Engineering Education and Practice in the United States Foundations of Our Techno-Economic Future (1985) / Chapter Skim
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3. Defining the Engineering Community
3. Defining the Engineering Community
Pages 31-50
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From page 31... ...
Throughout this century, however, the nature of engineering work has been changing steadily. The corporate engineer has come to predominate, with work characterized by large project teams, relative individual anonymity, and dedication to discrete bits of technology advancement in a highly specialized field.
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From page 32... ...
Today, the emergence of the very large scale integrated circuit is about to create another revolution in the computer field as it sets the stage for artificial intelligence and other potential "fifth-generation" applications. Another emerging field is that branch of bioengineering called biochemical engineering {or sometimes biotechnology!
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From page 33... ...
This constant flux in the engineering work force makes it more difficult to characterize accurately the engineering profession, to determine with any certainty who is what, how many engineers there are, and where they work.
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From page 34... ...
To that end the panel formulated a set of definitions relating to the concepts "engineer" and "engineering." In addition, it developed a set of flow diagrams that provide, at varying levels of detail, a representational basis for understanding and quantifying the dynamics of the engineering system. The committee believes that the results of this effort represent a major contribution toward achieving those goals.
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From page 35... ...
The panel then developed the concept of an engineering community consisting not just of degreed engineers but of all those involved in engineering work, support of engineering work, or engineering education, whether they be engineers, scientists, technologists, or technicians. This all-encompassing approach provides a "universe" that was deemed necessary for describing adequately the complex dynamics seen within engineering practice today anal anticipated for the future.
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From page 36... ...
d. Current or recent employment in a job classification requiring engineering work at a professional level.
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From page 37... ...
While the occupational definitions differ little from those employed in previous studies and reports, the notion of an engineering community that is far broader than a mere community of engineers is a distinct departure from most earlier approaches. The panel's initial examination of flows of personnel into and out of activities that are decidedly engineering made it clear that individuals without formal education in engineering would have to tee taken into account, as would all those not currently engaged in engineering work but nevertheless qualified by virtue of training or experience to become active as the need might arise.
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From page 38... ...
Modeling. Apart from the obvious value in having a graphic representation of a complex system, the availability of these flow diagrams affords a number of important benefits:
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From page 39... ...
Data Bases Fourteen or more data bases, considered significant, were used to obtain data and estimates on the education and employment of groups making up the engineering community. These data bases had been compiled by a variety of national organizations and agencies concerned with technical personnel.5 While an enormous amount of information was available, a number of difficulties were encountered in using the existing data bases to derive values for the flow diagrams.
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From page 40... ...
_ . ~ rid -I , Ark ~ , I FIGURE 2 Comprehensive flow diagram for the U.S.
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From page 41... ...
DEFINING THE ENGINEERING COMMUNITY ~* , 1 ~2 fig hate P" l ~ _ my, T I T D-1 "T - R POOL my, 1 ~ 1 D4 D~ClU PCOL # ~e~a1.
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From page 42... ...
Secondary Students 9,600.014,418.015,191.0 A-llOO Secondary School Graduates 1,864.02,896.03,063.0 A-lllO Admitted to College 929.82,080.22,625.1 A-llll To Engineering 67.671.7110.1 A-1112 Science/Mathb 92.3134.9143.7 A-1113 Technology 4.811.0 A- 1114 Nontechnical 4 years plus 460. 1801.6944.6 A-1115 Collegiate Below BS-T 20.260.0150.7 A-1 1 16 Collegiate Below BS-NT 718.8363.5748.3 A-1 120 Noncollege A-1130 Nondegree College A-1200 High School Dropouts 998.0929.01,099.0 a Includes foreign students b Science/Math includes: agricultural/natural resources, biology, computer science, math, physical sciences, general science programs
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From page 43... ...
Shortcomings of the individual data bases from the standpoint of the flow diagrams presented another problem. Overall, for example, the data bases fait to provide current information on nondegree or associate-degree engineers and computer specialists.
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From page 44... ...
A very restricted set of objectives was chosen for the model. Using the tenets of the comprehensive flow diagram, the Towpath selected was that for population to education to job market {Figure 4J.
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From page 45... ...
Engineering Degrees (Doctors) Total Degrees Awarded En rol I ment 1t ENGI NE ER I NG WORK FORCE _ t EXIT ~ FIGURE 4 Engineering personnel model diagram.
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From page 46... ...
. Engineering educational institutions serve the needs of all sectors, not only through their primary mission of providing degree-oriented instruction but also in offering continuing educational opportunities, conducting research, and facilitating information exchange on many levels.
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From page 47... ...
Standarcis-setting organizations such as the American National Standards Institute and the American Society for Testing and Materials are also in this category. These voluntary organizations provide an extremely wide and varied range of support functions, including publishing technical information and general professional news, presenting seminars and symposia, offering guidance and scholarships to students, representing the interests of engineering in public policy forums, and providing public information about engineers and engineering achievements.
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From page 48... ...
Mechanisms for improving media coverage are for the most part already in place, and need only be strengthened and expanded. The various support organizations engineering professional societies, government agencies, and engineering schools and corporations can broaden their existing public information programs vis-a-vis the public and the media.
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From page 49... ...
found it necessary to construct a comprehensive flow diagram. Development of the flow diagram led to the identification of two large populations a technical reserve pool and a staff support pool that are essential and integral elements of the engineering community.
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From page 50... ...
The committee recommends that the NAB tale the initiative in creating a "media institute '' that would provide centralized coordination of a nationwide network of technological information sources to respond to media requests forinformation. References Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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