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From: rizzo@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (anthony.r.rizzo)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.psychology,sci.math,sci.med,sci.bio,sci.chem,sci.environment,sci.physics
Subject: Re: Help for science writer
Message-ID: <1991May31.004212.18479@cbfsb.att.com>
Date: 31 May 91 00:42:12 GMT
References: <1991May29.054220.4963@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
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In article <1991May29.054220.4963@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> khcg0492@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Kenneth Holden Chang) writes:
>This summer I'm taking leave of my regular persona of physics graduate
>student to be a science writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. I'd like
>some help from net people about possible article ideas as well as general
>comments about the state of science journalism. More specifically:
>
>   [ much stuff deleted...]

I have a suggestion for at least one article
regarding a serious problem that has a direct
impact on society and the economy.  

It seems that a significant number of American corporations are putting
large-scale finite element analysis (FEA) programs 
in the hands of inexperienced engineers and non-engineers.
The managers in those corporations think that such programs
are now so easy to use that mechanical engineering analyses
can be treated as a push-button activity.  At a recent conference
for users of one such program, last week, 
I asked an audience of several hundred attendees
to raise their hands if they felt that FEA programs were being
misused within their corporations regularly.  To my inordinate surprise,
nearly half the audience raised their hands.

The implication of such misuse is that American corporations
are designing products on the basis of worthless analyses,
done by incompetents.  Unfortunately, all involved, including
managers and so-called analysts, believe the beautiful color
graphics that the programs generate.

You will be in an ideal position to bring this problem to light.
I hope that you do so.  Some day we and our families
may fly in an airplane or ride in a car
that was "analyzed" in this manner.
Just the thought of that scares me to death.

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