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The Corrosion /
Corrosion Monitoring Professional ... Yesterday
and Tomorrow 
"... the future is
not what it used to be"
(attributed to Paul Valery)
"The winds and waves are
always on the side of the ablest navigators"
(Edward Gibbon)
Much has been written about the rapidly changing and uncertain workplace
for corrosion professionals in the modern world. In fact it has been said that the only
certainty is that the rate of change will continue to accelerate even more. While
technological competence is always the foundation of a technical career, increasingly it
alone is viewed as insufficient for a high degree of career success. Below is a
listing contrasting the corrosion professional of yesterday and tomorrow (selected
observations/opinions, certainly not applicable to all situations).
The concepts shown have mostly originated from various references,
some pertaining to the broader engineering community foreseen for the 21st
century. Significant corrosion monitoring business opportunities are available,
provided an understanding of why corrosion monitoring is relevant
can be communicated! |
Click on image to enlarge
| Yesterday |
Today and Tomorrow |
| Job for life, company manages career destiny |
More opportunistic, contract workers and consultants, manages own career
destiny |
| Static |
Dynamic, rapidly changing |
| Reactive |
Pro-active |
| Find and fix corrosion |
Anticipate, inspect intelligently, evaluate, fix intelligently,
re-evaluate |
| Diagnosis (understand what is happening) |
Diagnosis and prognosis (understand what is happening and what is likely
to happen in the future) |
| Problem solver |
Problem finder and solver |
| Specialist |
Multi-disciplinary, team builder |
| Local, national, within boundaries |
Global, international, few boundaries |
| Faced with national competition |
Faced with national and international (global) competition |
| Building the infrastructure |
Maintaining and revitalizing the decaying infrastructure |
| Technical skills |
Technical and Soft Skills |
| Technology |
Technology with high emphasis on environmental issues, public
responsibility and sustainable technologies |
| Paper-based information systems |
Paper-based and digital (computerized) information systems |
| "Business" |
"Business" and E-Business |
| Budget conscious (mainly money) |
Highly budget conscious (both money and time budgets) |
| Relatively low litigation risk |
Highly litigious society |
| Increasing complexity of systems and processes |
Pressure to simplify (modular approach) for cost savings,
time savings, robustness and ease of maintenance |
| Well-defined design life, with replacement at end of pre-defined life |
Press into service for as long as possible |
| Highly relevant |
Highly relevant (but not always appreciated) |
| According to the Globe and Mail, Professor Del Fredlund
(former Dean of Civil Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan) has suggested that
most engineers have a melancholic temperament. Positive
characteristics of this temperament include being analytical, perfectionist,
idealistic and self sacrificing.
Limitations may include skepticism, being "hard to please"
and a tendency to work in isolation.
Some engineers may have noticed that their bosses (managers) lean more to the choleric
temperament, with optimistic, strong-willed, confident and "highly active"
personality traits.
Source: The Globe and Mail; August 6, 2001 (Managing Section) |
Updated February 22, 2005
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References/Literature:
S. Farthing: "Corrosion control benefits from companies using value
analysis", Pipe Line and Gas Industry, June 2000.
President's Message by Gus Gaynor: "Attributes of the 21st Century
Engineer", Engineering Management Newsletter, IEEE Vol.46, No.4, 1996, pp.3-4.
J Wood (Dean of Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham): Outlook
- September 2000, on the changing image of today's engineer.
F. Ansari: "Department Head's Message", Department of Civil and
Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2000 (published on this
Department's web site).
M. Bengtsson: "Condition Based Maintenance System Technology - Where
is Development Heading?", Euromaintenance 2004, Proc. Conf., Barcelona, 11-13 May
2004.
Links:
Today's Engineer (IEEE)
www.todaysengineer.org
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