The recent editorial comment and articles discussing practical I&C training have given rise to some response from our readers:
Gary van Vuuren (Department of Electronic Engineering, Durban Institute of Technology) responds to Michael Brown's comments:
I am an avid reader of your articles and look forward to them each month. I have just read your article in the September issue of SA I&C magazine and would like to say that you have made some very valid points.
Probably the most important point is that universities and Technikons do concentrate on the theoretical aspects, not only of control engineering but in all subjects. The point you make about the practical side of training needing to be supplied by industry is something that my colleagues and I have discussed often.
It is not possible for us (especially at Technikons) to provide meaningful practical training. In the case of the Technikons, we have a 15-week semester with a once a week 90-minute practical/tutorial session in which to convey the practical aspects of control. Added to this is the frustration of the students' lack of understanding/conceptualisation of even basic hardware like control valves and actuators. We are not in the position to take a class of 60 or more and just quickly pop into a plant to see how it operates.
This means that teaching the real practical 'stuff' is all but impossible.
A point, which you raise through your own experience, is that of apprenticeships or rather the lack of them in this country. In the past, large employers had very active apprenticeship programs but how many of these training centres are now lying idle? I hope that the new 'training levy' that all companies pay will in some way start addressing this problem.
In response to last issue's Editorial comment, Greg Culverwell writes:
Congratulations on a very timely comment in the September issue. You wrote almost exactly what I would have said. Our ancestors knew the truth about learning, which seems to have been forgotten in our PC world. The one ingredient I think you neglected to mention is the need for an enquiring mind.
Without it all the education and mentoring in the world is useless: You will never know anything beyond what you were taught and probably less, after all very few people get 100% in an exam, let alone remember half of it. Unfortunately from what I have seen, the majority of people in technical positions lack this very quality. In the 'old days' if someone were found not to have the 'right stuff' they would have been given the boot - simple. Basically, what I am saying is that there should be a proper selection process, which screens for the right qualities, but I suppose that is also politically incorrect.
The apprenticeship/trainee engineer arrangement has worked admirably in the past. Why on earth did it vanish? Perhaps the ongoing trend towards specialisation in all areas is to blame. What is happening here is that chemical plants and production lines are concentrating more and more on their 'core' business, and outsourcing everything that is not their core business. This makes sound economic sense - but what happens as a result?
In the end it will only be the systems engineering companies that 'do' any engineering - and they will be the only parties in a position to employ engineers and technicians who have a real feel for what they do. The processing and manufacturing industries will likely employ people who just swap items when they fail. Engineers and their ilk will only be needed as consultants.
Looking at the plight of the engineering houses, they do not have the massive turnover of a big manufacturer. System engineering companies also have to run lean in order to be competitive. Their core business is developing and commissioning plants as cost-effectively as possible. For them, taking on inexperienced trainees could be seen as a hindrance.
Raising children could also be perceived as a hindrance... but the process whereby they are initiated rates high on the pleasure charts. Taking on trainees must also become desirable. Small wonder we have no solid practical training - there is simply no tangible incentive to encourage genuine, empowering training. So... what to do?
If you would like to see answers to these questions - or perhaps have some genuine insight regarding this matter, write to SA I&C. Based on the response, we may consider further articles or publishing some of the letters- Ed.
E-mail your letters to The Editor, john@technews.co.za
For past articles, visit our online publication at www.instrumentation.co.za
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