General public doesn't care about most technology (Score 1)

Let me show you a slice of my job as a research engineer in a corporate environment. I work for an auto company and I research catalytic converters, which get rid of the pollutants the car engine produces. The chemistry of pollutants are such that, with a current catalyst, an engine has to operate in one state of air/fuel ratio all the time. We research catalysts that will allow an engine to oscillate between that state and a lower fuel (leaner) state and still meet emission reqs, thus improving the fuel economy a small amount with a relatively small increase in purchase price. The problem is that the general public doesn't care about fuel economy. I read that in a recent study the factors people consider most in a new car purchase are price and looks, with fuel economy being way down the list with only about 10% of people calling it a "main" consideration. Even in the current state of affairs with the Middle East, no one cares about fuel economy. The company realizes this, so they don't put a gigantic interest in fuel economy research and lesser products like ours never really get used. The company's demand for scientists is low because the customer isn't interested in the technology the scientists would research. Low demand means low cost or low wage, so the company can't offer that much to the people that it does hire. This scares people away and they work in a different field instead.