Motors Blog

In Europe, every company trains young people who join their workforce, but in the U.S. apprenticeships are rare. Even B.S. level engineers have trouble finding practical training. And while young people trained in U.S. schools may understand the theoretical aspects of a discipline, but they have little practical knowledge. Real insights come from hands-on work. Why are these learning opportunities so rare? Vocational courses directed at specific industrial trades would help. What could we do to move this forward?

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Government regulators have decided that everyone from embalmers to lawyers to hairdressers need to be licensed — but not industrial automation technicians, writes Mark Voigtmann in Control Engineering. The connection between professional licensing and the automation industry is tenuous at best. Some say that government regulation and licensing is just one engineering catastrophe away. Should engineers who work in industrial automation be fully licensed as professional engineers?

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For many students today, the tendency is to approach science as a collection of facts to be memorized. The process called research involves putting in the right questions to Google and then copying and pasting the results into an assignment paper. The powerful Internet tools are undoubtedly useful, but are we really introducing students to the true scientific educational process of questioning, hypothesizing, experimenting, and drawing conclusions? What is true science education today?

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While scientists say there is still no hard evidence to suggest danger in PVC, Toys R Us recently joined ranks with Sears and Wal-Mart in planning a phase out products containing polyvinyl chloride. The anti-PVC camp says its goal is the complete elimination of all PVC use, from garden hoses to medical devices. How far does testing need to go before chemicals and materials are declared absolutely safe?

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Are high efficiency motors more energy efficient? Or are there tradeoffs that the engineer needs to take into account? Some engineers suggest that increased efficiencies often come at the cost of higher rotor inertias. The result can be more energy lost during startup and a load that's hard to stop. Cycling applications should be approached with care. Motor efficiency is a moving target that depends on the motor construction, and how it's used. How do you define motor energy efficiency?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Motors, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Motors today.