letters...
Demand,
And H-1B
Urey R. Miller
Houston
Perhaps the reason so many engineering students do not want to go into engineering is that they are able to earn more money in other segments of the economy. More students would become practicing engineers if the demand were such that the rewards made it more attractive. What the H-1B visa bill does is to increase the supply of engineers (perhaps at a lower compensation) and to help satisfy the demand.
The decreased demand, in turn, then acts only to decrease the rewards. Would it not seem logical that if the rewards for engineers were comparable or greater than those of other segments of industry, there would not be such a shortage of engineers.
The H-1B visa bill addresses only the supply side of the equation by providing industry with more engineers. In the short term, this may be good for industry; however, I believe it is not in the best long-term interest of the engineering profession.
Let industry provide compensation commensurate with the true demand, and, in the long term, there should not be a shortage of engineers.
Charles A. Licht,
P.E.
Life Member,
ASME
Olympia Fields, Ill.
To the Editor: The need for noncombustible hydraulic systems is
uncontroversial, but Peggy Chalmers oversimplifies in "Drip, Drip,
Drip ... " (May).
North of someplace around latitude 25 north there is a thing called freezing,
which occurs during many months of the year from autumn to late spring.
This condition will eliminate the use of a straight water hydraulic system
except in controlled environments. For example, large, unheated industrial
sites (steel mills, foundries, etc.) are not viable sites. A laboratory
can be.
For many years, industrial applications where there is a potential fire
hazard (in the event of a blown hose or other leakage) have used a water/glycol
mixture.
Water/glycol is a miserable material. It works well enough in a cooling
system (in a car radiator, for example), but in order to maintain proper
hydraulic operations, the fluid must be checked frequently and properly
adjusted for liquid losses of either water or glycol, buildup of eroded
materials, etc.; pH, turbidity, and viscosity must be maintained by frequent
adjustment.
Using the water/glycol mixture is not cheap. Special pumps, valves, and
lines must be used. Special seals must be used. Special training for the
maintenance staff in how to check the fluids for viscosity, clarity, density,
etc., is necessary. On top of all that, the normal mixture is not totally
freeze-proof. A liquid made for -20°F operation will freeze at -21°F,
if it is idle for a period of time.
We have seen a number of instances where ease of operation using oil trumped
water/glycol use near metal melting furnaces in aluminum and steel operations.
Safe-not; easy-yep!
Editor' note:
Peggy Chalmers reports on the latest development in Purdue University's
continuing study of water hydraulics, a refitted lawn mower, in News and
Notes on page 10.
Darrick A. Dean
New Castle, Pa.
No other profession allows this. They don't allow you to obtain the status of "doctor" or "lawyer" simply because you have worked in the field for so many years. They also require passing various tests for competency.
To maintain the quality of the profession and the competency of the people themselves, we need standards like other professions. The minimum standard is the four-year degree. Certifications are the secondary standard. However, the P.E. needs to offer more specialized versions. Perhaps the P.E. should be taken over by engineering organizations such as ASME.
Certifications by other professional organizations such as ASQ are more specialized and require ongoing education to maintain them. They also don't need to be retaken when moving from state to state.
By looking at other professions, we can determine that we need a basic degree requirement: flexible, specialized certifications, and continuing education. The standards should be the same everywhere in the country and, perhaps, the entire world. International organizations like ASME are best positioned to accomplish this.
C.M. Pyron, Jr., P.E.
Birmingham, Ala.
In the 1970s, I was a member of the national ASME Metric Study Committee. Our purpose was to evaluate various versions of the metric system, with the objective of making recommendations to the membership at large. Our primary focus was on the SI system. The presumption at that time was that the United States would adopt the metric system sooner, rather than later.
What I found then, as an engineer working in industry, was that there seemed to be various metric systems in use, with none of them being the true SI version. For example, German engineers used the kg/mm2 as the unit for pressure, the kilogram, of course, being the unit for mass rather than force. The French had some distinct units of their own, which I cannot recall.
A universal system of units is not worth much unless it is universally used. So my question for the author is: What is the current usage of the metric system around the world? Is Europe currently using an unadulterated SI system? How about the Far East?
Answers to these questions would enlighten us as to how close the world is to a truly universal system of units.
Editor's note: Stan Jakuba, who wrote the article
"Standard Measure," responds: "Schoolchildren everywhere in the world
are taught S.I. (except in the United States). How close is the world
to a truly universal system? The world has been there already. Millions
are using it according to its 'dictionary'; millions are using it with
some 'misspellings,' and millions are using words no longer in the dictionary.
They all will get the proper usage eventually."
Catherine French-
Sidoti
Los Alamos, N.M.
Scientists should be very cautious about assuming that the global warming effect is due solely to greenhouse gases. Also, it should be noted that recent satellite data has shown that the upper atmosphere is actually cooling.
Some researchers say that their theory and modeling show that this cooling should occur, while others show differing effects. I see that there is still no complete agreement on the causes and, especially, the effects of global warming.
The issue of temperature collection has not been properly resolved. Temperatures are taken in cities that have the heat island effect. I have seen several different approaches to handling and correcting these heat effects, but these approaches vary and also give various results.
Then there is the issue of thermometer calibration. I have observed where some thermometers for city temperatures were not calibrated properly at the required intervals, and sometimes not calibrated at all. How can we trust the temperature data if there are these variations in the instruments?
It is not wise to make international policies on theories that are not agreed upon by the scientists who have been studying these causes and effects. Some scientists have published their works, but have not been given the publicity that the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research has received.
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