University of Missouri College of Engineering - Shamrock Yearbook (Columbia, MO)

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1 V , l , ACTIVITIES Editorials THE Poss IBILITIES OF AN ENGINEERING EDUCATION DEAN E. J. RICCAUSTLAND AMROCK I said, In spitenof the general industrial depression attendance is normal and the qualifications of the students quite up to the previous standards. No special difiiculty was experienced last spring in finding places for our graduates in spite of the business and industrial depression at that time well under way and threatening even more depressed levels. In the 1931 SH This year, the industrial depression continuing, attendance is somewhat less but the quality of the student body is fully up to what we are pleased to call our standard. Considerable difficulty was experienced in June, 1931, in finding places for our graduates and even at the beginning of the present calendar year some are still without employment. The prediction of more depressed levels has been fully realized but there is no evidence of discouragement. .The college and its graduates have faith in the future and hope that out of the experience of the Fall of 1929 Ameri ' d can in ustry and the American people will insist on recasting the industrial system in a manner to avoid entirely or to materially reduce such wide fluctuations ' tl in ie demands for the products of industry. We are, as never before, in intense industrial competition with the whole civilized world. We have exploited our own natural resources to the limit of their possibilities and are now suddenly confronted with the fact that the late unprecedented era of prosperity was not so much due to our industrial wisdom as to the extent of our natural resources which were freely bestowed upon honest citizen and exploiter alike. Our industrial leaders are now in a more sober and less selfish state of mind and have even suggested possible means of improving the situation by schemes which only a few years ago would be characterized as bolshevistic, communistic or out- rageously paternal. The public mind is now more teachable in reference to industrial problems, and students in engineering are profiting by the increased interest in industrial development and the wider vision of its possibilities. The College provides oppor- tunity for special study in this field not only by requiring courses in economics but in providing special courses in the more intimat fi ld f e e of business relations under the direction of Professor Rubey. I 1 11 1111 I ISHAMIROCK iw ..,....y. .. I ...... 1 ..... ......... ......... I .III ..... I I I III III IIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I II IIIIIIII WJ I I Q I -451

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A COLLEGE EDUCATION-WHAT IS IT? To be at home in all lands and agesg to count nature a familiar acquaintance and art an intimate friendg to gain a standard for the appreciation of other men's work and the criticism of your owng to carry the keys of the world's library in your pocket, and feel its re- sources behind you in whatever you undertakeg to make hosts of friends among the men of your own age who are to be leaders in all Walks of life 3 to lose yourself in generous enthusiasms and cooperate with others for common ends-this is the offer of the college for the best four years of your life. -WILLIAM DEWITT HYDE.

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Z.,..l. 1 uma., ., 1, , is .ii it-Hui. uiwmuuwmmuuuumuummmu-Hummuwmiumunumui Hi i i H Hi H i H H H HHIH 1 H D E P R E S S I O N PROFESSOR HARRY K. RUBEY The assumption that this is a bad time to graduate and to begin a career is probably fallacious. ' 1 Operating efliciencies and management are now necessarily better than in pros- perous times and the sound and rigorous training of the newly graduated engineer will 'pay dividends in the long run. Industry expands more rapidly immediately following a deflation than at any other time and engineers in a growing organization are forced upward by the newer employees who must enter at the bottom. This was evident after the panic of 1907. Considerable data indicate that mend who- reach the top generally enter their lifefwork immediately and do not change from one thing to another to try them out. P, A, temporary connection to tide over the depression may be a bread and butter necessity and is certainly better than nothing, yet you should not drift into it without a determined effort to secure your chosen occupation. Doubtless the entering salary must receive less consideration than is normally accorded it. ' .N .-All of this suggests that you should decide what you want to do and what you are iitted to do-then go after the permanent connection immediately. Postpone- ment seldom improves such a decision. Many older men are as undecided as are you. Although suitable openings are scarce, they do exist and carry with them un- usual opportunities for ultimate success. Engineers now enter a great variety of occupations and it is possible that you are considering too narrow a Held of ac- tivity. THE ENGINEERING METHOD PROFESSOR R. VV. SELVIDGE K The engineer is a practical man of science. He must be familiar with 'the fundamental principles of many branches of science and know how to apply them in the solution of his problems. This involves the engineering method of procedure which should be an established habit with him. . VVS are told that the scientific method of procedure involves three principal factors: 'reasonable generalizations from specific experimental data, conducting ex- periments to determine the correctness of an hypothesis, and applying general prin- ciples to a concrete situation. These probably represent the principal steps in the procedure of the research student, but the engineer's approach to his problems involves much more than this. . HvnlmmI..IHmimimmmimlum mminlmuimuummummm1ii-.Hanuvmummmmmmmnmm Iummnmmimmmu mnmmnq B'-1-.nn -.imHmlmmunmml 11IiiIif.mmin.mumlm..lmmimmnmHmmmi1-Hmmunmuun Imummuuummmu numum-L -4 6+