Consulting-Specifying Engineer - September 2007 - (Page 10)

asleep to not sense the fire themselves or see the indications of a malfunctioning piece of equipment. This will be a blazing fire with a lot of smoke, and the piece of equipment involved will already be lost. The sprinklers will prevent the fire from spreading to the rest of the room. One common solution is to install smoke detection in the room, in addition to the sprinklers. The detection system will sense the fire when it is in a very small phase. An alarm will sound, allowing the operators to find the problem and deal with it. Modern detection systems can tell the operator exactly which detector has alarmed, leading them right to the problem. If the operators cannot deal with the problem, the extinguishing system is allowed to do its thing. ERIC A. DORBECK, P.E. CONSUMERS ENERGY JACKSON, MICH. cyclical nature of the data center industry and apply across all systems rather than to be an in-depth article for each specialized field. I struggled with the wording of the section leading to several of your comments, for example, through edits to reach a wider audience, the words “captures the oxygen” rather than displacement or other terms that would be preferred in an article written for the NFPA. After working in data centers for 25 years, first with IBM and now as a consultant, I find that sprinklers often leak, not because the devices fail, but due to regular contact by ladders and personnel during the installation of power or cabling. The ideal data center seldom exists and the vast majority of the operating data centers are conversions or retrofits. MICHAEL KUPPINGER, P.E. SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS DESIGN, INC. CHICAGO Author responds: Thank you for your feedback, as I agree with many of your comments. The purpose of the article was to draw attention to the Editor’s note: Mr. Kuppinger will author a technical article on fire suppressants for data centers in 2008. Engineering shortage It is an interesting dilemma that Michael Ivanovich, editor-in-chief, points out in his Editor’s Viewpoint, “Engineering Shortage, Employers to Blame?” (CSE 05/07 p.09). The shortage of engineers has more to do with the field not being sexy—and if you throw not very lucrative on top—why bother? In its history, the engineering field has been one that holds tremendous integrity and decent pay. That identity seems to be changing. As an engineer, I see other fields that are paying much higher salaries, such as the financial and medical professions, and think that if I were young, I would go into these fields. Because they have more money, they can hire as much top talent as they want. In a young person’s eyes, there has to be a carrot in front of the horse. Unless the salaries increase in the engineering field, I see a continuous shortage with more and more work put on the remaining engineers, thus reducing quality. JOHN MILENIUS Input #206 at csemag.com/quickResponse http://www.federalpacific.com http://www.federalpacific.com http://csemag.com/quickResponse

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Consulting-Specifying Engineer - September 2007

Contents M/E Roundtable Cover Story: Airborne Superbugs Third-Party Liability Back to School Product Spotlight Codes & Standards Professional Practices How To New Products Jobs/Cliassifieds Specifier’s Notebook Pure Power Supplement New Technologies, Same Old Transmission Problems Wireless Battery Recharging Solar Concentration Renewables Tracking System A Mighty Wind The Importance of Load Bank Testing Quality Power for Security Systems

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - September 2007

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