May 2008

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Fueling the Global Economy

Workforce Issues and Partnerships in Mechanical Engineering

by Sam Zamrik

Editor's note: ASME, underscoring its members' roles in the global energy industry, worked with the Bahrain Society of Engineers to organize a new technical conference, the Middle East Mechanical Expo 2007 Conference (http://www.memec-expo.org/), or MEMEC for short, focusing on oil and gas production. Held in November in Bahrain, it brought together engineers from the petroleum markets of the Middle East for a multidisciplinary forum of information exchange. The text that follows is the keynote address delivered by Sam Zamrik, ASME's president, to an international audience of engineers, industry leaders, and regulators.

I greet you on behalf of the Board of Governors of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the 120,000 worldwide members of ASME.

ASME welcomes this opportunity to work with the Bahrain Society of Engineers and the ASME Saudi Arabia Section on the Middle East Mechanical Expo. I would like to thank Hasan Sabri, chair of the ASME Saudi Arabia Section, and the vice chair of this conference, Younes Makki, for your gracious invitation.

Thank you, also, to Saudi Aramco and all the sponsors for their important participation and support.

I would like to also extend sincere personal thanks to the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa. Thank you, sir, for your gracious hospitality and for hosting this important conference.

The Middle East Mechanical Expo is truly situated in one of the remarkable growth regions of the world for mechanical systems and equipment, manufacturing industries, and energy production.

I hope you will learn and benefit from the various technical tracks, speakers, scholars, and workshops planned for you this week.

I would like to speak to you this evening about the issues facing today's engineering workforce and the benefits of creating solid partnerships and collaborations.

Today's engineering and technology community face a number of shared interests, concerns, and challenges. Among them:

• Workforce development
• Safe and reliable technology
• Standardization, and
• Collaborative innovation.

To meet the challenges of the future, ASME has reorganized itself to be a more agile, responsive, and global organization, focused on key priorities for industry, government, early-career engineers, global leadership, and emerging markets.

Please allow me to offer a special welcome at this time to all the students and early-career engineers who are participating in the conference this week. I want to tell you that engineering is where you can make a difference in bettering the quality of life for millions of people, while leaving a lasting legacy for many generations that come. The consequence, as well as your contributions, to future generations is monumental.

I believe it is crucial for us to place our work in context with the global needs and challenges that we all know exist. Energy is central to sustainable development and must be placed at a high level of priority in order for our profession to address and remedy the pressing needs of our world. Energy is central to so many of today's challenges, including sustainability and poverty reduction.

According to the United Nations Development Program, energy affects all aspects of development-social, economic, and environmental-including livelihoods, access to water, agricultural productivity, health, population levels, education, and gender-related issues.

None of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) can be met without major improvement in the quality and quantity of energy services.

Needless to say, global energy consumption is expected to grow, especially in rapidly growing industrial countries like China and India. Major trends affecting the energy industry involve retooling, regulatory issues, the need for new refineries, and the promise of new "smart technologies," with fuel cells, superconductivity, and clean coal technologies leading the way.

There are advances in technology in exploration and production. Russia and West Africa play increasingly important roles in the oil and gas arena, and the Canadian tar sands hold long-term promise. Clean coal technologies continue to be important in their dominant roles. But conservation and alternative energy sources are drawing economic and social incentives. Favorable support is found worldwide for nuclear energy, particularly in China and India.

In short, engineers have major long-term work that is multidisciplinary and global, and it requires broad management skills. The needs themselves, however, create consequences in areas such as education, standards and certification, risk assessment and ethics, regulations, and public policy advocacy that are significant challenges in their own right.

The complexity of finding solutions to the need for more energy and other areas of great challenge in this world is enormous. The engineer in almost every field has to consider a broad range of parameters and activities affecting all industries. A few items worth summarizing that influence the outcomes, as if life isn't complicated enough:

• Increases in power demand
• Rapid advances needed on a broad front, in every aspect, from discovery to optimization
• Emerging contaminants and downstream threats in distribution systems
• Increasing regulations, and
• Security challenges.

We need to focus and cooperate on global energy issues and solutions like never before. It is imperative that government, industry, and academia work together in this effort. I believe we have to increase energy supplies, modernize our infrastructure, increase our efficiencies, and find alternative solutions to these pressing demands. Safe and reliable has always been an engineer's strong suit. Today and tomorrow we must call for energy that is clean and abundant.

In nations that are beginning to emerge as entrepreneurial leaders, like India and China, engineering education and talent are fueled by educational and governmental support. The engineers in these nations are a significant factor in the development of the economies of their respective countries. Some of their work is a result of outsourced activities from economically developed nations-work that involves engineering tasks that have become global commodities. In a free global market, jobs, wages, economic development, and standards of living will distribute themselves more evenly.

As the economies of today's world leaders, which have also become the great leaders of consumption, experience increasing pressures to reduce their budgets, so will their support for engineering research and development. Innovation will suffer because innovation relies on investment in research. And as we begin to see declining investment in research, leadership roles in innovations will also begin to shift.

These are realities we must deal with in a global economy. Globalization poses unique challenges for engineers, one of which is to understand the dynamics of the global marketplace. At the same time, mechanical engineers will also be challenged to expand their learning beyond traditional single-discipline technical skill sets into multidisciplinary areas involving chemical, biological, and electrical systems.

Beyond the hard core, basic technical skills there will be requirements to develop talents associated with project management, systems engineering, global marketing, foreign languages, interpersonal relations, and even communications.

The best engineers will be the ones who can organize and work with others. Engineers who understand and apply systems engineering principles, regardless of their discipline, and who have the knowledge and background in product and process development, and those who possess project management skills, will take the forefront. The best opportunities will belong to engineers who know when to lead and when to follow, and can do either at the appropriate times.

What sort of pressure does this create for our learning institutes? Globalization is forcing colleges and universities to change their approach to education and instruction. While the requirement to master the fundamentals of engineering—that is, thermodynamics, Newton's laws, or heat transfer—will never change, some additional skill sets will need to be developed.

In order to prepare engineering students to work abroad and function effectively on international design teams, educators must refocus curricula, augmenting technical course work with the study of foreign languages and project management.

Beyond this, colleges and universities must develop academic programs in such nontraditional areas as intercultural teaming, distance learning, and cross-cultural communication.

The globalization of engineering is casting accreditation in a new light. There exists today a rising interest in international educational equivalency agreements and international practice agreements as the basis for recognizing engineering education programs across geographical borders. As is the trend with corporations in the global economy, educational systems must work at alliances, accords, and international agreements.

The world view is sobering. But global challenges require engineering perseverance and ingenuity on a grand scale. It is clear that we need to identify what technologies will have the greatest impact on the marketplace in the relatively near future, and then we can really go after them with increased resources and aggressive timelines. For the pipeline industry, as an example, it is easy to identify a few of the prominent areas of major impact. Among them are aging assets, regulatory initiatives, risk assessment, and growth areas such as carbon capture (or sequestration) and hydrogen-based technology development.

The bottom line is that we have to increase energy supplies, modernize our infrastructure, increase our efficiencies, and find alternative solutions to these pressing demands. As I said earlier, safe and reliable has always been the engineer's strong suit. These are our challenges, and I believe we are ideally situated to find the solutions.

Many of you are familiar with ASME. ASME has redirected much of its resources toward being responsive to industry needs, strengthening educational responsiveness, and helping the engineering community deal with rapid technological changes and workforce development. Our standards, publications, and tutorials and workshops are available, and we can work with you to make meaningful connections through such groups as the International Petroleum Technology Institute of ASME. ASME has coordinated the work of its Pipeline Systems Division, its Offshore and Arctic Engineering Division, and Petroleum Division through IPTI. ASME's conference schedule includes industry venues such as the Offshore Technology Conference, ASME Power Conference, and the International Pipeline Conference in Calgary, Canada, plus many others.

To meet these challenges, ASME has put a high priority on creating robust industry partnerships, to identify and respond to current and future needs.

And foremost in our initiatives we have ASME Solutions, focused on customized and packaged approaches to industry needs in pressure technology, energy and power, water management, and risk assessment.

We also asked ourselves what ASME can do to keep an eye on future markets. We are looking for companies, organizations, coalitions, and others who work in ways that help accelerate the time it takes to move from design to market and to those who are risk takers and possess the agility to respond to market changes.

Another key point I'd like to make tonight is some of the trends affecting how we address these challenges, including energy and the others. ASME has studied engineering trends that affect it and the engineering profession through its strategic management sector. We have identified some trends key to all organizations that are fostering a culture of growth and innovation.

As a learning organization, ASME has a solid role in confronting these challenges. One of these ways is the creation of technology innovation networks that are natural ecosystems for invention and application. We promote cross-discipline, naturally forming communities for people working together in new ways.

Collaboration, partnerships, and advocacy roles that involve government can take on many forms.

We have targeted initiatives in Europe, China, and India, including the opening of our Brussels office in 2005 and the recent creation of an Asia-Pacific office, which will be opening soon in Singapore.

We have completed translations of the ASME Nuclear Code into Chinese and we are looking into Spanish translations as well. Global harmonization of standards continues to be a high priority for ASME. Our work on global harmonization of standards results from increasing the need of global trade to work well in the marketplace. International standards will yield to new approaches and business models. The global marketplace favors a standards system with the attributes of transparency and speed. We are all invested in this process.

ASME has an on-the-ground presence in India. More recently, ASME participated in a joint task force with the U.S.-India Business Council and the Confederation of Indian Industry on commercial nuclear cooperation, including topics of public acceptance and private sector ownership.

Also, we know that systems thinking is critical to meeting the global challenges of energy, water, hunger, poverty, and environmental sustainability. Greater resource productivity-to do more with less- plays a key role among multidisciplinary teams, using whole-system, multiple-benefit approaches. Problem solving is no longer a simple linear equation. Cause and effect relationships involve an understanding of multiple causation lines, feedback, and an interconnectedness that guides decisions. Engineers must be better managers, broader in their scope of knowledge, and keen visionaries.

My final major trend focuses on attracting and educating tomorrow's engineers as critical to competitiveness in a global environment. This is about preparing tomorrow's workforce. Students attracted to engineering today will work in a future of rapid innovation and changing social priorities. Bringing them into the realities of the marketplace and broadening their exposure to the challenges should always be a priority.

In order to adapt to the global marketplace, students must be exposed to engineering reasoning and problem solving in a global context, as well as systems thinking, teamwork, and leadership development.

Research is key to innovation and many universities are turning their research facilities into flexible laboratories that can be redesigned as research needs change, to reflect the needs of national priorities, for projects with a global impact. Examples include biology-related fields, nanotechnology, advanced manufacturing, alternative energy sources, and other emerging growth technologies.

Corporate managers also increasingly expect engineers to have an understanding of business finance, business plan development, budgeting, and financial analysis. Students need real-life problem solving skills. Industry/university partnerships should be designed to integrate design, manufacturing, and business realities into the engineering curriculum.

Engineers work as teams involved in complex engineering projects typically including people trained in many different fields of engineering and requiring some members whose knowledge bridges different fields. Universities can allow students to major in "interdisciplinary engineering," which permits them to integrate the study of engineering with mathematics, science, another engineering discipline, business, biomedicine, or other fields. Universities can build multidisciplinary teams of students to work on real engineering projects prior to workplace entry.

Students with global mindsets are able to place technology in a global context, recognize the multidisciplinary and multicultural approaches to problem solving, enhance their communications skills, and achieve a greater understanding of diversity. They are agile and adaptable in the work environment. They are creative, culturally aware, and have a strong sense of professionalism. International collaborations, with teamwork and systems thinking, are an integral part of our processes.

The rapidly changing global environment poses challenges for all technical organizations, including ASME. Like industry and academia, ASME must adapt to the evolving concept of the global engineer, one who is moving within and among multinational firms managing projects throughout the world. We must determine what it is that the engineer requires for success in the global arena, and we must meet those demands and expectations through new programs, particularly in education, training, and certification.

One such new initiative is ASME's award-winning Global Training Program. This program provides training for engineering instructors in many global markets to administer ASME-approved continuing education courses in the native language. From the time the Global Training Program was launched, ASME short courses on pressure vessels and other important technical subjects have been provided in several international markets, mostly in Latin America.

Another globally focused new program being led by ASME is Engineering Management Certification International (http://www.engineeringcertification.org/), which provides credentialing in engineering management that is recognized worldwide.

EMCI is a certification program that both facilitates and maintains competence in engineering management-filling in the gaps between business and technology expertise. Established in conjunction with four major engineering societies (ASME, ASCE, AIChE, and AIME), EMCI develops and maintains a "body of knowledge" for certification in global standards and best practices for engineering managers.

EMCI is expanding its visibility throughout the world. In fact, here in the Middle East Region, EMCI training providers are available in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, the engineering management certification exam is offered, and EMCI is seeking corporate sponsors in the Middle East.

In other parts of the world, EMCI recently introduced Spanish-language examinations, materials, and coursework in Latin America, and has expanded its worldwide network of providers in the Caribbean, China, and India. We look forward to some exciting events leading up to the launch of these offerings next month.

Collaborations, agreements, and partnerships will maximize the ability of technical groups to meet the needs and expectations of global engineering. ASME maintains more than 70 formal agreements of cooperation worldwide, which serve to promote international technical information exchange benefiting engineers with cross-border career goals.

These partnerships are extremely valuable to ASME volunteer groups in determining topics for future conferences. As ASME reaches out to the broad engineering community dispersed throughout the world, it will develop conferences and symposia that meet the information needs of globally focused technology companies, such as firms in the petroleum and petrochemical industries. To every extent, ASME products and services will strive to link the global network of engineers.

Also, to talk about engineering workforce development is, to a large degree, to talk about diversity and the need to reach out to groups underrepresented in the field. Developed nations have been slow in their efforts to diversify, reducing their ability to attract new talent and new perspectives leading to a stronger and synergistic workforce. We need to balance the inequities in the engineering workforce and confront the shifting dynamics of a global economy.

ASME has expanded its conferences, online interaction, and tutorial offerings in engineering technology and other fields. In addition, to serve engineers and employers, and to meet the industry challenges of tomorrow, ASME members must have the ability to be engaged professionally. ASME encourages global collaboration throughout industry, academia, and government, and it helps to provide accessible and affordable professional development. The establishment of ASME Standards Technology LLC helps ASME anticipate the standardization needs of industry and government related to emerging technologies.

Here are other examples of some of our current activities:

On the standards front: The first edition of B31Q, Pipeline Personnel Qualification, was published last year. This standard specifies the requirements for the qualification of individuals performing safety- or integrity-related tasks for the operation and maintenance of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines that are subject to ASME B31.4 and B31.8 standards.

To meet the need for networking, international cooperation, and international best practices, ASME launched the ASME India Oil and Gas Pipeline Conference, the first of its kind in India, held just a couple of weeks ago. Organized by ASME, the International Petroleum Technology Institute, and ASME Codes and Standards, the conference took place in New Delhi and brought together key corporate players in the onshore and offshore pipeline industry. Delegates learned about challenging projects, emerging issues, international standards, and the state of the art of global pipeline engineering.

Also, ASME's Continuing Education Institute has organized courses with IBP in Brazil on reliability management and B-31.8 Gas Pipeline courses scheduled for November 2007 with more courses to follow throughout the year.

Finally, let me leave you with a challenge that you can take home to your businesses. Innovation is the answer to surviving and prospering in today's global marketplace. Innovation is the driver for nations and organizations. Most companies are struggling with how to provide the right work environment to make innovation a part of the way business is conducted.

First is the sharing of ideas, the broadening of perspectives, and seeing the big picture.

Second is having the processes in place for aligning resources with intentions to improve and make changes. Best practices help us continually improve in this area.

And third is having full participation and creating a self-sustaining environment for innovation.

In conclusion, let me say that the strength of ASME is to provide innovative technology networks, by utilizing the depth and breadth of its members' knowledge. To continue the development of the next generation of engineers and technical professionals, ASME is developing new standards and training for their development and growth. ASME will also focus on how it brings innovation to education and how it fosters the development and managing thinking in business and industry.

I'd like to point out that innovation is not a product, but a way of thinking. It is more than new technology. It is more than an agent of change. Being innovative is not just about how to use technology or having access to it. But, it's the journey we take through the use of new technology to achieve our objectives.

Engineering is a powerful and transformative force in this world. The engineering community must continue to assert its global leadership and take advantage of its recognition in emerging markets to succeed in meeting the present and future challenges of our world.

Footnote:

"Workforce Issues and Partnerships in Mechanical Engineering" was the keynote address by Sam Zamrik, ASME's 2007-2008 President, to the Middle East Mechanical Expo Conference and Exhibit Nov. 5, 2007, at the Gulf International Convention Centre and Gulf Hotel in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.

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© 2008 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers