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EDITORIAL
What’s the Real Problem? hose who regularly read the chemical engineering literature are
Tprobably all too familiar with the sort of first paragraph with which
a research paper almost invariably opens. This paragraph usually starts off by stressing how important the design and operation of a particular piece of equipment are to the commercial success of an industrial plant. I t then goes on to say, explicitly or implicitly, how vital it is that the knowledge presented in that paper be brought to bear on the subject, so that design or operation can be performed more accurately, quickly, or easily. Such sentiments, when expressed in a paper coming from industry, can perhaps be taken with some confidence at their face value. However, when the paper stems from a piece of university research, one cannot be so sure that the solution relates to a real problem. It is as certain as editorial surveillance can make it that the information in the paper answers some question, but is this the same question that the problem solver in industry would ask? For instance, just because gas-liquid contacting devices are important industrially, does it necessarily follow that a detailed study of the movement of a single gas bubble in a liquid will lead to better design? T o be sure, the generation of fundamental information cannot help but be of some assistance to designers, over some indeterminate time span, but before realistic solutions to real problems can be developed, the problems must first be analyzed to identify the critical aspects. Naturally, university researchers cannot and should not be asked to solve real problems in their entirety. However, they cannot concentrate as a group on the critical aspects of a problem unless they have some reliable, generally available means of discovering what these are. At the moment, those academics-and there are many-who want to contribute to the solution of industrial problems are often forced to decide for themselves what is critical. What is needed is a general mechanism through which industry and university can communicate about problem areas relevant to industrial needs, and through which funds can be channeled. Large grants with no strings attached, such as are generously (and philanthropically) given to universities by many companies, will not fill the bill; charity asks nothing and expects nothing in return. We believe, however, that an arrangement by which industry could expect some return on its investment would benefit both giver and receiver. Each company could form a fund-granting committee to consider research project proposals from professors, much as government agencies do, but with emphasis on studies that relate at a fundamental level to that company’s techhical problems. Alternatively, an industry-wide approach might be instituted, with individual companies contributing to a common pool. Whatever approach industry adopts, it should act quickly. With the prevailing tightening of federal funding, professors are looking around for alternative sources of support. T h e need for the 1968-69 academic year is already clear; the need thereafter can be readily projected. If industry doesn’t jump in quickly to provide funds, someone else (who may have money, but no industrially relevant problems) probably will. T h a t would be a pity, because industry would lose another opportunity to build a bridge to the universities.
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