Welcome to the Glass Age

173 definition of Learning . This is said to be the gaining of knowledge, comprehension, or mastery of a subject through experience or study. This definition is further complicated for glass makers by the wide variety of skills and of knowledge needed within the subject of Glass Science and Engineering/Glass Technology. Educational opportunities So, ‘Glass’ lends itself to a wide range of educational opportunities. Despite its importance in our daily lives, the glass sector is relatively small compared with huge sectors such as steel and pharmaceuticals, and is one which has evolved from a multitude of small family run businesses where often education was organized by fathers for their sons, be they factory owners or master glass blowers. The industry now consists of a relatively small number of large multinational companies. Some are at least partly able to support their own education programs and the people at the top have often had a business training rather than one based on engineering skills. All areas of the glass industry require a skilled, committed and educated workforce. Employees do need a basic appreciation of the material they are dealing with, to understand, for example, the importance of the optimum flame and batch pile distributions, the consequences of changing furnace loads, raw material characteristics, the factors affecting color, the sources and significance of seed, how the forming machines work, why fuel-to-air ratios are important and temperature measurements matter. Figure 11.4. Teaching material is being developed on subjects such as glass and recycling. Source: Pixabay.