Employees must have both technical and pragmatic skills

11/01/1996

Employees must have both technical and pragmatic skills

I congratulate you on drawing attention to the work force shortages in advanced technology manufacturing industries, and I am fascinated by the letters (September, p. 18) that this has triggered from highly qualified specialists with advanced degrees that plead difficulty in securing employment.

These two factors can readily co-exist and both remain true as a direct result of the segmentation of our US educational processes. Boeing`s Phil Condit has been a powerful advocate of more integrated educational experiences for all our students commencing in high school. We must focus on educating individuals who are "industry-ready" and capable of continued and life-long learning in a wide variety of industrially relevant fields.

Today being "industry-ready" means exhibiting an ability to tackle ambiguous problems that cut across several disciplines. Erudite research and publications in theoretical physics, or astronomy, etc. are valuable mental calisthenics that can serve as good preparation for a successful industrial career of creativity and problem solving to realize new products and processes.

However, it is important that the possessor of the "over-qualified" background recognizes and displays pragmatic practical abilities, together with communications, teamwork, and interpersonal skills, which can contribute to the bottom-line of an enterprise.

Unfortunately, there are relatively few graduate programs that provide opportunities for development of these latter skills that are so vital in industry today. The program leading to an MS in manufacturing systems engineering at Lehigh University has been in existence since 1984 (as a result of an IBM funding initiative). The program includes aspects of business and management and attracts students from around the world who are sent by their employers. Self-supported students, or those whom we are able to sponsor using funds provided by leading US industries, are widely sought after at graduation and receive multiple job offers. In a new development, we are now planning a program that will embed our renowned MS in MSE degree within a materials science PhD program. The objective of this program is to develop more highly qualified "industry-ready" graduates.

Keith M. Gardiner, Director

Center for Manufacturing Systems Engineering

Lehigh University