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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1985. Support Organizations for the Engineering Community. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/590.
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Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

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

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

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~. . . .

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

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.

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

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

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 . . .

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

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

. . 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

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