Changes in political ideology have put "research in the common good" under pressure.
In my last column, we considered the question of whether plumbing research exists as tested against the criterion that it should be based on an original investigation undertaken in order to gain knowledge and understanding. I concluded it had indeed existed during the last 60 years of the last century, based on the fundamental work of Hunter and others at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in Washington; Wise and his co-workers at the U.K. Building Research Establishment (BRE); and the combined efforts of the national building research institutes, which, for 20 years from the 1970s, formed the backbone of the Counseil International du Batiment Working Commission 62 Water Supply and Drainage for Buildings (CIB W62).
Changes in political ideology, however, have put "research in the common good" under pressure, and leading organizations such as NBS and BRE have largely, if not wholly, withdrawn from the arena. The university research base is limited. Well established groups such as that at Stevens Institute, Hoboken, NJ, the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Sao Paulo, at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland and at universities in Japan are perhaps the last main centers.