eastman Kodak Company,
Exxon Corporation, the General Electric Company, the IBM Corporation, the Lockheed
Corporation, the Monsanto Company, and the Sloan Foundation.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 85-62632
ISBN 0-309-03629-1
Printed in the United States of America
OCR for page R3
Preface
The Panel on Support Organizations for the Engineering Commu-
nity was one of the subcommittees of the National Research Council's
Committee on the Education and Utilization of the Engineer. The
report of the parent committee has been published; * the work of this
panel is presented in this report and should be considered as part of the
larger committee effort. In many cases, the findings and work of other
subcommittees were used as the basis for the work of this panel.
The panel's initial goal was to identify and examine the support
organizations that exist to meet the needs of both individual engineers
in performing their specific tasks and the community of engineers in
contributing to society as a whole. However, the panel perceived that
the identification of those current and projected needs of engineers that
affect their ability to perform was fundamental to any meaningful eval-
uation of support organizations.
Recognizing that the nature of the study precluded an exhaustive
investigation, the panel nevertheless set forth to identify those needs
that appeared to be most significant to individual engineers and als
those that emerged as concerns expressed by the profession as a whole.
The identification and evaluation of the support mechanisms existing
* Engineering Education and Practice in the United States: Foundations of Our
Techno-Economic Future (Washington, D.C.: NationalAcademy Press, 1985~.
. . .
OCR for page R4
1V
PREFACE
or required to address these needs then followed as a logical outgrowth
of this first effort. In this identification, the panel made no effort to be
exhaustive and precise in enumerating all specific organizations;
rather, references were to generic classes or illustrative examples of
. .
organization types.
Where support organizations did not exist to meet expressed needs,
this lack was noted. On the other hand, it was considered beyond the
scope of this panel's work to propose new support organizations or to
provide extensive evaluations or critiques of existing groups.
The panel was organized into five task force work groups, each deal-
ing with a different sector of the engineering profession: ~1 ) academia,
~2~ government, ~3~ industry, ~4~ private practice, and j5J society at
large. Each of the task forces considered factors that related both to the
sector and to individuals working within the sector.
Once the study was under way, the panel decided to address the needs
and support mechanisms of the society-at-large sector in a different
fashion because it was characterized by unique and diversified issues.
Furthermore, limited time permitted addressing only the media-
related segment of this area. Time constraints also precluded an exten-
sive consideration of legislative/regulatory/societal organizations and
their impacts on the engineering community. Thus, these issues are
clearly identified in the various sector reports as being of critical impor-
tance and are suggested as an area of further study.
Thanks are extended to all those who contributed to the delil~era-
tions of the panel. Particular appreciation is expressed for the leader-
ship of the chairmen of the individual task forces and to Paula B. Wells
for her contribution in the preparation of the report. The wisdom and
insight of Terrier A. Haddad and William H. Michael, Ir., were of great
value in the integration of the panel's efforts into the work of the parent
committee.
Francis E. Reese
Chairman
OCR for page R5
Panel on Support Organizations
for the Engineering Commurlity
FRANCIS E. REESE, Chairman, Senior Vice-President, Monsanto
Company
DENNIS CHAMOT, Associate Director, Department for Professional
Employees, AFL/CID
LLOYD A. DUSCHA, Deputy Director of Engineering and
Construction, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
FRED JEROME, Director, Media Resource Service, Scientists' Institute
for Public Information
JOHN E. KING, Director, Engineering Business Operations and
Administration, Douglas Aircraft Company
CHARLES A. SORBER, Associate Dean, College of Engineering, The
University of Texas at Austin
DONALD G. WEINERT, Executive Director, National Society of
Professional Engineers
PAULA B. WELLS, Executive Vice-President, Wells Engineers, Inc.
OCR for page R6
V1
PANEL TASK FORCES
Academic Sector Task Force
CHARLES A. SORBER, Chairman, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs,
College of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
LARRY KEELS, Manager of Engineering Sciences, Facilities
Engineering, General Motors Corporation
RICHARD W. MORTIMER, Chairman, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Drexel University
HOWARD F. RASE, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering,
The University of Texas at Austin
THOMAS W. REEDER, Coordinator, Office of the Dean of Engineering,
The University of Texas at Austin
CHARLES C. SPACE, Executive Director, Texas Society of Professional
Engineers
CARL ZOROWSKI, Associate Dean of Engineering, North Carolina
State University
Government Sector Task Force
LLOYD A. DUSCHA, Chairman, Deputy Director of Engineering and
Construction, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
STANLEY O. BEAN, TR., Assistant Director of Engineering, Forest
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
WILLIAM A. BROWN, SR., Directorate of Engineering and Services, U. S.
Department of the Air Force
MYRON D. CALKINS, Director of Public Works, City of Kansas City,
Missouri
STANLEY DAVIS, Chief, Hydraulic Branch, Federal Highway
Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation
H. A. FLERTZHEIM, Public Works Director, Alameda County,
Hayward, California
HERBERT L. KLOSSNER, Director, Department of Transportation,
Hennepin County, Minnesota
WILLIAM PITSTICK, Executive Director, Northern Texas Counci' of
Governments
THOMAS R. RUTHERFORD, Director, Engineering and Design Criteria
Management Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command,
Department of the Navy
DARRELL WEBBER, Assistant Commissioner for Engineering and
Research, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior
OCR for page R7
PANEL TASK FORCES
DONALD G. WEINERT, Executive Director, National Society of
Professional Engineers
MAX WHITMAN, Director of Public Works and City Engineer, Village
of Winnetka, Illinois
Industrial Sector Task Force
JOHN E. KING, Chairman, Director, Engineering Business Operations
and Administration, Douglas Aircraft Company
JEFFREY B. ERICKSON, Unit Chief, Human Factors Research, Douglas
Aircraft Company
PAMELA G. HILTON, Engineer Scientist, Human Factors, Douglas
Aircraft Company
HOWARD TUREWITZ, Assistant to the Senior Vice-President, Electric
Power Research Institute
PAUL MAMA, Vice-President, Technical, Aluminum Association
STANLEY PROCTOR, Director, Engineering Technology, Monsanto
Company
Private Sector Task Force
PAULA B. WELLS, Chairman, Executive Vice-President, Wells
Engineers, Inc.
FERD ANDERSON, OR., Executive Director, American Consulting
Engineers Council of Nebraska, Inc.
MICHAEL F. DAVY, Vice-President, Davy Engineering Company
WILLIAM l. McKEE, JR., Staff Director, National Society of Professional
Engineers
LARRY SPILLER, Executive Vice-President, American Consulting
Engineers
Society-at-Large Task Force
FRED JEROME, Director, Media Resource Service, Scientists' Institute
for Public Information
. .
V11
OCR for page R8
Committee on the Education and
Utilization of the Engineer
JER~ERA. HEAD, Chairman ~IBM, Ret.J
GEORGE S. ANSELL, Dean of Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute {now President, Colorado School of Mines
JORDAN T. BARUCH, President, Jordan J. Baruch Associates
ERICH BLOCH, Vice-President, IBM Corporation Now Director,
National Science Foundation
DENNIS CHAMOT, Associate Director, Department for Professional
Employees, AFL/CID
EDMUND T. CRANCH, President, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
DANIEL C. DRUCKER, Dean of Engineering, University of Illinois at
Urbana {now Graduate Research Professor of Engineering Sciences,
University of Florida at Gainesville J
FRED W. GARRY, Vice-President, Corporate Engineering and
Manufacturing, General Electric Company
JOHN W. GEILS, Director of ~ES/ASEE Faculty Shortage Project
(AT&T, Ret. J
AARON l. GELLMAN, President, Gellman Research Associates, Inc.
HELEN GOULDNER, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Professor of
Sociology, University of Delaware
JOHN D. KEMPER, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of California at Davis
EDWARD T. KIRKPATRICK, President, Wentworth Institute of
Technology
. . .
OCR for page R9
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
1X
ERNEST S. KUH, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science, University of California at Berkeley
W. EDWARD LEAR, Executive Director, American Society for
Engineering Education
LAWRENCE M. MEAD, OR., Senior Management Consultant {Senior
Vice-President, Ret. I, Grumman Aerospace Corporation
M. EUGENE MERCHANT, Principal Scientist, Manufacturing Research,
Cincinnati Milacron, Inc. {now Director, Advanced Manufacturing
Research, Metcut Research Associates, Inc. J
RICHARD T. REDPATH, Vice-President, Ralston Purina Company
FRANCIS E. REESE, Senior Vice-President, Monsanto {now retired
ROBERT M. SAUNDERS, Professor, School of Engineering, University
of California at Irvine {Chairman, Board of Governors, AMES, 1983
CHARLES E. SCHAFFNER, Executive Vice-President, Syska &
Hennessy
JUDITH A. SCHWAN, Assistant Director, Research Labs, Eastman
Kodak Company
HAROLD T. SHAPIRO, President, University of Michigan
MORRIS A. STEINBERG, Vice-President, Science, Lockheed
Corporation
DONALD G. WEINERT, Executive Director, National Society of
Professional Engineers
SHEILA E. WIDNALL, Professor of Aeronatics and Astronautics,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Staff
WILLIAM H. MICHAEL, TR., Executive Director
VERNON H. MILES, Staff Officer
AMY ~ANIK, Administrative Assistant
COURTLAND S. LEWIS, Consultant
Government Liaison
LEWIS G. MAYFIELD, Head, Office of Interdisciplinary Research,
National Science Foundation
OCR for page R10
OCR for page R11
Contents
Executive Summary
1. The Academic Sector
The Need to Inform Precollege Students About
Engineering, 16
Establishment of Pre-engineering Program Structure and
Standards, 18
Financial Resources for Engineering Students, 19
Improved Engineering Curricula, 20
Improved Financial Compensation Packages for
Engineering Faculty, 22
Provision of Adequate Support Resources for Faculty, 23
Research Support for Faculty, 24
Faculty Development and Recognition, 25
Administrative Support for Engineering Institutions, 25
Long-Range Planning for Engineering Institutions, 26
2. The Govem ment Sector ....................
Acquisition of Requisite Management Skills, 28
Development of Communication Skills, 29
Maintenance and Enhancement of Technical Engineering
Skills, 30
Increased Emphasis on Professional Development, 31
Recognition of Engineering Contributions, 32
X1
1
.. 16
. 28
OCR for page R12
. .
X11
In-House Technical Engineering Opportunities, 33
Improved Working Climate, 34
Development of Skills for Serving the Public Interest, 35
Development and Maintenance of Professional
Standards, 36
Industry-Competitive Compensation Base, 36
Expanded Private/Government Sector Contact, 37
3. The Industrial Sector ...................
Career Assessment/Development, 39
Communication and Data Exchange Between
Companies, 39
Research and Development Project Capital, 40
Opportunities for Positive Visibility and Appreciation, 41
Recruitment Opportunities, 41
4. The Private Sector ..............
Development of Management Skills for [Profitable
Operations, 43
Education and Training in Competitive Techniques
and Strategies, 45
Development of Adequate Risk Management Tools, 46
Achieving Versatility and Profitability While Maintaining
Professional Integrity and Objectivity, 47
Society at Large ........
Overview, 49
What Engineers Need, 51
What the Media Need, 52
What the Public Needs, 53
Breaking the Silence, 54
Opportunities for Expansion, 56
Conclusions, 57
Recommendations, 58
Appendix A: Public Information and Media
Outreach Activities ................
Appendix B: Survey of Journalists' Perceptions of
Engineers, Physicians, and Scientists ........
CONTENTS
..... 38
43
. 49
65
