University of Virginia Library

IV. The Engineering Alumni

OPENING DISCUSSION OF THE TOPIC, "ORGANIZATION OF AN ENGINEERING
ALUMNI COUNCIL"

By Allen Jeter Saville, '08, M.E., Director of Public Works, Richmond, Va.

Some years ago while on a visit to the University several of us were
talking of our experiences, and discussing what we thought of the training
at the University in the light of these experiences. That conversation resulted
in my being asked to present this paper to-day.

As you know, engineers are now split up into so many different specialties
that it is not possible for a young man at college to get familiar with all
of these specialties. The best thing to be done at college, I believe, is just
what is being done here. That is, teach the foundation principles, and leave
it to the man to later supply the technic of his chosen specialty.

There are several reasons why this is the best course but perhaps the
one that will first occur to a man who has not been at college for ten years is,
that it is very difficult to dig into the fundamental principles, after a few
years out of college.

There are some drawbacks, however, to this method of teaching only

the fundamentals at college. I think that the greatest of these is, on account
of the theoretical nature of his training a graduate does not appreciate the
practical limits of application of theory. I remember hearing of the two
Engineering seniors who had to get the contours of a mountain ravine, and
set their pegs ten feet apart each way. Of course their work was accurate
but there was no need of this accuracy. Another result of the specialization
that is now in vogue is, that college men become narrow and develop in a
one-sided fashion. This is decidedly to the disadvantage of the students, as
very few of them know exactly what line of work they will get into before
they have been out of college many years.

How to retain at the University our present system of teaching the
fundamentals, and at the same time remedy the drawbacks to this method
is the proposition that we are here to consider this afternoon. When I
speak of the University teaching fundamentals, I do not mean that practical
consideration is altogether neglected, but I mean that theory rather than
practice is emphasized.

The suggestion offered for your consideration as a remedy is as follows:

That at least once each term an alumnus read a paper before the whole
Engineering School, on some practical work, in some branch of Engineering.
This scheme, I believe, has many interesting possibilities.

In the first place, it provides for the student some definite, tangible
evidence of the practical application of the work he is doing. In the
second place, these papers will necessarily be on various kinds of work so
that the student gets a view of the practical limits used, and also gets some
insight into the practical work of many lines of Engineering. Incidentally,
it will undoubtedly help the younger student to decide what branch of
Engineering he would most likely take up, by giving him a clear picture
of the work being done in the various lines. The benefit to be derived will
not be confined to the student. Such a scheme will keep the alumni interested
in the University, and I believe will be also very interesting to the
faculty in that it would keep them informed as to the methods used in
practice that would perhaps not otherwise be brought to their attention.

I do not believe it will be difficult to get the alumni to take hold of this,
as the papers are not supposed to be essays on highly technical subjects, but
rather simple descriptions of work done and methods used. I think that
these papers should preferably be written about work the alumnus was
engaged in himself. They might describe design or construction. The
main point should be that they are to be practical, and as far as possible in
detail.

Now, as to the practical operation of such a scheme, I would suggest
that there be a committee of ten, consisting of two professors, two students,
and six alumni, with the dean of the department as chairman; the two

professors to be appointed by the dean, the two students to be elected by the
student body, and the six alumni to be the last six speakers. This may seem
a rather unwieldy committee but I believe that these many are needed in
order to keep in touch with the various interests.

Of course, money will be needed to pay expenses. My suggestion would
be that the students contribute one dollar a year each, and each alumnus
be asked to contribute an amount sufficient to meet all expenses, perhaps
not over two dollars and a half each.

I think that in order to relieve any embarrassment, the University
should pay the expenses of every alumnus who returns to the University.
I believe that if this scheme is put into operation it will prove to be both
interesting and profitable.

There is no reason why engineers not alumni should not be asked to
address the student body, but I believe it would be best always to have three
a year from the alumni. Of course we all know that engineers are not very
keen for making speeches but this proposition is simply reading a paper
describing some work with which he is thoroughly familiar.

If this scheme is good enough, it should be adopted, and if adopted
carried out enthusiastically.

There are many other benefits to be derived by this contact between
the alumni and students, and I hope the scheme will be given a trial.

THE CIVIL ENGINEER'S POINT OF VIEW

By Walter Jones Laird, '09, C.E., of Wilmington, Del.

I have been asked to make a few remarks, from the standpoint of a
Civil Engineer, regarding the feasibility of forming an Engineering Alumni
Council.

To my mind such a Council is a very necessary adjunct to the fullest
development of the Engineering courses and for general helpfulness in many
other apparent ways.

I am sure we all feel the necessity for keeping the Engineering courses
abreast of the times, just as the Engineering profession in general must
continue to progress. We cannot be in the position of the old mountaineer
and his bride from one of the neighboring mountains, who came to Charlottesville
during my college days and proceeded to take a trolley ride from the
lowe end of town to the University. As the car became crowded the conductor
came in and asked the passengers, in a rather harsh manner, to move
along. The mountaineer got up indignantly and said to the conductor:
"I've done paid my ten cents and Mame is going to sit where she damn are."
We cannot sit where we are even though some of us Alumni are inclined to

think that the Engineering courses and methods of our college days are
sufficiently good for any of the younger men entering college. We too must
"move along" and realize that just as the last few decades have seen the
ferryboat of one-man power, on certain of our rivers, replaced by beautiful
spans of steel and masonry, and have seen the mule and winch of other days
replaced by the Corliss engine or the Turbo Generator, representing engineering
skill of to-day, so technical education must advance and we must
help where possible to provide the men who are going out into the Engineering
world from our colleges with the best that can be given them in a well
balanced, practical, and theoretical Engineering course.

This is being accomplished in great measure by our Faculty at Virginia,
but their efforts could undoubtedly be facilitated by proper coöperation from
the Engineering Alumni.

There is certainly no reason why an Engineering Council is not practical,
if we do not attempt to carry its functions too far. The members
could either be appointed by the Dean of the Engineering Department or
elected from time to time by the Alumni by means of the letter ballot, or the
Council brought into being in some other approved way. In order to command
more diversity of talent and advice, and also not place a too permanent
burden on any one group of Engineering Alumni, it would seem wise to
have the term of Council members limited to about three years for each
individual and to have terms rotate so there would be a majority of older
incumbents in office all the time.

This Council would place on certain Alumni the definite duty of keeping
in touch with the curriculum of their Alma Mater and of suggesting from
time to time changes or additions that appear important when viewed from
the standpoint of an engineer who has observed everyday practice and usage
in his particular locality.

It would be of value in helping establish a series of Alumni lectures on
practical engineering subjects and it would help maintain a proper balance
between the practical and theoretical sides of the Engineering courses. For
example: Many engineers have advocated greater shop facilities and very
much more extensive shop and field training than is now given in many
colleges, including the University of Virginia. It is undoubtedly advantageous
for an engineer, upon leaving college, to have a sufficiently practical
knowledge of some phase of engineering work to enable him to make a decent
living from the outset. If, for instance, a man has obtained in college or
during summer vacations a thorough knowledge of transit work, he may at
once after leaving the University be self-supporting; whereas, he might
otherwise lose some time in getting on his feet, and in some instances might
be discouraged to the point of going into some other line of work.

Personally, I think a very limited course in the fundamentals of shop

and field work is sufficient in most cases and allows of additional time being
given to important correlated studies which are of great value to the
average engineer in everyday practice, and are very much harder to obtain
out of college than is additional practical experience. Some years ago,
courses in Economics, Contract Law, etc., were considered unnecessary to
the average engineer, but now we find many of our engineers requiring a
knowledge of these subjects as much as of some of the straight Engineering
studies, hence the need of including such subjects in a complete Engineering
course.

This leads an Engineering Faculty to the problem of arranging, where
possible, for auxiliary courses in practical shop and field work between
college sessions, rather than to take an undue number of hours out of the
important college sessions to devote to the purely practical sides of the
student's work. Such coöperative courses are in successful operation at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cincinnati, etc.
An Engineering Council could undoubtedly offer some valuable suggestions
in a case of this kind.

A further important feature of the Engineering Council from another
side would be to keep all of our Engineering Alumni alive to and keenly
interested in the activities of their Department in college. Too many of us
are inclined to forget what our own college is doing and when an opportunity
comes from time to time to advise some student what college to enter, and
to explain the advantages of our college training, we are not in a good position
to do so; nor are we apt to be as interested in helping to place Alumni
who leave the University. The mere fact of having an Engineering Alumni
Council working among us would tend to stimulate continued interest in the
University and its Engineering Department. Therefore, I hope such a
Council can be brought into existence in the near future.

THE MECHANICAL ENGINEER'S POINT OF VIEW

By William Carrington Lancaster, '03, M.E., E.E., of New York City

It is a far cry from the young engineer graduate proudly wearing the
emblems of many college societies, and glorying in a long list of honors won
in the classroom and in athletics, to this same graduate, a few months later,
in overalls and a flannel shirt. No matter how brilliant has been his career
through college, no matter how high have been his marks on examinations,
no matter how profound his knowledge of mechanics, of hydraulics, or of
thermodynamics, the mechanical engineer graduate must don the garb of the
laborer, and learn by the sweat of his brow, the practical details that are
essential to the successful practice of his profession.

More appealing is the early work of the civil engineer. His life is largely
in the open. "The Call of the Wild" attracts him. His is a picturesque
figure as he peers through a transit, standing in sunny fields of green and
waving to his rod-man away off across some babbling brook. He appeals
to the popular imagination. The hero of the novel, if he is an engineer, is
always a civil engineer.

Not so happy is the lot of the young mechanical engineer. There is
nothing picturesque about the grease and grime of the machine shop, or the
rattle and bang of the boiler factory. But he must spend several years, at
least, in some such shop or factory, before he has learned enough of the
practical side of engineering to be eligible for a position of responsibility.
This is true even when he had graduated from one of the large colleges with
magnificently equipped shops and laboratories, where he has spent many
hours and has become familiar with every machine. How valuable then is
the college degree to the mechanical engineer?

The great national engineering societies all have as a requirement for
full membership, an engineering degree plus a certain number of years of
experience in responsible charge of engineering work; or, a certain larger
number of years of experience without the college degree. For example, the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers requires an engineering degree
and three years, or five years without the degree. In other words the degree
is considered equivalent to two years of experience in responsible charge of
engineering work.

The engineering college then does not turn out a finished product.
When he leaves college, the engineer graduate is nowhere near ready to
practice his profession. To a limited extent, the same thing may be said of
the other professions. The graduate in medicine generally takes a postgraduate
course at some hospital; the young lawyer often serves as little
more than a clerk in some large law firm; and the preacher begins with a
small country church.

But the medical graduate is very soon a full fledged doctor. His hospital
course may last only a few months, or he may elect to take none at all.
Just as soon as he passes the State Board examinations, which he does
promptly before he forgets what he has learned at college, he starts the
practice of medicine and is in responsible charge of the lives of his patients.

The graduate in law likewise passes the Bar Examinations just as soon
as possible and can then practice law. He is in responsible charge of the
rights of his clients.

The preacher starts to preach as soon as he enters his little country
church and immediately is in responsible charge of the souls of his flock.

It is not so with the engineer. He has no State examinations to pass.
The law does not create him an engineer by giving him a license to practice.

No license is required of him. He stands solely on his merits. Perhaps it is
partly for this reason that he must go through long years of arduous work
with small pay before he is recognized as a real engineer.

An important question then presents itself.

Is there something fundamentally wrong with our method of teaching
engineering, and should the engineering college attempt to turn out the
graduate so thoroughly instructed in both theory and practice that he can
more quickly take his place in the world as an engineer ready and capable
of taking responsible charge of engineering work?

Apparently the answer is both "yes" and "no."

In the first place of course the graduate is too young to be immediately
put in responsible charge of important work. He must first learn such
things as organization and directing the work of others. His judgment is
apt to be faulty. These things come only with experience and the passing
years. But we are not concerned with these. His shortcomings merely
because of his youth cannot be helped by the college, and they apply equally
in other professions.

What we have to consider are questions as to whether the courses of
instruction can be changed for his benefit, and if so how we Alumni can
help to do it.

Doubtless many young men are deterred from taking up engineering,
and especially mechanical engineering, by the thought of the long years of
disagreeable and poorly paid work that must follow their graduation. Possibly
many brilliant minds are thus lost so far as mechanical engineering
is concerned. Other professions get them. For this reason it would seem
desirable to so change the course of instruction, if possible, that the young
engineer may arrive at the desired goal with less time given up to drudgery
of his profession.

The chief criticisms of the young mechanical engineer, fresh from college,
seem to be:

On the other hand, can the engineering college be expected to give
sufficient training in shop work and practical engineering methods? Obviously
it cannot. Not even the great northern and western colleges, with
endowment funds of vastly more than "three million dollars," can afford
the large and expensive machinery, nor could they keep up with the rapid
changes and improvements even if they once had this machinery. And too
something more must be learned than mere familiarity with this and that
type of machine. One must rub elbows with the mechanic and eat from the
same dinner pail to reap the full benefits of the democracy of the flannel
shirt.

It would seem then that some middle ground must be found. Certainly
there is room for improvement in the teaching of theory and its
practical application to engineering problems. As regards shop work, would
it not be better to let it be clearly understood that the college makes no
attempt to educate the engineer along these practical lines? Let us tell the
prospective young student of mechanical engineering, frankly, that he will
receive only the theoretical side of his training at college and that he must,
after graduation, devote several years to learning practical things in some
large machine shop, power house, or factory. Then reduce the amount of
time that the student must spend in the college shops to a minimum. Use
the machinery only to illustrate the application of the theory. Give the
student every minute of time possible to work on fundamental theory; for a
man can do only so much in a day, whether that work be done by his hands
or with his brain. There is no use in his learning to be an expert lathe hand
in the college shops, for he may have to go all through it again on a bigger
and better lathe. If he learns this work at college he neglects his theory,
which he will find it vastly harder to learn in the years that follow his graduation.
Four years are little enough to learn even the fundamental theory,
especially when each college year is only some eight months long.

But these are all grave questions. They are perplexing. Engineers
doubtless differ regarding them. They require deep study. Changes in
existing methods of instruction should be approached carefully, and with a
full knowledge of modern engineering practice and what will be required of
the young engineer. How then can the college professor be expected to
answer these questions and plan the courses of study without the continual
coöperation and assistance of the practicing engineer?

An Engineering Council, to act in an advisory capacity and composed
of some ten members chosen from the engineering alumni, has been proposed.
Surely such a council would be of inestimable assistance to the
engineering faculty, and aid them to shape the courses of instruction so as
to best meet the difficulties that have been pointed out.

As loyal alumni we have given of our means to the endowment fund,
every cent that we could afford, but every one of us would like to have given
more, had he been able. Here then is an opportunity to give of our time and
our brains. The Council will be of little value unless its members give it
their best thought and are willing to sacrifice ample time to it. Those who
are not on the Council, too, can be of assistance by answering intelligently
and promptly the questions that the Council will doubtless put to them.

Our beloved Alma Mater asks us, through her engineering faculty,
to help her. Let us welcome the opportunity. Let us have the Engineering
Council.

THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER'S POINT OF VIEW

By Matthew Orpheus Troy, '96, B.S., of Pittsfield, Mass.

I have been requested by the Dean to discuss the above topic from the
point of view of the Electrical Engineer.

After an experience of twenty-four years with one of the largest electrical
manufacturing organizations in the world, I am convinced that the
electrical graduate in the practice of his profession can be of great assistance
to his Alma Mater and to the undergraduate body, and that such assistance
should be rendered. Before taking up more in detail the questions of how
this may best be accomplished through an Engineering Alumni Council, it
may first be well to outline the kinds of work which the modern engineering
graduate may be called upon to perform, and in that way see just what
it is he should expect from his college course in preparation for his life
work.

Without attempting to draw a definite parallel between the electrical
profession and any other, it has been my observation that the electrical
graduate has a very limited choice of paths from his Alma Mater to the first
step of his business career, even though the path he may choose ultimately
branches in every direction, and affords a tremendous range of application—
a range which is constantly expanding.

A very high percentage of each year's electrical graduates head at once
towards the larger electrical manufacturing organizations, or as is more
probable towards one of the two American organizations that substantially
cover the entire field of electrical apparatus manufactured in the United
States. Other paths lead to the large telephone or telegraph interests; to

the operating companies; to the syndicates combining or controlling these
companies; or to the large management, engineering, or operating associations,
of which there are quite a number.

Initially, therefore, he does not have a wide choice as to how he will
direct his steps upon graduation. After having become a part of a large
organization, however, the path which he pursues, either through choice or
force of circumstances, is one of a vast number to which, each year, are
added many others, and I can probably be most helpful in tracing a few of
these paths in a large manufacturing company like the one with which I am
associated.

Assume that the graduate has applied for entrance to the testing department
of an electrical manufacturer and been accepted. Here the
student engineer, so-called, is given an experience of from six to eighteen
months in the testing and inspecting of machines, apparatus, and appliances
of every description. If the demand for men is great his career in the testing
department may be cut to six months. If, however, he is to obtain a reasonably
broad experience his stay may be extended to the full eighteen months.
A year, however, is a fair average.

Twenty years ago, if a man were shifted at reasonable intervals, he
could in a year obtain through his testing experience quite a comprehensive
idea of the product of the manufacturer—the details of construction, as
well as methods of testing and operation. To-day, whether he stay in the
testing department one or two years, he can only obtain an experience
touching upon a few of the more important lines of manufacture, and it is
not improbable that even then, before he completes his work some of the
lines which he tested earlier in his course will have been superseded by a
new product, embracing new developments and new ideas.

A new catalogue recently issued by the General Electric Co., which
only covers certain of its more standardized product, contains over twenty
thousand catalogue numbers, and this omits much of the Company's product.
Over this great diversity of product the graduate's testing experience
is well directed towards that which will be most useful to him in his future
work.

From his testing course the graduate will probably go to a designing-engineering,
a commercial-engineering, or a research department—in most
instances direct to the designing-engineering department, where again his
path may branch in one of many directions.

There are a great number of designing-engineering departments, and
he may from choice or necessity go into any of them. The field is too broad
and life is too short to cover many of them—the probabilities are that his
experience will be limited to one, at the outside two. At this point the
engineer may become a highly specialized designer, carrying on developmental

or specific research work; may remain with the department in some more
or less subordinate position; or may go to the head of it in an administrative
capacity, which calls for ability to direct men, design, developmental, and
research work in the lines for which he is responsible.

Instead of remaining with a designing-engineering department he may
transfer to what is called a commercial-engineering department, of which
there are a large number. These are departments which are intermediate
between the designing and general office selling organizations. They help
the commercial organization in the selection of equipment, or combination
of apparatus best suited to the proposition in hand, or they assist the designing
engineering department in changing its design to suit either general
or specific commercial requirements of specific propositions.

In some instances the commercial engineering work of a given department
is combined directly with the sales proposition work, and there is no
clean-cut line of demarcation between the proposition work and the commercial
engineering relating thereto. Important commercial sections are
usually under the direction of highly trained technical graduates, or at least
under men who through broad experience have developed into broad gauge
commercial engineers. Not infrequently these large commercial departments,
in addition to a commercial engineering department have, as a part
of their staff, consulting engineers, to whom both the proposition men and
the commercial engineering men refer.

If the technical graduate leaves the designing engineering department,
he may take up general commercial work along any of the lines described.
He may be fond of travel—a broader contact with the outside, or for various
reasons wish to enter the outside organization, or it may be to the company's
interest to send him there. Many take this path, and become a part of one
of the various district office organizations. He may go direct from the
designing engineering, commercial engineering, or general commercial departments
to the district offices, and there be assigned to the engineering,
sales, or administrative department of the District.

The electrical salesman of to-day is in a different category from the
electrical salesman of twenty years ago, and in a very different category
from what we generally mean by the term "salesman." He is either a man
of very specialized training—what we term a "specialist"; or he is a very
broadly trained commercial engineer, capable of analyzing and studying
the conditions on a large transmission system, and should be in a position
to advise the engineer of an operating company as to the best selection,
combination, or application of apparatus, appliances, etc. He should be
more properly called either an "engineering specialist" or a "sales engineer."
His foundation is his technical training and engineering experience, but his
success is measured by many other qualities, such as initiative, forcefulness,

personality, his knowledge of people, his ability to assume responsibilities,
his knowledge of psychology, his ability to make wise engineering decisions,
and to convince others of their soundness.

It is a field of endeavor to which many graduates aspire, in which they
succeed, and find much real enjoyment in their work. After this experience
they may later become department heads in the District Offices to direct the
efforts of other sales engineers, or may be put in charge of important offices
where they have large numbers of men under them, direct their efforts, and
become responsible for the success of that office in a given territory or
district.

In the foregoing I have traced a few of the paths more ordinarily pursued.
There are others too numerous to mention. Some of them lead to
the great research departments of manufacturing organizations where
specialization is carried to the extreme, and work is taken up and carried
beyond the point where all other investigators have stopped. They pry into
unexplored fields, and delve into unfathomed depths. It may be the electrical
engineer, the chemist, or the physicist who carried on the work.

The graduate may enter one of the large manufacturing or production
departments, find that he is particularly fitted for this work, and ultimately
become a manufacturing superintendent or a production manager handling
large organizations and an output that runs into many millions of dollars.

He may choose other paths that lead into the general administrative
offices of the company, assist the president or vice-presidents of the organization,
with possibilities in this direction limited only by his own resources.

This aeroplane view of a large manufacturing organization has been
expanded for a particular purpose. I wish to leave the inference that the
work which will open out before the graduate is so tremendous in its magnitude
and scope that no one mind can grasp it all, nor can any college curriculum
cover the field. The curriculum can but lay the foundation on which
the superstructure is built, and the superstructure in the career of each
individual is most apt to differ from that of every other. There may at
times be striking points of similarity, but the structures differ as individuals
differ, and it is very apparent in most instances that the individual's ideals
and abilities form a very important part in creating the superstructure;
furthermore, the superstructure is never finished. It begins when the individual
enters the organization, and continues to the end. There is no
stopping point except as enforced by the limitations of the individual. This
is true even where the individual picks out a particular line of specialization
and adheres to it. The work grows, develops under him, he expands with
it, and adapts himself to the changing conditions of the country and the art.

One point I wish to emphasize particularly is that in a large manufacturing
organization these paths are not charted in advance, except in a

most general way, and the individual graduate from the time of his entrance
into the organization becomes a keen competitor of all his fellow graduates.
Even though all might be progressive, some will progress more rapidly than
others, and the extent to which one rises or forges ahead depends largely
upon his resourcefulness, initiative, and all those qualities which go to make
for leadership. This is a very happy condition because it makes work interesting,
one sees achievement and possibilities ahead of him, and strives
constantly to add to-day to the achievements of yesterday.

In the future of the industry with which the electrical graduate associates
himself, no part of the work is more important than the research work,
even though the research effort departs widely from what is commonly
known as electrical engineering. Many of the greatest advances and noteworthy
achievements are the work of the great research departments associated
with the large manufacturing institutions. The work of these large
research departments is in a measure distinct from the more specific research
work carried on daily in engineering and developmental sections or departments
of the company.

We find a very striking analogy between all this and what is being
accomplished in medicine. One has but to compare the work of the general
practitioner, specialists in medicine and surgery, and the great research
departments of organizations that have given us our serums and anti-toxins
to obtain a picture of what is going on in the large electrical organizations.
The latter has its general engineers, its special engineers assigned to specific
problems, its research work carried on in connection with these specific
problems, and in addition its large research organization which goes into
general problems of every description, and from year to year accomplishes
almost the impossible, often discovering new truths which contradict the
facts of the past as we supposed them to be.

Dr. W. R. Whitney, Director of the Research Laboratory of the General
Electric Co., has written many able articles bearing on this topic, and
these articles are available for reference. A footnote is appended giving
some of them.[1] I cannot refrain, however, from quoting a few extracts from
his address—"Incidents of Applied Research." The diversity of research
work in a large manufacturing organization is summed up as follows:

Looking back on my own experience among the vicissitudes and worries
of the undergraduate, the two things which were uppermost in my mind
were—first, the question expressed in the old song—Where Do We Go From
Here, Boys? My future was a great unknown. I hoped to arrive somewhere,
but I had not the slightest conception where the path would take me.
The second great worry was somewhat associated with the first. Not knowing
what I was to do I had no way of judging which of the great mass of
detail in my curriculum was most important in the work I was later to
pursue, and I know now that I laboriously tried to master many details
subsequently proven to be unimportant and I passed over others of basic
importance.

While there are many ways in which an engineering council, made up of
graduates in service, can assist Alma Mater and the undergraduate, I can,
speaking for the electrical graduate only, say that if it does no more than
assist the undergraduate in the two ways mentioned, i.e., in guiding his steps
after graduation toward the path he is best suited to follow, and in giving
him an idea of what is vital in his undergraduate course, it will accomplish

much for the undergraduate engineer, stimulate interest in electrical engineering,
and thereby assist its Alma Mater.

Under the conditions of to-day, an engineering council could offer very
definite suggestions to the prospective student, the freshman or the senior,
as to the path to choose after graduation, or at least a very definite choice of
paths, and thus having something definite before him, the student will take
up his engineering studies with an added interest. As bearing on this point
I quote from an address by Dr. Whitney at an Alumni Dinner given by
Union College, February 17, 1921:

Referring to the second of my worries as a student, I fear that the first
part of my paper offers no solution, as it emphasizes, even more than does
the diversity of a college curriculum, the wide field to which the graduate
may in future life be expected to apply himself, and emphasizes the impossibility
of complete preparation. This is true. The curriculum can at
most merely lay the foundation, and all of the superstructure has to be
erected in subsequent effort, application, work, and study, but it is of greatest
importance that the foundation be the best which can be devised for the
superstructure which the graduate is to build for himself.

The graduate who has been away from college for many years is not an
authority on textbooks, curriculums, etc., but he should be in a position to
help the University's staff, if only indirectly, by bringing to its attention
from time to time some of the everyday problems which face him in his
outside career. I will not attempt to discuss this phase of the subject in
great detail, but in looking over the present day curriculums they are spread
out too thin in many places, and the foundation is not deep and thorough
enough in others.

I am constantly in contact with electrical graduates, and without having
University of Virginia graduates in mind, I am impressed by the fact that
very few of them really learn their mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
When they have struggled through their mathematics, and passed their
examinations by a narrow margin, possibly having learned enough to appreciate
its importance, they have a feeling that they will pursue the subject
further, and will then perfect themselves. The majority never do; and there
is a tendency in after life to sidestep difficult problems involving mathematics,
or to look for assistance to those who have been more thorough.
They trail rather than lead in this respect, though they may in other directions
make up their shortcomings. A student who has thoroughly learned
his mathematics has a foundation which need not be disturbed, irrespective
of what is new in electrical discoveries—at most only the application has
to be changed.

When a student has obtained his basic training in mathematics, the
application of this training to problems of various descriptions—such as
the solution of electrical equations and the actual design of electrical apparatus—serves
to fix in his mind his mathematical fundamentals so that they
cannot be effaced. A basic training in chemistry and physics is of equal
importance, but in order that these fundamentals, like the mathematics,
may become firmly fixed, or for that matter thoroughly understood, the
laboratory work is of the utmost importance. By this I refer to the experimental
work in the chemical, physical, and electrical laboratories.

Very few electrical graduates have occasion to apply any of the training
they may have received in civil engineering, except in the fundamentals,
particularly the details that cover the use of instruments, transit, etc. He
may in his work with a large operator find that some civil engineering has
to be done, but he is not called upon to undertake such work. A graduate
civil engineer is available for the purpose.

The same is true, though to a somewhat less extent, of large hydraulic
projects. While a general knowledge of these subjects is necessary, it would
appear in the case of the electrical engineer that they could be touched on
lightly, and more time given to fundamental electrical problems.

Knowledge of thermo-dynamics and steam engineering is frequently
of use to the electrical graduate, but it is doubtful if much time should be
devoted to obsolete steam engines, intricate valve motions, and mechanical
features that have outlived their day of usefulness. A more intimate and
thorough study of a representative steam turbine makes for a better foundation.

In industrial chemistry, instead of trying to cover a field of almost
unlimited breadth, let the technical graduate concentrate and learn more
thoroughly the industrial chemistry of what will be most useful to him; the
manufacture and preparation of insulations—their qualities and characteristics;
insulating compounds—their behavior under the action of heat,
oil, and electrical stresses; study of oils for insulation purposes and heat
dissipation; study of porcelains, glass, and other similar materials for their
mechanical and electrical properties, as they relate to the development of
electrical apparatus, and the development of transmission and distribution
systems.

All education is broadening and develops the mind, and on this score
we can defend the study of a great variety of subjects, as a part of the training
of the electrical engineer. There is so much, however, that he should
obtain in his four-year course—in fact so much more than he can obtain of
basic fundamental facts, that are directly applicable to electrical engineering,
that it would seem to me the present day curriculums could be improved
with this thought in view.

While many of the topics above touched upon might be classified as
encyclopædical training, they cover interesting details, apparatus, subjects
and applications which might profitably form parallel reading to the University
course, but should not be allowed to crowd out fundamental training
or fundamental training plus the essentials of a direct professional training.

In closing I would emphasize that this is a day of specialists, whether
it be in finance, business, manufacture, medicine or engineering. The man
who stands out above others in some particular field of endeavor obtains a
satisfaction from his work, a standing and remuneration from his profession
which the general all around good man infrequently receives.

Let the engineering undergraduate pursue fewer subjects, but pursue
them thoroughly, and if possible specialize in some particular field of endeavor,
either research, or the design of a special class of apparatus. The
man who thoroughly masters the transformer diagram, the mathematics
relating to all the formulas involved in the design, who knows the design
thoroughly, who can analyze wave form and study the stresses applied in
service to every piece of insulation under the diversity of conditions to which
the transformer will be subjected, can readily take up the induction motor
and study it in the same way, although he did not have time to do so at
college. It would be better for him in future life to have mastered the transformer
thoroughly than to have obtained a superficial knowledge of both
the transformer and the motor, even though later he specialize in motor
design.

The technical student who will learn thoroughly how to design a 200,000
volt transmission line, understand the phenomena which go on in such a
system—the high voltage stresses, corona losses, behavior under impulses of
every description, steep wave fronts, high frequency line disturbances; who
will learn how to analyze the stresses over its insulators—the reactance,
capacity and induction of the lines—its regulation and compensation, has
placed himself in a position to obtain recognition which cannot be obtained
by the student who has a superficial knowledge of wiring and distribution
in general.

THE CHEMICAL ENGINEER'S POINT OF VIEW

By John Marshall, '13, Chem. E., of Swarthmore, Pa.

Mr. Thornton has asked me to discuss from the standpoint of the
Chemical Engineer the organization of an Alumni Council which would
presumably be advisory to the Faculty of the Engineering Department of
the University in the outlining of courses of instruction. Such a subject as
this at first resolves itself into a discussion of the necessity for the organization
of this Council. Certainly it would have no excuse for existence unless

deficiencies existed in the present courses of instruction which are within
the power of the Alumni to assist in remedying. I wish, therefore, to confine
myself to a discussion of the advisability of establishing this Council.

With my present ignorance of the courses which are offered now in the
Chemical Engineering work at Virginia, it is impossible to give a discussion
of the subject as applied to Virginia alone. So far as I know, the work here
is practically the same as that offered by the other Engineering schools of
the country, and I believe that the Chemical Engineering graduates of
Virginia are on an equal footing as regards knowledge and ability to apply
it with the graduates of other Engineering schools.

There are, however, a number of points which I have noticed in the
Chemical Engineers I have seen in the industry, and things which other
chemists and Chemical Engineers have told me which I believe indicate a
lack in the fundamental training given men of this profession.

In the first place I have never met a man who was able to give me a
good definition of the term "Chemical Engineer." I imagine the first man
to call himself by this title was engaged in the design of chemical plants and
chemical apparatus, and that the usual course in the subject has been based
upon this same idea. The requirements for the Chemical Engineer have
expanded mightily since that time, however, and to-day I suppose that only
a small percentage of the men calling themselves Chemical Engineers are
engaged in apparatus design alone.

My own idea at present of what should constitute a Chemical Engineer
is a man qualified to design a plant for a chemical process, operate the plant,
and develop the process economically, but I would not venture to offer this
as a definition.

It is certain, however, that a satisfactory college course for the Chemical
Engineer cannot be designed unless we have arrived at a sufficiently broad
definition of Chemical Engineering; and here is the first point at which the
Alumni could give assistance, because from their direct contact with the
industry, they should have learned first hand what is required of the Chemical
Engineer.

The next point I have had in mind is linked up in a way with the foregoing,
and has to do mainly with the method in which the colleges bring
home to the student the real nature of the profession he is studying. Chemical
Engineering is a relatively new profession, and the courses of instruction
in it are in the main the result of selection from already existing courses
offered in the same college. As a result, therefore, we have Chemical Engineering
taught as a more or less of a hodge-podge of Civil Engineering,
Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Chemistry, instead of
as a single well-rounded course in Chemical Engineering designed to meet
the needs of a Chemical Engineer. Under this system, the men taking the

work are not given a fair chance to learn what is the nature of their profession
and what will be expected of them in after life.

I realize that this condition of affairs has been inevitable. We cannot
justify the teaching of Chemical Engineering by Chemical Engineers until
the profession has assumed sufficient importance, and until enough men are
applying for Chemical Engineering training to justify it. But I do believe
that constant contact of the Engineering faculty with the chemical industry
and familiarity of the faculty with the needs of the industry as brought out
by that contact would go far towards overcoming the difficulty. The Alumni
Council would present an obvious means by which this contact could be
brought about.

So far I have dealt with generalities, and perhaps the two points so far
raised are sufficient, but there is one particular phase in the training of
Chemical Engineers that I feel should be mentioned as being particularly
lacking. To my mind the thing the Chemical Engineer needs most, and the
thing that he apparently gets least, is ability to analyze a problem or a
process in order to develop the proper method of attack. Perhaps this is
just another way of saying that he lacks research experience. It is reasonable
that he should lack this experience, for his time is sufficiently filled up
while in college with all the other things he must study. But, nevertheless,
it is all-important that he get this ability from his college work, for most of
his success in after years will depend on how rapidly he can reach a conclusion
on questions of change in process or apparatus, and the rapidity with
which he reaches the conclusion will depend directly on the accuracy with
which he has sized up his problem in the first place.

Inseparable from this is the ability to analyze costs. Cost is the final
deciding factor of any chemical operation, and yet, in spite of its evident
importance, I believe I have never seen a Chemical Engineer, or for that
matter a graduate chemist of any description, who when he left college had
any knowledge of how to develop a problem from the cost standpoint. Cost
analysis is not easy under any circumstances, and on a plant producing many
interdependent products, it may be extremely difficult, but the successful
Chemical Engineer will have to learn it some time. If he can learn it in
college, his advancement will be hastened by years.

I do not believe that ability to analyze costs can be gained by a study
of accounting methods, but I do believe that it could be developed in a well-designed
industrial research course in which would be gained research ability
as well. I believe the Alumni could be of assistance here, in helping lay out
such research courses and in selecting problems.

To summarize briefly, it appears to me that the terms Chemical Engineer
and Chemical Engineering have been too vaguely defined in the past
to permit the most logical arrangement of college work; that the various

subjects taught Chemical Engineering students in the past have been imperfectly
correlated; and training in research and cost analysis have been
slighted. I believe the Alumni would be more than glad to give any assistance
possible in overcoming these defects, and it appears to me that the
proposed Alumni Council would be an excellent agency through which this
could be accomplished.