ONLINE ENGAGEMENT

To the Editor: My name is Joy K. Adjorlolo. I am the Student Sections Committee Representative for District J (Middle East and Africa).

This note is to add my suggestion on how we can achieve globalization with ASME.

ASME, as an international professional society, has to design and develop programs to bring on board international members and encourage them to stay on.

Among the student membership benefits of ASME I don’t see any that fully brings the international members on board.

I am therefore proposing an online course for all ASME paid student members. This course will be taken by student members on joining the society and paying their dues. Each new member will take a course based on his/her technical interest.

An online course can be automatically loaded on the member’s personal page and will stay until it is attempted by the member. After the course is completed a certificate can be issued by ASME.

This program I believe will spark the interest of students, particularly international members, and they will be encouraged to take part in more ASME programs.

This will also be in consonance with the call by ASME’s President Thomas M. Barlow at the World Engineers Convention in Brasilia on the need for engineers to embrace online courses as a way of enriching their knowledge.

As a first step I wish to volunteer as a member of a committee that will plan, design, and implement this idea.

JOY K. ADJORLOLO
HO, VOLTA REGION, GHANA

Editor’s note: ASME has set up the Engineering Workforce Development Strategy Execution Team, which will review the suggestion of online courses for students. One possibility that may be considered is to adapt the ASME Professional Practice Curriculum to serve the purpose.

STIMULATE MANUFACTURING

To the Editor: The extra cash pumped into the economy, thanks to Congress, will give a much needed short-term boost to the economy. Yet, the plan does not solve the underlying long-term economic problems that we are still facing.

What is going to happen with the cash disbursement of extra unemployment insurance, tax rebates, and so on? Most of it will be used to buy goods from Walmart and the like. Most of these goods come from foreign countries such as China. Whatever increase in employment generated will probably be in the category of sales clerks. Very few jobs will be created in the U.S. manufacturing industry, where it is really needed.

Even the two hundred billion dollars allocated for infrastructure will only marginally increase industrial employment in such companies as Caterpillar and John Deere. Yet, this too may only be a temporary fix.

I learned a long time ago that there are only three economic activities which can generate national wealth: agriculture, mining, and manufacturing.

Global trade and outsourcing have caused a substantial reduction in U.S. manufacturing employment.

What can be done about it? The only solution is to become a wealth-producing nation again. That means we urgently have to rebuild our industrial basis. Here are some suggestions on how to start:

Create an industry-friendly tax structure;

Encourage R&D efforts in order to make U.S. products more desirable;

Devaluate the dollar in order to make U.S. industrial products more competitive (and make foreign products more expensive, hence, reducing imports).

HANS D. BAUMANN
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.

Editor’s Note: The writer, an ASME Fellow, is the author of an article, “Outsourcing—Good or Evil?” based on an address to MBA candidates at the University of New Hampshire and published in Mechanical Engineering Magazine Online. It is available in the archive of online exclusive articles.

A SHIFT ONSHORE

To the Editor: Thank you for devoting valuable space to the shift in offshoring of engineering jobs (Feature, March). Like the “elephant in the room,” this topic has been on engineers’ minds for some time, but now, with the effects of the recent economic downturn, it is more apparent.

The economic reasons for recent practices are clearly understandable. The action was relevant and warranted to address the need to exploit emerging markets. From a manufacturing and an engineering perspective, this made perfect sense. The companies that did so prospered and grew, benefiting all of their employees, both here and abroad. This should be applauded.

However, have we gone too far?

We have problems that need fixing, but these are not just roads and bridges. A stimulus needs to be more substantial. We need the initiative that re-establishes our leadership in the technological world. Yes, we design and, in some cases, still build some of the most innovative and successful products of the world. But, we are not alone. Many parts of the world do the same in many ways. So, what is our differentiator? What will set us apart and continue to foster our engineering prowess?

In my mind, this should be the renaissance of our national energy infrastructure. We need to reinvest in “us,” our nation. The potential industrial impacts are both diverse as well as far reaching. They can, and should, include not only the energy creating and distribution sectors, but also transportation, IT, and communications.

Do we choose to invest in us, our people, our nation, and our future? If so, we will retool our nation’s people, its infrastructure, and insure our long-term national prosperity and security.

JOHN TOROK
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.

AN OFFSHORE FUTURE

To the Editor: Your March cover story “Where Will R&D Be Done?” was a subtle approach to a serious issue for the future of America.

Bluntly, when all our engineering is done offshore by those willing to work for peanuts, how will America survive?

During the next global crisis of terrorism, perhaps we will ask the Japanese to armor our Humvees, or better still, just ask the Chinese to send in their troops.

Last week I saw a news interview with an engineer who was laid off. He claimed he was told that the only way he could stay employed was to move to India to train the staff there and work for one-third of his current pay.

This crisis needs to be strongly addressed by our society. Manufacturing is already dying. Will my next job be plowing my backyard to sell potatoes?

ASME is a great organization and I only wish I had more time to participate in the local organization. Just staying employed has become a major portion of my daily activity.

The economic stimulus is useless if it does not create jobs that ultimately create wealth in America by creating manufacturing jobs for those who cannot be engineers, lawyers, or Walmart greeters.

G. DAVID GROSS
ROCHESTER, N.Y.