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Biography
Dean, School of Engineering 1969-1982
Professor Mechanical Engineering 1983-1988
Professor Emeritus 1989
Awarded Big Ten Medal for Scholarship and Athletics, Purdue University,
1940
Named to Purdue University R.O.T.C. Hall of Fame, 1975.
Sigma Xi, Phi Gamma Delta, Sigma Tau, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Tau Sigma, Tau
Beta Pi.
Written November 1969
When one has the privilege, as I have here, to speak to Engineering
students through the printed
page, one has a responsibility to say something that will be helpful.
I hope these words will be.
The School of Engineering consists of students, faculty, staff, and
buildings which
together form a special environment for learning. This is a place for
accelerated learning of the
science and art of engineering with the ultimate purpose of preparing you
for beginning-level
positions in professional engineering.
The faculty has developed programs of study in several disciplines,
which, in its
collective judgment, and when completed, will entitle you to a degree. This
degree certifies, in essence,
that the possessor is capable of beginning practice in the engineering
profession.
A one sentence definition of Engineering has been agreed upon by the
Engineer's Council
for Professional development. It states, "Engineering is the profession in
which a knowledge of the
mathematical and natural sciences gained by study, experience, and
practice is applied with
judgment to develop ways to utilize economically the materials and forces
of nature for the benefit
of mankind."
The obligation of the School, then is to provide you with the
environment in which you
can acquire the tools of the engineer. This is a dynamic environment,
changing in response to
new needs as the faculty perceives these needs through contacts with
practicing engineers,
through engineering research, and through faculty-student discussions.
Your obligation, as
students is to respond to this environment in such a way that by
independent study, interaction in
and out of the classroom with faculty and fellow students, you will
indeed achieve the objective we
all have in mind.
We have built into this system of engineering education certain
mechanisms, which might be called coercive and rigid, but are necessary
for two reasons. I am speaking of reports, laboratory experiments, class
attendance, and tests. The first reason is that both you and the faculty
need measures of performance for mutual evaluation of your progress and
their effectiveness. You want to be successful and the faculty wants you
to be successful. The second reason is, frankly, a recognition that we
are humans who tend to not do what we ought to do. We need discipline,
and deadlines, and pressures.
I will conclude these remarks with a few words about technical competence
and social awareness in engineering. Technical competence you must have
- it is expected of you as a practicing engineer. But it is not enough if
you are to be really effective in your profession. You will be working in
a society of which you must have an understanding, so you can communicate
with those who are not engineers. This is why you are required to study
humanities and social sciences here and to develop skills in communication.
Technical competence and an understanding of his obligations to society
are the hallmarks of the professional engineer. The pollution and
ugliness which degrades our environment must be stopped and eliminated.
This is the great challenge to the engineering profession today. We will
then be fulfilling the charge to the engineering profession - to develop
our resources for the benefit of mankind and the other creatures of the
earth.
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