A paper presented at the 20th Annual Conventionof the American Institute of Electrical Engi-neers, Niagara Falls, N. Y., July 3, 1003.

THE PROPER QUALIFICATIONS OF. ELECTRICALENGINEERING SCHOOL GRADUATES FROMTHE TELEPHONE ENGINEER'S STANDPOINT.

BY BANCROFT GHERARDI, JR.

I have been asked by the Chairman of the Papers Committeeto say a few words on the proper qualifications of electricalengineering school graduates, judging them from the point ofview of the telephone engineer.

These qualifications are the product of two factors: thenatural ability of the man, himself and the training which hereceives at the engineering school.Upon the man's natural ability, although a factor of primie

importance, I will not, owing to the limitationis of time, attemptto speak in detail here to-day. In general terms the nature ofthese natural qualifications, which seem to me to be requisite inthe engineering student, is evident from a consideration of thetraining which the school attempts to give him, for if he is toobtain anything of value from his school training, he must havethose qualities of mind necessary to enable him to assimilate it.

In treating my topic, I shall confine myself to a discussion ofthe subject of education considered not primarily with referenceto preparing the student for his general responsibilities withreference to society, but solely as providing him with the specialqualifications needed in his professional work.

In thus excluding from the present consideration the questionof what education should be given to the student for otherreasons than to fit him for the special work of his professiDn, Ido not wish to belittle the very great importance of broadeningstudies. A discussion including this phase of engineering educa-tion would extend my remarks beyond the time assignled to me,

579

580 GHERARDI: QUALIFICATIONS OF GRADUATES. [July 3

would develop age-long controversies and would, perhaps, afterall, be more suitable for discussion elsewhere than at this meeting.Even that branch of the subject to which I have restricted myselfis so extensive that it will be impossible here to treat of it ex--haustively and at best I will only be able to bring out a few ideaswhich have impressed themselves upon me as being worthy ofserious consideration.

It is well recognized that telephone engineering is one of thosespecialties into which electrical engineering in general is rapidlysplitting, and in consequence of this fact, it has been assumed bysome that the school training for the telephone engineer should bedifferent from that given to electrical engineers in other branches.That the telephone engineer should receive at the engineeringschool a training substantially different from that given to elec-trical engineers in other branches is a proposition with which Ido not altogether agree.While the professional work required of the telephone engineer,

comprehensive though it is, bringing him in contact with variouspractical problems which do not confront electrical engineers inother branches, his work is, after all, based upon the essentialprinciples which underlie the work of all of those engaged in theelectrical engineering profession. It deals with the same mate-rials and the same physical laws and it has the same general ob-ject in view; that is, to accomplish the most satisfactory resultsin the most economical manner.

If, in the few short years which are available for the profes-sional training of the student, it were possible to teach everythingin science and engineering which might be available in his profes-sional work, it might then be reasonable to incorporate as a partof such training a large amount of work on problems particularlyiconcerning th-e telephone plant and the questions which arise inthe construction and operation thereof. It is evident, however,that to include in the curriculum such a course of training would.far transcend the limits of time which the student can spend atthe engineering school. It seems to me, therefore, that instead ofattempting to teach these ultimate practical problems, the im-portant matter is that engineering students shou1 1 have disci-pline in the methods of solving engineering questions. Suchdiscipline as I have in mind is not given by teaching him thesolution of each and every question that may raise in practice,even if the time available would make this possible. On thecontrary, this discipline can best be given to him by a general

1903.] GHERARDI: QUALIFICATIONS OF GRADUATES. 581

training which will enable him to solve any question that mayarise when he becomes acquainted with the conditions of thatspecial problem. When the speclal problem comes before himIhe will, with the proper training, be able to solve it first by gettingthe facts in the case and then by interpreting these facts accord-ing to correct processes of reasoning.

In my mind, therefore, the functions of technical educationmay be summed up as follows-: Train the student so as to convincehim of the necessity of getting his facts and teach him the best,method of getting the facts. Train him as to the methods ofinterpreting engineering data and in reasoning thereupon. You-will note that I do not say that the education should teach aman the facts. It seems to m,e it is evident to anyone who con-siders the question, that no course of college or university educa-tion can teaclh a man the facts and practices of such a field ofengineering as we have under consideration. I do not refer tofundamulental facts and laws, but refer to the details of super-structure with which so many special courses endeavor to famil-iarize a man before he starts on his professional career.The state of the art in the case of any branch of engineering is

necessarily voluminous and involved and is constantly under-going rapid changes. The mere acquiring of such voluminousdata and ascertaining their correct relations to other data is thework of a lifetime, even assunr-ing that, such data were available ina form which would permit of their being taught in a college oruniversity. Furthermore, and what is more important, theattempt at teaching such data in the length of time availablenecessarily results in the neglect of those fundamental andgeneral studies, the importance of which I am endeavoring tobring out.

If I were to consider the extent to which broadening or liberalstudies should be required of the student, the question of howmuch timle should be devoted to English literature, to lo-ic andto philosophy, would require rost careful consideration, but uponone point which might properly come under the head both ofbroadening studies and special technical equipment I have firmconvictions. I shall speak of it here merely as part of the tech-nical equipment of the student.

I am satisfied that extraordinary efforts- should be made toteach every engineering student to write la report or letter inclear, convincing English, setting forth. thae facts and argumentsand conclusions pertaining to any question he may have to con-

582 GHERARI)I: QUALIFICATIONS OF GRADUATES. [July 3

sider. The student should be taught to state in correct andlogical form the nature of any given problem and to enforce hisconclusion with arguments which must be convincing. Suchtraining as this is not one merely in literature, composition orrhetoric; for it should be borne in mind that to write such areport as I have indicated, the student must, first of all, havemastered the problem itself, and that clear thinking must precedeclear writing.From this point of view discipline in English is not to be

regarded as producing mere literary polish, but as enforcingcorrect thinking in regard to each and every question uponwhich he has to write. If rigidly applied throughout all of hiscollege course, this will do more than any other single form ofdiscipline to develop correct habits of thought.

In mathematics the usual training leading up to and includingthe calculus is sufficient for general engineering work in telephonyalthough it is well for men having special aptitude in mathe-matics to carry their work sufficiently far so as to be able tohandle problems involving differential equations. The rela-tively small number of questions in practice, however, demand-ing this knowledge of higher mathematics, does not justify re-quiring it of every graduate, particularly as those/not havingaptitude for it would not be able to make much use of it inpractice. - A student should receive a good training in elementaryphysics and analytical mechanics, and should be familiar withthe application of analytical mechanics to engineering problems.In electricity, the student's work should of course be carriedmuch further than in the otAer branch.les of physics, and heshould have a thorough knowledge of both direct and alternatingcurrents. In addition to giving him this knowledge in theabstract form it should also be taught in some of its principalapplications to the several branches of electrical engineering.

In experimental laboratory work he should have a fair amountof experience. This laboratory work should be chosen primarilyas illustrating and proving fundamental laws and also as givingthe student the necessary manual dexterity needed in handlinginstruments of precision. As an important part of such experi-mental work, I suggest that all electrical engineering studentsshould be thoroughly drilled, not only in general electrical testing,but in the special electrical testing of cables and wires, havingregard to their dielectric resistance and electrostatic capacity,as well as to their dielectric strength and other essential physical

10O3.] GHERARDI: QUALIFICATIONS OF GRADUATES. 583

and electrical properties. Such experimental work should alsoinclude some fundamental tests of prime movers as well asstandard tests upon generators, motors, transformers and pri-mary and storage batteries.

In the time allotted for this laboratory work, a due proportionshould be set aside for selected experiments relating to the tele-graph and the telephone. The student should 'also receive ageneral knowledge of the materials used in engineering work, bothfrom instruction and from laboratory tests.

In thae matter of shop practice, I think it is easy to run toexcess. A certain amount of practical experience in shop workshould be given to the student so as to familiarize him in a generalway with various classes of shop practice. The effort here shouldbe not to make the student a skilled workman, but rather togive him such respectful, fam iliarity with the problems of theworkshop that he will have a just regard for their possibilitiesand limitations. He should be so trained that when in hisprofessional work he is brought into contact with the shopforeman, he will be able successfully to cooperate with him.One or more foreign languages, and drafting, are everywhere

recognized as standard requirements of an engineering educationand should not be neglected in the course under consideration.

It does not seem to me that any engineering education is corn-plete without a certain amount of knowledge in regard to legalquestions, particularly those relating to the legal responsibilitiesof engineers, to the execution of work under contract, and to thematter of patents. Nothing, of course, should be undertaken atthe engineering school in the way of attempting to give to thestudent such a knowledge as will enable him to dispense withlegal advice upon such questions, but he should be provided withsufficient knowledge to enable him to know when to seek legaladvice and to be. able to lay his case before the lawyers and togive to them all of the facts which are essential to the properconsideration of the question which may have arisen.While I have laid stress upon the necessity of a preponderance

of fundamental studies in the electrical. engineering schools andhave argued against the tendency to multiply subjects of studyby introducing excessive numbers of courses dealing with thedetails of engineering questions, I do not by any means wish tobe understood as desiring to exclude altogether from the studiesa goodly lnumber of examples from practice. I would use theexamples fromn practice, however, as illustrating the fundamental

584 GHERARDI: QUALIFICA TIONS OF GRADUA TES. [July 3

laws and as showing how apparently remote scientific principle$are really of the utmost importance in the solution of practicalproblems.

In choosing the practical examples with which to illustrate agiven fundamental principle, care should be taken to select oneor more cases from each branch & electrical engineering to whichthe fundamental principle may apply. In this way the valueof the principle will be borne in upon the mind of the student. Itwill help him to see theory and practice in the proper perspective,and if the examples are well chosen and judiciously placed beforethe student, they will aid him in deciding upon the particularbranch of electrical engineering for which he is best fitted.At the same time these practical examples, although they may

be relatively few in number, will, if adequately treated, not bewithout some immediate practical value in the student's earlyprofessional work.

If the attempt to teach practice is thus restricted, it will, inmy judgment, give the desired balance to the theoretical training-and go as far as the college should attempt to go in fitting thestudent for his practical work after graduation.The Papers Committee have asked me to include in my re-

marks any criticisms that might occur to me as a result of myexperience with technical school graduates. In complyingwith their request, there are two or three points which I wishto emphasize.

In the first place, many graduates do not seem to appreciatesufficiently that engineering is the determination of the mosteconomical way of accomplishing a desired result. In too manycases they feel that they have done all that is required when theyhave determined one way of accomplishing a result, and as soonas they have found tllat way, deem that the question before themis answered.

This state of mind upon the part of a student who has recentlygraduated and who has never felt the burden of final responsi-bility is not unnatural, considering the conditions under whichhis work has been done at college. There, while he may havebeen taught to look carefully for the most economical solution ofa given problem, he could not from the nature of the case be con-fronted with the severe penalty which falls to a professional manwho has failed to obtain the most economical answer to an engi-neering problem involving large sums of money. The importance,therefore, of earnestly and fairly considering all possible solutions

1903.] GHERARDI. QUALIFICATIONS OF GRADUATES. 585,

of the problem in hand should be continually impressed upon the-mind of the student.Many instances have arisen in my experience which lead me

to believe that notwithstanding all that is said upon the subject,not a sufficient amount of emphasis is laid upon accuracy. Ihave often noticed that beginners in engineering seem to feel thatan arithmatical error in their work, or an inadvertant makinguse of one figure when they should have used another, or careless-ness in getting together their data, are comparatively trivialmistakes, while the use of incorrect mental processes in endeavor--ing to attain to result is the only kind of mistake which would beregarded as serious.Without in any sense condoning the use of incorrect mental

processes, I wish to point out that as far as practical results areconcerned, errors of the one kind are quite as serious, and render-the result of as little value as do errors of the other kind. As amatter of fact, these clerical and arithmetical errors, are oftenmore serious in their consequences than errors of logic. Errorsof logic can readily be determined by a comparatively briefexamination of a subject by a competent chief engineer, whereaserrors in computation and clerical errors cannot be discoveredwithout going over in full detail the entire work of the sub-ordinate. No qualities of mind, therefore, however admirablethey may be in themselves, are sufficient to compensate for thisclass or errors which I am now condemning. It would have avery wholesome effect, therefore, in dealing with these errors.which are so often condoned in the student's college work, if theinstructor would force upon the attention of the student thenecessity for accuracy in this respect, and point out to him theunfortuante results upon his future career which such errorswould produce if they occurred in his professional work aftergraduation.

Cases have often come under my observation which show thatgraduates have too little appreciation of the relations betweentheir theoretical knowledge and practice. They see- to feelthat practice is a matter altogether apart from theory, and haveno physical conception of what corresponds in nature to theirtheoretical information. This, no doubt, is in som-ne cases due toa lack of ability on the part of the student to grasp and compre-hend his theory, and in such cases the defect cannot be overcom eby any amount of training. In too many cases, however, I feelthat it is partly or altogether the result of the training which the-

586 GHERARDI: QUALIFICATIONS OF GRADUATES. [July 3

student received in the technical school. This defective methodof training might be illustrated by a course of laboratory experi-ments carefully laid -out and described in a text-book with whichthe student is supplied. Specially prepared apparatus mright beset up and wired permanentlv to one or more set switchboardsin the laboratory in such a way that the student might, with aminimum of thought and effort, and by following his text-book,which carefully describes the experiment, go through the formof making the tests, carefully entering the results of each testupon printed forins, kindly prepared in advance for him and hav-ing upon them a space in which to enter the result of each observa-tion For a stludent working under such paternal conditions, itwould be well-nigh impossible to fail to make the experiment andrecord the result of his " laboratory work " correctly. By sucha plan as I have outlined the student can complete a course oflaboratory practice without having gained the slightest concep-tion of the physical phenomena underlying the experimentswhich he has made, or of the relations of these physical phenom-ena to the general laws which he has learned in connection withhis theoretical work. While 3uch conditions as I have outlinedmight seem to represent a state of affairs not existing in any ofour technical schools, nevertheless, it is to be feared that in manycases too great an approach to them has been made.

If the few ideas which I have here expressed are understood inthe spirit in which they are intended, there will be little dangerof my being considered a hostile critic of the engineering schooland its graduates. So high is my appreciation of the work of ourAmerican engineering schools, and so warm is my regard fortheir graduates, that I wish to guard against that little danger.This I feel I can best and most briefly do by stating that withrare exceptions the possession of an engineering school trainingis a requisite for entrance to my own office work, and the netresult of my experience with engineering graduates shows thatthe training which they receive, notwithstanding its imperfec-tions, is of great value to them and to those for whom they- work.