Education/Industry Relations

Abstract

Where are the needed engineers and managers for the next 20 years going to come from? Better yet, who’s going to fill Charlie’s successor’s chair? All industries will be doing a lot of pirating and scrambling for good college seniors. How will utilities survive? Barely. Utility industry must do something now! What was going on in 1966? The power industry was experiencing a tremendous growth rate of 7% per year. The space race was the glamour industry attracting the majority of the graduating seniors. The Northeast blackout of 1965 got everyone’s attention. The industry was ignoring power engineering education. Fort stated that it doesn’t help much to: just get the story across to the students; or say, “we need better liaison with the campus”; or say, “professors need to be re-educated”; or say, “we must rethink our recruiting policies.” What will help? Know what you are doing with your new engineers. Revise the quota system you put on recruiters. Don’t hire summer students for