MIT Technology Review 1996-01

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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
JANUARY 1996
Contents
FEAT-URES
22
YOUNG ENGINEERS ON WALL STREET
BYSTEPHEN D.SOLOMON
Afterobtaining hisPhDincomputer science,DanNussbaum wenttowork
not atDigitalorApplebut ataNewYorkinvestment bank. Heisnotalone.
Manyengineering graduates areheading forthefinancial-services industry,
which needstheir computer savvyand problem-solving sophistication.
22 30 THE ELECTRIC CAR UNPLUGGED
BYRICHARD DE NEUFVILLE, STEPHEN R. CONNORS, FRANKR.FIELDIll,
DAVlDMARKS, DONALD R. &4DOWAY, AND RICHARD D. TABORS
Althoughsomestateshavemade amajor commitment toputting electric
vehiclesonthe roadsoon, EVsarenot readyforprime time. Becausetheir
costistoohigh fortheir modestperformance, argue theauthors, theyare
inappropriate fortheconsumer market. Andtheywillnotcontribute much
tocleaner air.Abetter approach wouldpromote moreeffectivepollution-
30
reduction strategies aswellasresearch on arange ofalternative vehicles.
38
UNDER THE VOLCANO
BYPETER TYSON
Becausemorepeoplethan everbeforenowliveon theflanksofvolcanoes,
the U.S.GeologicalSurveymaintains that half abillion oftheearth's
inhabitants are atriskfrom aneruption. Scientistsaredesperatelydeveloping
38
methods topredictexactlywhich volcanowillnextblowitstop,andwhen.
48
FINDING ONE'S OWN SPACE IN CYBERSPACE
BYAMYBRUCKMAN
What'syourelectronic pleasure: theequivalent ofabiker'shangout ora
fernbar?DiscoveringInternet communities withthedesiredambience
and compatible patrons among thethousands online isnot alwayseasy.
Acyberspaceaficionada offersspecifictechniques tohelp userstrackdown
sympathetic sites,shape them totheir needs,and evencreate their own.
COVER: JOHN PATRICK
TECHNOLOGY REvIEw
VOL.99/No. 1
DEPARTMENTS
5 FIRST LINE
8 LETTERS
11 MIT REpORTER
Toward aCleaner, Tidier Net;ANeighborly Approach toSupercomputing
14 TRENDS
Brighter, Whiter Lights; AModest Moon Mission; Fewer SizesFitAll
55 THE HUMANE ENGINEER
SAMUEL C.FLORMAN
Celebration ofspectacular stunts will not engender long-term public
support for technological advances. Encouraging a basic familiarity with
the engineering process, akin tothe amateur's appreciation ofsports, will.
57 THE ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE
BENNETT HARRISON
Individual companies, aswell asthe overall economy, enjoy the benefits of
federal programs that foster collaborative efforts todevelop new technology. So
why isthe private sector quietly letting Congress kill these promising initiatives?
14 58 FORUM
KEVINROBERT GURNEY
Despite progress incurbing ozone-destroying chemicals, the ozone hole is
spreading. Practical measures to reduce emissions faster could lower the risk.
60
REVIEWS
Jonathan B.Tucker on TheSpread ofNuclear Weapons:ADebate,
byScott D.Sagan and Kenneth N.Waltz
,
72
PHENOMENA
Long LiveRoyG.Biv
Technology Review(ISSN0040·1692),Reg.U.S.PatentOffice,ispublishedeighttimeseacb year (january, FebruarylMarch,April,May!june,July,AugUSt/September,October,and ovemberlDecember)
bytheAIsoclationofAlumniandAlumnaeoftheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology.Entirecontents©1996.Theeditorsseekdiversevi....,andauthors' opinionsdonotrepresenttheofficialpoliciesof
theirinstitutionsorthoseofMIT.Wewelcomeletterstotheeditor.PleaseaddressthemtoLenersEditor,doaddressbeloworbye-mail to:<technology·",[email protected]>.
Editorial, circulation, andadvertising offices:TechnologyReview, BuildingW59,MIT,Cambridge,MA02139,[phone];FAX[phone].PrintedbyLanePress,S.Burlington,\T,
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"The leadership of this
• •
eenng
company understands
the imparlance of having
excellent people on staff."
Reflections:
The Engineer: Rob Parker, Group Leader,
Product Development and Design, BSEE and
MSEE, Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology
Date Hired: June, 1989
Last Position: "1was with the product division
u.s.
ofa major TVmanufacturer from 1976
until 1989.During my last two years, there
was a lot of instability. When 1was asked to
begintrimming the eight engineering groups
Iran,1realized itwas time to go someplace
where goals were long-term and success was
defined as the ability to innovate, rather than
the ability to reduce costs."
The Goal: "1wanted acredible, prosperous
company with asecure future. The opportunity
to leam and grow was important. Also, having
worked on Tv's, Iknew the excitement of
walking into someone's home and seeing a
product that 1helped create; 1wanted to main-
tain that feeling.Time to think, inaframework
ofpersonal freedom, was also a factor."
The Result: "Here, the chairman, president,
and many senior managers are engineers.
Decision-making isrational. We're committed
to applying advanced technology for the bene-
fitofconsumers. We strive tomake things
that are better and different. And because top
management knows what ittakes to do that,
Rob Parker,inoneofthenew screenroomsatBose~ I'm surrounded by excellent people and facili-
ties. I'm growing, and I'm doing fun stuff in a
fun environment. Bose isserious about the
Bose Corporation isamong the most successful
dual career ladder, so 1know that ifIcontinue
American companies competing intheinternational con- to succeed, I'llcontinue to berewarded."
sumer products marketplace. We welcome exceptional
Formoreinformation onopportunities at
engineers with imagination and courage who wish to Bose, please write, inoonfidence, to Paul
McKinley, Director, Engineering Opera-
pursue their ideas inan innovative team environment.
tions,BoseCorporation, The Mountain,
Framingham, MA 01701-9168.
RF5EARQ-I ENGINEER
BoseisanAffinn.1tiveActionfmployer.
With members ofthe research staff within R&D solveacoustics modeling
problems. Fundamental research willdirectly support new developments in
consumer electronic products. Experience needed incomparing the behavior
,.
ofa model to the physical systems being modeled, and implementing new
approximation methods that predict results accurately. Hands onexperience
required infiniteelement and boundary element analysis, and knowledge of
the mathematics underlying these methods. Must be familiar with lump
element modeling ofacoustic systems. Requirements: MS, Ph.D. inphysics
or math and fiveyears ofdirectly related experience.
First line
cially as jobs in more "traditional" are- vises, "we should rejoice."
Saving the World
nas dry up. In any case, Weatherall notes that he
on Wall Street? On the other hand, itisworrisome to has been working with engineering stu-
note the lack of apparent soul-searching dents since 1969, and "very few have
by young professionals as they abandon evergone offon 'high-minded' pursuits."
I
n life,lamented theghost ofJacob attempts to create wealth through con- Most have taken jobs with, or founded,
Marley in Dickens's A Christmas ventionally defined means and move into technology-based companies, and inthis
Carol, '''my spirit never walked new activities that seem to create little of day and age firms in the financial indus-
beyond our counting house....[lt] their own. Such efforts presumably try are themselves becoming technology-
never roved beyond the narrow limits of divert scarce resources, not leastthe engi- based companies. Thus to dismiss the
our money-changing hole.' neers' talents, from more productive young engineers on Wall Street as hav-
'''But you were always agood man of enterprises. Says one TR colleague: "I ingbeen impressed into some crap game,
business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge. have little interest in anyone who would he says, iswrong.
"'Business!' cried the Ghost, wring- But even if the machinations of Wall
ing his hands again. 'Mankind was my As Street are indeed nothing more than a
young engineers
business. The common welfare was my glorified casino, who can say whether
business..: " this ultimately hurts or serves the na-
branch far and wide,
Many journalists who came of age in tion-whether financially savvy individ-
the 1960s-indeed, students and profes- uals acting in their own self-interest
do theysquander their
sionals of all kinds who struggled with undermine or actually help fulfill the
the big issues of the era-were intent on "high-minded" principles of others. For
skills orapply them in
applying their skillsto that common wel- example, Solomon notes that even the
fare. "Business," especially in its pejora- much-maligned arbitrageurs, who ex-
new and valuable ways?
tive "money-changing" connotations, ploit minuscule price anomalies between
was about as attractive to many of us as - securities in different locations to earn
napalm. Though our definitions of right large profits, can be seen as "lubricating
and wrong may have been narrow, even the market" to the benefit of allwho buy
intolerant, we were proud that our pur- use 13 years of an MIT education to and sell.
pose-basically, to "save the world"- design blackjack programs and then take "Greed, for want of a better term, is
was lofty. Regardless of what we may ajob because ofsome abstract, unexam- good," asserts the fictional Gordon Gek-
now do, we therefore tend to beappalled ined compulsion to hack." ko, aprominent securities speculator and
that contemporary campuses have I asked author Steve Solomon, a pro- chief heavy of Oliver Stone's film Wall
become, in the words of activist Abby fessor of journalism at New York Uni- Street. "Greed is right. Greed works.
Hoffman, "hotbeds of rest." Recent versity, for hisown reactions. He concurs Greed clarifies, cuts through, and cap-
graduates seem not only unhindered by that social consciousness is indeed rela- tures the essence of the evolutionary
major social concerns but to be actively tivelyrare among students today, regard- spirit. Greed in all of its forms-greed
"selling out." lessofmajor. But Solomon notes that the for life, for money, for love, knowl-
Thus itiswith a tinge of ambivalence young engineers heading to Wall Street edge-has marked the upward surge of
among a few of the staff members of do not see themselves as selling out. For mankind."
Technology Review that we present this the most part, he says, their goal is "not This is clearly a "good man of busi-
issue's cover story, "AnEngineer Goes to to milk the system with trades but to ness" in whom my TR colleague would
Wall Street" byStephen D.Solomon. On design different kinds of products- have "little interest." But maybe we
the one hand, it isa fascinating article financial products-that create wealth should not presume to judge himor his
describing a bona fide national trend- just as surely as, say, computers." Inter- ilk or their technologically sophisticated
the recognition by parties well outside estingly, many of these individuals, says associates. Ademocratic society, after all,
the realm oftraditional engineering, par- Solomon, "are simply turned off by tra- must operate according to the principles
ticularly leaders in the financial indus- ditional engineering," seeing it as over- ofdo your own thing and liveand letlive.
try, that young engineers possess the specialized and boring. A vital economy, like a strong and
mathematical and general problem-solv- Meanwhile, Robert K. Weatherall, healthy ecosystem, needs critters at
ing skills to become critical assets in this director of career services at MIT, sees diverse points in the food chain. Only
age of complex services and high-speed the tendency ofrecent engineering gradu- with tolerance and mutual respect can
transactions. For engineering graduates, ates to turn to the financial industry as a we alldo our part to "save the world.".
that industry represents anew and excit- marvelous "tribute to the skills of engi-
ing source of career opportunities, espe- neers." Rather than bemoan it, he ad- -STEVEN J. MARcus
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