H. E. Hoelscher, W. R. Turkes, and J. 1. Abrams
feature
School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213
Educators have vital role in environmental engineering
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he role of engineering in society has always been a pragmatic one, bridging the pure theory of the scientific disciplines and the practical realities of man's physical existence. Engineering, in a defined, structured form, dates from Thomas Tredgold's classical definition of civil engineering (1827) as, "the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man." Until the 19th century, engineering operated on an event or happening basis, an occasional solution to a specific problem. I n that century, however, man made increasingly serious attempts at systematic control over his world. Engineering schools, which had been the poor relations in the university family, achieved a position of equality, and even leadership, on the campus during the first half of this century. In effect, engineering, as a profession. responded to the demands of an increasingly technological society. This response usually was a reaction and a solution to an identified. well-defined problem rather than an anticipation of potential problems o r needs. Engineering performed what can be called the technological f i x . Often unable to identify and define root causes. engineering attacked symptoms rather than causes. Unfortunately. this frequently is the approach to the solution of current environmental problems. Today. engineering has available powerful tools for attacking practical problems of technology and, indeed, has successfully solved many of these problems. Thus, it is logical that engineering accept a responsibility for attacking the root causes of problems of Volume 3, Number 3, March 1969 235
the environment. However, today’s complex society demands that engineering anticipate these needs as well as react to them. As the world shrinks and population explodes. and as urban growth accelerates, environmental problems clearly interrelate and demand multifaceted solutions. The technological fix per se no longer is adequate; it is absolutely essential that those proposing solutions to environmental problems be aware of man’s ecology. The solution to one problem may cause more intense problems in other areas if those applying the technological fix are not knowledgeable of the larger context in which they operate. Engineering has produced tremendous achievements. Fifty years ago, change occurred at a rapid rate-the automobile had become an established mode of transportation, and the Wright Brothers had already engineered man’s first successful flight. Twenty-five years ago, the atom was split. and, today, a man o n the moon may be only months away. Tremendous achievements, yes. but what a mess! A few far-sighted people. prophets in the wilderness, cried out. “Stop, and look at your world and what you are doing to it.” Some stopped, saw. smelled, heard-and worried about what industrial processes yield as unhappy byproducts for the environment. But they were drowned out. As a result, any metropolitan newspaper today contains at least one article about the crises occurring in the environment. Recently, one city newspaper’s Sunday edition reported items on the contamination of t h o different lakes, one from septic tanks and one from mine waste; presented one article on river pollution by industry; t h o on road safety, including one on legislative changes attempting to unify road signs for traffic safety; another announcing a road safety conference; still another on legislation attacking urban blight; and, finally-the most effective one-a cartoon depicting a giant, labeled Air Pollution, under attack by a tiny man, called Congress. uielding a sling-shot loaded with a few million dollars. The cartoon was titled “It worked for David.” This one-day listing just scratches the surface in cataloging the environmental problems which have reached serious, crisis proportions. These problems include the obvious ones: Air 236 Environmental Science & Technology
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and water pollution; noise pollution; thermal pollution; solid, liquid. and gaseous waste disposal; chemical problems such as pesticides; and traffic safety. Still another environmental hazard developed recently: Certain television sets were recalled because of suspected radiation hazards. Clearly the time is past when engineering, and its record of achievements. can ignore its responsibility to become involved in the solution of all of the environmental problems. Most environmental engineering activities to date have focused on environmental health. but environmental engineering must be viewed in an expanded context. The simple fact emerges that the problems of the environment no longer can be considered as individual. isolated ones. They are vastly complex and interacting, requiring the system approach. The word system is popular today. Without attempting to specifically define an environmental system, several generalizations can be made about the characteristics of systems. They are formed from many components and involve many variables. Their interactions are more important than their individual components. Systems behave as organisms; they are adaptive and capable of being controlled. These generalizations actually offer a broad description of the environmental problem. But the problems in the environ-
ment require fresh combinations of analyses using engineering, economics, sociology, biology. and other disciplines. The responsibility for environmental problems and their control clearly lies with engineering education, although not solely and exclusively. Presently, engineering education performs four basic functions: Education of manpouer at all levels. Production of information. * Communication of technical information. Coordination of the active participants in engineering, namely, the university, industry, and government. In each of these four functions, engineering educators must investigate and determine the most effective ways for engineering education to confront the whole spectrum of environmental problems. Production of educated manpower If a building is to be built, an architect and civil and structural engineers are consulted. T o whom does society turn for help in environmental problems? To direct society’s attention appropriately. the components of environmental engineering must be identified and curricula must be established which specifically take as their theme the application of engineering to environmental problems. However this is
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accomplished, it will involve change with all the difficulties and disturbing upheavals that change inevitably brings. A t the heart of producing trained manpower is the question of how to generate student interest in environmental problems. Certainly, the establishment of an appropriate curriculum is a vital ingredient. Most courses now dealing with environmental problems do so only secondarily and only as existing course content seems appropriate-much the same as safety engineering is covered. A 1966 survey of 56 schools by the Environmental Engineering Intersociety Board showed that 31 schools had environmental programs listed in sanitary engineering: 18, under environmental engineering; 10, under water resources; and 2, in bioenvironmental engineering. (This total is more than 56 because of multiple listings.) Of these programs, 45 are in civil engineering departments; one, in a graduate engineering program; and only 5 are departments in their own right. All are graduate level programs. This becomes especially disturbing since the vast majority of practical engineering is the work of engineers without graduate education. Thus. it is urgent that not only practicing engineers. but undergraduate and graduate students as well. realize the implications of environmental control problems. Educationally. this can
be accomplished in several ways and. potentially. at all academic levels. For example : The introduction or expansion of environmental considerations in present courses. The development of new courses for all engineers in the area of environmental control. This could prove valuable for wide groups of undergraduates. The development of departments or programs in environmental engineering which would produce a new category of engineer--the environnzental engineer. Whether any of these suggestions are workable or whether the results will be meaningful is speculative. But in this day of educational experimentation, when both undergraduate and graduate programs are becoming broader and broader, these possibilities demand examination. A well established curriculum usually follows the development of a defined department o r program. Consequently. strong arguments propone the establishment of a structured department. and other, equally strong arguments favor a nonstructured, multidisciplinary program. In favor of a centralized approach is visibilir).. A named departmental structure is a flag that everyone can see, with clear-cut leadership and defined lines of authority. It gives focus
for fiscal support and acts as a natural locus of interest. By its very existence, others. not directly involved, become aware of its activities and. hence, aware of environmental problems. The argument for a nonstructured approach is flexibility. The breadth of environmental problems suggests or necessitates the participation of many disciplines. Particularly in the early stages of development, over-rigid structuring can inhibit these interactions and constrict inputs from other interested university programs. Individual institutions must decide between these alternatives in the light of their own situations. Ultimately, they %ill be influenced by what they find determines the flow of students. Do individual personalities within a department attract students, or is the subject itself the lure? Examination and evaluation of all possibilities will suggest the route any one school should take. Information production
Generating information. primarily through research activity, also is directly related to environmental problems. Universities contribute to research through a unique combination of circumstances existing only in a university situation. The university acts as a focus for the learning process, clustering the personnel, concentrating scholars and researchers in an atmosVolume 3, Number 3, March 1969 237
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phere difficult to duplicate. Some industrial research complexes have, in recent years, taken a leaf or two from the university book and have established research situations which offer some of the advantages found in the university. In this respect, industrial research has shown every indication of maturing. In the past, much industrial research concentrated only on very specific product-oriented and market-oriented activity. This was inevitable and not necessarily bad. Industry, after all, must make a profit. Unfortunately, some research still seems designed to defend products that society has come to have grave misgivings about. Cigarette companies seem to defy statistical probabilities by elaborate research studies, and the automotive industry only recently responded in a positive way to the safety uproar. Nevertheless, industrial research, in general, has become far more sophisticated in understanding its role in the information generation business. Research in industry has taken giant steps forward and, in many instances, far surpasses the university in laboratory facilities and manpower resources, and even in the production of what the university cherishes as its very ownpure research. However, university research continues to have a distinct place, not in competition with industrial research but in complementary and cooperative ways. The educational institution has a fund of student research manpower available during 238
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the educational process. Since a necessary part of learning involves laboratory and research experience. university research can afford to undertake some pure research which has not inspired industrial efforts. These kinds of activities are now being applied and should be far more intensively applied to the environmental problems of society. Research is clearly essential in finding meaningful solutions to the vast array of future and yet unposed environmental problems. But the lack of research must never become an excuse for inaction. The problems are too urgent. Communication of information
Communication in the modern world is recognized as a critical element in education. In the area of environmental problems, some of the technology for solutions often already exists. It is true that the solutions at this stage may be only partial ones, but important beginnings are possible. The sad reality is that many of these beginnings may be deferred or rejected simply because of a failure in communication. Universities, government, and industry do important work in diversified areas; certainly, a staggering amount of duplication exists in these activities. But even more distressing is the fact that, through a failure in communications, knowledge is not maximized in the solutions of what appear to be unrelated problems. Available information. commonly referred to as the paperwork. explosion.
must be channeled effectively. In recent years. engineering has developed tools with immense potential for dealing with this proliferation of information. Computers, data banks, and information-retrieval systems of many kinds are trying to cope with the inundation of data. The university. both a generator and repository of information, is, appropriately. a synthesizer and disseminator of information. As more variables are identified and quantified in environmental problems, additional inputs become available for new approaches. In short, new technological needs will become apparent as problems are better understood and partially solved. Undoubtedly, the solution to one problem will pose new problems. Whatever other conclusions are reached, there is no doubt that effective communication is a vital ingredient in the concentrated effort to meet the crises in the environment. Coordinating the participants
Coordination is the result of good communications. Essentially, coordination involves a flow of problems and a directed allocation of responsibilities and resources. Although not one of its classical functions, the modern university is the logical catalyst for practical engineering as exercised through industrial or governmental activities. Engineering schools provide manpower, provide research. and increasingly have provided leadership in operational ideas. One result of in-
creasing government support to universities is that a reciprocal information flow now exists between the two. University ties to industry are somewhat less distinct, and mutual expectations are not clear cut. TOOoften, industry does not feed back its problems to engineering educators, with the consequence that educators can not always tailor their activities for optimum benefit. The magnitude of the environmental problems makes it more important with every passing day to close the loop, to feed back problems and solutions in order to make the most of opportunities for cooperative progress. Not only must the academic world work out mutual responsibilities with industry. but industry must join the university in supporting effective environmental controls. Unfortunately, the less progressive industries too often react against problem-solving legislation. Although some legislative solutions are costly, they frequently occur because viable alternatives have not been forthcoming. A tremendous opportunity exists for industry and academic activity to proceed and lead legislation rather than the reverse. Popular support is swelling behind governmental control of environmental conditions. and engineering education has a significant contribution to make in this area. Pittsburgh’s approach
The environment of man represents an acknowledged challenge of critical importance today unmatched by any other presently identifiable subject or problem area. Recognizing this, the University of Pittsburgh has made an in-depth study of its own programs and available multidisciplinary units. directed toward development of an institution-wide attack on the problem. Recently, the school of engineering received support for ii chair of environmental engineering and now is planning its manpower and resources commitment to this activity. The graduate school of public health, the graduate school of public and international affairs, and the school of engineering are cooperating in a growing public works program; one proposal in this program requests funds with which to attack a facet of the urban transportation problem. The graduate school of public health and Volume 3, Number 3, March 1969 239
the school of engineering are involved in air and water pollution studies. There are other strengths-in the social sciences, in sociology, in social work, in health areas, and in other departments and schools-each of which relates to the environment of man. These strengths, however, presently are separate, isolated, and uncoordinated across the campus. Clearly, a coordinating vehicle-an organizational unit-is needed as a base f o r the various degree-oriented programs and the various activities which are important but which operate outside the institutional degree programs. Such a unit is essential, too, for involving inter-institutional and total-community potentials. As a major effort toward total-environment study, the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering proposes the establishment of a University Center for Urban and Environmental Studies -an academic and administrative structure with the visibility needed to attract enough high-caliber people and the required funds from government and private sources. The focus of this effort is necessarily the environment of man, and not any single, limited part of that total problem. The center is not visioned as a degree-granting unit hut, rather, as a mechanism for coordinating research and research information, and for providing administrative and clerical assistance to scholars. The central purpose of this structure would be to facilitate interaction of faculty in all the schools and divisions of the university on those problem areas of mutual interest and, likewise, provide a means for inter-institutional cooperation within the region. Each institution must study and choose its own path toward education, research, communication, and coordination in the environmental field. Beyond the plans of any individual institution, positive and cooperative action must be taken by engineering educators, industry, and government. A three-part study group under the auspices of the National Academy of Engineering, or a similar body, should be commissioned to define and report on environmental problems. This group also would recommend specific next steps and means fw Implementation if the environment is to be effectively regulated before the results of unguided control destroy us. 240 Environmental Science & Technology
H. E. Hoelseher is professor o f chemical engineering, dean of engineering, and director of the space research coordination center, University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining the Pit! staff in 1965, he was professor and chairman, department of chemical engineering, Johns Hopkins University (1952-65). H e received his B.S. f r o m Princeton University (1944), and M.S. (1947) and Ph.D. (1949) from Washington University, St. Louis. Hoelscher served overseas for UNESCO, A I D , N S F , and the Ford Foundation working on the processes of economic and technological development of Southeast Asia and Latin America. A registered professional engineer in the states of Ohio and Maryland, he is a member of the American Managemenf Association, the Society f o r Applied Anthropology, and the Asia Society.
W . R. Turkes is professor o f industrial engineering, associate dean, School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, and director, engineering operations, NASA-Knowledge Availability Systems Center Technology-transfer Program. H e received his B.S. (1934) and M.S. (1939) f r o m f h e University of Pittsburgh. The author of publications in the field o f engineering educational administration, Turkes is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. H e is chairman of the continuing engineering studies division o f A S E E , and a member of the Pennsylvania Society for Professional Engineers, of the American Arbitration Association, Sigma Tau, Alpha Pi M u , and Omicron Delta Kappa.
J. I. Ahrams is professo‘r and chairman of the department of civil engineering, Universify o f Pittsburgh. Previously, he was associate professor at Yale University and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Universify. Abrams received his B.E. (19491, M.S.E. (19501, and Dr. Engr. (1956). f r o m Johns Hopkins. The coauthor of “Principles of Mechanics o f Soli% and Fluids,” Abrams has written papers and reports in the general area of structural mechanics. H e is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and American Society for Engineering Education.
