Engineering Inc. - July/August 2007 - (Page 35)

Engineer Shortage Impact, Solutions Discussed at Town Hall Meeting ACEC President Dave Raymond shows Congressman James Oberstar the May/June Engineering Inc. featuring Oberstar on the cover. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) meets with Monty Miller, president of Sayre Associates in Sioux Falls, Daniel Eisenbraun, president of Eisenbraun & Associates in Yankton, and Dennis Micko, president of Banner Associates, Inc., in Brookings, during a Capitol Hill visit. Vivek Wadhwa, left, of Duke University and Lance Davis of the National Academy of Engineering, lead a Town Hall discussion on the engineer shortage. He also offered perspectives on several national issues including Social Security reform, which he says should only involve raising the retirement age, and the health care system, which he said needs no reform. “There’s no need to turn the health care system upside down,” Will said. “It would kill the capacity of the pharmaceutical industry to seek innovation. We would then become like Canada, where everything is free but nothing is available.” Retirements, industry image, government regulations and noncompetitive salaries were just some of the many concerns members raised to address the engineer shortage at the Annual Convention’s Town Hall meeting. Moderator Rod Hoffman, senior vice president of HDR Engineering, Inc., asked attendees how many of their firms were looking for talent but haven’t been able to fill an open position for more than 12 months. Approximately three quarters of the more than 60 in attendance raised their hands. Panelists Lance Davis, executive officer of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and Vivek Wadhwa of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, both offered suggestions on how the engineering industry can tackle the issue. Davis cited NAE’s Engineer 2020 report, which forecasts scenarios on the future for engineers and outlines strategies for enhancing engineering education. “The role of engineers is changing and education has to change in response if we want to have the engineers educated in the U.S. to be able to effectively compete on the global stage,” Davis said. Wadhwa said the industry is not focusing on the right problems. “Everyone thought the problem was in bachelor’s degrees—it’s in Masters and Ph.D. degrees. China has eclipsed the U.S. in awarding Masters and Ph.D.s, and in the U.S., 60 percent of all graduate degrees are going to foreign nationals,” Wadhwa cautioned. In his research Wadhwa also studied offshoring trends. Firms primarily go offshore due to costs and access to markets, not due to a skills shortage, productivity or quality, he said. And of the firms surveyed who are involved in engineering outsourcing, 95 percent said outsourcing will continue and that they would send a greater variety of jobs abroad, including research and design. Added Davis: “The engineering community also has to emphasize more of the value and rewards of engineering.” n JULY / AUGUST 2007 ENGINEERING INC. 35

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - July/August 2007

Call for Entries
Contents
From ACEC to You
News & Notes
Market Watch
Legislative Action
The Big Dig
Risky Engineering
2007 Professional Liability Survey
Institute For Business Management Fall 2007 Course Catalog
Roadside Technology
2007 Convention Wrap-Up
2007-2008 Excom
2007 Fall Conference Primer
Business Insights
Technology
Members in the News
One on One

Engineering Inc. - July/August 2007