- Email: [email protected]
National Government Policies on Research for the Manufacturing Industries — A British View
Round Table National Government Policies on Research for the Manufacturing Industries A British View A. W. J. Chisholm, University of Salford/U.K. One of the most obvious differences in the national policies of different countries for promoting and supporting research directed towards the needs of manufacturing industries is the manner in which industry, institutes of higher technical education and government research institutions in each country interact with one another. Of special interest is the role that academic schools of engineering play in research intended for ultimate application in industry. Brief outlines are given of the arrangements in France, West Germany, U.S.A. and Japan, followed by a more detailed account of the historical development of the arrangements as they now exist in the United Kingdom. The paper concludes with a number of hypotheses which are intended to itentify principles on which improvements could be sought in the effectiveness of arrangements in all countries and of the research actually carried out. These hypotheses are presented for discussion within the international community of eIRP, this community representing as it does leading research workers in the production and manufacturing engineering field from academic, government and industrial laboratories in many different countries. INTRODUCTION The characteristics of the higher education system of a country and the place that technical education occupies in that .ystem seem likely to have a major seminal influence on the institution. of a country, including its government, .nd on the attitude. of society, to wealth creating activities, to
co~rce
and to the
manufacturing industries. 'For generations, British observer. have looked with envy on the gr.at technical institutes of Continental Europe, Berlin, Aachen and Delft, on the Grandes Ecolea and on H.I.T. in the U.S.A. The importance of such institutes doe. not re.t .olely however on their ability to produce engineer••nd technologists required by industry.
discussion may show how government reae.rch policiel for the manufacturing indultries should be directed in the future and how thele might be.t be related to the higher technic.l education syatema in the re.pective countries.
Aa di.tinctive institution.,
outside the tradition.l univeraitie., they e.rly developed great prestige .nd their influence ext.nded far outaide the engineering .nd industri.l community. They .eem to h.ve provided society •• a whole with a physical .nd intellectu.l indication - symbol a - of the useful arta and of the need for thorough training .nd re.earch into indu.tri.l mattera. They thus helped to reinforce aociety's re.listic .ttitude. toward.
The paper attempt. to prelent. for di.cu •• ion, brief outline. or aketches of the higher technic.l educ.tion .Yltema in Fr.nce, We.t Germany, USA .nd J.p.n, and their relationlhip' to the corre.ponding national Re.e.rch .nd Development (R .nd D) arrangements for indu.tri.lly orientated re.e.rch. (The.e 'outlines' are nece ••• rily incomplete and may in .ome re.pect. be .uperficial; it ia hoped tbat by di.cu •• ion within C.I.R.P. th.y may be developed .nd improved.) The p.per then proceed. to • more detailed .ccount of the hi.toric.l development of the arrangement. which have developed in the united Kingdom. It i. hoped then to identify for di.cuI.ion tho.e •• pect. of the conduct and org.niz.tion of re.e.rch and development work which, by comparing them one country with .nother, might provide indication. of how improvement. in effectivene •• might be .ought.
industry and the management of industry and commerce. and the
conduct of nation.l .dministration and government.'
(1)
Industri.l re.earch has long been held to be es.enti.l for maintaining the he.lth of the manufacturing indu.trie.. Its .cale, financing and ch.racter, ita organization among different types of in.titution. and its control .re all dependent upon the policiea of government, as well •• of indu.try it.elf. Government policie. on re.earch and development for indu.try differ con.ider.bly from one country to .nother, and lometime. within one country a. government. of different complexion. follow one another. In.titution•• nd the .ttitudes of people .re however .low to change, that di.tinctive n.tional ch.racteri.ticI tend to emerge.
.0
One of the moat obvioua difference. between countries i. the manner in which indu.try, institute. of higher technic.l educ.tion and independent and government re.earch inatitution. in • country interact with one .nother. Of .peci.l intere.t is the role th.t the .cademic schools of engineering .re expected to play in re.earch ultimately intended for applic.tion in industry. Reeearch for the manufacturing indu.triea i. gener.lly .imed in the short, medium or long term .t producing improvement ••nd development. in proce •• e. and product. for the benefit of cu.tomer., whether in a market econo~ or in .lternativ. eConomic ey.tema. Nation.l review. of indu.tri.l re.e.rch tend to deal with such is.ue. a. the re.ource. devoted to research in different subject fields, their deployment in the variou. type. of re.e.rch in.titute. involved, on the aima of the re ••• rch and .urv.YI of the technic.l detail. of the re.e.rch programme. themaelvea. Lea. attention i. given in auch reviews to the pr.ctic.l re.ult. achieved and to con.idering the .ctu.l detailed mechani.ma which influence the .ffectivene •• of the re.earch work .ctu.lly don.. Accounting for relearch expenditure .nd the number of re.earch .taff employed, reviewing re.earch programme. and counting publication•• re all relatively atr.ight forward; tracing the outcome of res.arch work through to pr.ctic.l and oconomic indultrial .pplic.tion i. obvioully much more difficult and hazardou.. The degree of .ucce •• achieved depend. on conscious or uncon.cious .ttitude ••nd aima of the re.e.rch .t.ff, •• wall •• on their .bilitiea. Attitude ••nd aima .re lik.ly to b•• ub.t.ntially I.t by tho inltitutional framework e.t.blilhed over a long hi.torical period. Thi. framework may differ con.iderably from one country to another. Th. purpo •• of thi. paper il to .timulate • di.cuI.ion within the internation.l community of C.I.R.P. about the f.ctor. which influence the effectivene •• of re.e.rch for the manuf.cturing indu.trie., e.pecially tho.e f.ctor. which are linked with the t.chnical education Iy.t.ma in the countrie. concerned. Such a
Annals of the CIRP Vol. 29/2/1980
NATIONAL FRAMEWORKS France Higher technical educ.tion in Fr.nce Itarted in 1747 with the e.t.bli.bment by the governaent of tbe Ecole de. Pont. et Chau •• ee. to produce the bridge .nd ro.d engineera requir.d by the atate, .t a time when the univeraitie. had .till not ca.e to terma with Newton'l mechanica. The .chool .1.0 trained government mining engineer. and inlpectorl until 1783 when •• eparate Ecole de. Hine. for them wa. founded. The govemaent continued to accept re.ponaibility for providing higher technical inltruction for the engineer a requir.d by the governaent, the .rmed a.rvice. and indu.try; thua w.a .st.bliabed the .y.t.. of .bout 150 elite engineering .chool., headed by the true Grandea Ecole., which .ducated and tr.ined profea.ional enaineera out.ide the univer.ity ay.te.. The.e .chool. bed a .uch higher .tatu. than tbe univer.itiea and attr.cted the moat .ble .tud.nt.. Only in tho l •• t dlc.d. or tvo have the univer.iti•• become involved in engineering .tudie.. The •• univer.ity cour ••• vere intended originally for techniciana, not profe.aional engineera, but .ome univeraitie. now off.r cour.e. intended for the l.tter, aince the output of 10,000 .ngin.era fro. the engineering school. i. conaidered too .mall for the nation'. need ••
Traditionally, the bulk of the t •• ching or prof ••• ional .t.ff of the Grandea Ecole. ware profe •• ional engine.ra employed by government or indu.try in regular engineering .ppoine.enta and who t.ught in the engineering achoola for h.lf or one day each week. Such t •• chera brought to thair te.ching the axperi.nce of prof •• aional practice which, though it muat have had a crucial influence on the .tudenta and on the charact.r of the profe.aional educ.tion aiven, ia unlikely to be reflected in a mar. recital of the .cad.mic .yllabu••• th.... lv ••• Blcau.e of the mainly part-time nature of the t.aching appointment., the enaineering achoola did not conduct much re.earch of their awn. Mor.over, they did not aw.rd doctor.l delreea which remain.d the preroaative of the univeraiti.a. (Ind.ed industry appear •• till to .ttribute little aignificance to doctoratea in engineering for practical prof... ional work.) eo-ntiDI on thi •• y.tem recently, the pr.s.nt S.cret.ry of St.t. for Re.earch ha •• tated: 'If you w.nt.d to de.ian a .y.tem which made contact between .c.demic r •••• rch and indu.try clo.. to impo •• ible, I think you would probably end up with .a.athina very clo.e to the Fr.nch .y.t.. of educetion of enlinoer.'. (2)
441
In the last 10 or 20 years, the trend towards the appointment of a higher proportion of full-time teaching staff has with other factors resulted in the development of research programmes within the engineering schools.
This has created a pattern of teaching
and research in these schools, linking them with the universities, government and industry in a way which is new in France. The universities retain their control over the doctoral degree and a proportion of the research staff and professors in the
engineering schools hold university appointments. Germany
The idea that governments should be involved in the running and finance of technical schools was established in Germany, as in France, in the 18th century. The development of such schools, apparently stimulated by the mining industry, was well established in the 18th century. (3) This tradition led in due course in Germany to a technical education tradition with a somewhat more practical bias than that of France - extended full-time courses combining instruction in the scientific foundations of engineering practice with instruction in engineering practice itself. Some practical experience in the working environment of industry was also considered essential before the student was allowed to pursue his academdc studies.
This type of engineering education was provided, at the higher level, in the Technischen Hochschulen, led by engineering professors whose essential qualifications included experience in directing engineering work in practice. The Technischen Hochschulen gained a national status in the 19th century at least equal to that of the traditional universities. The teaching was organized in a professorial 'Chair' or 'Institute' system which combined teaching for the Diplom degree with research. The practical and industrial background of the professor who directed the research and the practical orientation of the entire curriculum and teaching method continued to give a practical bias to the character of the research conducted within thea. Ichools. The whole .ystem developed outside the traditional universities, though the Technischen Hochschulen have nearly all now become technical univerlities. Given this background and tradition, the need for practical and engineering objectives for engineering research required little emphasis. The re.earch institutes in the technical universities have enjoyed close working relationships with the industries which they aerve and fit ea.ily into a co-ordinated national pattern of research which embraces themselvea, government and industry. This i. assisted by the close degree of co-ordination which has been achieved by the voluntary co-operation of the appropriate institutes in the different technical universities. In the field of work of special interest to C.I.R.P., the success of this sy.tem appears to be well demonstrated. Industry and government rely on the research conducted in the technical universities and have not established aeparate. co-operative or government laboratories. aa in aome other countries. In 1978, of the total Rand D expenditure in We.t Germany of DH 30,300 m, indu.try provided about half. Universities and research in.titutions each received one sixth of the total, industry spending the remaining two third.. About one third of the research institution money was however spent by the 'Big Science' e.tabli.hment. and by the Max-Planck Institute. Some of the funds classified as research institution money may have been allocated to research institutions nominally independent of universities but in practice clo.ely integrated with 'chair.' or 'institute.' within univer.ities. Both the •• factors would appear to increase the importance of univer.ity-campus based research activities in the metal working and engineering industries. However, industry contributed directly only 2 per cent of the total funding of each of the univer.ity and the research institution groups, and some of this may have been 're-circulated' government money. For. brief .ccount of the arr.ngements for Manufacturing Technology .ee Appendix A. United St.tes Around 1850, de Tocqueville (4) cl.imed that the American. recognized no indigenous education other than vocational education - education directed towards jobs. busine •• and economic activity. General culture came to Americ. through its immigrant.. The vocation.l biaa was reinforced by the creation in the 19th century of the Land-Grant College •• dedicated to the mechanic art. and agriculture which developed into important and pre.tigeou. univer.ity in.titution.. In 1907, the Univer.ity of Cincinn.ti Itarted the • co-operative' .y.tem for engineer ina education, but re.earch in production enaineering appeared only in one or two univer.ity in.titution. before 1939. notably at the Univer.ity of Hichigan. Engineering develop.d for the most p.rt in multi-faculty universitie., though there were exception •• the mo.t notable being H.I.T. and C.l. Tech. In the multi-faculty universitie., engineering wal organized in college. of engineer ina. many of which founded 'Engineering Experiment Stations' to facilitate work with indu.try; however, the.e failed to thrive on indu.trially .pon.ored work. in marked contr •• t to the .ucce.' of the Battelle Memorial In.titute, a non-profit independent research organi •• tion .tart.d in the 1920's .nd other independent research institut.l. In .ddition, .ignificant aovernment defence research e.t.blishments and the large r •••• rch
442
establishments of private industry play an important part in the overall picture. After 1945, the office of Naval Re.eArch aet out to develop the quality of the teaching staff in univer.ity engineering by encouraging them to engage in research. some of it of a moat fundamental kind. [n the early 1950'. the engineering Ichools had become disenchanted with traditional engineering curricula, especially those with. practical bial. Labor.tory work on practical engineering machines and engines va. removed or drastically reduced; emphasis was given in.tead to the rigorous development of theory and the underlying science of engineering. The National Science Foundation appear. to have played an important part in cre.ting a substantial .hift of the aims and attitudes of university engineering school. away from concern with professional engineering practice and toward. a preoccupation with .cience. (5) The neglect of profe •• ional engineering practice in the engineering .chool. h•• caused the Engineering Council for Profes.ional Development recently to mAke a major drive for A much gr.ater empha.i. on engineering design in engineering fir.t-degree cour.e ••
Contrary to the indications of the .cience orientation of United State.' engineering schools outlined above. H.I.T. played a crucial role in the practical development of numerically controlled machine tools and associated prograaming languageo. (6) The initiative came immediately after World War II from the u.s. Air Force which vas interelted in lupporting developments baled on new technology (electronic digital computer. and servo~chani.ma developed for gun control) which would enhance the metals-processing capability of the n.tion. It let a contract to Parlon. Corporation for the development of a digit.lly controlled machine tool. That Corporation c.lled on the aSliltance of H.I.T.'. Servomechani.ms Labor.tory where one of the Director' •• s.ist.nts h.d been studying the theor.tical behaviour of servo sy.tems fed with binary input d.ta. H.I.T. undertook to develop a digital servo for the control of the Par.onl' n.c. machine tool and in 1951 became the main contactor to the U.S. Air Force for the whole machine. On completion of the contract, the U.S. Air Force again played a vit.l p.rt by arranging for a four-year 'indoctrination programme' from 1952 to 1956, which w•• in e •• ence a world-wide technology tran.fer programme based on the prototype built at H.I.T. It also called for an economic .tudy of numerical control. A. a re.ult of this programme, Cidding. and Lewis Machine Tool Company decided in 1953 to develop. machine of it. own with H.I.T. developing the Digital Director. Coincidentally, the U.S. Federal government mounted a major procurement programme for machine tool., which, after di.cuI.ionl with the 'indoctrinated' aircraft builders, included 63 n.c. milling machin... The U.S. Air Force then in 1955 withdrew further .upport for n.c. development and H.I.T.'. approach to the Machine Tool Builders AI.ociation for further support w•• al.o unsucces.ful becaus. individual .. chine tool builder. wi.hed to keep their work confidential. The idea of 'co-operative' re.e.rch was con.idered impracticable in a competitive and proprietory market. H.I.T. th.n looked for other contribution. it could make to bringing D.C. machine. into prActical us., and the U.S. Air Force accepted it. propo.al to try and develop a .peciali.ed software language for programadng n.c. machine tooll. The outcome was the APT .y.tem (Automatically Progr.mmed Tool Sy.tem). a success only made po •• ible through co-operative work b.tween H.I.T. and the aircraft companies. The United State. government h.s since become incre •• ingly concerned about the trend. in indu.tri.l productivity in the Unit.d State.. (Recently it hal .ctually been falling.) It therefore lauched in late 1979 a proaramme to fo.ter 'competitive c.pability and entrepreneurial 'pirit' in the light of the importance attached by other indu.trial countries to innov.tion and the .tep •• uch countries had taken 'to extend their competitive advantage through indu.trial polici •• , proarams .nd in.titutional .tructure. aimed at .elected technologi .. '. (7) This progra... include. a propo.al to e.t.bli.h initi.lly four non-profit 'Ceneric Technology Center.' at univer.itie. or other private .ector .ite., to develop .nd tran.fer 'generic technologi •• •• (Examples of generic technoloai ••• r. welding and joining, robotic., tribology.) Stat in, th.t the 'Icientific and t.chnological .trength of American univ.r.itie. hal not b.en h.rn•• sed .ffectively in promotin, technoloaical advance', the proaramme include. a d.ci.ion to promote univer.ity-indu.try co-oper.tive R .nd D programmes through the National Science Foundation, .tarting with new money of $2Oa in 1981. The N.S.F. will work with other government .,encie. to encour.,e univer.ity-industry work, .iaing at an aggre,.t. ultimate expenditure of $l~ per y.ar. rederal Procure.. nt proarama will .lso b. direct.d towards the prOllOtion of innovation ••nd • numb.r of other .tep •• r. to be taken, for .xampl., in thl patlnt field. Jap.n Industrial developeent haa b.en a c.ntral policy Ai. of the Japane.e aovern.ent ainee 1900 and it. hiaher education .y.tem hal been ahap.d .ccordingly. Ita output of Ingin.lr. and appli.d .cienti.t. ia very larg., about 100,000 p.r .nnum' competition for univer.ity pl.cl. is fierce and b••• d on ' academic quality. Hore than half the Company directorl in manufacturing indu.try are enainlers and .bout h.lf the aov.rament civil aervant. are engineer.. The univer.ity
engineering schools provide a broad, rigorous and scientifically orientated educat.ion. not practice-orientated as in Germany. The practice orientation eventually required by engineers is achieved through post graduate experience in industry. Virtually
all engineering graduates pass through a period of working as
technicians. and sometimes as shop floor workers, as part of a
long period of training provided by the employer.
This training
includes management or business training where required. Japan does not possess business schools as such. On the other hand,
the output of higher degrees in engineering includes about 10,000 M.Sc.s and 2,000 Ph.D.s per annum.
and aircraft.
In 1978-9, it employed 322 people and its
programme included work on systems engineering (i.e. production
engineering) •
In manufacturing Rand D. the universities, industry and the government laboratories are linked in a working relationship
which is unusual in Japan (Fig. 1). (10)
This provides overall
planning. co-ordination and division of effort between industry. government and universities aided by the co-ordinating committee structure represented in the diagram by the Joint Research
Group.
The sources of public funding are as follows:
Average programme size
Generally, the university engineering schools appear to have a strong scientific rather than a practice orientation in their basic educational work. Their expenditure on research is heavily weighted on 'basic' research. (two thirds in 1976) as against one third on 'applied 1 research. University research appears to be more heavily funded than government and private research insti-
University - basic research (supported by Ministry of Education) Government Lab. - applied research (supported by MITI)
tutes; the funding of the former group was nearly three times
£15,000 E150,OOO
greater than the latter. Research expenditure in Japanese universltles is rlslng.
Industry - development (partially supported by MIT 1 and Agency for Industrial Science and Technology)
In
1978, their expenditure was estimated to be nearly one quarter
of the total Japanese Rand D national expenditure of [9,000 m. Direct government research funding in the universities is
substantial (9) whereas funding of major projects in them by
industry is unCOtmlon. Industry appears to consider that universities should concentrate on producing first class students
rather than doing applied research.
The funding it does provide
(or universities seems generally to be in small amounts and designed to foster personal relationships on which liaison depends, rather than for the intrinsic value of the research
The planning and co-ordination of all this to meet the needs of industry is done at a policy level by the Industrial Rationalization Council and, in detail. by a hierarchy of Joint Research Groups set up under the technical societies and associations.
This hierarchy of Joint Research Groups io as follows: Size of
through the convention that a university professor is held responsible for nominating, even autonomously placingt , his graduate students in specific appointment in industry. He is
therefore committed to assessing the future needs of industry
and preparing his students by suitable education and training to
fulfil those needs.
Though contacts between a professor and
industry are thus encouraged, he is not expected to accept paid consulting work in pursuing these.
The Agency for Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), part of the Ministry for International Trade and Industry (MITI), has 16 national research organizations.
Annual budget
committee
results produced. (9)
A powerful link between universities and industry is provided
£1.5 m
(a) (b)
Technical Society Joint Re.earch Coanitte ... Joint
Spe~ial
Reoearch Coanittee.
10 10-40
£150 £1,500-£3,000
Type One - Technical Societies
(Government-industry funding)
*The interpretation of the term 'balic relearch' mult vary widely from one country to another.
tBasic research t (in engineering)
will be considered physics in one country and applied engineering research in another. hence the crucial importance of attitudes,
objectives and the 'culture' of the r ••• arch group in aa.e •• ing the actual nature of the research done.
One of these is the
Mechanical Engineering Laboratory (MEL) establiahed in 1937 to serve industry with applied Rand D in mechanical engineering and metallurgy for machine tools, machine elements, automobiles
tIn the disculsion of this paper,
A
repre.entative from Japan
pointed out that this practice, common 20 years ago, had fallen into disuse.
_ _ _ MONEY
.
FLOW
- - _ PERSONNEL FLOW ---~ CONTROL
r------"--~.
\
'1',
STRUCTURE OF
BICYCLE IND ASSOC. FIGURE
AND ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF PRODUCTION ENGINEERING IN JAPAN
443
(c)
(d)
10-40
Joint Special Research Committee Type Two - Technical Societies (75% bicycle racing tax 25% industry funding)
£15,000-£25,000
institution 'for standardizing and verifying instrument.,
Trade Association Joint Research Committee (mainly government supported) - example: MUM Planning Committees)
The joint research groups have matched numbers of university and industrial staff, with the national laboratories and MITI represented as observers.
Laboratory, established by the government in 1900 but placed under the control of the Royal Society, was officially to be an
Type (a) meetings are sometimes no
more than 'brainstorming' meetings. Type (b) are concerned with a fuller exploration of proposals leading, if appropriate, to a type (c) group which typically would carry out a full feasibility study identifying which parts of the work would be carried out by which laboratory, university and indultrial group, and exactly how the money should be spent. Overall, the Japanese Rand D expenditure per unit of GNP is significantly less than West Germany, the U.S.A. or the U.K. (all of which are about equal). In Japan, the proportion of this expenditure borne by industry appears to be substantially higher than in the other three countries, and this may help to ensure
that Rand D policy is profit and product orientated.
f~r
testing materiait and for the determination of physical constants' (11), though at its opening the Prince of Wale. referred to a wider purpose - 'to bring .cientific knowledge to bear
practically upon our everyday industrial and cOlII:Dfercial life, to
break down the barrier between theory and pr.ctice, to effect a
union between Icience .nd commerce'.
The Imperial College,
founded in 1907, was to give the 'highest .pecialized in.truction. and to provide •.• training and rea.arch •••• Ipecially
in itl application to indu.try'. (12)
'n 1915, the government announced its Scheme for the Organi-
zation and Development of Scientific and Induatrial Relearch -
'The necessity for the central control of our machinery for war
had been obvioul for centuries, but the easential unity of the
knowledge which support. both the military and industrial
efforts ••• was not generally understood until the prelent war War haa remained ••• an art •• , but its inatrumenta ••• need a .eientifie training for their effective use. Thi. is
equally true of the weapons of industry'. The .cheme involved the creation of a Committee of the Privy Council (the archaic survivor of the Sovereign'. advisory body) re.pon.ible for the expenditure of government fund. on acientific and industrial
research, together vith an Advi.ory Council to be composed
mainly of 'eminent .cientific men and men engaged in industries
dependent upon scientific research'.
UNITED KINGDOM
tion between industrial firma and between them and government
Higher technical education Some of the historical developments which have led to the
characteristic features of the higher technical education system
in Britain have already been outlined, (1) The British engineering education system has features which are unique in Europe. The most able students and the most import.nt
engineering departments and faculties are in the 40 or so multi-
faculty universities, most of which teach also a wide range of 'arts' and science subjects.. Engineering courses of university degree level are also provided in a number of Polytechnic. created some 15 years ago from senior technical colleges.
Engineering education is essentially a two-stage process: education in basic engineering science taught in three-year course. by full-time teaching staff; tr.i~ing in indu.try in carrying out engineering tasks. The comblned programme of education and training may lead in a proportion of cales and after a number of years to Chartered Engineer statu.. In manufacturing indultry, Chartered Engineer statuI is not an
essential qualification for employment or career progression. In mechanical, produc~ion and elec~rical engineering e.pecially, most of the university engineering schools have a scientific, rather than a practical orientation.
Industry complains that
engineering graduates are not prepared adequately for real engineering work. The universities complain that the engineering course is too ahort, and that they htve in.ufficient reaources to remedy the admitted deficiencie •• + Graduate course. at K.Sc.
level are not well aupported and reaearch tr.ining in engineering for the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees is often not markedly different from reaearch training in the physical sciencea. The exi.tence of an undesirable gap between industry and the engineering schools is widely acknowledged, and a number of initi.tives have been l.unched in the past 20 years aimed at bridging this gap. Among theae ia the Teaching Company. (1)
in the futherance of reaearch; co-operative rele.reh on 'materials. tool. and proces.es ••• common to any industry'
(i.e. non-proprietory research) was a •• umed to be a practicable proposition for the common benefit of industry. Though the Briti.h Engineer.' As.ociation recommended at this time that 'one of the mo.t urgent needs was to develop co-operation between firma on the one hand and Univer.itie. and Technical Colleges on the other', the real thru.t of the government's new Department of Scientific and Indu.tri.l Re.earch created in 1916 was to help, on a 50 per cent funding ba.ia, e.tablish.an~ develop aever.l co-operative Indu.trial Re.earch A•• OClatlon8 and to create a number of wholly government financed and government .taffed re.e.rch laboratori •• ('.tations'), of a type .imilar to the National Phy.ical Laboratory. The D.S.I.R. wa. also however to encourage 'fundamental re.earch' in universitie •• By 1921 there vere 21 industrial Re.earch A•• ociation. in exi.tence and by 1927 there were eight national re.earch .tation., though vork for engineering was .till confined to the National Phy.ical Laboratory. Thu. the pattern of Briti.h government indu.trial re.earch policy waa e.tabli.hed, but war .gain focu.sed attention on the performance of Briti.h industry .nd the need to .timulate indu.tri.l r •• earch. In 1947, 34 Re.e.rch A•• oci.tion. with .n .ggregate full-time .taff of .bout 3,000 exi.ted, covering induatriea r.nging from cotton .nd wool, iron and .teel to flour-milling and jewellery. The Production Enginelring
Ie.eareh As.ociation, of .pecial intereat to e.l.R.p., wa. among;
them.
In 1944 the government h.d e.tabli.hed an inquiry into the
uational need for reaearch and development in mechanical
engineering (the 'Guy Committee') and ita report .urveyed some of the mechanic.l engineering re.earch then in progr •• s in wholly financed .nd directed government labor.torie., in private non-profit and profit con.ulting re ••• rch organizationl and in
National Reaearch Policies Government policiea concerned industry in Britain appear to these ch.r.cteristic featuret .chools. This section of the aapects of these policies.
The latter'. first report
in 1916 pointed the way to future ddvelopments - more co-opera-
with the funding of re.e.rch for have contributed subatantially to of the univeraity engineering paper outlinea some relevant
The failure of the Briti.h, aa compared with her Continental neighbours, to produce technical men who were able to combine. knowledge of phyaical acience with the conduct of pr.ctical aff.irs h.d been noted and publicized by Playf.ir, •• e.rly .a the mid 19th century.** It appeara that unlike Continent.l countriea, the British government was relatively slow to take direct reaponsibility for remedying thi.. The National Physical .Some also have medical .choola though, until very recently, the engineering Ichoola h.ve made very little attempt to g.in atrength from the experience of the medical .chool. in providing a prof.saion.l .duc.tion. :Some Continent.l European authoritiea are aaid to be envious of the economical .nd efficient Briti.h ayate. which producea a gr.duate engineer in only three years. ** 'In thb country, we h.ve eminent "pr.ctical" men and eminent "aeientitic" men; but they are not united and generally walk in patha wholly di.tinct •••• Abroad, ••• it ia known alao to be eaaential to industry, that there should be a race of men who can solicit nature, in language underatood by her, to lend her powera for the fulfilment of pr.ctic.l anda.' Lyon Pl.yf.ir. 1852.
the Indu.tri.l Re.e.rch A•• ociation.. Togethlr, th.le organixation. employed .bout 3,)00 .taff on work related to mechanical engineering.
The .urvey noted that the engineering dep.rtment. of mo.t of the univer.itie. and of • few of the t.chnical colle g•• had maintained a 'tr.dition' of re.earch in thl mech.nical engin •• ring field though 'in the .. io' thi. had been concern.d with 'the
properties of materi.la or the a •• e •• ment of .tre.lld in .tructure.', 'probably' thl Report .aid, bec.u••• uch work w•• '.u.ceptible to rllatively .mall .cale treatment'. Actually, .t that tiDe, tho tot.l .c.deaic (t.aching) .taff of the Univ.r.ity dep.rtment. of mechanical engin •• ring numb. red 126; the 'seneral' departments of engineering had perhaps another 8 .taff membors in this field. Univ.raity engino.ring faculties po ••••• ed then a technical .upport .t.ff only a ... 11 fr.ction of the academe .taff in nUJOber ••nd the number of gr.dua te re.earch .tudent. v.a .lso .ad.at. The Guy eo.mittee concluded that thl futuro well-b. ins of tho Dechanical engineerina indu.try would depend on • 'vaatly incr.aaed u•• of highly trained per.onnel and an incr.as.d u'e of the acientific method'. Thi. indu.try was compoa.d of many firma 'too .mall to c.rry out .uch r •••• rcb for the.. elv •••• There w.a • 'n.glect of the fundament.l or gen.ric r.a.arch on which .. chanical engin•• ring practic ••• of the future " d.p.nd.'. Thi. 'd.ficiency in gen.ric appli.d r •••• rch' had to be mad. good if the mechanic.l .ngin•• rins indu.try w•• to pl.y ita 'full p.rt in r.i.ing the ,.ner.l .tand.rd of living •• or in perman.ntly maint.ining a high volume of .xport trade'. Th. Committ •• r.cognixld that indu.try requir.d • vaatly incr.a.ed u•• of highly trained peraonnel .nd .tr•••• d th.t '.v.ry encour.gement .hould continu. to b. giv.n to Univ.r.iti •• to carry out r •••• rch in mechanical .ngin•• ring .ci.nc.', while
widening their range of interest in mechanical engineering.
tradition or experience of teaching.
of university research.
Engineering Laboratory. the government'. Advi.ory Council on
Nevertheless. the Committee decided that the national neld for increased basic. generic research ~hould , not be met bY,expansion Instead, Ita maln reco=mendatlons
followed what by then had become the Britioh pattern - the main development was to be through the creation of a new government financed and controlled laboratory. entirely leparate from the academic sphere. Thi. nev Laboratory vas to carry out balic research on the 'component parts' or 'fields' underlying the
practical problems of different branches of the mechan~cal engineering industry. The work was to be broken down into seven divisions: Haterials. Mechanica of Solids. Fluid •• Lubrication. Mechanisms
Heat Transfer and on 'Formation •• (and) •• Machine
Shaping' i:e. forming and cutting. A special Board vould assist in the work of the new establistment drawn from practising mechanical engineering scientists. engineer-scientists in academic life and from other scientists in the engineering applica-
tions of phYlics. chemistry and mathematics; the interdilciplinary needs of mechanical engineering were alao to be catered for by the incluaion of one civil engineer and one electrical
engineer.
--
--
On. of the functions of the new research establilhment va. the training in research methodl of young engineer. vho had 'previously received full academic and practical training'~
Th.
Committee ended its Report with a recommendation that the reaearch in the •• tablishment Ihould b. conducted with ' the active alliltance of those in practice who are expert in de.ign and operation of the kind of plant the reaearch i. intended to
assist' .
The Guy Report va. acted upon promptly and in full. Th. National Engineering Laboratory v•• e.tabliahed and labor.tories verI occupied ne.r Ea.t Kilbride in Scotland in 1948. Eventu.lly. it was lavi.hly accommodated and equipped. It. re •• arch and .upport staff were all civil .ervanta. a very high proportion on permanent i.e. ' •• t.bli.hed· appointment.. The tot.l .taff ro •• to nearly 1.000 by 1976. f.llin& to 800 in 1979. The Laboratory was at fir.t financed wholly by the government. but aft.r a number of year •• in order to encourage better contact vith indu.try and to increa •• the r.levance of it. work to indu.trial
practice, the Laboratory va. encouraged to obtain contract work
from industry .nd to engage in other joint indu.trial venture •• Thi. had the effect of pu.hing the Laboratory into'more direct comp.tition with the Indu.trial R•• earch As.ociations; the indu.trial income had rioen to about 16 per c.nt by 1979-80.
The historical development of the N.tional Engineering Laboratory ha. been de.cribed in .ome detail bec.ule it illu.trate. the thinking in Brit.in behind the cre.tion of gov.rnment-financed facilities for industrially ori.nt.t.d research in the nonmilitary fiald. The Department of Scientific .nd Industrial Relaarch wal abolished in 1964 and the Ministry of Technology wa. formed. Thi. latter government department later controlled 16 government reaearch •• tabliahment. vith • total at.ff of 22.000. One of the.e e.t.blilhaents wa. the Computer Aided De.ign Centre with a .taff of 100 •• tablished in 1969. Oth.r major government laboratorie. vere created for atomic enorgy and it. application.. The nationalized indu.triel establi.hed their own major laboratorie •• including those for electricity generation. gu and coal. In 1977-78. th... employ.d reapectively. 1.200 profea.ion.lly qu.lified .taff. 1.600 tot.l Itaff and 694 prof ••• ionally qualified .taff.
Fifteen years after the establishment of the National
Scientific Policy referred 'to the ahortage of engineera, and the
fact that engineering has attracted too little of the be.t talent
among the student population' and atated 'the research ItandiDg
of mechanical engineering i. the least aatiafactory·. pointing out that 'strong academic research schools in any .ubject are
vital to the industries which depend on that lubject·. (14)
Nevertheless, government sponsor.hip of university engineering
r.a.arch Vaa in that .ame year .ubsumed under the Science Reaearch Council. though later the Department of Indu.try wa. allo given a role to .ncourage university-indu.try rele.rch links; the impact of the latter va •• till omall by 1975.
The university engineering department. remained strongly
'scientific' in their orientation until the l.te 1970s; graduate
achools of engineering remAined r.latively weak; link. with engineering practice, though .trong in lome univerlities. were
Itill generally tenuous. Many initi.tive. were t.k.n to bridge this 'univeraity-industry' gap and to establi.h a much gre.t.r emphasis on engineering reaearch related to induatrial needa.
These initiative. h.d to be made. however. again.t incre •• ingly Itringent and difficult fin.nci.1 condition. for univer.it!e. from which the engineering facultie •• in .pite of th.ir importance to the national economy, were not exempt •. Th.
univerlity engineering profe •• or. in their evidence in 1978 .nd 1979 to I government inquiry into the .nsineerin, profel.ion called for a major change in government policy toward. the university engine.ring departmenta, alking fOT the n.c •••• ry
re.ource. and encouragement to eatabli.h a much .tronger .mphaai. on the teaching of engineering practice in their main education.l programme. and to develop re.earch .chool. more .tronaly orientated to engin •• ring practice .nd indu.trial
n •• d ••
The.e r.cent move a to change .ub.t.ntially the character of the univerlity .chool. of engin•• ring call into qu•• tion whether the general thru.t in the pa.t 60 ye.r. of Briti.b gov.rnment policy concerniag engineering r •• e.rcb h•• been .ff.ctive. Th. .ub.tanti.l re.ourc •• devoted to •• t.bli.hing gov.rnment l.boratori •• , for .xample .t the N.tion.1 Enlinearing L.bor.tory .et up to carry out b•• ic ',en.ric' r •••• rch. would. it can b. argued. h.v. be.n much bett.r .pent in building up the .cad.adc .chool. of engin.erin,. Same co-operative indu.tri.l r •••• rch ••• ociation. might al.o h.va been batter int.sr.t.d into acad ••ic •• tabli.haant •• DISCUSSION - Bypoth•••• Thi •• ection of thi. p.per li.t •• number of hYpothe.a. for di.cu •• ion .bout ac.d.mic r •••• rch .chaol •• lovern.ent l.bor.tori •• and indultrial co-op.r.tiv. r •••• rch laboratori •••
M.mber. of C.l.R.P. co.. from countri •• which have .ub.tanti.lly differ.nt .pproach•• to th ••• i •• UI., and thair countri •• have deannstrated differeat dearl •• of .conoadc .ucc.... Th.y are ther.for. well qualifi.d to dilcu •• th ••• i •• u•• to pr ••• nt .ddition.l or altern.tive hypo the ••• fro. their own .xperienc •• (i)
Re •• arch A.sociationa The development of th ••• government financed r ••• arch tat.tiona'
in the poat-1946 period de.cribed above was accompanied by the furth.r d.velopment of the co-operative Indu.trial t •••• rch A•• ociation. on the lin •• of the .cheme first .. de offici. 1 government policy in 1916. Ho.t of the.e po ••••• ed th.ir own re.earch laboratorie. and were .t.ffed by full-time research work.r. on condition. of .ervice which h.d •• pect •• imilar to tho •• of the civil .ervice and ac.demic .ppointment.. In 197879 the total income of the Re.earch A•• ociationa w•• about l47 m of which 19 per cent was the gov.rnment contribution. The Hachine Tool Indu.try t •••• rch A•• ociation. formed .round 1960. va. one of the •••
(ii)
'Enline.rinl r •• e.rch ori.ntat.d tow.rd. th. ae.d. of indu.try· i. not ea.y to d.fine or id.ntify. In practic., it. actuel character may cover. very bro.d .p.ctru.. Huch vork clai ..d to b. of thi. kind ia v.ry unlik.ly to b.aefit induatry, in the .bort . . .diu. or long tarm. Oth.r work may b. of .hort-ta.. benefit. yat trivial or tran.ient. The b•• t v.y to len. rat. lood work of thi. character i. from a caa.on .c.dealc .nd iadu.trial coaaunity which .h.re ••••• nti.lly caa.on ai.. • ad .ttitud... For .xample. a .h.red .i. that .nline.rina r •• earch .hould be directed toward. achi.yina bett.r product. or proce •••••• judl.d by .conoaic crit.ri • could b. a powerful influenc••
(iii)
All r •••• rch •• t.bli.haent. which h.y• • hiah proportion of ·p.rmanent' .taff (for example. 10v.rnMnt laboratori •• and iadu.tri.l re •• arcb ••• oci.tion.) may find difficulty in .n.urina that th.ir .t.ff re.. ia productive throulhout their car •• r.. Ac.deadc r •••• rch .choal. b.n.fit Ir •• tly from h.vinl • con.tant flow of th. brilht•• t and fre.h •• t iatell.ct. whicb c.n iat.ract ban.ficially with .or•• xp.ri.nced r ••• arcb.r ••
Larg. priv.t. companie. allo developed lub.tantial r •• e.rch labor.torie •• notably in the h.avy Il.ctric.l indu.try. in the •• ro.ngine bu.in •••• in chemic.la. in .teel .nd in .uto motive component •• Th. Univarlitie. It i. now evident that when the Guy Committee reviewed in 1946 the .t.te of mach.nic.l enlin •• ring re ••• rch in Britain. univer.ity enline.rin, dep.rtment. were not con.iderad .erioualy aa potenti.lly major c.ntre. of ,en.ric Dr b•• ic en,inearing r •••• rch •• till lea. that they .hould inter.ct clo.ely with indu.try on more applied work. The '.ci.ntific· tradition of the univer.ity .ngineering .choola v•• doubtl ••• p.rtly r'.pon.ibl. for thi.. Nor v.a their pot.ntial role in tr.ining of the highly qu.lified engin.ering .t.ff prop.rly recognized. In.t.ad. it w•• the role of the ,overnment l.boratori •••nd the re.e.rch a •• ociation. in tr.ining re.earch .taff that w•• emph •• ized •• v.n thoulh almc.t all their .taff were on 'perman.nt' appointment. and. furthermore, they had little
The involv...nt of academic .chaol. of prof ••• ional .nlineerinl in enlineerinl re •• arch orientat.d tow. rd. tb. n.ed. of indu.try powerfully affect. the aducation .nd tr.ininl of .tudent. in tho.e .chaol •• both .t first-degr •• &ad gr.duete I.v.l.. Thi. in turn powerfully .ffect., in the cour •• of ti... the charact.r of indu.try and lovernment. •• th.ir ar.duate. take up pOlition. in the •• fi.ld. of .mployment.
(iv)
Th. technololY tr.n.f.r .ff.ct.d by ac.deaic r •• earch .choal. i. effici.nt and .ffectiv.; it il t.chaololY tran.f.r 'on tb. hoof'. Gov.rnaent l.boratori •• and iadultrial r •••• rch ••• oci.tionl .r. 1•••• ff.ctiv. at thi. type of t.chnololY tr.n.f.r b.c.ua. of th.ir larl. proportion. of permAn.nt .t.ff. Her.ov.r, they n •• d b. no .ar•• ffici.nt .t t.chaololY tr.nlf.r throuah
publication than university institutiona, and nor more efficient in continuing education. (v)
(vi)
Government laboratories have difficulty in maintaining meaningful and realistic contact with industrial ne.ds because th.ir basic government funding tog.ther with the privileg.d civil service statuI of their staff give them in practice • aubstanti.l degree of economic indep.ndence. making them relatively free of the diaciplin •• exerted in industry itaelf by the product and the market. Th. ataffl of government laboratoriea and of indu8try may therefore find it difficult to e.tablish the common community referred to in (ii) abov •• While academic and industrial staffs allo have diff.r.nt economic environments. the academic schoola and induatry
.hare a common interest in the output, the graduate., of
the acad.mic achools. This can b. made to contribut. effectively to the d.velopment of the common community ref.rr.d to in (ii). (vii)
(viii)
Acad.mic rea.arch achools are the belt location for ba.ic generic reaearch becaua. of the int.raction with t.aching that occurs and because of (ii) and (iv) above. Government laboratories should b. conc.rned with this type of reaearch only when national defence or aecurity is involved. Induatrial co-operative reaearch .stablilhments can enjoy cloaer relations with indu.try than government laboratoriea and are therefore b.tt.r able to interpr.t industrial n•• d.. Nevertheless. r.pr.s.ntativ.a of industry may find difficulty in .stablilhing meaningful ••aerie research programmes becau •• of their need to
maintain atrict control over th.ir proprietory ioter.lt •• Industrial research a •• ociation. have th.r.fore moved incr.alingly to confidential contr.ct r •• e.rch aod the provi.ion of information service ••
(ix)
Ac.demic rese.rch Ichool. al.o h.ve difficultiea when working clo.ely with induatry because of proprietary intere.ta. Thi. can be overcome in p.rt by .c.demic .taff working individually with induatry or through .p.clal academic-industrial unit. cr.ated for thi. purpoae.
REFERENCES 1.
Chiahola. A.W.J.
'Some International Compari.ooa of Education and Training of Prof •• aional Engineers'. Round Tabl. CIRP 1978.
2.
Aigr.in. M.P.
·Innovativ. Engin•• ring in Prance Strength. and Weakn••••• •• The Pellowahip of Engineerina. London. l.t October 1979.
3.
Farrar, D.M. and Pavey.. A.J.
·Arti.an to Graduate'. Edited by D.S.L. Cardwell. Manchest.r Univeroity Pre ... 1974.
4.
Tocqu.ville. Alexi. de
·D.mocracy in America' tran.lat.d by Henry Reeve (1845). London: Oxford Vniv.raity Pres •• 1940. (The World'a Cla•• ic.).
s.
Ro •• n.t.in. A.B.
'The N.tional Profe •• ion. Foundation .nd the Puture Quality of Nation.l Lif.·. American A.aoc. for the Adv.nce.. nt of Science. Annual Maatina. 5 J.nu.ry 1979.
6.
Raintjea. J.P.
'Crucial Deci.lon. during the Evolution of Numerical Control'. Society for the Hi.tory of T.chnology. Annu.l Me.tina. 20-22 Octob.r 1977.
7.
Whit. Houa. Fact Sh•• t. 'The Preaid.nt·a Indu.trial Innov.tion loitiativ•• •• 31 October 1979.
8.
·Worldvid. Computer Aided Manuf.cturina Surv.y·. V.S. Air Fore. Report, Jun. 1979.
9.
North. E.R.
'aeport on Acad ••ic/Indu.tri.l Coll.bor.tion in J.pan·. Centra for Indu.trial Innov.tion. Vniv.r.ity of Str.thclyde. May 1979.
10.
Marchant. M.E. -
11.
Cockcroft. J.
·Th. Ora.ni •• tion of .. aearch E.t.bliaheant.·. Caabridge Univ.raity Pr •••• 196~
12.
Edv.rd •• R.S.
·Co-oper.tive Inelu.trial ....arch·. Lond"", Sir haec Pitman & Son. Ltd •• 1950.
446
private coamunication report ina on information provided by T. S.ta.
13.
Report on the 'E •• enti.l Need. for Mechanical Enlineering
14.
Annual Report on the Advi.ory Council on Scientific Policy 1963-64. IIMSO Cal 2538. December 1964.
15.
Co..1ttee of the Enaine.riol Profe.aor.· Confer.nc •• Evidence to rinni.ton 1978 and Furth.r Evidence to Pi",,1oton. 1979.
R•• earch. (the 'Cuy Report') Department of Scientific and Indu.trial R•••• rch. 1947.
APPENDIX A Extr.ct froa U.S. Air Force Report ·Worldvid. Computer Aided Manuf.cturing Survey' - June 1979. a. Ther. are three di.tinct type. of organiz.tion. particip.ting in developing aanuf.cturing technology' government. re ••• rch and indu.try. In thi. triad the aovernment·. primary reapon.ibility i. to co-ordinate aod .pon.or the vork performed by the reaearch aroup. in re.ponae to the need •• tat.d by induatry. A .. jor k.y to .ucee.a ia that e.ch group recognize. and honor. the re.pon.ibiliti •• of the oth.r •• b. A .econd key to aucce.. i. that C.rmany h•• been able to a •• eabl. extr.ordinary center. of aanuf.cturing t.chnology .xperti... To .. int.in • ca.petitive environment .nd yet .void exce'live diaper.ion of re.ourcel. three major center. were
allowed to dev.lop .epar.tely. Theae are a •• oci.ted vith the univer.iti •• of Aachen. B.rlin and Stutt,art and e.ch viII be de.crib.d in more det.il l.ter in thi. aection. Over the year • the cr ... of the college Iraduate. h.ve been collecting in th••• center •• nel the f.cilitiea h.ve expanded to .xtremely large and vell equipped laboratorie.. It i. nov impractic.l for a governmeot or indu.trial group to undert.k•• ny .ignificant re.e.rch entirely •• p.r.te froe the.e l.boratori... On the other h.nd. the re.ponaivenea. of the •• labor.torie. to government and indu.try need. i. k.pt .xtremely k.en by forcing the. to coapet. with each other for funcl •• c. The Bunde.miniat.riua fuar Fora chung und Technologie (BHFT)l ia the primary governaent org.ni •• tion concerned with sanuf.cturing technology. Althouab the Deut.ch. Forachung.gemein.chaft (Drc)2 .ponaor • .uch of tha b•• it r •••• rch and oth.r Bundesainiateriua·. might participate in adv.nced development •• it ia the SMFT that co-ordinat•• ao.t of the work. Funding coma. either dir.ctly from the BMFT or throuah it. r •••• rch arm. the Ge.ell.chaft fuer lemfor.chun, (Gfk)3. Anoth.r import.nt k.y to Geraany· •• ucce •• i. that tbe BMFT not only directly fund. the tbree .. jar r •••• rch center. but al.o often provide. 50% of the fuoda ne.ded by indu.tri.l ,roup' to aponlor reae.rch of th.ir own in thea. c.nter.. Further. if .n induatry i. implementioa • hiab-ri.k CODc.pt from on. of the r •••• rch center •• the BMFT .daht vell b. providina funda for up to 50% of the imple..ntation co.t •• (1) (2) (3)
Fed.r.l Dep.rt..nt for .....rch and T.chnololY German Reae.rch Society AI.ocietioo for Ata.ic ••••• rch
co~rce
and to the
manufacturing industries. 'For generations, British observer. have looked with envy on the gr.at technical institutes of Continental Europe, Berlin, Aachen and Delft, on the Grandes Ecolea and on H.I.T. in the U.S.A. The importance of such institutes doe. not re.t .olely however on their ability to produce engineer••nd technologists required by industry.
discussion may show how government reae.rch policiel for the manufacturing indultries should be directed in the future and how thele might be.t be related to the higher technic.l education syatema in the re.pective countries.
Aa di.tinctive institution.,
outside the tradition.l univeraitie., they e.rly developed great prestige .nd their influence ext.nded far outaide the engineering .nd industri.l community. They .eem to h.ve provided society •• a whole with a physical .nd intellectu.l indication - symbol a - of the useful arta and of the need for thorough training .nd re.earch into indu.tri.l mattera. They thus helped to reinforce aociety's re.listic .ttitude. toward.
The paper attempt. to prelent. for di.cu •• ion, brief outline. or aketches of the higher technic.l educ.tion .Yltema in Fr.nce, We.t Germany, USA .nd J.p.n, and their relationlhip' to the corre.ponding national Re.e.rch .nd Development (R .nd D) arrangements for indu.tri.lly orientated re.e.rch. (The.e 'outlines' are nece ••• rily incomplete and may in .ome re.pect. be .uperficial; it ia hoped tbat by di.cu •• ion within C.I.R.P. th.y may be developed .nd improved.) The p.per then proceed. to • more detailed .ccount of the hi.toric.l development of the arrangement. which have developed in the united Kingdom. It i. hoped then to identify for di.cuI.ion tho.e •• pect. of the conduct and org.niz.tion of re.e.rch and development work which, by comparing them one country with .nother, might provide indication. of how improvement. in effectivene •• might be .ought.
industry and the management of industry and commerce. and the
conduct of nation.l .dministration and government.'
(1)
Industri.l re.earch has long been held to be es.enti.l for maintaining the he.lth of the manufacturing indu.trie.. Its .cale, financing and ch.racter, ita organization among different types of in.titution. and its control .re all dependent upon the policiea of government, as well •• of indu.try it.elf. Government policie. on re.earch and development for indu.try differ con.ider.bly from one country to .nother, and lometime. within one country a. government. of different complexion. follow one another. In.titution•• nd the .ttitudes of people .re however .low to change, that di.tinctive n.tional ch.racteri.ticI tend to emerge.
.0
One of the moat obvioua difference. between countries i. the manner in which indu.try, institute. of higher technic.l educ.tion and independent and government re.earch inatitution. in • country interact with one .nother. Of .peci.l intere.t is the role th.t the .cademic schools of engineering .re expected to play in re.earch ultimately intended for applic.tion in industry. Reeearch for the manufacturing indu.triea i. gener.lly .imed in the short, medium or long term .t producing improvement ••nd development. in proce •• e. and product. for the benefit of cu.tomer., whether in a market econo~ or in .lternativ. eConomic ey.tema. Nation.l review. of indu.tri.l re.e.rch tend to deal with such is.ue. a. the re.ource. devoted to research in different subject fields, their deployment in the variou. type. of re.e.rch in.titute. involved, on the aima of the re ••• rch and .urv.YI of the technic.l detail. of the re.e.rch programme. themaelvea. Lea. attention i. given in auch reviews to the pr.ctic.l re.ult. achieved and to con.idering the .ctu.l detailed mechani.ma which influence the .ffectivene •• of the re.earch work .ctu.lly don.. Accounting for relearch expenditure .nd the number of re.earch .taff employed, reviewing re.earch programme. and counting publication•• re all relatively atr.ight forward; tracing the outcome of res.arch work through to pr.ctic.l and oconomic indultrial .pplic.tion i. obvioully much more difficult and hazardou.. The degree of .ucce •• achieved depend. on conscious or uncon.cious .ttitude ••nd aima of the re.e.rch .t.ff, •• wall •• on their .bilitiea. Attitude ••nd aima .re lik.ly to b•• ub.t.ntially I.t by tho inltitutional framework e.t.blilhed over a long hi.torical period. Thi. framework may differ con.iderably from one country to another. Th. purpo •• of thi. paper il to .timulate • di.cuI.ion within the internation.l community of C.I.R.P. about the f.ctor. which influence the effectivene •• of re.e.rch for the manuf.cturing indu.trie., e.pecially tho.e f.ctor. which are linked with the t.chnical education Iy.t.ma in the countrie. concerned. Such a
Annals of the CIRP Vol. 29/2/1980
NATIONAL FRAMEWORKS France Higher technical educ.tion in Fr.nce Itarted in 1747 with the e.t.bli.bment by the governaent of tbe Ecole de. Pont. et Chau •• ee. to produce the bridge .nd ro.d engineera requir.d by the atate, .t a time when the univeraitie. had .till not ca.e to terma with Newton'l mechanica. The .chool .1.0 trained government mining engineer. and inlpectorl until 1783 when •• eparate Ecole de. Hine. for them wa. founded. The govemaent continued to accept re.ponaibility for providing higher technical inltruction for the engineer a requir.d by the governaent, the .rmed a.rvice. and indu.try; thua w.a .st.bliabed the .y.t.. of .bout 150 elite engineering .chool., headed by the true Grandea Ecole., which .ducated and tr.ined profea.ional enaineera out.ide the univer.ity ay.te.. The.e .chool. bed a .uch higher .tatu. than tbe univer.itiea and attr.cted the moat .ble .tud.nt.. Only in tho l •• t dlc.d. or tvo have the univer.iti•• become involved in engineering .tudie.. The •• univer.ity cour ••• vere intended originally for techniciana, not profe.aional engineera, but .ome univeraitie. now off.r cour.e. intended for the l.tter, aince the output of 10,000 .ngin.era fro. the engineering school. i. conaidered too .mall for the nation'. need ••
Traditionally, the bulk of the t •• ching or prof ••• ional .t.ff of the Grandea Ecole. ware profe •• ional engine.ra employed by government or indu.try in regular engineering .ppoine.enta and who t.ught in the engineering achoola for h.lf or one day each week. Such t •• chera brought to thair te.ching the axperi.nce of prof •• aional practice which, though it muat have had a crucial influence on the .tudenta and on the charact.r of the profe.aional educ.tion aiven, ia unlikely to be reflected in a mar. recital of the .cad.mic .yllabu••• th.... lv ••• Blcau.e of the mainly part-time nature of the t.aching appointment., the enaineering achoola did not conduct much re.earch of their awn. Mor.over, they did not aw.rd doctor.l delreea which remain.d the preroaative of the univeraiti.a. (Ind.ed industry appear •• till to .ttribute little aignificance to doctoratea in engineering for practical prof... ional work.) eo-ntiDI on thi •• y.tem recently, the pr.s.nt S.cret.ry of St.t. for Re.earch ha •• tated: 'If you w.nt.d to de.ian a .y.tem which made contact between .c.demic r •••• rch and indu.try clo.. to impo •• ible, I think you would probably end up with .a.athina very clo.e to the Fr.nch .y.t.. of educetion of enlinoer.'. (2)
441
In the last 10 or 20 years, the trend towards the appointment of a higher proportion of full-time teaching staff has with other factors resulted in the development of research programmes within the engineering schools.
This has created a pattern of teaching
and research in these schools, linking them with the universities, government and industry in a way which is new in France. The universities retain their control over the doctoral degree and a proportion of the research staff and professors in the
engineering schools hold university appointments. Germany
The idea that governments should be involved in the running and finance of technical schools was established in Germany, as in France, in the 18th century. The development of such schools, apparently stimulated by the mining industry, was well established in the 18th century. (3) This tradition led in due course in Germany to a technical education tradition with a somewhat more practical bias than that of France - extended full-time courses combining instruction in the scientific foundations of engineering practice with instruction in engineering practice itself. Some practical experience in the working environment of industry was also considered essential before the student was allowed to pursue his academdc studies.
This type of engineering education was provided, at the higher level, in the Technischen Hochschulen, led by engineering professors whose essential qualifications included experience in directing engineering work in practice. The Technischen Hochschulen gained a national status in the 19th century at least equal to that of the traditional universities. The teaching was organized in a professorial 'Chair' or 'Institute' system which combined teaching for the Diplom degree with research. The practical and industrial background of the professor who directed the research and the practical orientation of the entire curriculum and teaching method continued to give a practical bias to the character of the research conducted within thea. Ichools. The whole .ystem developed outside the traditional universities, though the Technischen Hochschulen have nearly all now become technical univerlities. Given this background and tradition, the need for practical and engineering objectives for engineering research required little emphasis. The re.earch institutes in the technical universities have enjoyed close working relationships with the industries which they aerve and fit ea.ily into a co-ordinated national pattern of research which embraces themselvea, government and industry. This i. assisted by the close degree of co-ordination which has been achieved by the voluntary co-operation of the appropriate institutes in the different technical universities. In the field of work of special interest to C.I.R.P., the success of this sy.tem appears to be well demonstrated. Industry and government rely on the research conducted in the technical universities and have not established aeparate. co-operative or government laboratories. aa in aome other countries. In 1978, of the total Rand D expenditure in We.t Germany of DH 30,300 m, indu.try provided about half. Universities and research in.titutions each received one sixth of the total, industry spending the remaining two third.. About one third of the research institution money was however spent by the 'Big Science' e.tabli.hment. and by the Max-Planck Institute. Some of the funds classified as research institution money may have been allocated to research institutions nominally independent of universities but in practice clo.ely integrated with 'chair.' or 'institute.' within univer.ities. Both the •• factors would appear to increase the importance of univer.ity-campus based research activities in the metal working and engineering industries. However, industry contributed directly only 2 per cent of the total funding of each of the univer.ity and the research institution groups, and some of this may have been 're-circulated' government money. For. brief .ccount of the arr.ngements for Manufacturing Technology .ee Appendix A. United St.tes Around 1850, de Tocqueville (4) cl.imed that the American. recognized no indigenous education other than vocational education - education directed towards jobs. busine •• and economic activity. General culture came to Americ. through its immigrant.. The vocation.l biaa was reinforced by the creation in the 19th century of the Land-Grant College •• dedicated to the mechanic art. and agriculture which developed into important and pre.tigeou. univer.ity in.titution.. In 1907, the Univer.ity of Cincinn.ti Itarted the • co-operative' .y.tem for engineer ina education, but re.earch in production enaineering appeared only in one or two univer.ity in.titution. before 1939. notably at the Univer.ity of Hichigan. Engineering develop.d for the most p.rt in multi-faculty universitie., though there were exception •• the mo.t notable being H.I.T. and C.l. Tech. In the multi-faculty universitie., engineering wal organized in college. of engineer ina. many of which founded 'Engineering Experiment Stations' to facilitate work with indu.try; however, the.e failed to thrive on indu.trially .pon.ored work. in marked contr •• t to the .ucce.' of the Battelle Memorial In.titute, a non-profit independent research organi •• tion .tart.d in the 1920's .nd other independent research institut.l. In .ddition, .ignificant aovernment defence research e.t.blishments and the large r •••• rch
442
establishments of private industry play an important part in the overall picture. After 1945, the office of Naval Re.eArch aet out to develop the quality of the teaching staff in univer.ity engineering by encouraging them to engage in research. some of it of a moat fundamental kind. [n the early 1950'. the engineering Ichools had become disenchanted with traditional engineering curricula, especially those with. practical bial. Labor.tory work on practical engineering machines and engines va. removed or drastically reduced; emphasis was given in.tead to the rigorous development of theory and the underlying science of engineering. The National Science Foundation appear. to have played an important part in cre.ting a substantial .hift of the aims and attitudes of university engineering school. away from concern with professional engineering practice and toward. a preoccupation with .cience. (5) The neglect of profe •• ional engineering practice in the engineering .chool. h•• caused the Engineering Council for Profes.ional Development recently to mAke a major drive for A much gr.ater empha.i. on engineering design in engineering fir.t-degree cour.e ••
Contrary to the indications of the .cience orientation of United State.' engineering schools outlined above. H.I.T. played a crucial role in the practical development of numerically controlled machine tools and associated prograaming languageo. (6) The initiative came immediately after World War II from the u.s. Air Force which vas interelted in lupporting developments baled on new technology (electronic digital computer. and servo~chani.ma developed for gun control) which would enhance the metals-processing capability of the n.tion. It let a contract to Parlon. Corporation for the development of a digit.lly controlled machine tool. That Corporation c.lled on the aSliltance of H.I.T.'. Servomechani.ms Labor.tory where one of the Director' •• s.ist.nts h.d been studying the theor.tical behaviour of servo sy.tems fed with binary input d.ta. H.I.T. undertook to develop a digital servo for the control of the Par.onl' n.c. machine tool and in 1951 became the main contactor to the U.S. Air Force for the whole machine. On completion of the contract, the U.S. Air Force again played a vit.l p.rt by arranging for a four-year 'indoctrination programme' from 1952 to 1956, which w•• in e •• ence a world-wide technology tran.fer programme based on the prototype built at H.I.T. It also called for an economic .tudy of numerical control. A. a re.ult of this programme, Cidding. and Lewis Machine Tool Company decided in 1953 to develop. machine of it. own with H.I.T. developing the Digital Director. Coincidentally, the U.S. Federal government mounted a major procurement programme for machine tool., which, after di.cuI.ionl with the 'indoctrinated' aircraft builders, included 63 n.c. milling machin... The U.S. Air Force then in 1955 withdrew further .upport for n.c. development and H.I.T.'. approach to the Machine Tool Builders AI.ociation for further support w•• al.o unsucces.ful becaus. individual .. chine tool builder. wi.hed to keep their work confidential. The idea of 'co-operative' re.e.rch was con.idered impracticable in a competitive and proprietory market. H.I.T. th.n looked for other contribution. it could make to bringing D.C. machine. into prActical us., and the U.S. Air Force accepted it. propo.al to try and develop a .peciali.ed software language for programadng n.c. machine tooll. The outcome was the APT .y.tem (Automatically Progr.mmed Tool Sy.tem). a success only made po •• ible through co-operative work b.tween H.I.T. and the aircraft companies. The United State. government h.s since become incre •• ingly concerned about the trend. in indu.tri.l productivity in the Unit.d State.. (Recently it hal .ctually been falling.) It therefore lauched in late 1979 a proaramme to fo.ter 'competitive c.pability and entrepreneurial 'pirit' in the light of the importance attached by other indu.trial countries to innov.tion and the .tep •• uch countries had taken 'to extend their competitive advantage through indu.trial polici •• , proarams .nd in.titutional .tructure. aimed at .elected technologi .. '. (7) This progra... include. a propo.al to e.t.bli.h initi.lly four non-profit 'Ceneric Technology Center.' at univer.itie. or other private .ector .ite., to develop .nd tran.fer 'generic technologi •• •• (Examples of generic technoloai ••• r. welding and joining, robotic., tribology.) Stat in, th.t the 'Icientific and t.chnological .trength of American univ.r.itie. hal not b.en h.rn•• sed .ffectively in promotin, technoloaical advance', the proaramme include. a d.ci.ion to promote univer.ity-indu.try co-oper.tive R .nd D programmes through the National Science Foundation, .tarting with new money of $2Oa in 1981. The N.S.F. will work with other government .,encie. to encour.,e univer.ity-industry work, .iaing at an aggre,.t. ultimate expenditure of $l~ per y.ar. rederal Procure.. nt proarama will .lso b. direct.d towards the prOllOtion of innovation ••nd • numb.r of other .tep •• r. to be taken, for .xampl., in thl patlnt field. Jap.n Industrial developeent haa b.en a c.ntral policy Ai. of the Japane.e aovern.ent ainee 1900 and it. hiaher education .y.tem hal been ahap.d .ccordingly. Ita output of Ingin.lr. and appli.d .cienti.t. ia very larg., about 100,000 p.r .nnum' competition for univer.ity pl.cl. is fierce and b••• d on ' academic quality. Hore than half the Company directorl in manufacturing indu.try are enainlers and .bout h.lf the aov.rament civil aervant. are engineer.. The univer.ity
engineering schools provide a broad, rigorous and scientifically orientated educat.ion. not practice-orientated as in Germany. The practice orientation eventually required by engineers is achieved through post graduate experience in industry. Virtually
all engineering graduates pass through a period of working as
technicians. and sometimes as shop floor workers, as part of a
long period of training provided by the employer.
This training
includes management or business training where required. Japan does not possess business schools as such. On the other hand,
the output of higher degrees in engineering includes about 10,000 M.Sc.s and 2,000 Ph.D.s per annum.
and aircraft.
In 1978-9, it employed 322 people and its
programme included work on systems engineering (i.e. production
engineering) •
In manufacturing Rand D. the universities, industry and the government laboratories are linked in a working relationship
which is unusual in Japan (Fig. 1). (10)
This provides overall
planning. co-ordination and division of effort between industry. government and universities aided by the co-ordinating committee structure represented in the diagram by the Joint Research
Group.
The sources of public funding are as follows:
Average programme size
Generally, the university engineering schools appear to have a strong scientific rather than a practice orientation in their basic educational work. Their expenditure on research is heavily weighted on 'basic' research. (two thirds in 1976) as against one third on 'applied 1 research. University research appears to be more heavily funded than government and private research insti-
University - basic research (supported by Ministry of Education) Government Lab. - applied research (supported by MITI)
tutes; the funding of the former group was nearly three times
£15,000 E150,OOO
greater than the latter. Research expenditure in Japanese universltles is rlslng.
Industry - development (partially supported by MIT 1 and Agency for Industrial Science and Technology)
In
1978, their expenditure was estimated to be nearly one quarter
of the total Japanese Rand D national expenditure of [9,000 m. Direct government research funding in the universities is
substantial (9) whereas funding of major projects in them by
industry is unCOtmlon. Industry appears to consider that universities should concentrate on producing first class students
rather than doing applied research.
The funding it does provide
(or universities seems generally to be in small amounts and designed to foster personal relationships on which liaison depends, rather than for the intrinsic value of the research
The planning and co-ordination of all this to meet the needs of industry is done at a policy level by the Industrial Rationalization Council and, in detail. by a hierarchy of Joint Research Groups set up under the technical societies and associations.
This hierarchy of Joint Research Groups io as follows: Size of
through the convention that a university professor is held responsible for nominating, even autonomously placingt , his graduate students in specific appointment in industry. He is
therefore committed to assessing the future needs of industry
and preparing his students by suitable education and training to
fulfil those needs.
Though contacts between a professor and
industry are thus encouraged, he is not expected to accept paid consulting work in pursuing these.
The Agency for Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), part of the Ministry for International Trade and Industry (MITI), has 16 national research organizations.
Annual budget
committee
results produced. (9)
A powerful link between universities and industry is provided
£1.5 m
(a) (b)
Technical Society Joint Re.earch Coanitte ... Joint
Spe~ial
Reoearch Coanittee.
10 10-40
£150 £1,500-£3,000
Type One - Technical Societies
(Government-industry funding)
*The interpretation of the term 'balic relearch' mult vary widely from one country to another.
tBasic research t (in engineering)
will be considered physics in one country and applied engineering research in another. hence the crucial importance of attitudes,
objectives and the 'culture' of the r ••• arch group in aa.e •• ing the actual nature of the research done.
One of these is the
Mechanical Engineering Laboratory (MEL) establiahed in 1937 to serve industry with applied Rand D in mechanical engineering and metallurgy for machine tools, machine elements, automobiles
tIn the disculsion of this paper,
A
repre.entative from Japan
pointed out that this practice, common 20 years ago, had fallen into disuse.
_ _ _ MONEY
.
FLOW
- - _ PERSONNEL FLOW ---~ CONTROL
r------"--~.
\
'1',
STRUCTURE OF
BICYCLE IND ASSOC. FIGURE
AND ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF PRODUCTION ENGINEERING IN JAPAN
443
(c)
(d)
10-40
Joint Special Research Committee Type Two - Technical Societies (75% bicycle racing tax 25% industry funding)
£15,000-£25,000
institution 'for standardizing and verifying instrument.,
Trade Association Joint Research Committee (mainly government supported) - example: MUM Planning Committees)
The joint research groups have matched numbers of university and industrial staff, with the national laboratories and MITI represented as observers.
Laboratory, established by the government in 1900 but placed under the control of the Royal Society, was officially to be an
Type (a) meetings are sometimes no
more than 'brainstorming' meetings. Type (b) are concerned with a fuller exploration of proposals leading, if appropriate, to a type (c) group which typically would carry out a full feasibility study identifying which parts of the work would be carried out by which laboratory, university and indultrial group, and exactly how the money should be spent. Overall, the Japanese Rand D expenditure per unit of GNP is significantly less than West Germany, the U.S.A. or the U.K. (all of which are about equal). In Japan, the proportion of this expenditure borne by industry appears to be substantially higher than in the other three countries, and this may help to ensure
that Rand D policy is profit and product orientated.
f~r
testing materiait and for the determination of physical constants' (11), though at its opening the Prince of Wale. referred to a wider purpose - 'to bring .cientific knowledge to bear
practically upon our everyday industrial and cOlII:Dfercial life, to
break down the barrier between theory and pr.ctice, to effect a
union between Icience .nd commerce'.
The Imperial College,
founded in 1907, was to give the 'highest .pecialized in.truction. and to provide •.• training and rea.arch •••• Ipecially
in itl application to indu.try'. (12)
'n 1915, the government announced its Scheme for the Organi-
zation and Development of Scientific and Induatrial Relearch -
'The necessity for the central control of our machinery for war
had been obvioul for centuries, but the easential unity of the
knowledge which support. both the military and industrial
efforts ••• was not generally understood until the prelent war War haa remained ••• an art •• , but its inatrumenta ••• need a .eientifie training for their effective use. Thi. is
equally true of the weapons of industry'. The .cheme involved the creation of a Committee of the Privy Council (the archaic survivor of the Sovereign'. advisory body) re.pon.ible for the expenditure of government fund. on acientific and industrial
research, together vith an Advi.ory Council to be composed
mainly of 'eminent .cientific men and men engaged in industries
dependent upon scientific research'.
UNITED KINGDOM
tion between industrial firma and between them and government
Higher technical education Some of the historical developments which have led to the
characteristic features of the higher technical education system
in Britain have already been outlined, (1) The British engineering education system has features which are unique in Europe. The most able students and the most import.nt
engineering departments and faculties are in the 40 or so multi-
faculty universities, most of which teach also a wide range of 'arts' and science subjects.. Engineering courses of university degree level are also provided in a number of Polytechnic. created some 15 years ago from senior technical colleges.
Engineering education is essentially a two-stage process: education in basic engineering science taught in three-year course. by full-time teaching staff; tr.i~ing in indu.try in carrying out engineering tasks. The comblned programme of education and training may lead in a proportion of cales and after a number of years to Chartered Engineer statu.. In manufacturing indultry, Chartered Engineer statuI is not an
essential qualification for employment or career progression. In mechanical, produc~ion and elec~rical engineering e.pecially, most of the university engineering schools have a scientific, rather than a practical orientation.
Industry complains that
engineering graduates are not prepared adequately for real engineering work. The universities complain that the engineering course is too ahort, and that they htve in.ufficient reaources to remedy the admitted deficiencie •• + Graduate course. at K.Sc.
level are not well aupported and reaearch tr.ining in engineering for the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees is often not markedly different from reaearch training in the physical sciencea. The exi.tence of an undesirable gap between industry and the engineering schools is widely acknowledged, and a number of initi.tives have been l.unched in the past 20 years aimed at bridging this gap. Among theae ia the Teaching Company. (1)
in the futherance of reaearch; co-operative rele.reh on 'materials. tool. and proces.es ••• common to any industry'
(i.e. non-proprietory research) was a •• umed to be a practicable proposition for the common benefit of industry. Though the Briti.h Engineer.' As.ociation recommended at this time that 'one of the mo.t urgent needs was to develop co-operation between firma on the one hand and Univer.itie. and Technical Colleges on the other', the real thru.t of the government's new Department of Scientific and Indu.tri.l Re.earch created in 1916 was to help, on a 50 per cent funding ba.ia, e.tablish.an~ develop aever.l co-operative Indu.trial Re.earch A•• OClatlon8 and to create a number of wholly government financed and government .taffed re.e.rch laboratori •• ('.tations'), of a type .imilar to the National Phy.ical Laboratory. The D.S.I.R. wa. also however to encourage 'fundamental re.earch' in universitie •• By 1921 there vere 21 industrial Re.earch A•• ociation. in exi.tence and by 1927 there were eight national re.earch .tation., though vork for engineering was .till confined to the National Phy.ical Laboratory. Thu. the pattern of Briti.h government indu.trial re.earch policy waa e.tabli.hed, but war .gain focu.sed attention on the performance of Briti.h industry .nd the need to .timulate indu.tri.l r •• earch. In 1947, 34 Re.e.rch A•• oci.tion. with .n .ggregate full-time .taff of .bout 3,000 exi.ted, covering induatriea r.nging from cotton .nd wool, iron and .teel to flour-milling and jewellery. The Production Enginelring
Ie.eareh As.ociation, of .pecial intereat to e.l.R.p., wa. among;
them.
In 1944 the government h.d e.tabli.hed an inquiry into the
uational need for reaearch and development in mechanical
engineering (the 'Guy Committee') and ita report .urveyed some of the mechanic.l engineering re.earch then in progr •• s in wholly financed .nd directed government labor.torie., in private non-profit and profit con.ulting re ••• rch organizationl and in
National Reaearch Policies Government policiea concerned industry in Britain appear to these ch.r.cteristic featuret .chools. This section of the aapects of these policies.
The latter'. first report
in 1916 pointed the way to future ddvelopments - more co-opera-
with the funding of re.e.rch for have contributed subatantially to of the univeraity engineering paper outlinea some relevant
The failure of the Briti.h, aa compared with her Continental neighbours, to produce technical men who were able to combine. knowledge of phyaical acience with the conduct of pr.ctical aff.irs h.d been noted and publicized by Playf.ir, •• e.rly .a the mid 19th century.** It appeara that unlike Continent.l countriea, the British government was relatively slow to take direct reaponsibility for remedying thi.. The National Physical .Some also have medical .choola though, until very recently, the engineering Ichoola h.ve made very little attempt to g.in atrength from the experience of the medical .chool. in providing a prof.saion.l .duc.tion. :Some Continent.l European authoritiea are aaid to be envious of the economical .nd efficient Briti.h ayate. which producea a gr.duate engineer in only three years. ** 'In thb country, we h.ve eminent "pr.ctical" men and eminent "aeientitic" men; but they are not united and generally walk in patha wholly di.tinct •••• Abroad, ••• it ia known alao to be eaaential to industry, that there should be a race of men who can solicit nature, in language underatood by her, to lend her powera for the fulfilment of pr.ctic.l anda.' Lyon Pl.yf.ir. 1852.
the Indu.tri.l Re.e.rch A•• ociation.. Togethlr, th.le organixation. employed .bout 3,)00 .taff on work related to mechanical engineering.
The .urvey noted that the engineering dep.rtment. of mo.t of the univer.itie. and of • few of the t.chnical colle g•• had maintained a 'tr.dition' of re.earch in thl mech.nical engin •• ring field though 'in the .. io' thi. had been concern.d with 'the
properties of materi.la or the a •• e •• ment of .tre.lld in .tructure.', 'probably' thl Report .aid, bec.u••• uch work w•• '.u.ceptible to rllatively .mall .cale treatment'. Actually, .t that tiDe, tho tot.l .c.deaic (t.aching) .taff of the Univ.r.ity dep.rtment. of mechanical engin •• ring numb. red 126; the 'seneral' departments of engineering had perhaps another 8 .taff membors in this field. Univ.raity engino.ring faculties po ••••• ed then a technical .upport .t.ff only a ... 11 fr.ction of the academe .taff in nUJOber ••nd the number of gr.dua te re.earch .tudent. v.a .lso .ad.at. The Guy eo.mittee concluded that thl futuro well-b. ins of tho Dechanical engineerina indu.try would depend on • 'vaatly incr.aaed u•• of highly trained per.onnel and an incr.as.d u'e of the acientific method'. Thi. indu.try was compoa.d of many firma 'too .mall to c.rry out .uch r •••• rcb for the.. elv •••• There w.a • 'n.glect of the fundament.l or gen.ric r.a.arch on which .. chanical engin•• ring practic ••• of the future " d.p.nd.'. Thi. 'd.ficiency in gen.ric appli.d r •••• rch' had to be mad. good if the mechanic.l .ngin•• rins indu.try w•• to pl.y ita 'full p.rt in r.i.ing the ,.ner.l .tand.rd of living •• or in perman.ntly maint.ining a high volume of .xport trade'. Th. Committ •• r.cognixld that indu.try requir.d • vaatly incr.a.ed u•• of highly trained peraonnel .nd .tr•••• d th.t '.v.ry encour.gement .hould continu. to b. giv.n to Univ.r.iti •• to carry out r •••• rch in mechanical .ngin•• ring .ci.nc.', while
widening their range of interest in mechanical engineering.
tradition or experience of teaching.
of university research.
Engineering Laboratory. the government'. Advi.ory Council on
Nevertheless. the Committee decided that the national neld for increased basic. generic research ~hould , not be met bY,expansion Instead, Ita maln reco=mendatlons
followed what by then had become the Britioh pattern - the main development was to be through the creation of a new government financed and controlled laboratory. entirely leparate from the academic sphere. Thi. nev Laboratory vas to carry out balic research on the 'component parts' or 'fields' underlying the
practical problems of different branches of the mechan~cal engineering industry. The work was to be broken down into seven divisions: Haterials. Mechanica of Solids. Fluid •• Lubrication. Mechanisms
Heat Transfer and on 'Formation •• (and) •• Machine
Shaping' i:e. forming and cutting. A special Board vould assist in the work of the new establistment drawn from practising mechanical engineering scientists. engineer-scientists in academic life and from other scientists in the engineering applica-
tions of phYlics. chemistry and mathematics; the interdilciplinary needs of mechanical engineering were alao to be catered for by the incluaion of one civil engineer and one electrical
engineer.
--
--
On. of the functions of the new research establilhment va. the training in research methodl of young engineer. vho had 'previously received full academic and practical training'~
Th.
Committee ended its Report with a recommendation that the reaearch in the •• tablishment Ihould b. conducted with ' the active alliltance of those in practice who are expert in de.ign and operation of the kind of plant the reaearch i. intended to
assist' .
The Guy Report va. acted upon promptly and in full. Th. National Engineering Laboratory v•• e.tabliahed and labor.tories verI occupied ne.r Ea.t Kilbride in Scotland in 1948. Eventu.lly. it was lavi.hly accommodated and equipped. It. re •• arch and .upport staff were all civil .ervanta. a very high proportion on permanent i.e. ' •• t.bli.hed· appointment.. The tot.l .taff ro •• to nearly 1.000 by 1976. f.llin& to 800 in 1979. The Laboratory was at fir.t financed wholly by the government. but aft.r a number of year •• in order to encourage better contact vith indu.try and to increa •• the r.levance of it. work to indu.trial
practice, the Laboratory va. encouraged to obtain contract work
from industry .nd to engage in other joint indu.trial venture •• Thi. had the effect of pu.hing the Laboratory into'more direct comp.tition with the Indu.trial R•• earch As.ociations; the indu.trial income had rioen to about 16 per c.nt by 1979-80.
The historical development of the N.tional Engineering Laboratory ha. been de.cribed in .ome detail bec.ule it illu.trate. the thinking in Brit.in behind the cre.tion of gov.rnment-financed facilities for industrially ori.nt.t.d research in the nonmilitary fiald. The Department of Scientific .nd Industrial Relaarch wal abolished in 1964 and the Ministry of Technology wa. formed. Thi. latter government department later controlled 16 government reaearch •• tabliahment. vith • total at.ff of 22.000. One of the.e e.t.blilhaents wa. the Computer Aided De.ign Centre with a .taff of 100 •• tablished in 1969. Oth.r major government laboratorie. vere created for atomic enorgy and it. application.. The nationalized indu.triel establi.hed their own major laboratorie •• including those for electricity generation. gu and coal. In 1977-78. th... employ.d reapectively. 1.200 profea.ion.lly qu.lified .taff. 1.600 tot.l Itaff and 694 prof ••• ionally qualified .taff.
Fifteen years after the establishment of the National
Scientific Policy referred 'to the ahortage of engineera, and the
fact that engineering has attracted too little of the be.t talent
among the student population' and atated 'the research ItandiDg
of mechanical engineering i. the least aatiafactory·. pointing out that 'strong academic research schools in any .ubject are
vital to the industries which depend on that lubject·. (14)
Nevertheless, government sponsor.hip of university engineering
r.a.arch Vaa in that .ame year .ubsumed under the Science Reaearch Council. though later the Department of Indu.try wa. allo given a role to .ncourage university-indu.try rele.rch links; the impact of the latter va •• till omall by 1975.
The university engineering department. remained strongly
'scientific' in their orientation until the l.te 1970s; graduate
achools of engineering remAined r.latively weak; link. with engineering practice, though .trong in lome univerlities. were
Itill generally tenuous. Many initi.tive. were t.k.n to bridge this 'univeraity-industry' gap and to establi.h a much gre.t.r emphasis on engineering reaearch related to induatrial needa.
These initiative. h.d to be made. however. again.t incre •• ingly Itringent and difficult fin.nci.1 condition. for univer.it!e. from which the engineering facultie •• in .pite of th.ir importance to the national economy, were not exempt •. Th.
univerlity engineering profe •• or. in their evidence in 1978 .nd 1979 to I government inquiry into the .nsineerin, profel.ion called for a major change in government policy toward. the university engine.ring departmenta, alking fOT the n.c •••• ry
re.ource. and encouragement to eatabli.h a much .tronger .mphaai. on the teaching of engineering practice in their main education.l programme. and to develop re.earch .chool. more .tronaly orientated to engin •• ring practice .nd indu.trial
n •• d ••
The.e r.cent move a to change .ub.t.ntially the character of the univerlity .chool. of engin•• ring call into qu•• tion whether the general thru.t in the pa.t 60 ye.r. of Briti.b gov.rnment policy concerniag engineering r •• e.rcb h•• been .ff.ctive. Th. .ub.tanti.l re.ourc •• devoted to •• t.bli.hing gov.rnment l.boratori •• , for .xample .t the N.tion.1 Enlinearing L.bor.tory .et up to carry out b•• ic ',en.ric' r •••• rch. would. it can b. argued. h.v. be.n much bett.r .pent in building up the .cad.adc .chool. of engin.erin,. Same co-operative indu.tri.l r •••• rch ••• ociation. might al.o h.va been batter int.sr.t.d into acad ••ic •• tabli.haant •• DISCUSSION - Bypoth•••• Thi •• ection of thi. p.per li.t •• number of hYpothe.a. for di.cu •• ion .bout ac.d.mic r •••• rch .chaol •• lovern.ent l.bor.tori •• and indultrial co-op.r.tiv. r •••• rch laboratori •••
M.mber. of C.l.R.P. co.. from countri •• which have .ub.tanti.lly differ.nt .pproach•• to th ••• i •• UI., and thair countri •• have deannstrated differeat dearl •• of .conoadc .ucc.... Th.y are ther.for. well qualifi.d to dilcu •• th ••• i •• u•• to pr ••• nt .ddition.l or altern.tive hypo the ••• fro. their own .xperienc •• (i)
Re •• arch A.sociationa The development of th ••• government financed r ••• arch tat.tiona'
in the poat-1946 period de.cribed above was accompanied by the furth.r d.velopment of the co-operative Indu.trial t •••• rch A•• ociation. on the lin •• of the .cheme first .. de offici. 1 government policy in 1916. Ho.t of the.e po ••••• ed th.ir own re.earch laboratorie. and were .t.ffed by full-time research work.r. on condition. of .ervice which h.d •• pect •• imilar to tho •• of the civil .ervice and ac.demic .ppointment.. In 197879 the total income of the Re.earch A•• ociationa w•• about l47 m of which 19 per cent was the gov.rnment contribution. The Hachine Tool Indu.try t •••• rch A•• ociation. formed .round 1960. va. one of the •••
(ii)
'Enline.rinl r •• e.rch ori.ntat.d tow.rd. th. ae.d. of indu.try· i. not ea.y to d.fine or id.ntify. In practic., it. actuel character may cover. very bro.d .p.ctru.. Huch vork clai ..d to b. of thi. kind ia v.ry unlik.ly to b.aefit induatry, in the .bort . . .diu. or long tarm. Oth.r work may b. of .hort-ta.. benefit. yat trivial or tran.ient. The b•• t v.y to len. rat. lood work of thi. character i. from a caa.on .c.dealc .nd iadu.trial coaaunity which .h.re ••••• nti.lly caa.on ai.. • ad .ttitud... For .xample. a .h.red .i. that .nline.rina r •• earch .hould be directed toward. achi.yina bett.r product. or proce •••••• judl.d by .conoaic crit.ri • could b. a powerful influenc••
(iii)
All r •••• rch •• t.bli.haent. which h.y• • hiah proportion of ·p.rmanent' .taff (for example. 10v.rnMnt laboratori •• and iadu.tri.l re •• arcb ••• oci.tion.) may find difficulty in .n.urina that th.ir .t.ff re.. ia productive throulhout their car •• r.. Ac.deadc r •••• rch .choal. b.n.fit Ir •• tly from h.vinl • con.tant flow of th. brilht•• t and fre.h •• t iatell.ct. whicb c.n iat.ract ban.ficially with .or•• xp.ri.nced r ••• arcb.r ••
Larg. priv.t. companie. allo developed lub.tantial r •• e.rch labor.torie •• notably in the h.avy Il.ctric.l indu.try. in the •• ro.ngine bu.in •••• in chemic.la. in .teel .nd in .uto motive component •• Th. Univarlitie. It i. now evident that when the Guy Committee reviewed in 1946 the .t.te of mach.nic.l enlin •• ring re ••• rch in Britain. univer.ity enline.rin, dep.rtment. were not con.iderad .erioualy aa potenti.lly major c.ntre. of ,en.ric Dr b•• ic en,inearing r •••• rch •• till lea. that they .hould inter.ct clo.ely with indu.try on more applied work. The '.ci.ntific· tradition of the univer.ity .ngineering .choola v•• doubtl ••• p.rtly r'.pon.ibl. for thi.. Nor v.a their pot.ntial role in tr.ining of the highly qu.lified engin.ering .t.ff prop.rly recognized. In.t.ad. it w•• the role of the ,overnment l.boratori •••nd the re.e.rch a •• ociation. in tr.ining re.earch .taff that w•• emph •• ized •• v.n thoulh almc.t all their .taff were on 'perman.nt' appointment. and. furthermore, they had little
The involv...nt of academic .chaol. of prof ••• ional .nlineerinl in enlineerinl re •• arch orientat.d tow. rd. tb. n.ed. of indu.try powerfully affect. the aducation .nd tr.ininl of .tudent. in tho.e .chaol •• both .t first-degr •• &ad gr.duete I.v.l.. Thi. in turn powerfully .ffect., in the cour •• of ti... the charact.r of indu.try and lovernment. •• th.ir ar.duate. take up pOlition. in the •• fi.ld. of .mployment.
(iv)
Th. technololY tr.n.f.r .ff.ct.d by ac.deaic r •• earch .choal. i. effici.nt and .ffectiv.; it il t.chaololY tran.f.r 'on tb. hoof'. Gov.rnaent l.boratori •• and iadultrial r •••• rch ••• oci.tionl .r. 1•••• ff.ctiv. at thi. type of t.chnololY tr.n.f.r b.c.ua. of th.ir larl. proportion. of permAn.nt .t.ff. Her.ov.r, they n •• d b. no .ar•• ffici.nt .t t.chaololY tr.nlf.r throuah
publication than university institutiona, and nor more efficient in continuing education. (v)
(vi)
Government laboratories have difficulty in maintaining meaningful and realistic contact with industrial ne.ds because th.ir basic government funding tog.ther with the privileg.d civil service statuI of their staff give them in practice • aubstanti.l degree of economic indep.ndence. making them relatively free of the diaciplin •• exerted in industry itaelf by the product and the market. Th. ataffl of government laboratoriea and of indu8try may therefore find it difficult to e.tablish the common community referred to in (ii) abov •• While academic and industrial staffs allo have diff.r.nt economic environments. the academic schoola and induatry
.hare a common interest in the output, the graduate., of
the acad.mic achools. This can b. made to contribut. effectively to the d.velopment of the common community ref.rr.d to in (ii). (vii)
(viii)
Acad.mic rea.arch achools are the belt location for ba.ic generic reaearch becaua. of the int.raction with t.aching that occurs and because of (ii) and (iv) above. Government laboratories should b. conc.rned with this type of reaearch only when national defence or aecurity is involved. Induatrial co-operative reaearch .stablilhments can enjoy cloaer relations with indu.try than government laboratoriea and are therefore b.tt.r able to interpr.t industrial n•• d.. Nevertheless. r.pr.s.ntativ.a of industry may find difficulty in .stablilhing meaningful ••aerie research programmes becau •• of their need to
maintain atrict control over th.ir proprietory ioter.lt •• Industrial research a •• ociation. have th.r.fore moved incr.alingly to confidential contr.ct r •• e.rch aod the provi.ion of information service ••
(ix)
Ac.demic rese.rch Ichool. al.o h.ve difficultiea when working clo.ely with induatry because of proprietary intere.ta. Thi. can be overcome in p.rt by .c.demic .taff working individually with induatry or through .p.clal academic-industrial unit. cr.ated for thi. purpoae.
REFERENCES 1.
Chiahola. A.W.J.
'Some International Compari.ooa of Education and Training of Prof •• aional Engineers'. Round Tabl. CIRP 1978.
2.
Aigr.in. M.P.
·Innovativ. Engin•• ring in Prance Strength. and Weakn••••• •• The Pellowahip of Engineerina. London. l.t October 1979.
3.
Farrar, D.M. and Pavey.. A.J.
·Arti.an to Graduate'. Edited by D.S.L. Cardwell. Manchest.r Univeroity Pre ... 1974.
4.
Tocqu.ville. Alexi. de
·D.mocracy in America' tran.lat.d by Henry Reeve (1845). London: Oxford Vniv.raity Pres •• 1940. (The World'a Cla•• ic.).
s.
Ro •• n.t.in. A.B.
'The N.tional Profe •• ion. Foundation .nd the Puture Quality of Nation.l Lif.·. American A.aoc. for the Adv.nce.. nt of Science. Annual Maatina. 5 J.nu.ry 1979.
6.
Raintjea. J.P.
'Crucial Deci.lon. during the Evolution of Numerical Control'. Society for the Hi.tory of T.chnology. Annu.l Me.tina. 20-22 Octob.r 1977.
7.
Whit. Houa. Fact Sh•• t. 'The Preaid.nt·a Indu.trial Innov.tion loitiativ•• •• 31 October 1979.
8.
·Worldvid. Computer Aided Manuf.cturina Surv.y·. V.S. Air Fore. Report, Jun. 1979.
9.
North. E.R.
'aeport on Acad ••ic/Indu.tri.l Coll.bor.tion in J.pan·. Centra for Indu.trial Innov.tion. Vniv.r.ity of Str.thclyde. May 1979.
10.
Marchant. M.E. -
11.
Cockcroft. J.
·Th. Ora.ni •• tion of .. aearch E.t.bliaheant.·. Caabridge Univ.raity Pr •••• 196~
12.
Edv.rd •• R.S.
·Co-oper.tive Inelu.trial ....arch·. Lond"", Sir haec Pitman & Son. Ltd •• 1950.
446
private coamunication report ina on information provided by T. S.ta.
13.
Report on the 'E •• enti.l Need. for Mechanical Enlineering
14.
Annual Report on the Advi.ory Council on Scientific Policy 1963-64. IIMSO Cal 2538. December 1964.
15.
Co..1ttee of the Enaine.riol Profe.aor.· Confer.nc •• Evidence to rinni.ton 1978 and Furth.r Evidence to Pi",,1oton. 1979.
R•• earch. (the 'Cuy Report') Department of Scientific and Indu.trial R•••• rch. 1947.
APPENDIX A Extr.ct froa U.S. Air Force Report ·Worldvid. Computer Aided Manuf.cturing Survey' - June 1979. a. Ther. are three di.tinct type. of organiz.tion. particip.ting in developing aanuf.cturing technology' government. re ••• rch and indu.try. In thi. triad the aovernment·. primary reapon.ibility i. to co-ordinate aod .pon.or the vork performed by the reaearch aroup. in re.ponae to the need •• tat.d by induatry. A .. jor k.y to .ucee.a ia that e.ch group recognize. and honor. the re.pon.ibiliti •• of the oth.r •• b. A .econd key to aucce.. i. that C.rmany h•• been able to a •• eabl. extr.ordinary center. of aanuf.cturing t.chnology .xperti... To .. int.in • ca.petitive environment .nd yet .void exce'live diaper.ion of re.ourcel. three major center. were
allowed to dev.lop .epar.tely. Theae are a •• oci.ted vith the univer.iti •• of Aachen. B.rlin and Stutt,art and e.ch viII be de.crib.d in more det.il l.ter in thi. aection. Over the year • the cr ... of the college Iraduate. h.ve been collecting in th••• center •• nel the f.cilitiea h.ve expanded to .xtremely large and vell equipped laboratorie.. It i. nov impractic.l for a governmeot or indu.trial group to undert.k•• ny .ignificant re.e.rch entirely •• p.r.te froe the.e l.boratori... On the other h.nd. the re.ponaivenea. of the •• labor.torie. to government and indu.try need. i. k.pt .xtremely k.en by forcing the. to coapet. with each other for funcl •• c. The Bunde.miniat.riua fuar Fora chung und Technologie (BHFT)l ia the primary governaent org.ni •• tion concerned with sanuf.cturing technology. Althouab the Deut.ch. Forachung.gemein.chaft (Drc)2 .ponaor • .uch of tha b•• it r •••• rch and oth.r Bundesainiateriua·. might participate in adv.nced development •• it ia the SMFT that co-ordinat•• ao.t of the work. Funding coma. either dir.ctly from the BMFT or throuah it. r •••• rch arm. the Ge.ell.chaft fuer lemfor.chun, (Gfk)3. Anoth.r import.nt k.y to Geraany· •• ucce •• i. that tbe BMFT not only directly fund. the tbree .. jar r •••• rch center. but al.o often provide. 50% of the fuoda ne.ded by indu.tri.l ,roup' to aponlor reae.rch of th.ir own in thea. c.nter.. Further. if .n induatry i. implementioa • hiab-ri.k CODc.pt from on. of the r •••• rch center •• the BMFT .daht vell b. providina funda for up to 50% of the imple..ntation co.t •• (1) (2) (3)
Fed.r.l Dep.rt..nt for .....rch and T.chnololY German Reae.rch Society AI.ocietioo for Ata.ic ••••• rch