(Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - 07:32 am: |    |
101020
A-HA! THE TRUTH IS LOOSE IN THE WORLD
by Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI CDT
Cincinnati, OH
“I often believe that many problems could be solved quickly if only
we knew about more of the countless products available.”
-Sheldon Wolfe, FCSI, CCS
To me, this quote is quite true and very insightful. It also may be a practical impossibility! Take any discussion board, blog, or other exchange of information and you will find that each partisan has a slightly different “take” on things, and quite often a whole different array of products. We, of course, suffer from the “American way” where mere competition is to produce the same product, differently!
Sounds silly, but really, aren’t many products slight variations of others? Isn’t that the dilemma we are in every work day? We don’t “or equal" anymore, because there are no equals per se; every similar item is in some way different from any other-- to build a competitive edge!
In that effort, a portion of us may know the full extent, but more than likely the majority of us know about different litanies of products [but short of all of them] that are suitable, comparable and “the same”. Of course, the more products you know [other than merely their names] the better you can compare and select the better, more appropriate product for your project circumstances. Would think this makes you a better specifications writer, architect or engineer-- a better tender to your clientele!
One question-- how and where did you acquire your level of product information, data, comparative points, etc.? Was this, per chance] contained in some sort of “construction materials” course in some educational format? Does that course still exist in the same forum today? In a closely allied course?
Over time, how did you augment your depth and breadth of such information? Indeed, how you continue that even today? Certainly not by formal structured education [lunch and learns don’t count; neither do “read this article and answer 10 questions"]. What is the well of information you go to, often, to seek new or additional information?
The point I’m driving at, is that the various types and levels of schools and college, these days, have either purged that fundamental materials course, or have minimized it or mixed it with other things so the least amount of information is presented. There seems to be a widely held opinion that such instruction is not needed-- WHAT???? One curriculum I taught had the abundance of design/theory courses, friction loss in plumbing pipes and mechanical equipment [including elevators] but no instruction on basic construction materials like concrete, brick/masonry wood , steel, etc. How does one justify that? Maybe you can pick-up jive or rap on the street corner, but I don’t think you’ll find any construction talk there nor in all-too-many schools-- if not there, WHERE?
Community colleges may offer more of such courses, but they need toprocess transferable credits, and develop allied, working associations with the colleges, or some part of the registration process, so their work in this area is legitimized, creditable and acceptable/required. It cannot merely stand alone, available only to other students in their facilities, and remote to the point where it can do the most good for the students elsewhere and within the professional offices itself!
Carrying shingles for uncle-roofer, selling paint at Wal-Mart, or driving materials to various sites is NOT the way to gain useful knowledge of the materials or their working attributes. Knowing a brick is not a block is fine, but that is like claiming to be a doctor because you have a tongue depressor! It is hard to understand why we continue to shy away from and ignore this situation. You cannot merely insert “architecture” graduates into an office situation, make them negotiate the IDP, educate themselves by non-directional osmosis and hope to improve them or the profession.
Fundamentals always will be just that-- fundamentals-- and they will ALWAYS be needed as the root system that feeds and supports the career of the individual and the overall purpose and production of the profession. Architecture along with being fodder for slick mags, also is part of manuals, catalogs, texts, samples, lunch-and learns and formal basic instruction! Better solutions, in less time would seem to have some relationship to the possibility of higher profits, stemming from better, higher quality document production-- and yielding better projects! |
4specs.com Home Page