TECHNICIANS IN OUR CHANGING WORLD

[Music] immense gains in scientific knowledge are being made in all fields of human endeavor the more revolutionary the discoveries the greater the need becomes for people with special skills and training to turn the new theories and basic ideas into workable products and processes this is the assignment of the technician in our changing world today technicians perform a great variety of jobs in hundreds of different fields for years from now many will be working at technical jobs that don't even exist today [Music] many people while still in school have interests and abilities both in and out of the classroom which could lead to technical careers [Music] of course it takes more than natural interests and abilities to become a successful technician specific training is necessary while full four-year college courses are seldom required technicians do usually require one to three years of additional training beyond high school many people acquire this additional education through on-the-job training programs junior colleges or technical institutes or in one of our armed services on-the-job training is provided by some companies to train their employees in specific technical fields in addition to classroom work most on-the-job trainees do practical work assignments using the machines and equipment of the particular skill being studied here a group of employees of a business machine company are enrolled in a company operated school to learn data processing methods computers do away with many routine clerical jobs they create other jobs skilled electronic technicians are required to maintain these complicated machines the machines can store process and relate information with trustworthy memories but it takes people to build and repair them and it takes people to operate the machines for the computer is not creative it's really a tool these two people are programming a large computer to do an unusual task to translate an English sentence into a foreign language the program stored on magnetic tape is fed into the machine then a simple English sentence is introduced as a problem [Music] [Applause] [Music] a single sentence can be translated or a whole library of books when properly directed by skilled people some of the applications of modern computers stagger the imagination the idea for the design of this precision electrical component started with the engineers in whose minds new products are usually born but equally important were the technicians who translated the idea into facts draftsman worked with the engineers to put down on paper the ideas for construction then model-making technicians built a large scale model of the proposed product complete in every detail this was used by the engineers for further study before actual manufacturing began machinists helped turn out a working model called a prototype later they would make tools and dyes which would be used in mass production throughout both the development and manufacturing stages electronic technicians were at work under scientifically controlled conditions the premise of the small tested and recorded for study and analysis the technicians work leaves no room for error accuracy and close attention to detail as a must in this test for example measurements worm in millionths of a second technical illustrators were used in many phases of the work including the making of attractive advertising pieces technical writers prepared manuals on the use and operation of the component the salesmen were really technicians to this one product has many uses the salesman had to be able to explain to prospective buyers the different scientific applications the work of hundreds of technicians went into the design development manufacturing and sale of this one small part think of the thousands of similar parts contained in complex products such as jet airplanes and you'll have some idea of the tremendous number of technicians involved junior colleges and technical institutes are training many people to fill technical jobs in industry at this junior college students in the aviation department are learning about aircraft hydraulic systems and jet engines both from the standpoint of theory and fundamentals of operation and repair and maintenance many junior colleges offer nurses training this consists in part of classroom work with lectures and demonstrations while still in school student nurses work in local hospitals often under the guidance of graduate nurses some of their hospital work is done under the supervision of the classroom teacher new advances in medical science are being made almost daily here a delicate heart operation is in progress while success depends on the surgeons it also depends on the technicians the surgical nurse must know the names and uses of hundreds of instruments know many things about Anatomy and about drugs this medical technician keeps a check on the patient's blood pressure during the surgery still another helps assemble and operate a machine which will function as the patient's heart and lungs during the most crucial part of the operation of the 11 people directly involved in this important work five of our technicians the medical illustrator is a highly specialized technician working from sketches which he made during a heart operation he produces detailed drawings which show clearly that complicated surgery the drawings are published in medical journals and are valuable aids to informing the entire profession of the latest advances in their science medical science depends heavily upon research technicians who may never see a patient here the technician on the right is assisting a biologist who is engaged in heart research in this particular study a small animal heart is kept beating for several hours during this time various drugs are introduced and the reactions of the heart are carefully recorded important knowledge about human hearts may be gained from such basic research in biology more and more technicians are needed in the fields of medicine in biology and chemistry to help with the challenging job of gaining new knowledge about man and about living things in general the Navy and our other armed services trained technicians - they offer excellent opportunities to high school graduates maintaining schools throughout the country where not only skilled trades are taught but also many technical occupations at the radiomen school classroom work is devoted to learning about the theory and fundamentals of electronic circuitry maintenance and repair is learned by actually working on the most advanced equipment available in some fields such as dental hygiene women as well as men are eligible for armed services technical training while interest ability and training are important to becoming a successful technician other equally important qualities are required technicians must be able to accept responsibility they must be capable of sticking with a job until it's done they must be able to work with other people in a cooperative constructive way to properly record their findings they must be capable of writing clearly and effectively they must be accurate thorough and competent in all their work where will all these high school graduates go from here some will obtain jobs calling for alert conscientious people some of the high school graduates will enter skilled and semi-skilled trades performing useful services valuable to themselves and to their communities others will strive for professional goals by attending a four-year college or university still another ever growing group of high school graduates will seek specialized training that will equip them for interesting and rewarding careers as technicians in our changing world [Music]