Wastewater treatment models in teaching and training: the mismatch between education and requirements for jobs

摘要

As mathematical modeling of wastewater treatment plants has become more common innresearch and consultancy, a mismatch between education and requirements for model-relatednjobs has developed. There seems to be a shortage of skilled people, both in terms of quantity andnin quality. In order to address this problem, this paper provides a framework to outline differentntypes of model-related jobs, assess the required skills for these jobs and characterize differentntypes of education that modelers obtain “in school” as well as “on the job”. It is important tonconsider that education of modelers does not mainly happen in university courses and that thenvariety of model related jobs goes far beyond use for process design by consulting companies.nTo resolve the mismatch, the current connection between requirements for different jobs and thenvarious types of education has to be assessed for different geographical regions and professionalnenvironments. This allows the evaluation and improvement of important educational paths,nconsidering quality assurance and future developments. Moreover, conclusions from a workshopninvolving practitioners and academics from North America and Europe are presented. Thenparticipants stressed the importance of non-technical skills and recommended strengthening thenrole of realistic modeling experience in university training. However, this paper suggests that allnproviders of modeling education and support, not only universities, but also software suppliers,nprofessional associations and companies performing modeling tasks are called to assess andnstrengthen their role in training and support of professional modelers.