2015 Issue

40 also can work as engineers under what is known as the industrial exemption [10]. Licensure became required for public facing engi- neering by all US states by 1947. Perhaps the most peculiar aspect of licensure is the special treat- ment of the legal profession and, to a lesser degree, of the medi- cal profession. While the engineering profession was engaged in handing regulation to education associations and to states, the legal profession manages itself through the bar association. The medi- cal profession used lobbying power effectively through the AMA. E. Standardization of academic training The Engineers Council for Professional Development (later as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, recently as ABET) was incorporated in 1934. It was formed by a collection of five professional societies and two educational associations. The IEEE Board of Directors recently delivered a statement on the term “engineer” to specify an ABET degreed person which may conflict with state law in some states [11]. Early engineering education was less differentiated than today, but differentiation by technical focus was already beginning during the early 1900’s. Formal undergraduate engineering education has grown into a bureaucracy of a set of standardized disciplines, but the reality of senior professionals working in engineeringmaintains its cross-functional nature. It might be said that engineers approach problems akin to the famous Hindu parable of the blind man and the elephant. In that parable, each man sees the same elephant but focuses on the features closest to him. However, problem resolution is like “peeling an onion” layer by layer. The truth is at the core rather than on the surface. III. CHANGES IN ENGINEERING SINCE WORLD WAR II AND BEFORE THE END OF THE COLD WAR A. Federal funding programs The federal government created the National Science Foundation in 1950. This act steered research money to universities. Although much of this research has been beneficial, it has not altogether been beneficial to engineering. Engineering professors who relied on NSF grants (or grants from similar agencies) were not compelled to become licensed engineers. Furthermore, during the economic growth after World War II, major corporations in aerospace, automotive, electronics and petrochemical industries grew large engineering staffs. Initially there was reliance upon the engineering societies for promoting best practices and for setting standards, but corporations formed trade associations which were more focused on accomplishing industry strategic goals through lobbying. Through time, academic and corporate goals began to diverge from the goals of the rank and file engineer. B. Impact of academic funding on engineering socieities The largest fraction of the membership of engineering societies, and most of their volunteers, during this period came either from academia or the deep pockets of large corporations rather than from small consulting practices. As such, the leadership of most engineering societies was populated by academics and corporate people. One of the conflicts inherent in this relationship is described by IEEE’s policy with regards to ABET vs. PE. C. Cold War law constrains export opportunities TheColdWar prevented corporations fromsending dual use goods to low cost countries overseas by the U.S Export Administration Act of 1979 and other treaties. This amounted to many engineered products at that time. That said, many product categories did go overseas in whole or in part. These included VCRs, the flat panel display industry, steel production and ship building. IV. ENGINEERING AFTER THE END OF THE COLD WAR (1989) A. Certifications vs ABET or PE Due to the rapid expansion of computing in business applica- tions as evidenced by the dot com boom in the 1990s, software manufacturers promoted the use of certifications. Today, many employers place want ads that highlight certifications as more de- sirable than ABET degrees, because a certification represents an identifiable skill. The value of a PE is now greatly diminished, often descried in human resources incorrectly as another certification. B. Reeinginering and temporary employees In the 1990s, companies reduced head count under amanagement fad known as reengineering. Businesses were shipped off-shore and employees were replaced by temporary employees. The goal was short term return on investment, sometimes known as “lean”. This process was implemented using enterprise resource planning software. Under themantra of short term return on investment, most firms began to wean themselves of their hardware businesses and move to financial or software based businesses. The professional societies were ineffective at meaningful interven- tion in this process, largely because they were in the process of internationalizing their membership. The professional societies were also trapped in predisposed notions that there was an over- abundance of science and engineering jobs or that engineering education was infinitely adaptable to market changes, self-serving myths promoted within academia which was so much a part of all professional societies. In a word, the leadership of current societ- ies often is conflicted between roles of maintaining the status quo and the role of taking progressive action. A current example of this quandary is the membership list of the new organization known as “Close the Innovation Deficit”. This membership includes IEEE and MRS (Materials Research Society, a professional society primarily consisting of academics), but many of the largest organizations are conspicuously missing [15]. ENGINEERING SOCIETIES | continued from page 39