Training and Preparing Engineers for Crisis and Disastrous Situations

During the last decade, being involved in preparation of organizations and companies for disastrous and crisis situations, I was revealed to the lack of knowledge and awareness Engineers have in the use and even existence of standards and regulations in their fields. During academic studies a lot of mathematics and physics are supplied to the engineering students enabling them to start their professional careers. But is this all what the industry expects and needs from Engineers? Following this issue and my involvement in preparing engineering teams for leading professional teams, companies and organizations involved in care taking and solutions providing during and after disastrous events, I found that engineers are unprepared to use and are even unaware of the existence of the majority of the regulations, industry standards and professional organizations tools existing. Only following specific events or needs those engineers are beginning to study those tools. Based on those understandings and concepts some international private and governmental organizations asked professional training and education/teaching establishments for a reconsideration of the adequacy of preparation of engineers in academic institutions. Based on these demands, were checked and studied the level of preparation and teaching supplied to students in engineering schools during their learning program concerning standards and regulations. The worth was finding that engineers not only are unaware to the existence of those standards but they are not educated to be able to understand them and use them as engineering tools. Engineering and training organizations are supplying models and programs for proper preparation of engineers enabling them to confront disastrous and crisis situations. Based on industry standards and regulations, but mainly based on academic established models and tools, training programs were created to train and prepare engineers how the use of TQM, ISO SSM methodologies and Rich picture techniques are leading to reveal explain and establish NFPA - IEC - IEEE and other industry standards as working procedures adequate and adapted to be implemented and used by any potential user anywhere needed, samples of which will be presented during the presentation.