Board is in doubt as to the classification of fche individual, the Local Board should— in the language of Activity and Occupation Bulletin No. 35—ask the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel for a recommendation covering the classification of the individual. The employer may, if he desires to do so, file with the National Roster a copy of the request for deferment. In such cases the Roster will make a recommendation to the Local Board without waiting for a request for information from the board. Within the National Hoster special machinery has been set u p to give consideration to the recommendations concerning chemists. W. T. Read, Rutgers University, has this responsibility. If the appeal is denied, and if you are convinced that consideration is stiil justified because of a man's essential activity, it is your further responsibility to see tliat appeal is made
EDITOR'S N O T E Attention is called to the fact that the Symposium on "Manpower Problems in the Chemical Industry", given at the A . C S. Pittsburgh Meeting, Sept. 7 , 1 9 4 3 , under the auspices oF the Division of Industrial and Enfineerinf (Chemistry, took place previous to the publication of the new régulations governing deferments. Readers should refer to "Latest Selective Service Regulations", published in the O c t 1 0 issue, page 1604.
to the State Headquarters of Selective Service, and if that office upholds the previous decision, you should then ask that the case be reviewed on a national basis by the President's Appeal Committee. In making this request you should solicit the aid and cooperation of the National Roster. Only until this complete' procedure has been followed and the case has been lost or won, can it be said that you, as employer or teacher, have fulfilled your responsibility under Selective Service.
As its name indicates, Selective Service was in the beginning, and still is, intended to put men in the positions where they can best serve the national interests. Sometimes, it is regarded merely as a means of obtaining the required quotas for the Armed Forces, but Selective Service means more than that. It will fail as a means of providing national security on all fronts unless all of us who are in a position to help in making selections d o our jobs in seeing that the Selective Service procedures operate as they were intended to operate. This means that we must, without prejudice and without selfishtness, see to it that every man who is badly needed on the home front is kept there in his job, and that every man who can be spared from this front is made available for service on the fighting front. The two fronts may fight different battles, but they are both fighting the same war.
T R A I N I N G P R O G R A M S FOR CHEMICAL ENGINEERS W A R R E N L.. M c C A B E DEPARTMENT O F C H E M ICAL E N G I N E E R I N G , C A R N E G I E I N S T I T U T E O F T E C H N O L O G Y , P I T T S B U R G H , P E N N A .
nated from the standard curricula, but such changes are few and relatively unimportant. Academic research has practically disappeared and has been partially replaced by wartime research carried out under such agencies as NDRC and 0I?RD. Basically, the present civilian programs in chemical engineering training are the same as peacetime curricula. I t is generally agreed that the best training for war industry is the thorough training i n the fundamentals of basic science and of chemical engineering characteristic of peacetime methods, and, therefore, extensive changes in courses or curricula are undesirable.
ARTIME training programs for chemical engineers can be divided into two classes: firs*, those equivalent to or slightly modified from peacetime programs; and, second, new programs set up specifically for war training. Modification of Peacetime Programs The essential fact concerning peacetime programs or their equivalent is that they are professional. They have the following characteristics: First, they require, under normal conditions, from four to eight years of academic training. The terminal points are the four- or five-year bachelor's degree, the five- or six-year master's degree, or the seven- or eight-year doctor's degree. Second, the curricula are integrated programs constructed of carefully organized sequences of courses in basic sciences and their application to the problems of the process industries. Third, the emphasis is placed on the development of the power of solving new industrial problems of constantly increasing complexity rather than on a descriptive knowledge of present practice. The approach is through generalized methods such as the unit operations, thermodynamics, applied kinetics, process design, and new developments in the teaching of applied industrial chemistry. The peacetime programs have been successful both in peace and in war. The wartime development of synthetic rubber, aviation gasoline, and. synthetic toluene has been carried through very largely by men trained by such methods under peacetime conditions. 1704
The main modification of peacetime training methods that has been brought about by war conditions is a general speedup or acceleration. Schools operating normally on a two-semester basis per year are now, for the most part, operating on a three-semester basis and the standard four-year bachelor's degree is now being earned in two and two-thirds calendar years. The accelerated programs have caused some modification of existing courses. Work customarily done in summer terms has been eliminated, or incorporated in the regular semester program. Many of the cooperative courses have been curtailed or eliminated for the duration of the war. Some courses have been elimiCHEMICAL
Wartime Programs The most extensive war training program that involves civilian chemical engineers is the Engineering, Science, Management, and War Training Program. The ESMWT program is essentially an upgrading program, rather than an integrated curriculum of professional training. The program consists of individual separate courses given both day and evexiing. Courses are open to men and women.. A very wide selection of individual courses has been and is being given. They are, for the most part, designed to xaeet specific types of training required i n the locality in which the course is given.. A large number of courses covering the entire range of chemical engineering tneory and practice have been and are foèing given, especially in the main industrial centers, under the ESMWT program. The Army and Navy have sponsored a AND
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number of training programs. Such program' have been developed to train men for specific requirements in the Armed Services and have not been developed from the point of view of the needs of industry. Of the Army and Navy programs the only one that is specifically chemical engineering is the Chemical Engineering Curriculum of the Advanced Phase of the Army Spe^ alized Training Program (/). The Advanced Phase of the program follows an initial program of basic training in the fundamentals of science and engineering. The basic program consists of three 12-week terms in which there is no differentiation among the various branches of science and engineering. The advanced program consists of three or four 12-week terms. Programs for civil, electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineers have been started. The chemical engineering program has four terms. The curriculum is well planned under the competent advice of Colburn and Dodge, and, considering the shortness of the course, is sound. The limits established by the Army for the total length of the course, and for the ratio of study time to class time, are both so low, however, that the ASTP is not equivalent to a complete undergraduate professional curriculum and is not a satisfactory substitute for the usual bachelor's degree training. As of August 17, approximately 12 per cent of the soldiers in the engineering ASTP were enrolled in chemical engineering (o). Although it has been informally discussed with representatives of industry and among the various services using chemical engineers, at present there is no official request that the ASTP make available to the chemical industry any of the soldiers now being trained in its program. The demand schedules for trainees from the various arms and services necessitate that the ASTP operate with considerable flexibility. Current quotas in chemical engineering have been met and therefore it is not planned to introduce any additional trainees into chemical engineering curricula unless the demand schedules of the arms and services require additional trainees. The men currently assigned to chemical engineering curricula will, when they complete thf ' * present studies, be assigned to the arms and services which requested chemical engineers. Most of these were requested by the Chemical Warfare Service. Soldier-trainees who, owing to previous academic training, demonstrate unusual proficiency in a field of engineering for which there exists a critical shortage in a war industry, may be released in highly restricted numbers for work in such industry. Supply and D e m a n d of Chemical Engineers
The trend of chemical engineering training is closely* bound with the situaV O L U M E
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tion concerning the supply and demand of trained chemical engineers. A complete discussion is beyond the scope of this paper, but the salient facts, in so far as they affect chemical engineering training, seem to be about as follows: Normally approximately 2,000 chemical engineers were graduated per year with the bachelor's degree and absorbed by industry (4). A smaller, but still significant, number of men obtained graduate degrees. Men with graduate degrees carry a weight large in proportion to their numbers and are of considerable importance in meeting the normal manpower needs of industry. Output o f Chemical Engineers
The usual production of chemical engineers has been modified by war conditions in four main ways: First, a considerable number of undergraduate students have entered the Armed Services through voluntary enlistment in the various reserve programs offered by the Armed Services, Sueh programs include the Army Corps Enlisted Reserve, Army Enlisted Reserves, Marine Corps Enlisted Reserve, Navy Enlisted Reserve, Signal Corps Enlisted Reserve, and Reserve Officers* Training Corps. A survey conducted by the National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel dated April 13, 1943 (2), showed that, as of October 1942, about 4A per cent of the junior chemical engineers and 29.5 per cent of the senior chemical engineers registered in chemical engineering curricula at that date were committed to the Armed Forces. Supposedly, all of these men, and, in all probability, a considerable number of others, have been withdrawn by the Armed Services by now. The effect of the reserve programs on the supply of chemical engineering graduates is especially important in 1942 and 1943. At present, the entrance of students into reserve programs or other forms of voluntary enlistment has been sharply curtailed, although it is still possible for students to enlist in the Navy V-7 program or in the Air Corps as Flying Cadets. The second factor affecting the supply of chemical engineers is the accelerated training programs of civilian students. The effect of the program has been to make available two classes to industry in the year 1942. This has in a large measure balanced the effect of the withdrawal of the students during 1942 by the reserve programs. Under present accelerated programs there will be three classes every two years. This does not necessarily mean a 50 per cent increase in production, as there is no certainty that these classes will be normal size. Since the colleges can only admit men from secondary schools and since there is little indication that secondary schools are accelerating their teaching programs, it is doubtful that the accelerated program from now on will actually produce very many more men per year
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than would be the case under unaccelerated conditions, unless the quality of the graduates is allowed to drop. Acceleration is justified, however, because it maintains educational facilities in actual operation and keeps students in training, during 12 months of the year. The third factor influencing the supply of chemical engineering students is the effect of the Selective Service. The present Selective Service policy is covered by the recently amended Occupation Bulletin No. 33-6 which recommends to local boards the deferment of students of chemical engineering that may be graduated within 24 months after certification to the draft board by the school that the man is a student in good standing. The present registration in chemical engineering in the sophomore and junior and senior classes (#, 4) is such that if this bulletin remains in effect, if draft boards generally follow its recommendations, and if students do not leave school, industry should receive a supply of perhaps 1,500 bachelor's men per year during the next two years. If a student can complete two semesters of college work before he reaches the age of 18, the 24 months of additional training granted by the present draft policy is sufficient to allow him to complete his undergraduate training. Present indications are that many students entering college from high school are about six months too old to meet such a schedule. Unless secondary schools accelerate, freshman enrollments will be low and the annual supply of engineers two years from now will be small. If secondary school acceleration does occur, a reasonably steady flow of bachelor's men may be maintained indefinitely. The graduates from such a program will be only about 20 years old and will be less mature than, graduates from standard peacetime programs. The fourth effect on supply has been the sharp curtailment of graduate work and the resulting serious drop in the number of men available with advanced training. The decrease in graduate work occurred largely in 1941 and 1942. I t was duo, first, to the great demands by industry for men of chemical engineering training during this period; second, to the fact that the reserve programs tended to withdraw many of the better men who normally would go into graduate work; and third, to a lack of policy on the deferment of graduate students during that period. The present deferment policy, which recommends deferment for graduate students who are either teaching or working on government-sponsored research programs, has helped to slow down the rate of decrease of graduate work, but the effects of the earlier policy are still very much in evidence and graduate registrations are only a small fraction of normal. The loss in graduate students and the elimination of graduate work in a number of schools are 1705
perhaps the most serious effect of the war to date on the supply of chemical engi neers. Data on demand for chemical engineers are difficult to find. An estimate made b y the National Roster (β) shows that about 2,000 chemical engineers are being needed during the calendar year 1943. This hap pens to be equal approximately to t h e normal annual supply of bachelor's men. It would seem entirely reasonable to ex pect that, because of the accelerated pro duction of all branches of the process industries due t o war demands, because of the forced development of the large new industries such as synthetic rubber and aviation gasoline, and because of the de mand for trained engineers for research and development on new implements and agencies of warfare, the demand for chemi cal engineers should be at least as great as in normal peacetime operations.. All evi dence Known to the writer indicates that present demands are greater than the normal demands and that there is a short age of trained chemical engineers just as there is of everything else. The main difficulty in reaching a satisfactory esti mate of demand is that of defining the point where a really serious shortage occurs. Under war conditions shortages are to be expected. So far as the writer is aware, it has not been determined just how great the shortage of chemical engi neers would have to become before produc tion plants would be forced to curtail pro duction, essential plants could not be engi neered and built, or development work on new and promising defensive and offensive weapons would be curtailed. Or, stating the question another way, it is not known what would be the minimum rate of supply of trained chemical engineers that would just prevent these dangers. ,It is to be doubted that the danger point is apprecia bly below the present production. It is known, for example, that every employer of chemical engineers who files a Form 42-A to Selective Service states that he cannot obtain replacements and that he could use additional men.
Criticism of Present Policy The first criticism of the recent and pres ent policies is the uncertainty involved in all phases of civilian training for industry. Although the present situation is im proved over that of the recent past, the lack of a clear-cut policy has led to some ill effects. The uncertainties of the past year and a half have brought about a de crease in morale of civilian students in
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engineering curricula and have caused many able students to abandon their training- Many departments have been stripped t o th.e bone b y the release of their teaching staffs to other war agencies or t o the armed services. The uncertainty as to the parmanence of civilian enrollments has led school adminis-fcrations t o take over very large teaching loads in the Army a n d N a v y programs. Because of such pres sures theie h a s been s o m e danger that t h e civilian student might; be relegated to a stepchild class. Obviously, if t h e present Selective Service policy is t o be really effective, the colleges are under obligation to maintain the training of civilian s t u dents at a level even higher than normal in order that only very well trained m e n issue from their civilian programs and t h e deferment of the students be justified.
Some improvement Noted The present situation with respect to certainty of supply i s considerably i m proved over that of several months ago. If the present Selective Service policy re mains in effect and i f both students and draft boards follow i t , industry probably will receive a reasonable supply of bachelor's men in chemical engineering per year. T h e s u p p l y of men with advanced training -will be far less. But if the Selec tive Service policy cnanges and chemical engineering students are n o t deferred, chemical engineering training for industry would Immediately vanish, present classes would dissolve, and practically no gradu ates will be forthcoming for several years after training has been resumed. A second criticism that can be leveled against the recent and present policies h a s been a lack o f emphasis on quality rather than quantity. The desirability of train ing a controlled number of the very best men thoroughly and well has n o t been t o o well recognized. The reduction in gradu
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ate training has been d u e to the lack of appreciation that one very good man with graduate training can be as useful t o industry as several moderately good men with bachelor's training. The enlistment of the students in the reserve programs has been completely hit-or-miss and in general h a s tended to involve the better men. I t is true that such men are splendid officer material and their utility to t h e Army is undoubtedly great. T h e following recommendation is made: First, a realistic estimate should be made of the number of chemical engineers t h a t are really required for essential develop ment and production. Preferably t h e estimate should be based on a thorough survey o f actual needs by industry for chemical engineering graduates. Several attempts at such estimates have been made, apparently without much success, and it m a y be necessary t o set this figure in an arbitrary fashion. Even a n arbitrary figure, if definite, will remove m a n y of t h e present uncertainties. Second, a mecha nism should be set u p for ensuring that the top men available for sucb training be kept in accelerated professional training pro grams until their optimum training has been reached. This implies that graduate work on a scale commensurate with such a policy should be ensured. It also implies that teaching staffs and institutions under taking t h e task should n o t be too greatly diverted t o other war activities so that t h e highest possible quality o f instruction can be given. If these recommendations cannot be fol lowed, t h e present policy with respect to the deferment of chemical engineering students should he maintained. In any event, t h e training of chemical engineers should remain o n a high plane of professional excellence, and should empha size quality rather than quantity.
References (1) Colburn and Schoenborn, "The Develop ment of the Chemical Engineering Cur riculum under the Army Specialized Training Program", paper presented at S. P. Ε . Ε . meeting, Chicago, 111., June 19, 1943. (2) National Roster of Scientific and Special ized Personnel, "The Personnel Situa tion in Engineering*', Bull. 3, April 13, 1943; J. Eng. Education, 33, 748-69 (1943). (3) Private communication, Chief, Facilities Branch, Headquarters, Service of Supply, War Department. (4) Private communication, Secretary, American Institute of Chemical Engi-
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