Industrial Training of Chemists and Engineers in Industry Introductory
Remarks
CHARLES H. KLINE Chemical Department, General Electric Co., Pittsfield, Mass. I N the search for greater efficiency in production and greater usefulness and personal satisfaction on the part of their employees the chemical process industries must consider h o w best to train and use their technical manpower. In the early days of these industries training technical men presented no problem, for there were few of them and these few worked in a fairly limited field where the daily experience on the job was the best teacher. Companies were small and relatively simple in structure, and an observant man could soon learn something of the different functions of his organization. Today, however, companies are large and often have complicated organization patterns. Furthermore, the role of the chemist and engineer in industry has broadened to include a great diversity of jobs. Under these circumstances some universities and some companies have come to believe that a more formal means of training new men in industry is advantageous, while others still consider an actual job to be the best introduction to industry. What is the best means of training chemists and engineers for modern industry? That is the question before this symposium. Probably there is no single direct answer to it, but w e shall review several alternative solutions to this general problem. First w e will outline the information and experience which the young college graduate must gain in this first contact with industry. The second author will review the efforts of t h e universities to provide more of this training by extension of the regular curriculum. The third and fourth writers will discuss the role of industry itself in providing means for giving the new graduate practical experience in industrial work and in applying modern personnel methods to the problem of placing and most effectively utilizing the young college graduate.
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WE humans are gregarious animals, guided usually by the desire to work with others in teams. Teamwork characterizes our American industrial system and is responsible in no small degree for the progress w e have made. This human tendency of working together is a very important factor, since it aids a n e w employee in adapting himself more readily to his new surroundings. However, no matter how well developed is the ability of adaptation the change from college to industry is usually so abrupt and the environment so utterly different that the young technical graduate is often quite bewildered and frequently fails to attain the required adjustment in a reasonable length of time. In some of the other professions, the svstem used in the university lessens the difference between the two environments. Examples of this are the professions of law and medicine. In these, almost from the very beginning of his first year, the student receives his college education in an ever-increasing atmosphere of professional consciousness, aided greatly by close associations with men w h o are actually in professional practice and who discuss their current professional work with the student. As a result the college graduates in law and medicine seem quite mature and serious of purpose as they graduate from the professional schools. In the case of science and engineering, such a close association, although equally desirable, is not always possible. Usually a smaller percentage of the men teaching have been in industrial work or are actively practicing as consultants. Where the faculty men are working as industrial consultants, it is almost always impossible for them to discuss this work with their students because it is being done for an industrial client and is, therefore, confidential in nature. The cooperative system of technical education now in use by an increasing number of colleges helps gready in developing the self-confidence of the student before graduation through actual industrial experience. This aids the young technical man in becoming a part of an industrial team more quickly. What are the problems which meet the new graduate entering industry? First, he moves from an environment in which his major responsibilities are of an academic nature into one where his responsibility is to earn his living and huild his future. He leaves a pleasant and somewhat carefree social life in which he is almost entirely free to do as he pleases. Usually his n e w associates are almost all strangers. His fife seems no longer his own for he has much less freedom. At the same time h e finds that h e is competing with others for future advancement and position. H e realizes that from the minute he starts in his new job h e ds being watched and appraised—that the shorter his period of successful adaptation, the quicker he will receive promotion and this itself may be a real factor in the
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A d a p t i n g the College Product to Industry PAUL D. V. M A N N I N G , Vice President, International Minerals & Chemical Corp.
Rapid orientation of the new graduate as he enters the industrial environment is an important responsibility of both the university and
position he may ultimately attain. He is faced with the immediate need of applying his technical knowledge to the requirements of his job as well as hving in an entirely n e w social environment in what to him is virtually a n e w world in his college work the importance of specializing has been stressed. Even in his own field there have been many courses he feels he should have taken. T h e schedule of required courses however was so heavy that he had no time for them. It was frecjuently pointed out to him that it is difficult to keep up with the advances in technology. Because of this h e may feel some lack of confidence in his ability to handle his job. There is little wonder that he often becomes bewildered and discouraged. From the standpoint of the employer, the shorter the period of transition, the lower the cost to the corporation. It is equally important to the university because the market for its future products depends to a great extent upon the return and satisfaction industry realizes from its investment in the graduates. It is, therefore, to the advantage of all three participants, the man, the educa-
tional institution, and industry, to develop a system whereby the transition phase may be made easier and the time required shortened as much as possible. It is a common problem, the solution of which requires recognition by each party, not only of his separate responsibilities but also of the need of working cooperatively in many parts o f the program. Except in the case of those educational institutions which are operating under cooperative systems, it appears that industry has done more toward working out a solution to the problem than most of the technical schools. However, many of the latter are now realizing that a well directed cooperative effort with industry pays dividends along unexpected lines in that it brings all three parties very much closer. Also it often results in cooperation along other lines such as grants-in-aid, fellowships, and consulting work. What can the graduate d o to aid himself in this program? This has been the major concern of several national committees of the Engineering Council for Professional Development, the Engineers* Joint Council, a n d the several engineering societies. The Professional Guidance Com-
D E V R I E S MANXRNC, vice president in charge PAUL of research at International Minerals and Chemi-
cal Corp., N e w York, was born in Omaha and combines a western with an eastern academic training, since h e earned degrees at Stanford, CalTech, and Columbia. He has held t o p flight p o sitions in both regions, a n d his varied industrial career has been interspersed with periods of teaching and writing. H e joined International Minerals and Chemical Corp. in 1941 and in 1943 assumed his present position. In 1 9 4 8 he was elected to fellowship in the New York Academy of Sciences.
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mittee of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers is an example of this type of activity. The great need t o begin this effort with the student as he enters college is being recognized. W e believe the student can prepare himself more easily for the transition t o an industrial position if during his college course he works toward the following qualities and attainments. 1. A good knowledge of the fundamentals of science a n d t h e fundamentals of the branch of engineering in which h e is working. 2. Absolute and uncompromising i n tegrity in thought a n d action. 3. A well-developed ability t o work with others and to make friends. 4. Good physical a n d mental health. 5. T h e ability to think, to reason, t o analyze a problem, and select its essentials. 6. A drive that makes him want to g e t things done and done correctly. 7. A good memory. 8. A knowledge of h o w and where t o find facts he needs b u t does not have. 9. A burning interest in his work that transcends t h e desire for money or personal gain, plus a great pride in h i s profession. 10. The ability t o use t h e tools of speech, economics, rapid reading, writing, and English. What can industry d o as its part in adapting the college product t o its needs? Necessarily the program carried out b y each corporation differs according to t h e organization, the business, and t h e job requirements pertinent to each particular company. From the standpoint of the corporation, each young technical graduate employed is potentially one w h o will spend the rest of his working life with the organization. An industrial organization depends for its
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growth largely upon its ability to develop the men w h o can bring about this growth. Technical school graduates have had the best and most expensive schooling, after having first been handpicked before entering school. T h e chances of .such men succeeding in their work and becoming of great value and a part of management in the corporation should, therefore, be much greater than in the ease of those young men who have not had such opportunities. But. only the theory, not the art of management can be learned from books. Thorough Knowledge Comes First Of first importance, therefore, is the need of giving the new technical graduate a thorough knowledge in the essential facts regarding the corporation, its history, its objectives, its policies, and especially the theory and operation of its form of organization and management. In this writer's opinion the latter is of greatest importance. The effectiveness and efficiency of any employee depends finally upon how well he and his skill fit into the organization and how well h e works with the others w h o make up the relatively small parts of the entire corporate structure. True teamwork means that all members work not for individuals but with individuals for the corporation. All of this is so important that it is worth spending considerable time and effort to ensure that it is taught well. During the time spent on his period of indoctrination, w e believe it worth while to arrange for one carefully selected older employee to be assigned as an adviser to each new technical graduate. This will aid the latter in understanding the practical applications of the things he has learned. Since the n e w technical worker is helping the corporation in its business, he ought to understand the figures giving the facts about its financial condition. A detailed explanation of its annual report and what it means is well worth while. Brief studies on their products, their uses, raw materials, specifications, markets, and short outlines of the processes should b e made. It is our opinion that too little time and effort are spent in most corporation training programs o n these foregoing points. A thorough knowledge of the corporation, its aims, policies, organization, and methods always breeds respect and loyalty on the part of its employees. Following this general work comes the training for specific jobs. In working out the course for this training, studies should be made b y management and personnel experts to develop the specifications for each position. After this has been done, a study will be needed to ascertain what is necessary t o develop the abilities and skills in the men required to fill t h e jobs. For each job there will b e required certain natural abilities, education, and training specific to that job. If this information is fully available before the n e w graduate is offered a position, then the corporation personnel experts can d o their best to select men who have the qualities required for the jobs.
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All of us know that no two individuals are alike. Our schools and colleges are also possessed of a great many differences and it therefore follows that each newly graduated technical man has had his own particular brand of individuality accentuated by his environment during the college years. It is the task of the industrial organization to accept the college product, carefully appraise each one, and then train him so that his greatest potential productivity may be realized in his work. This, of course, requires some individual personal training peculiar to each man since his personality and ability are different from those of all other men. Putting it in the form of an equation, the total mental equipment required for any position minus the sum of natural ability, talent, education and experience previously received, will have to be provided by on-the-job training. The chief concern of top management in industry is how to stimulate the young man entering the organization so that he will develop himself to the fullest extent of which he is capable. Every new employee is potentially a corporation president. Almost all large organizations have either informal or formal training courses which they are constantly improving. Many of them are endeavoring to work out means of stimulating the process of self-development in the employee to the point where it will continue throughout his entire corporate life up to the day of retirement. Recognition of the great importance of this phase of personnel development is seen in the establishment of very active educational departments by many of the leading corporations. At the December 1949 annual meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, a panel discussion devoted to the "Training in Industry of Young Engineers" attracted a number of t h e leading experts from several of the top industrial organizations and colleges in the country to discuss the progress being made in this work [Chem. Eng. Progress, 46, 267-282 (June, 1 9 5 0 ) ] . Role of the University What can and should the university do to help prepare the technical graduate for his part in industry? W e think this may b e summed u p in a very short statement. Teach him to think and to work! In a paper entitled "What Management Expects of an Engineer" [Mining and Metallurgy, 2 8 , 188-191 ( 1 9 4 7 ) ] , A. C. Rubel, an official o f the Union Oil Co. of California, said that management expects from an engineer, "First and foremost . . . that h e should b e c o m e , and, therefore, should fit himself in every way to b e , a part of management so that he may assume as much and as many of the responsibilities of management as his ability and the opportunities o f the job permit." Although the y o u n g engineer may not realize it w h e n h e leaves the university and goes into industry, there are not many
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real engineering jobs at the top o f most organizations. There are more oprportunities in the management of the corporation of which engineering is only o n e part. Engineering training is, however, a good basis for the development of management ability if followed by further training, selfdevelopment, and exx>erienee. Successful exploitation of this pliase of the opportunity comes to the man through self-development and hard work. Again quoting from Mr. Rubel, ". . . m a n a g e ment expects the engineer to work. Neither the job of engineering, operating, supervision, or executive management can be successfully handled in an eiglit-hour day or a five-day week. Scheduled time applies to routine operations and likewise scheduled operations apply to routine men. Ideas and n e w concepts are likely to come at any time and they must be immediately welcomed and exploited." Self Development Most Important T h e most important thing that t h e technical student can learn w h i l e in school is h o w to carry on with h i s o w n unsupervised self-development after he leaves school. It is the opinion of this writer that this point is the one least realized in most academic work. In our system of education each instructor is apt to be mostly concerned with imparting to the student a knowledge of the instructor's own specialty. T h e student is pretty much left on his own to develop t h e ability to think and to learn h o w to develop Himself. It is in this phase o f education t h a t he vitally needs help while h e i s in school. Acquisition of these abilities matures a man rapidly and almost guarantees his usefulness to his employer. Several ideas have been used at different schools in bringing industry a n d t h e students together. I n some instances arrangements have been made for alumni of several years' standing to retixrn for week-end meetings with upper-class students in order to give the latter some firsthand information on "what t h e s h o p is like." At least one university has a required course lasting for several w e e k s under t h e name of "Trends in the Chemical Industries/' Instruction in this course i s carried out by men from industry, each spending an entire week a t the university, living and talking with t h e members of the senior chemical engineering class. This has been very successful. It would b e a fine thing if the department heads of schools w o u l d malce arrangements with a group of industrialists so that each upper-division student might look to one industry man as a n older a d viser and could spend several ho>"urs or evenings with him during h i s last t w o years in school. Most men would t>e glad to find time for this. In summary, it will b e seen thvat t h e problems of adaptation both f o r t h e graduate and t h e corporation c a n b e greatly lessened through close cooperation between industry and the educational institution.
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