From chemistry-request@ccl.net Sat Jun  1 14:10:20 1991
Date: Sat, 1 Jun 91 12:45 EST
From: FREDVC%ESVAX%dupont.com@RELAY.CS.NET
Subject: COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY: WHAT IS IT????
To: chemistry%ccl.net@RELAY.CS.NET
Status: R

	I am replying to the E-mail msg below.  I tried a direct reply, but
our connection is such that it would not go through.  Please accept my
apologies for burdening so many of you with this reply.

>>From:	ESPRNT::IN%"B_DUKE@darwin.ntu.edu.au"  "Brian Duke" 31-MAY-1991 23:52:09.50
>>To:	CHEMISTRY@ccl.net
>>CC:	
>>Subj:	Is industry getting the graduates it wants?

First, I know of no real consensus on what constitutes a "real" computational
chemist.  You will probably get n+1 descriptions for n respondents.

I will attempt to answer your questions.  However I ask that you please bear 
in mind that this is one person's reading of how things are done in his 
company, NOT a statement of official company policy.

>>If you work in industry or a research lab where you recruit chemistry
>>graduates with skills in computational chemistry, please mail me your
>>ideas about the type and level of training these graduates should have.
>>Please make it clear whether your remarks apply to graduates with a
>>Batchelors degree, or a Masters degree or a Ph D. 

We generally look for PhD level people who are experts in one of the "heavy
computation areas", e.g., Quantum, Stat mech, Polymer modeling, etc., but
who have a broad awareness of the fields other than their speciality.

>>Are you getting the sort of people you want, or are there 
>>insufficient trained graduates? 

The kind of people we prefer do not come straight from grad school, but need
to be "seasoned" by ~2 years of post doc, or a stint as an assistant professor.
These, unfortunately, are few and far between.  It is not enough to be an
expert in a narrowly focused area.  To have impact in an industrial setting
requires a breadth the runs counter to the tendency in academic training.

>>Do you have to employ people with a M Sc when you wanted someone 
>>with a Ph D? 

We probably would not do this.

>>Can you train people further "in-house"? Do you have to? 

This is a tricky issue.  It is very difficult to justify trying to train 
someone with little or no background in this area to be functional as an
independent researcher.  The best approach seems to be to try to somehow
"leverage" the few trained people you have.  We are still learning how best
to do that.

  Frederic A. Van-Catledge                   Office: (302) 695-1187
  Scientific Computing Division                 FAX: (302) 695-9658
  Central Res. & Dev. Department
  The Du Pont Company
  P. O. Box 80320
  Wilmington DE 19880-0320         Internet address: fredvc%esvax@dupont.com