Navigating the diagnostics career labyrinth

Integrated diagnostics is a career field for which there currently exists no standard set of basic qualifications, few educational opportunities to study at the university level, no clear processes within most organizations for practicing integrated diagnostics as a systems engineering activity and often no uniform method of sharing techniques and lessons learned with new employees. Several authors have stated the importance of increased training in test ((M. Choi et al., 2003), (M. Katara, 2005), (W. Moorhead and S. Demidenko, 2002),(L.Y. Ungar, 1997), (L.Y. Ungar, 2000), (S. Demidenko and W. Moorhead, 2006). Studies have found that the majority of test engineer training is on-the-job, rather than knowledge acquired as part of a higher education degree program or a formal training process (L.Y. Ungar, 1997). Few authors, however, have focused on the need for a well-defined career path which leads from higher education, or formal training, to a career in diagnostics. This paper is an attempt to describe what such a career path may look like. First, the need for a formal career path will be established from published literature and interviews conducted with engineers from industry, academia and United States (US) government. This paper will then describe actions that are necessary first steps in creating and maintaining a career path that is required for the sustainment of a knowledgeable and well-trained pool of diagnostic engineers needed to meet future technology challenges. A case study of engineers from the Naval Air Systems Command´s (NAVAIR´s) Integrated Diagnostics and Automated Test Systems (IDATS) team in Lakehurst, New Jersey is presented to illustrate the very diverse and dissimilar backgrounds and training of diagnostic engineers within one group in one organization.