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3 Conclusions and a Recommended Path Forward Chapter 1 discussed how the corrosion of materials, leading to the degradation of their physical properties, is of great concern to society. Chapter 2 focused on the current state of corrosion education and its general shortcomings. The content of those chapters was based on the information elicited from the academic sector by a Web-based questionnaire, information shared at the two town meetings held at pro- fessional society meetings, information gathered informally between meetings, and from information and opinions gathered at the committee’s meetings. This chapter draws some conclusions from the findings in those two chapters, from the informa- tion gathered by the committee at the 2007 National Academies Materials Forum,1 and from the government, industry, and academic panels the committee convened at its meetings during the course of the study (see Appendix E for the relevant agen- das). It discusses the impact of the current situation on the education of the nation’s engineers, on the government and its assets, and on industry and its interests. In this chapter the committee analyzes the degree to which the existing education system has equipped the workforce at all levels to mitigate and minimize corrosion and assesses whether this education is adequate, whether current educational trends are going in the right direction, and whether a different path is needed. It concludes by recommending a path forward, with specific actions recommended for government, industry, academia, and the corrosion science and engineering community. 1 National Research Council, Proceedings of the Materials Forum 2007: Corrosion Education for the 21st Century, Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press (2007). Available at http://books.nap. edu/catalog.php?record_id=11948. Accessed January 2008. 

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assessment c o r ro s i o n e d u c at i o n  of THE IMPORTANCE OF CORROSION EDuCATION Corrosion has been studied by scientists and engineers for about 150 years and remains relevant in almost every aspect of materials usage. As was demonstrated in Chapter 1, corrosion can have a great impact on the safety and reliability of an extremely wide range of articles of commerce, and its financial impact in the United States is very large. Examples of technology areas where corrosion plays an important role include energy production (for example, power plant opera- tion and oil and gas exploration, production, and distribution), transportation (for example, automotive and aerospace applications), biomedical engineering (for example, implants), water distribution and sewerage, electronics (for example, chip wiring and magnetic storage), and nanotechnology. It is reasonable to consider that the increasingly harsh physical environments to which critical systems such as energy production are subjected (one example is nuclear reactors that operate at high temperatures) and the proliferation of new technologies in support of societal goals (for example, the growing use of hydrogen as an auto fuel) may increase the cost of corrosion to society unless mitigating steps are taken. It has been estimated that remedial actions based on a better and more widespread understanding of the corrosion phenomenon could reduce significantly the financial burden of corro- sion to the nation. Although insufficient corrosion education in the engineering profession is not the only reason for the absence of such actions, the committee has concluded that it is a major one. Successful application of corrosion knowledge and understanding could save billions of dollars annually. Teaching engineers the fundamentals of corrosion and corrosion prevention is critical to both mitigating the damage done by corrosion as well as to the competitiveness of the nation’s industries and the effectiveness of its defense. The automotive industry is one example of the value of corrosion awareness in design. The use of galvanized steel body panels and improved paint- ing methods have improved the durability of car exteriors in relation to corrosion. However, the need to save weight has led the automotive industry to consider extensive use of magnesium. This is a paradigm shift that will require extensive advances in corrosion knowledge on the part of manufacturers, their suppliers, and maintenance organizations. An engineering workforce that does not know enough about corrosion will have a difficult time dealing with such paradigm shifts in particular and corrosion problems in general. CONCLuSION 1. Corrosion, or the degradation of a material’s properties as a result of its interaction with the operating environment, plays a critical role in determining the life-cycle performance, safety, and cost of engineered products and systems.

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conclusions recommended Path forward  and a CONCLuSION 2. Advances in corrosion control are integral to the develop- ment of better technologies that make current, legacy, and future engineered products, systems, and infrastructures more sustainable and less vulnerable. Such advances will require corrosion-knowledgeable engineers and an active corrosion research community. CONSEQuENCES OF THE CuRRENT STATE OF CORROSION EDuCATION As discussed earlier in this report, most curricula in engineering design dis- ciplines require engineers to take a course in materials engineering, which typi- cally covers some basics of the relationships between structure, properties, and processing.2 While such a course would make an engineer aware of issues related to materials selection, corrosion, if covered at all, is usually discussed in only one lecture at the end of the course. The concepts related to materials selection in general and corrosion specifically are usually not reinforced in the other parts of the curriculum. As a result, graduating engineers have little understanding of corrosion in metals or how to design against it and even less when it comes to the degradation of nonmetals. Even those with bachelor’s degrees in materials science and engineering (MSE) or related fields such as metallurgy, ceramics engineering, and so on receive little or no education in corrosion science and engineering. Because there is significant pressure on MSE departments to include emerging areas such as nanotechnology and biomaterials, corrosion and other longer established areas of materials engi- neering are losing out. The committee is convinced that advances in the durability and longevity of engineered materials and the savings that will accrue are more likely if engineers understand the fundamental principles of corrosion science and engineering and apply them using best engineering practices. This conviction is based on great opportunities in three areas:3 2ABET, the recognized accreditor for college and university programs in applied science, comput- ing, engineering, and technology, defines engineering design as the process of devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs. It is a decision-making process (often iterative) in which the basic science and mathematics and engineering sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to meet a stated objective. Engineering design disciplines include mechanical engineering, civil engineering, aeronautical and aerospace engineering, and so on. 3 The Corrosion Costs study, carried out in 2001 for the FWHA and NACE International, noted that technological changes have provided many new ways to prevent corrosion and put available corrosion management techniques to better use. However, better corrosion management can also be achieved using technical and nontechnical preventive strategies. For a summary from NACE International, see http://events.nace.org/publicaffairs/images_cocorr/ccsupp.pdf. Accessed October 2008.

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assessment c o r ro s i o n e d u c at i o n  of • Design practices for better corrosion management; • Life prediction and performance assessment methods; and • Improved corrosion technology through research, development, and implementation. Degradation of materials must be anticipated and minimized as much as pos- sible by the proper design, use, and maintenance of materials. Strategies for making technological advances and the development of best practices in the management of materials will depend on • Understanding current design practices for corrosion control; • Utilizing methods for predicting materials life and performance; • Exploiting advanced technologies for the research, development, and imple- mentation of new and better corrosion-resistant systems; and • Developing strategies for realizing savings. The ability of the nation’s technology base to develop these methodologies and technologies depends on an engineering workforce that understands the physical and chemical bases for corrosion as well as the engineering issues surrounding cor- rosion and corrosion abatement. Consider the role of engineering in bridge design and construction. One would not design a bridge without considering fatigue load- ings. Nor should it be designed without considering the continuous degradation of its materials by the environment in which it operates. Both the public and private sectors appreciate the need for engineers who have been taught corrosion engineering so that they can take corrosion into account during design and manufacture. The importance of corrosion education in today’s world continues to increase as the limits of material behavior are stretched to improve the performance of engineered structures and devices. Employers recog- nize the need for employees with competence in corrosion engineering, but as this report reveals they are not finding it in today’s graduating engineers, who have no fundamental knowledge of corrosion engineering and little understanding of the importance of corrosion in engineering design and do not know how to control corrosion in the field. In fact, the problem has become so critical that a principal concern of employers is that those making design decisions don’t know what they don’t know about corrosion. At the very least, it would benefit employers if they required that all engineers making design and materials selection decisions (see Box 1-3) at least know enough about corrosion to understand when to bring in an expert. For the purposes of this report, and as suggested in the charge to the com- mittee, the workforce has been divided into graduating engineers and practicing engineers. The committee found it helpful to conduct its assessment of practicing

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conclusions recommended Path forward 7 and a engineers in terms of the impact of the current system on two sectors: government and industry. graduating Engineers As discussed in Chapter 2 in relation to the so-called corrosion workforce pyramid, the corrosion workforce can be divided into a number of categories relevant to this report. 1. Technologists needed to perform repeated crucial functions, such as paint inspectors and specifiers, and cathodic protection designers and installers. 2. Undergraduate engineering students in MSE who upon graduation should be knowledgeable in materials selection; 3. Undergraduate engineering students in other design and engineering dis- ciplines such as mechanical, civil, chemical, industrial, and aeronautical engineering; and 4. MSE graduate students who upon graduation should be very knowledge- able in materials selection and in some cases will go on to be experts in the field of corrosion. The committee has found that corrosion technologists are often trained through the supervised performance of repeated and predictable corrosion tasks (on-the- job training), in conjunction with short courses and associate degrees offered by a few community colleges. The tasks performed by these corrosion technologists often require implementation of standardized practices. This training generally equips an individual to recognize a fairly well-behaved set of conditions and teaches how he or she would go about selecting the preferred solution. However it does not impart enough understanding so the individual could apply a body of knowledge to a situation he or she had not encountered before. The committee has found that at only a fraction of the MSE departments across the country do undergraduate MSE students take a course with some detailed corrosion content. The availability of such a course depends on faculty interest and expertise and how well corrosion competes with other subjects demanding a slot in the curriculum. In other design and engineering disciplines, undergraduate engineering students typically take one course, a survey course, in materials. But they learn little about materials selection and usually would have attended no more than one or two lectures on corrosion, if that. Whereas graduate engineering students specializing in corrosion get formal training in corrosion, graduate MSE students are typically not required to study it, and a corrosion course is offered only in departments where a faculty member has expertise in corrosion. The drop in U.S. publishing in corrosion science and engi-

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assessment c o r ro s i o n e d u c at i o n  of neering (see Figure 2-7) indicates that research activity in corrosion has declined. The committee speculates, although with some confidence given the consistent anecdotal evidence it received from several quarters, that the decrease in publishing is concomitant with a decrease in the number of faculty with such expertise and, by extension, in the number of those who could teach the subject. It seems this situation is set to continue. According to the evidence the com- mittee heard, many of the highest ranked and most prestigious MSE departments in the country have no interest in creating or maintaining a corrosion research program. If taught at all in such departments, corrosion would be taught either by a faculty member with no intimate knowledge of the field or by someone with expertise in a related area, such as batteries or fuel cells. The committee recognizes that the inclusion of new course material—both required and elective—in engi- neering curricula makes it difficult to also cover topics like materials selection in general and corrosion in particular. CONCLuSION 3. Corrosion engineering education is not a required element of the curriculum of most bachelor’s-level programs in materials science and engineering and related programs. In many programs, corrosion engineer- ing education is not offered. As a result, most engineers graduating from bachelor’s-level materials-related programs have an inadequate background in corrosion. CONCLuSION 4. The bachelor’s-level education of engineers who serve on design teams involves too little detail in corrosion-relevant materials selection and almost no exposure to corrosion education in general. This lack of knowl- edge and awareness ultimately jeopardizes the health, wealth, and security of the country. CONCLuSION 5. Undergraduate and graduate education in the field of corrosion engineering requires an adequately funded university research community. Practicing Engineers in government and Industry The lack of exposure to corrosion engineering principles and practices in their educational experience is a serious flaw in the training of many practicing materials engineers and design engineers. It appears to the committee that government agen- cies are particularly lacking in in-house corrosion experts. This is partly because such agencies believe they can outsource the search for the solution of a corrosion prob- lem to external consultants and partly because they feel they cannot find corrosion

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conclusions recommended Path forward  and a experts to hire. For many of the same reasons, industry often ignores corrosion until a major problem occurs. Smaller companies tend to rely on vendor information. Most companies have few corrosion experts. They prefer to hire people with broad rather than specialized backgrounds and provide in-house training in corrosion. If there is no in-house experience, companies will outsource problems to consultants or to the vendors. As trained corrosion engineers retire, the committee is concerned there will be a shortage of trained people to hire as replacements. The implementation of effective corrosion prevention strategies requires an educated workforce of practicing engineers. In the context of this report’s con- sideration of the current state of affairs in corrosion education, it is important to understand the needs of the government agencies—the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers, and others—whether those needs are being met, and, if not, how the gaps in workforce understanding can be addressed. Current Workforce What does the community of practicing corrosion engineers look like? Accord- ing to a survey of the U.S. membership of NACE International, a majority of self-identified corrosion engineers have a background in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, or materials science (Figure 3-1). A NACE International survey of its membership (Figure 3-2) shows that most members function as engineers, managers, technologists, sales and marketing professionals, research scientists, or consultants. Only 34 percent have more than a bachelor’s degree. More than one-half (54 percent) of corrosion protection practitioners have not taken a course in corrosion during their formal education. A large number (45 percent) began employment at the technician level before moving into the field of corrosion control. A large number (44 percent) of the active practitioners plan to retire or move to another field in the next 10 years. Close to one-half (48 percent) of the respondents think their position will be filled by someone with similar credentials and experience, and a large number (42 percent) said that their companies require a 4-year degree for the position they are currently occupying. Three-quarters of the respondents were between 41 and 65 years old, with 41 percent between the ages of 51 and 65 (Figure 3-3). Over half the current workforce has no formal educa- tion in corrosion and 90 percent of respondents think the corrosion education of current graduates is fair or poor (Figure 3-4).4 4 The University of Akron survey of employers found that three-quarters of respondents saw “a shortage of qualified job candidates with corrosion engineering skill sets.” In the same survey, two- thirds of respondents thought that engineering graduates are “not equipped with an acceptable level of understanding when it comes to the effects and management of corrosion.”

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assessment c o r ro s i o n e d u c at i o n 70 of Mechanical Materials Chemistry Civil Physics engineering science engineering Chemical Electrical Other Coating engineering engineering science FIGURE 3-1 Make-up of the corrosion Figure 3-1.eps The survey asked for the educational community by field. specialization of staff hired for corrosion engineering positions (more than one answer was allowed, bitmap image with mask & type corrections on third bottom label so the total exceeds 100 percent). SOURCE: Copyright 2008 Eduventures, Inc. Copyright 2008 the University of Akron. All rights reserved. Research conducted by Eduventures under contract for the University of Akron. As to whether there is continuing demand for corrosion graduates, a recent article and some information gathered by the committee indicate that the demand for corrosion professionals remains strong. The committee did an on-line search for engineer jobs on two popular career Web sites (Table 3-1). The search showed that there is a healthy demand for corrosion professionals. More compelling data were gathered for a recent report published in Materials Performance.5 The article reports that the NACE career center received 168 job postings between January 1, 2007, and October 24, 2007, up from 162 job postings in the whole of 2006. Cor- rosion positions in the engineering category accounted for 30 percent of the job postings, followed by technician (20 percent), inspector (10 percent), management (8 percent), research (8 percent), sales/marketing (5 percent), and “all other cat- egories” (19 percent). About 28 percent of the jobs posted were located in Texas. CorrosionJobs.com received between 75 and 100 job listings annually, with corro- sion technicians being the most sought after on that site, followed by specialists, engineers, project managers, and researchers. About half of the listings on that site 5 kathy Riggs Larsen, “Wanted: Corrosion Professionals,” Materials Performance, December 2007.

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conclusions recommended Path forward 71 and a Primary Job Function 1% 0% Engineer 1% 2% 0% Management 1% 2% Technician/Technologist 3% 25% 6% Sales/Marketing Inspector 8% Scientific Research Consultant Contractor Professor 8% Maintenance Other 18% Chemist 10% Retired 15% Designer Purchasing Education Level 5% 3% 9% Bachelor’s Degree 42% High School Master’s Degree 17% Associate Degree Other Doctoral Degree 24% FIGURE 3-2 Results of NACE survey of its membership. SOURCE: Aziz Asphahani and Helena Seelinger, NACE Foundation, “The Need for Corrosion Education,” Presentation at the Materials Forum 2007: Corrosion Education for the 21st Century. Figure 3-2(lower&upper).eps

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assessment c o r ro s i o n e d u c at i o n 72 of 35.0 30.0 25.0 20.0 Percent 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 Prefer not to share 76 and higher Under 20 71-75 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-65 20-30 66-70 FIGURE 3-3 Age distribution of NACE International membership. The number of respondents was 1,595. SOURCE: Aziz Asphahani and Helena Seelinger, NACE Foundation, “The Need for Corrosion Education,” Presentation at the Materials Forum 2007:3-3.eps Figure Corrosion Education for the 21st Century. come from service companies, 40 percent from pipeline and operating companies, and roughly 5 percent from state transportation departments. Service companies in Houston, Texas, accounted for 30-40 percent of the employers. Goernment The committee heard from a panel of government representatives (the gov- ernment agencies and their representatives, along with other agenda details of the committee’s meetings, are listed in Appendix E). Based on these discussions, private informal data gathering by committee members during the course of the study, and the committee’s own experience, there are a number of important findings.

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conclusions recommended Path forward 7 and a 60 50 40 Percent 30 20 10 0 No Yes, in high Yes, in Yes, at a Yes, in an school community university apprenticeship college or vocational training 50 45 40 35 30 Percent 25 20 15 10 5 0 Excellent Good Fair Poor FIGURE 3-4 Upper: Educational background of current corrosion workforce. The question asked was, Did you take “corrosion courses” in your formal education, including courses on corrosion preven- tion technologies? (check all that FigureThe number of respondents was 2,396. Lower: Opinions apply). 3-4(lower&upper).eps on the education of recent graduates. The question was, When hiring recent engineering graduates, how would you rate their knowledge of corrosion-related topics? The number of respondents was 41. SOURCE: Aziz Asphahani and Helena Seelinger, NACE Foundation, “The Need for Corrosion Education,” Presentation at the Materials Forum 2007: Corrosion Education for the 21st Century.

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assessment c o r ro s i o n e d u c at i o n  of • Industry and federal government agencies, such as DOD’s Office of Corro- sion Policy and Oversight, the NSF, and the Department of Energy (DOE), should help develop a foundational corps of corrosion faculty by supporting research and development in the field of corrosion science and engineering. Such support could include the establishment of centers of expertise at key universities or in consortia of universities. • Industry and federal government agencies, such as DOD’s Office of Cor- rosion Policy and Oversight, should give universities incentives, such as endowed chairs in corrosion control, to promote their hiring of corrosion experts. The new DOD Faculty Fellowship follows this model. • The DOD Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight and NSF should sup- port faculty development by facilitating their participation in research internships, short courses, and conferences. • Industry and government agencies should partner with MSE and engi- neering departments to offer corrosion-related internships and sabbatical opportunities for students and faculty, respectively. • Industry and federal government agencies, such as DOD, NSF, and DOE, should support graduate fellowships in corrosion engineering. As part of this effort, the DOD Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight should estab- lish a research support program equivalent to NSF educational experience programs, whereby a block grant awarded to an MSE or engineering depart- ment would fund some graduate students in the corrosion subspecialty. • Federal government agencies, such as DOD’s Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight and DOE, should fund cooperative programs between uni- versity engineering and MSE departments and government laboratories to facilitate the graduate student research experience. • Professional societies, such as NACE International and TMS, and government-supported materials research centers, such as NSF’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Research Centers, should develop and provide materials for MSE and engineering departments that do not offer courses on corrosion engineering or do not have instructors with the relevant expertise. These educational modules would help nonexperts to deliver effective corrosion education. Such modules should be geared toward different areas of engineering—for example, biomedical, chemical, civil, mechanical, nuclear, and electrical engineering—and should include Web-based classes, problems, and case studies. • Federal government agencies, such as DOD’s Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight and NSF, should fund the development of educational modules, including case studies and capstone courses, for use at community colleges and by university MSE and other engineering departments. • Industry and government agencies should increase support for their engi-

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conclusions recommended Path forward  and a neers to participate in short courses when specific skills shortages are iden- tified and need to be remedied in a short time. These efforts will improve the knowledge and awareness of corrosion control on the part of practicing engineers and minimize their need for on-the-job training. • The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, with appropriate input from the professional societies, should tighten the requirement for corrosion in exams to certify professional engineers. To the University and Education Sector • Engineering departments in universities should incorporate electives and course work on corrosion into all engineering curricula. Improving the overall awareness of corrosion control will require that more engineers have basic exposure to corrosion, at least enough to “know what they don’t know.” • MSE departments in the universities should set required learning outcomes for corrosion into their curricula. All MSE undergraduate students should be required to take a course in corrosion control so as to improve the cor- rosion knowledge of graduating materials engineers. • Community colleges should add learning outcomes courses on corrosion engineering at the associate’s level to provide technologists with a more specialized (industry- or application-specific) knowledge of corrosion. • MSE and engineering departments at universities should provide continu- ing education in corrosion for practicing engineers. • MSE and engineering departments in universities should provide the faculty to teach corrosion. To identify faculty with the appropriate expertise when no corrosion experts are on staff, departments should consider faculty who are expert in areas such as batteries and fuel cells, surface science, condensed matter physics, nanotechnology, and electrodeposition. The departments should also support participation in faculty development programs aimed at increasing the teaching capacity in corrosion. • MSE departments at universities offering a required course in corrosion should ensure that they can continue to teach corrosion by hiring new faculty to replace retiring faculty who are experts in corrosion. • MSE and engineering departments should partner with industry to create industry-guided capstone design courses for undergraduate engineers. In Matrix Format The tactical recommendations have just been listed by stakeholder or actor. Table 3-3 summarizes them in another way, as a matrix of recommended actions.

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assessment c o r ro s i o n e d u c at i o n  of TABLE 3-3 Matrix of Recommended Actions Faculty Curricula and Development Pedagogy Industry Should provide incentives Should partner with universities to to the universities, such as create industry-guided capstone endowed chairs in corrosion design for corrosion courses for control, to promote their hiring undergraduate engineering students. of corrosion experts. Should strengthen the provision of Should partner with corrosion courses by disseminating universities to offer corrosion- skills sets for corrosion technologists related sabbatical opportunities and engineers. for faculty. Should partner with universities to offer corrosion-related internships for students. Federal Should provide incentives Should strengthen the provision of government to the universities, such as corrosion courses by publishing and endowed chairs in corrosion publicizing skills sets for corrosion control, to promote their hiring technologists and engineers. of corrosion experts. Government-supported research Should support faculty centers, such as those funded by development, including DOE and NSF, should develop and participation in research provide materials for MSE and internships, short courses, and engineering departments that do conferences. not offer courses on corrosion engineering or do not have instructors with relevant expertise.

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conclusions recommended Path forward 7 and a Teaching and Research and Student Support Development Workforce Development Should support graduate Should help develop a Should increase support for the student fellowships in foundational corps of participation of their engineers in short corrosion engineering. corrosion faculty by courses. supporting research and development in the field of corrosion science and engineering. Should support graduate Should help develop a Should increase support for the student fellowships in foundational corps of participation of their engineers in short corrosion engineering by corrosion faculty by courses. establishing block grants to supporting research and fund a number of graduate development in the field students in the corrosion of corrosion science and subspecialty. engineering. Should fund cooperative programs between universities and government laboratories to facilitate the graduate student research experience. Should fund the development of educational modules—including case studies and capstone courses—for use by faculty at community colleges and university. continues

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assessment c o r ro s i o n e d u c at i o n  of TABLE 3-3 Continued Faculty Curricula and Development Pedagogy University MSE Should support participation in Should adopt required learning departments faculty development programs outcomes for corrosion in aimed at increasing the undergraduate curricula. teaching capacity in corrosion. Should require all MSE Should ensure adequate undergraduate students to take a faculty and educational course in corrosion control. facilities are available to teach future corrosion experts by hiring new faculty and Should partner with industry to replacing retiring faculty who create industry-guided capstone are experts in corrosion. design for corrosion courses for undergraduate engineering students. University Should adopt elective learning engineering outcomes for corrosion in departments undergraduate curricula. Engineering departments should incorporate a corrosion course into all engineering curricula as an elective. Should partner with industry to create industry-guided capstone design for corrosion courses for undergraduate engineering students. Professional Professional societies should develop societies and provide materials for MSE and engineering departments that currently do not include courses on corrosion engineering or do not have instructors with relevant expertise. Community Should adopt learning outcomes on college corrosion in curricula for associates. Should add courses on corrosion engineering at the associates-degree level to provide technologists with better specialized (industry- or application-specific) corrosion knowledge.

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conclusions recommended Path forward  and a Teaching and Research and Student Support Development Workforce Development Should provide corrosion continuing education courses for practicing engineers. Should provide the faculty Should provide corrosion continuing to teach corrosion. To education courses for practicing identify faculty with the engineers. expertise to provide corrosion instruction when no corrosion experts are on staff, departments should consider faculty who are expert in areas such as batteries and fuel cells, surface science, condensed matter physics, nanotechnology, and electrodeposition. The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, with appropriate input from the professional societies, should tighten the requirement for corrosion in the relevant exams to certify professional engineers.

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assessment c o r ro s i o n e d u c at i o n 0 of By Educational Goal The committee also has broken down its tactical recommendations and looked at them yet another way—namely, as strategies for improving the education of (1) technologists, (2) non-MSE bachelor’s-level engineering graduates, (3) MSE bachelor’s-level graduates, (4) practicing engineers with bachelor’s degrees, and (5) master’s-level or Ph.D. students. Each strategy identifies actors, actions, and goals as appropriate. Technologists To provide technologists with better specialized (industry- or application- specific) knowledge, • Community colleges should add courses on corrosion engineering at the associates degree level. • Industry and government agencies, such as DOD, the Army Corps of Engi- neers, and the Bureau of Reclamation, should help to increase the avail- ability of such courses by disseminating the skills sets needed by corrosion technologists. The skills sets should be tied to actual case histories. Such an ongoing effort would enable the setting and periodic updating of learning outcomes for such technologists. • Industry should support corrosion technology programs at community colleges by providing internship opportunities. • The federal government should fund the development of corrosion control educational modules for use by faculty at community colleges. • Professional societies should provide corrosion technical courses and cer- tification support. Non-MSE, Bachelor’s-Level Engineering Graduates To improve the overall awareness of corrosion control among all graduating engineers, so that all engineers have a basic exposure to corrosion, enough to “know what they don’t know,” • Engineering departments in universities should incorporate a corrosion course into all engineering curricula as an elective. • Industry and government agencies, such as DOD, the Army Corps of Engi- neers, and the Bureau of Reclamation, should help to increase the avail- ability of such courses by disseminating skills sets for non-MSE engineers. The skills sets should be tied to actual case histories. Such an ongoing effort

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conclusions recommended Path forward 1 and a would enable the setting and periodic updating of learning outcomes for corrosion-aware engineers. • The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, with appropriate input from the professional societies, should tighten the require- ment for corrosion in exams to certify professional engineers. • Industry and government should partner with university programs to offer corrosion-related internships and sabbatical opportunities for students and faculty, respectively. • DOD and the NSF should provide financial support to university faculty who wish to attend short or summer courses to improve their ability to teach corrosion. • Universities should offer and support their staff ’s participation in faculty development programs aimed at increasing the capacity to teach corrosion in their engineering departments. • Professional societies, such as NACE International and TMS, and government-supported materials research centers, such as NSF’s Materi- als Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs), should provide supplementary course material for engineering curricula that currently do not cover corrosion and for engineering departments that do not have instructors with relevant expertise, by developing educational modules to assist nonexperts in delivering effective corrosion education. Such modules should be geared to different areas of engineering—for example, biomedi- cal, chemical, civil, mechanical, nuclear, and electrical engineering—and should include Web-based classes, problems, and case studies. • DOD and NSF should support the strengthening of corrosion engineer- ing education in engineering departments by funding the development of educational modules, case studies, and capstone courses. • Engineering departments in universities should also supply the faculty to teach corrosion. To identify faculty with the expertise to do that, pro- grams should consider faculty who are expert in areas such as batteries and fuel cells, surface science, condensed matter physics, nanotechnology, and electrodeposition. MSE Bachelor’s-Level Graduates To improve the corrosion knowledge of graduating materials engineers, • MSE departments in the universities should require all MSE students to take a course in corrosion control. • Industry and government agencies, such as DOD, the Army Corps of Engi- neers, and the Bureau of Reclamation, should help to increase the avail-

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assessment c o r ro s i o n e d u c at i o n 2 of ability of such courses by publishing skills sets for MSE engineers. The skills sets should be tied to actual case histories. Such an ongoing effort would enable the setting and periodic updating of learning outcomes for corrosion-knowledgeable materials engineers. • Industry should partner with MSE departments to create industry-guided capstone design courses. • DOD and the NSF should support the strengthening of education in cor- rosion for materials engineers by funding faculty development, the devel- opment and provision of teaching materials, and supporting fellowships. Faculty development should include participation in research internships, short courses, and conferences. • Professional societies, such as NACE International and TMS, and govern- ment-supported materials research centers, such as NSF’s MRSECs, should develop and provide materials for MSE curricula that currently do not cover corrosion engineering and for MSE departments that do not have instructors with relevant expertise. These educational modules would assist nonexperts in delivering effective corrosion education to MSE students. • MSE departments in universities should also provide the faculty to teach corrosion. To identify faculty with the expertise to provide corrosion instruction, programs should look for faculty who are expert in areas such as batteries and fuel cells, surface science, condensed matter physics, nano- technology, and electrodeposition. • Industry and government should partner with university programs through corrosion-related internships and sabbatical opportunities for students and faculty, respectively. Practicing Engineers with Bachelor’s Degrees To improve the knowledge and awareness of corrosion control among prac- ticing engineers and to minimize their need for on-the-job training, • MSE departments at universities and technical professional societies, such as NACE and TMS, should provide corrosion courses for working professionals. • Industry and government agencies, such as DOD, the Army Corps of Engi- neers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and others, should help to increase the availability of such courses by publishing descriptions of corrosion-related skills needed by the engineers in their workforce. The skills sets should be tied to actual case histories. Such an ongoing effort would enable the setting and periodic updating of learning outcomes for targeted short courses. • Industry and government should support the participation of their engi-

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conclusions recommended Path forward  and a neers in short courses when specific skills shortages are identified and must be filled in the short term. Graduate Engineering Students To increase the availability of corrosion expertise, • MSE and engineering departments at universities should ensure that adequate faculty and educational facilities are available to teach future corrosion experts by hiring new faculty to replace retiring faculty who are experts in corrosion. • Industry and federal government agencies, such as DOD, NSF, and DOE, should help develop a foundational corps of corrosion faculty by support- ing research and development in corrosion science and engineering. Such support should include graduate fellowships and could include the devel- opment of Centers of Expertise (COEs) at key universities or in consortia of universities. • Federal government agencies, such as DOD and DOE, should fund coopera- tive programs between universities and government laboratories to facili- tate graduate student experience. • Industry and the federal government agencies, such as DOD’s Office of Corrosion Control, should provide incentives to the universities, such as endowed chairs, to promote their hiring of corrosion experts. The new DOD Faculty Fellowship follows this model. • The DOD Office of Corrosion Control should establish a research support program equivalent to an NSF educational experience, whereby a block grant is awarded to fund a number of graduate students in the corrosion subspecialty at a university.

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