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The following comments were provided during the first survey on making the Portrait of a Corrosion Engineer. They have been organized by corrosion experience levels of the participants.
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Highly interdisciplinary education is needed. Primary graduation should form a basis for further continuing education. Also environmental issues and information technology should be considered.
Very few classes were offered in any type of corrosion.Corrosion was not covered at all in the materials classes I took.
Education at universities tends to focus too tightly on the students project - ignoring the big picture.More time needs to be spent educating students on real world problems - showing them how to apply what they have learned, so that they can "hit the ground running" when they get into the real world.Once in the field, periodic attendance of one of the many corrosion courses offered to industry is essential - helps keep you aware of what's out there in terms of techniques and technology (you can't hope to learn/keep track of everything on your own!
Self-education would appear to be a critical component of the process, due to the wide range of sciences involved.
There are not enough courses being offered for corrosion engineering education.However there is also a large number of literatures and it depends on self-motivation and related experiences.
I have found that corrosion is more the result of chemical and electrochemical interactions with the service environment than necessarily with the materials selected.The materials engineers I have worked with have an outstanding understanding of the manufacture of alloys, but not necessarily a good understanding of the effects of chemical attack and degradation on materials post-manufacture.
Most metallurgical programs do not include electrochemistry - a must for a corrosion engineer.Chemical Engineers with some metallurgy classes would likely be the best equipped directly out of school.
Understanding fundamental origins of corrosion, the electrochemical basis for much of it as well as how and why standard tests are designed is critical.Encyclopedic knowledge of facts available in databases is of less importance.
Practical cases should always be treated in terms of fundamental knowledge of the metal/electrolyte interface
Cross and Multi-disciplinary training should be provided.
A corrosion engineer should have basic knowledge about the corrosion/degradation processes, electrochemistry, metals, plastics, composite materials, failure analysis, mechanical properties and more.
Coursework should be strong on chemistry with good support in math and engineering.If you have an aptitude for those three disciplines, you have the makings of a good corrosion engineer.
They should spend some time (e.g. 6 months) with experienced corrosion people in every day life, as to get the taste of real life problems.
It is harder to learn corrosion engineering than going in the field under 45°C.
Corrosion crosses so very many disciplines that the education process should come from a materials engineering area.If we include a broad definition of corrosion, from the Latin to eat away by rodents, we should include many non-metallic degradation processes in addition to metals.
I believe courses such as NACE offers are more necessary than college degrees. Very few universities actually teach corrosion.
Have them study failure of different materials under widely different industrial environments.In addition, make them aware of the currently available materials/coatings etc. to combat corrosion.
Education for corrosion engineers should begin at the university level.
Need extra training beyond original degree.
Inputs regarding process parameters & materials selection are important for troubleshooting.
Corrosion engineering is a balance of technical, financial, environmental and other issues.It impacts on design, construction, operations and maintenance. Post graduate corrosion engineering qualifications, life long learning and most importantly COMMON SENSE are critical.
Academic qualifications only provide a 'taste' for corrosion.Practical experience gained from those with years of practical work experience and a vast array of scenarios is where real learning comes from.
On the job mentoring is extremely important
Everything I learned about corrosion engineering in a "formal" setting I learned in kindergarten.Respect others (work, experience, opinions, etc.), do not assume, apply yourself to the best of your abilities, and never be afraid to ask questions.
A corrosion engineer needs a broad background.When dealing with coatings, knowledge of chemistry is helpful.When dealing with CP, knowledge of electrical engineering is helpful.Material selection and high temperature corrosion is best left to metallurgists.MIC is certainly a biological process.All corrosion engineers deal with life cycle costs and risk.
Corrosion is multidisciplinary so a CE, needs to know materials, Chem. Eng, Mech. Eng, some chemistry a bit of electricity and electronics and so, It is not easy to become a Corr. Eng in full.
It's easier to teach elements of metallurgy and materials to a chemist or chemical engineer than chemistry (especially organic chemistry) to a metallurgist or metallurgical engineer (No offense!)
When I started, some 30 years ago, a good foundation in High School Chemistry and Perhaps training in electricity was all that was needed. However, with today’s' metals, new environments and means of corrosion control, a minimum of a Bachelors in chemical engineering is the basic level of education needed.
Learn to think! Look at problems from both sides; maybe the first solution will cause more problems.
In addition to courses in physical chemistry the corrosion engineer should also take courses in metallurgy and engineering economics.
A solid background in chemistry is needed.A degree in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering for a person who wants to start as a corrosionist is probably overkill, a person would miss many facets which are not covered in these courses and would learn many things that would be superfluous, although valuable.
I suggest you look in Materials Performance, October 1991, p 68- 70.The staff of MP asked several people, including myself a similar question.The answers may be of value to you. My opinion is stated fully in that article. (Bert Krisher)
Two factors are of great importance - a sound educational background followed by experience, preferably with an experienced scientist.
Provide a sound theoretical base upon which to build experience and exposure to as many varied situations as possible. Provide avenues for gaining experience and familiarity with standard and newer analytical techniques. Avoid the tendency to reject older approaches as being "old hat" in favor of new technologies which provide lots of data but little in the way of answers.
a) It never stops b) The wider the student's education, the more useful it is; c) The field itself, corrosion engineering, is diverse and no one could be accomplished in more than a small portion.
Hands-on practical training is the only way to go after finishing up the formal education, then move towards certification and a PE
I have known very qualified corrosion engineers with a variety of education.When I started, education was obtained by experience. Nowadays, materials engineering, metallurgical engineering and even corrosion engineering is available at several universities.
In addition to the Chem. Eng degree, corrosion engineers need specialized; training in corrosion chemistry, electrochemistry, microbiology,
cathodic protection, paints and coatings and equipment design to minimize; corrosion.(I wish I had all that)
From my own point of view working in CPI I found the chemistry invaluable to understand the production processes and the corrosion processes. The additional education in other disciplines such as materials engineering, mechanical engineering, biology, and metallurgy can be achieved by modular learning. These need to backed up by practical site experience.
Corrosion Engineers will usually be educated once they start working. During the different activities he realizes in his company he will come to be involved in corrosion engineering, and will further start to develop his way through the different fields, such as material selection, teaching, process engineering, cathodic protection, inhibitors, field surveys, evaluations, etc.
Needs good understanding of process chemistry in addition to understanding of materials. Needs to be a good detective and read, read, read.
Emphasize the importance of multi-discipline interaction.We can't do our job effectively without the input of metallurgists, chemical/process engineers, sometimes mechanicals and electrical.
Generally:fundamental of chemistry is not quite complete; metallurgical base wanted be fulfilled; electrochemistry is kind of religion; traditional terminology replaces result f unprejudiced thoughts.
To start with either metallurgical engineering or chemical engineering and then this should be followed with a corrosion engineering diploma
Since this is a material problem associated with the "manufactured" materials, as well as the naturally occurring materials found in nature with their environment, the education must of necessity involve all of the elements of nature in which the materials exist. The true "Corrosion Engineer" needs the knowledge of all of the elements of Chemistry, Physics, Biology and the environment in which the materials exist. This being said, it really is a whole branch of engineering science that is a discipline in and of itself. To do it true justice, one would have to devote their entire career to doing just this work P.S. Perhaps the name should be changed to Anti-Corrosion Engineering, because that is exactly what we are trying to do; prevent or mitigate corrosion.
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