Letter. Retraining aerospace engineers - ACS Publications

The graduates of this program will be operating under many difficulties. First of all, because these trainees had been unemployed, they are not likely...
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letters Retraining aerospace engineers

DEARSIR: Your article, “New skills for out-ofwork engineers,” in the April 1972 issue was read with interest. However, I must vigorously disagree with your conclusion that “the Grumman program appears to represent just about the best sort of retraining an engineer could hope for, both in quality of instruction and length of program.” The article goes on t o state that if graduates of this program are unable to find employment, critics of all retraining programs will intensify their cries for alternative approaches to putting unemployed talent back to work. The graduates of this program will be operating under many difficulties. First of all, because these trainees had been unemployed, they are not likely to have been among the best of those that had been employed in the aerospace industry. The environmental field does not op-

erate o n “cost-plus,” so quality is very important. Secondly, these trainees would not have had the undergraduate background most appropriate t o environmental studies. Most engineers drawn to the water programs in environmental engineering come from civil and chemical engineering. These trainees had come from mechanical and electrical engineering. Thirdly, the program of study provides 620 hours of classroom instruction, which requires 5 hours a day five days a week over a period of six months. This type of approach is the antithesis of proper education. The typical master’s degree program a t an accredited university involves about the same number of classroom hours but extended over a 12-month period. This permits ample amount of time for work under faculty supervision in projects related t o the program of study t o provide a quality of instruction that cannot be met by being

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lectured a t in a continuous stream. Graduates from the University of North Carolina with a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering are highly sought after every year, with each being offered a wide number of positions from which to choose. If it turns out that the Grumman graduates are not highly sought after, it is no condemnation of retraining. It may just possibly signify that retraining should be done in a university which is equipped for the purpose. After all, the University of North Carolina does not engage in manufacturing airplanes. We d o each year enroll a significant number of engineers making midcareer changes to the environmental field. These individuals have not had nor will they have in the future any difficulty in finding professional positions that are highly rewarding to themselves and t o society. The 20 universities accredited by (Continued on p 480)

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the Engineers Council for Professional Development to provide graduate study in environmental engineering, plus many others besides, are involved in similar programs and can all testify t o the high demand for their graduates. The most cursory survey of regulatory agencies, consulting engineering organizations, and other organizations that specialize in environmental engineering will testify t o the shortage of highly qualified engineers in this field. A crash course for ill-prepared engineers will not satisfy this need. Let me take this opportunity to comment on the posture of our national administration with regard t o training in the environmental field. EPA is sharply curtailing its training grants because the administration claims that large numbers of unemployed and underemployed scientists and engineers are available. As any employer of environmental engineers can testify, the fact that a n aeronautical engineer is available does not relieve the employer of the responsibility for obtaining qualified environmental engineers to meet his very special

requirements. Curtailing resources for educating environmental engineers will have a very deleterious effect on the quality of work done, and the ultimate cost t o society will be much higher than if a proper investment is made in qualified individuals. Daniel A. Okun Department of Enuironmental Sciences and Engineering The Unicersity of North Carolina Chapel Hill, N C 27514

Enforcement in Virginia

DEAR SIR: We hate to quibble with your very helpful roundup, “Air pollution over the states” (ES&T, February 1972, p lll),but feel we must correct the statement that the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board has taken “no enforcement actions” so far. Enforcement has been a part of the Board’s work since its beginning with a noticeable upsurge in early 1970. It has conducted enforcement proceedings that produced orders to some 10 industries

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and three localities to submit abatement plans with binding schedules, where they had failed to act. All complied. About half have already completed corrections o r have installation of control equipment under way. Many other industries filed control programs earlier without the Board’s having to go to this step. They are acting on those programs. The Board has issued a half-dozen cease-and-desist orders to major and minor open burning violators. Our field staffers have taken many lesser enforcement actions without their having to reach the Board. The Board has taken two minor cases to court when its orders were ignored. It obtained a consent decree injunction in one and a conviction in the other. We are seeking a state law amendment sharply increasing court fines. However, our purpose is to obtain results short of having to go to the last resort of court action. William R. Meyer Executice Secretary Virginia Sfate Air Pollution Control Board Richmond, V A 23219

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