Absolutely right. If you aren't in the industry, you won't know or remember the technology and you won't know how to advance it, because you won't see where the process can be improved or innovated. The knowledge base is in the companies, not the universities. If you export that knowledge base - as is being done now - it's only a matter of time.
Well Said Regulator. Once we lose the critical mass in an industry we not only lose that industry but we lose all the future innovations and associated knowledge, education and skills that the industry supports. This deleterious ripple effect cuts across many industries and skill sets that are integral to America's future manufacturing and technology base. Insanity seems to rule the day in the halls of our government and boardrooms of corporate America.