Robert Lautzenhiser, class of '49, speaks from experience when he says: "The broad experience and growth possibilities available at U. S. Steel offer a great future with unlimited opportunities." Following his graduation with a B.S. nature. His responsibilities in this atmosphere and unusually coopera- degree in Metallurgical Engineering, work included consultation and the tive personal relationships through- Robert Lautzenhiser joined U. S. advising of customers regarding the out the company are a big help in Steel as a Junior Metallurgist at the proper steels for their projects. acquiring the knowledge that leads Waukegan Works of the American Mr. Lautzenhiser received his ap- to advancement and success in ones Steel & Wire Division. Here, he be- pointment as Product Metallurgist chosen field." came familiar with the many types for stainless steel wire in April, 1954. of wire and wire products produced, If you are interested in a challeng- His work on this relatively new prod- ing and r e w a r d i n g career with through the practical performance of uct, in which he developed excep- various physical tests in the metal- United States Steel, and feel you can tional skills and abilities, resulted in qualify, get in touch with your place- lurgical laboratory. his advancement to Division Metal- ment director for additional informa- The knowledge Mr. Lautzenhiser lurgist in July, 1955. tion. We shall be glad to send you gained of the characteristics of stain- Mr. Lautzenhiser feels that the our informative booklet, Paths of less steel wires led to his advance- graduate engineer gains much from Opportunity. Write to United States ment, in April, 1950, to Product the well-planned and complete train- Steel Corporation, Personnel Divi- Metallurgist. In this capacity, his ing program at U. S. Steel. "Further- sion, Room 1662, 525 William Penn duties were of the customer-contact m o r e , " he says, " t h e friendly Place, Pittsburgh 30, Pa. The new General Motors Technical Center ...AND YOU W HY should the vast new GM Tech Center be of interest to outstanding young engineering seniors? But above and beyond everything else, you would have the unequalled opportunities for advancement — the chances for professional achievement — that We'll try to answer that briefly: can exist only in an organization that has committed itself solidly and unyieldingly to the ideal of tech- First, of course, it's interesting in and of itself. It's nical progress. the world's largest institution devoted to research in the industrial arts and sciences. It occupies 25 build- J o if you feel you're cut to the right cloth for mgs, stands on 330 acres, houses more than 4,000 such a challenge, why not ask your Placement engineers, scientists, stylists and technicians. Officer to put you in touch with the GM College Second, and even more significant, it is testimonial Representative? t0 the increasingly vital role which your chosen pro- Or simply write us directly. lession of engineering plays in the nation's destiny. Third—and most important of all so far as your own immediate problems and aims are concerned—this nultimillion dollar Technical Center gives living proof that you could do no better than to seek a career with General Motors. F or -as a GM engineer working in any of GM's 34 decentralized manufacturing divisions scattered throughout the land - you would be backed up by thetechCenter resources and facilities in addition to hose of your own division. Youwouldpartake in a two-way flow of mutually stimulating ideas between divisional and Tech Center engineers. ...on the second language "Our first language is English. Our second is Mathe- parts of which are clearly exciting. Some strive to master matics. Not all of us are truly bilingual, but probably electronic computers which already compress thousands all are versed in a few concepts of Mathematics — that of of arithmetical operations into a second. Others, with a function, for example. The majority of us know those the sharpest tools of modern Mathematics, carve out fields of mathematical analysis which developed with fields for use where human elements and decisions are the physical sciences well enough to use them as the paramount, and for use on problems which could be principal tools of our professions. A minority of us •— solved by enumeration, if life were long enough- life the professional mathematicians — have pushed on to of the Universe, that is." ground which may never become a public park, but - J . D. Williams, Head of the Mathematics Division Dow is one of the fastest growing chemical companies in the world. New products and processes are being developed con- tinually in the search for better ways of doing things. Your contribution—as a Dow chemist, engineer, metallurgist—will be recognized and rewarded. In addition, the activities of Dow are not dependent upon any one industry. Our over 600 products go into practically every industry, into agriculture and the home, here and abroad. The fringe benefits you would expect from a sound, pro- gressive company are yours, too, at Dow. To name a few- pensions, profit sharing, insurance—even the chance for further education. (AND salaries are reviewed at least once a year, promotions come from within.) Opportunities are open in Midland, Michigan; Freeport, Texas; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and a new Textile Fiber Department (present address Midland, Michigan) to be located in Lee Hall, Virginia. We Pay Moving Expenses. Send complete resume of edu- cation, experience, age, academic record and salary require- ments to the Technical Employment Department at any of the above locations. "Engineers like yourselves... ...are finding their widest opportunities in the air- craft industry. Today's accomplishments are merely forerunners of the supersonic and hypersonic aircraft and missiles of tomorrow. "You're aware of the current demand for engineers, but did you know that the greatest shortage is in the aircraft industry? That's because the challenge of transporting men, materials and armament through the air at constantly increasing speeds involves a greater number of basic sciences than possibly any other field of research and development. In this in- dustry, any area of engineering study offers you a profitable and unlimited future. "And remember, these engineering opportunities, will result in personal satisfaction as well as high returns in salary and security. So between you and me, I'd advise you to consider seriously the aircraft industry as you plan your career." ll across the nation this sound advice is being A . appreciated by students who are searching for the most promising careers in engineering. With time and space being vastly diminished by today's aircraft and missiles, and by those to come, possibilities for creative engineering at Northrop Aircraft, Inc., are unequalled anywhere. At Northrop such vital projects as the SnarkSM-62, first intercontinental guided missile, and Northrop's new supersonic jet trainer, the world's fastest flying classroom, will continually spark your interest and enthusiasm. Northrop research accomplishments in- elude automatic guidance controls for missiles and manned aircraft, significant advances in the field of boundary layer control, new type materials for strengthening aircraft and missile components, and integrated ground support systems for the most advanced flight equipment. In Northrop's new multi-million-dollar engineer-; ing center you will be working in ideal, modern sur- roundings with leading engineers and scientists who will encourage your initiative and ideas. Write now regarding an interesting future with Northrop. Ask us questions... let us tell you about our future. We sincerely believe we can help you. Write to Manager of Engineering Industrial Rela , tions, Northrop Aircraft, Inc., 1019 East Broadway Hawthorne, California. FEATURES 10 Kirchhoffs "Laws" Are Not Laws at All 13 Iggy, Choggy, and the Golden Balls 20 Atoms in Industry 24 Technical Writing 41 Electroluminescent Lighting 65 Radio Cooking DEPARTMENTS 34 New Developments 48 Clubs & Societies 86 Sidetracked 88 Editorial They can...if you start your Douglas career now ! Douglas has many things to offer the career- minded engineer! ...there's the stimulating daily contacts with men who have designed and built some of the world's finest aircraft and missiles! ...there's enough scope to the Douglas opera- tion so a man can select the kind of work he likes best! ...there's security in the company's $2 Billion backlog of military and commercial contracts! ...and there's every prospect that in 10 years you'll be where you want to be professionally, "A wife . . . a nice home . . . a car . . . two kids . . . some fun, like golf . . ." Yes, It's True . . . There's A Lot to Consider ! College students of today give serious consideration to where they want to live after graduation, as well as where they want to work. Public Service Electric and Gas Company, one of the outstand- ing utility companies in the country, is fully aware of these im- portant questions in the minds of college men. New Jersey has everything for pleasant living; seashore and mountains for recreation; New York and Philadelphia for metro- politan culture, entertainment and sports; suburban living with all urban conveniences. The Company has excellent training courses for Cadets in its Electric and Gas Operating Departments, in Sales Engineering and in Commercial Management work. FREE BOOKLETS The Company has literature available describing its operations, as well as additional information about the state's vacation opportunities. For your copies, please use the coupon below. Frank Kovalcik, Purdue '48, Covered 24,000 Miles in 1956 as Western Editor of ELECTRICAL WORLD F YOU'RE LIKE MOST PEOPLE, you think of an "When I got my B.S. in E.E. I started with I editor as a man who's "chair-borne" most of the time . . . tied to a desk at an indoor job. Nothing could be further from the facts when it's ELECTRICAL WORLD in New York. Within a year I was promoted to Assistant Editor and made re- sponsible for a department of the magazine. Before the big jump to San Francisco as Western Editor in a McGraw-Hill editor you're thinking about. Frank Kovalcik, Western Editor of McGraw-Hill's '54 I served briefly as assistant to the managing ELECTRICAL WORLD Magazine, can quickly tell editor. you that. He's anything but a desk man . . . covers "As Western Editor my search for news takes me 11 states and part of Canada. Frank says: into all important phases of the electric utility indus- "In 1956, I made eight major field trips, covered try—and into association with top management and close to 24,000 miles. I was underground in a trans- engineering men. Working with them is a constant former vault in Los Angeles, inside a diversion tun- reminder that the choice of an engineering-editorial nel in Idaho, atop a steel transmission tower in career was the right one for me." northern California. Projects visited included The Dalles multi-purpose project, Hoover Dam, Hells YOU—and McGraw-Hill Magazines Canyon, and even behind the scenes (electrically) at You, too, may find the right opportunity for your- the Republican National Convention. But none of self with McGraw-Hill—the world's largest pub- them can touch the "Operation CUE" A-Bomb test lisher of business and technical magazines. If y°u I covered a year ago! are the kind of man we're looking for—both an engi- "My chance to witness the detonation of a nuclear neer and an alert, inquisitive, knowledgeable man device came when the Federal Civil Defense Admin- who likes to report, appraise and write, we want to istration and the A.E.C. decided to test non-military talk with you. effects of the blast. I reported on what happened to Send today for your copy of "Successful Careers electrical utility lines and equipment." in Publishing at McGraw-Hill" for information (Frank wouldn't say so, but his story set a record... about career opportunities. Or write to us abou from explosion to editorial pages in four days! The yourself. We're interested in your background, extra- pictures at right were part of his original coverage of curricular activities, college record, summer jobs an this fast-breaking—"hot"—news story for his maga- zine.) career goals. Write to: Peter J. Davies McGraw-Hill As A Place to Work Assistant to The Editorial Director Frank can tell you about this, too: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Inc. "My first editorial job—with the Purdue Expo- 330 West 42nd Street, New York 36, N. Y. nent in college—didn't use my engineering training, but it showed me the way to communicate what's new in engineering . . . to report and interpret the work of engineers for the benefit of other engineers. ... an editor on the go Frank Kovalcik (right) and Karl M. Bausch, Chief Elec- trical Engineer of Bechtel Co. and official observer at "Oper- ation CUE" for the Edison Electrical Institute. Smaller illustrations taken by Frank show typical blast damage caused by a test detonation of a nuclear device to electric utility lines and other facilities. Kirchhoffs "LawsArenotLaws At All Editor's note: these notions seem a little naive even now. To the in-line "measuring parts" or meters. In order to apply restricted to the laboratories or field. Even the partial In recent developments in Electrical Engineering at next generation, what we do will certainly seem ade- differential equations, which, to many seem more these equations to any physical system, it is necessary Michigan Stale University it lias been discovered that quate and even perhaps clever, but what we say is fundamental, are usually reduced to linear equations to invent instruments such that the oriented pattern Kirchhoffs "Laws' are not laws at all, but rather they going to surely bring a condescending grin. Do we with constant coefficients by altering this and omit- of in-line observations at a junction fit a homogeneous are a spcial case of a much more general rule. Here not treat our ancestors so? How do we react to the ting that. algebraic equation and that the oriented pattern of at M.S.U. the Kirchhoff equations are being expanded EARTH, AIR, FIRE, AND WATER of the Greeks; across observations around a closed path fit a homog- to apply to all fields of Engineering. This is the first or CALORIC; or PHLOGISTON; or LUMINIFER- With the admission of this mathematical block (which we can at least hope the mathematicians will eneous algebraic equation. In addition, the functions time these developments have appeared in any publi- OUS ETHER; or DEMONS IN THE ROCKS. associated with the across and the in-line observations cation. do something about) one of the problems of engi- Back to what is done. The process can be stated neering is somewhat simplified. The effort must be must be related by a differential equation (constant- generally in a simple way. The goal is to make directed toward correlating observations in the physi- coefficient, linear, ordinary and usually not of higher A little practice at examining the fundamentals of measuring parts or instruments which can be asso- Engineering leads to the guiding formula: examine cal realm with linear equations by regularizing the than second order). A classical example of a Kirch- ciated with components of physical systems. These systems used and by inventing instruments which hoff equation in other than an electrical system is the what is done, not what is said. If Kirchhoff "laws", as components in electrical systems have points of con- further this correlation. system of "force equations" associated with the junc- used by Electrical Engineers, are examined in this tact with each other and the simplest or fundamental light, what do we see? In the laboratories and field, Viewing Kirchhoff laws, in the light of the fore- tions of the supporting members of static structures. component has two points of contact. With but two two measuring instruments are used—one connected points of contact how can an instrument be connected going, indicates that their application depends on the These equations are certainly an exhibit of one of across and one in-line with a prescribed pair of points. but across and in-line? Not very complex is it? There success of electrical engineers in devising instruments the laws of Kirchhoff. What about a structure in These "measuring" instruments are basically parts of is no problem since there is no choice. The problem and regularizing their physical systems so that the motion, say, a pendulum? Both of Kirchhoff laws the physical system being studied and are so construct- arises in making instruments which can be so con- almost one and only mathematical pattern can be apply here—the force equations and the displacement ed that they affect the system as little as possible nected and which satisfy some simple and solvable correlated with the numbers observed on the instru- equations. Even such an unlikely thing as a gear box, whereas the system, aside from the "measuring parts," mathematical pattern. In electrical engineering, the ments. Viewed from this broad base, these so-called or a refrigeration system can be correlated with these two "measuring parts" are available by merely chang- laws of Kirchhoff can hardly be called laws in any- two laws as associated with the junctions and the affects the "measuring part" as much as possible. These ing the sensitivity of a basic construction. Part of thing like the absolute sense they are customarily circuits (closed paths) in the system. It is not neces- two instruments are identical except that one of them viewed. Indeed, one of the Kirchhoff laws has been is usually desensitized relative to the other. The instru- the problem of matching a mathematical pattern is sary that either the junctions or the circuits be evident taken care of by the fact that there is only one mathe- essentially superseded in the developments in elec- ments are calibrated so that numbers obtained from trical engineering at MSU, not at a loss but rather in the physical system. For example, in electrical these measuring parts, when substituted into some matical pattern which can be handled in any "large at engineering, electron tubes, transistors, crystals, even an important gain. specific equations, satisfy the equations, i.e., produce sense," i.e., many equations. This mathematical pat- coils of wire do not contain some of the junctions numerical equalities. tern is the linear system of equations-linear algebraic Almost at once, from the view that Kirchhoff laws and/or circuits assigned to them in their "equivalent equations or constant coefficient, ordinary, linear dif- exist because physical systems can be regularized to network." The effect of this view is to open up a What do professional people say about this "meas- ferential equations or combinations of these two kinds correlate with linear equations, the idea occurs that whole new endeavor, namely, that of dealing in an uring process"? Consider the following quotes or near of equations. It is of prime importance to recognize Perhaps these Kirchhoff laws are not unique with the existence of such a drastic restriction and there important and extraordinary way with electrical, quotes: the volts pump amperes through the wire; eletrical engineering. And indeed they are not! But mechanical, acoustical, thermal systems alone or in to reach the conclusion: either the physical system what are these Kirchhoff equations? They are linear, the voltage drives the current; the emf forces elec- combination in an effective manner and under the is molded (regularized) toward fitting such a system algebraic, homogeneous equations in terms of mathe- trons along the conductor. Based on what is done, of equations or the study of these systems is largely guidance of a unified procedure. 10 matical functions associated with the across and the 11 Spartan Engineer BEGINNING ENGINEER'S DREAM Within months the first man-made earth satel- lite will be launched by Martin. This coming moment in history will mark the commencement of the greatest engineering project of all time—the conquest of space. Today there are many ground-floor opportuni- ties at Martin for new engineers in this newest and biggest of all scientific adventures... It's a begin- ning engineer's dream. If you are seeking a challenge and a career in a new and untried field, you would be wise to investi- gate Project X! Contact your Placement Director, the Martin Representative, or J. M. Hollyday, The Martin Company, Baltimore 3, Maryland. lggy, Choggy, and the Golden Balls Like men, organizations often become as well known meteorology, and the upper atmosphere. A final por- by their initials or nicknames as by their unwieldy tion of the program is devoted to cosmic rays and proper names, as in the case of NATO and UNESCO. solar activity. By this process, the unlikely-sounding words "iggy" and "choggy" are being heard increasingly in scientific Most nations technologically capable of systematic and engineering circles. "Iggy" is I.G.Y., the Inter- research, will participate, including not only "West- national Geophysical Year, and "choggy" is a Slavicised ern" nations, but such "Iron Curtain" states as Hun- pronunciation of C.S.A.G.I. (Comite Special de l'Annee gary, Yugoslavia, East Germany, Communist China, Geophysique Internationale), coordinating body for and the Soviet Union. However, the United States pro- the Year's research program. gram will be the most extensive and will probably draw most attention, because of upper atmospheric The word "choggy" illustrates one notable feature exploration by US rockets and Earth satellites. the Geophysical Year - an American nickname for an international committee with a French name, pro- About the size of beach balls, these gold-plated nounced in the Slavic manner. IGY is the greatest spheres will be 20 inches in diameter, weigh about international scientific project in history. Planning 211/2pounds, filled with instruments transmitting data began in 1951, when the International Council of on cosmic rays, Solar radiation, and temperature scientific Unions created CSAGI, to draw up a world- change. The manner in which the satellites slow down wide program. The committee chose the period be- will indicate atmospheric density at high altitudes. A tween July 1, 1957 a n d D e c e m b e r 31, 1958, partly dozen or more satellites will be launched at Patrick because during that time, the Sun will be in a phase Air Force Base in east Florida, carried 300 miles high of maximum activity, when this activity can be effi- by a 72 feet long, three-stage rocket, and released in ciently correlated with the Earth's magnetism, aurorae, their orbits. Each will travel at about 18,000 mph., and other Solar effects. going completely around the Earth in an hour and a half. The satellites will stay up for some time, will be Next, CSAGI called upon interested nations to form tracked continuously both optically and by radio, to national committees. Plenary sessions have been held determine their precise orbits, as information is re- Periodically since that time, with 55 nations repre- ceived from the moving globes. sentedinNovember. 1956, each responsible for its own program within the broad outline proposed by CSAGI. Although IGY is the most inclusive and extensive Atotalof5000 scientists and engineers will participate. project of its type ever planned, it is not the first. In 1882-3, and 50 years later in 1932-3, International The geophysical Year program will encompass a Polar Years were held. wide range of Phenomena, but will center on twelve main points. Studies of the Earth's core and crust The first of these included establishment of stations inlude seismology and geomagnetism. All major land in the Arctic, to study weather, aurora and magnetism. and sea masses will be observed in investigations of These observations showed that maximum auroral glaciology, gravity, longitudinal and latitudinal vari- activity occurred in a band about 23 degrees wide, ation, and oceanography. Atmospheric research will (Continued on page 66) relatetoaurora and airglow. ionosphere physics, 13 No blue sky...justfack and white facts : to back up our belief that y o u a n d C ollinstould get together W e ' r e going to build a proposition which we believe FACT NUMBER 5 : * deserves your most serious consideration, if you are a me- Electronics is Collins' only interest. In no way is it sub- chanical or electrical engineer. This proposition is built sidiary to the manufacture of industrial or consumer prod- on pure and simple fact—no high flown promises or broad ucts. Collins builds electronic equipment, not airplanes or generalities. Our proposition: you and Collins should get vacuum cleaners. Every research, development and pro- together. We present these facts to support it. duction facility is devoted to progress in electronics. FACT NUMBER 1 : / / electronics is your interest, you'll like the climate at Collins Radio Company's sales have increased 10 fold in Collins. each of three successive seven year periods. 1933 sales were FACT NUMBER 6 : $100,000; 1940 sales, $1,000,000; 1947 sales, $10,000,000; There is a limitless variety of fields and types of work for 1954 sales, $100,000,000, and 1956 sales, $126,000,000. (Note the Collins engineer. Recent Collins work in air and ground graph.) This company has grown, and is growing at a phe- communication, and aviation electronics include develop- nomenal rate. Total employment is 9,000 of which 24% ments in transhorizon "scatter" propagation; single side- are research and development personnel. band; microwave and multiplex systems; aircraft proximity You grow when the company you work for grows. warning indicator; aviation navigation, communication and flight control; broadcast; and amateur equipment. FACT NUMBER 2 : As shown in the graph at right, the employment of research There is big opportunity for your special talents. and development personnel has increased steadily despite Right now we are prepared to offer you a technical or fluctuation in sales. Notice that even during periods of national sales regression Collins continued to strengthen supervisory assignment in one of many interesting fields. its engineering staff. And the sky is the limit as far as responsibility and salary are concerned. Collins has based its growth on the solid foundation of You will work in one of Collins' new research and develop- stability in the engineering department. ment laboratories located at Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Dallas, FACT NUMBER 3 : Texas; and Burbank, California. Offices and subsidiary At Collins, the ratio of engineers to total employees is companies are located in New York; Washington, D. C ; extremely high, far higher than the average among estab- Miami; Knoxville; Seattle; Hickman Mills, Missouri; lished companies engaged in both development and pro- Toronto, Canada; London, England; and South America. duction. First and foremost, Collins is an engineering All your moving expenses are paid. Company benefits are company. tops in the industry. Engineering is king at Collins—never takes a back seat to production expediency. We repeat—if you are a mechanical or electrical engineer, FACT NUMBER 4 : you and Collins should get together. Take the first step Collins' reputation for quality of product is universally now, for more information, write: recognized. It has led to Collins' phenomenal sales record. L. R. Nuss FRED AIKEN HAROLD MCDANIEL At Collins there is no compromise when quality is at stake. Collins Radio Co. Collins Radio Co. Collins Radio Co. If you're the man we want, you'll get real satisfaction Cedar Rapids, 2700 W. Olive Ave. 1930 Hi-Line Drive out of this quality-consciousness. Iowa Burbank, California Dallas, Texas 14 NORTH AMERICAN'S COLUMBUS DIVISION North American Aviation, foremost in the design and production of military aircraft, has an established engineering team at its Columbus Division with prime responsibility for complete design and development of Navy aircraft. The New F J - 4 - Navy's latest and fastest FURY J E T - i s the most recent achievement at Columbus. Other, even more advanced designs are now being developed from initial concept to actual flight. . creating top opportunities for virtually all types of graduate engineers Contact your Placement Office for an appointment with North American representatives. Or write: Engineering Personnel Office, Dept. COL, North American Aviation, Columbus 16, Ohio. Pocket-size pound of pleasure! New RCA Transistor Radio Drop a gentle hint (like enclosing this transistors. The cabinet is long-lasting, to bring you ever-better "Electronics ad in your next letter home), and come too. It's the fabulous, guaranteed non- for Living." Tmk(»)» graduation time you could be getting breakable "IMPAC" case. Cabinet colors this amazingly ingenious radio. include antique white, charcoal and It s a new RCA Victor Transistor Six, spruce green. and this one you can really take along And note the price—now just $49.95! anywhere. It's smaller and lighter than This beautiful little bargain is typical the average textbook-and lots more of the extra value engineered into every tun. product of RCA. For, almost without You can carry it easily in pocket or exception, these achievements in elec- purse. It weighs a mere 16 ounces, tronics begin at the David Sarnoff Re- yet delivers a roomful of sound any- search Center in Princeton, New Jersey. timeyou wish. Here the scientists and engineers of The RCA Victor Transistor Six is bat- RCA continually seek—and very often tery-powered and uses six long-lasting find—practical and dramatic new ways exploring the universe: First, Earth was all, then the Sun, and then our Galaxy of 100,000 million suns, "like sand... flung down by handfuls and both hands at once". Now, we know our galaxy is but one among a billion galaxies where suns and earths and atoms are ceaselessly created by a Universe without beginning and without end. Political corollary: If nations may forsake wars of aggression and deterrence for a cooperative deployment of earth's resources to explorations in space and time, the new science of astronautics may lead us soon to the infinite plenty of the planets and the stars. Atoms in Industry by Dr. James Stokley As citizens of a world undergoing accelerating changes, glass, paper, chemicals, metals, and petroleum. Since it behooves us to understand these changes to the about a tenth of the nation's total energy consumption extent of our abilities. This comprehension comes is now used in this way, it might prove a good market easier when the guidance is expert. Here an able for heat from nuclear sources, even though some writer on science shows some of the things ahead for processes require temperatures as high as 3,000° F., industry in the realm of the atom. well beyond the capability of any present reactor. With the opening of the atomic age there have been By 1980, according to an estimate by the AEC, atomic a variety of reactions to this new force. Many think, sources might be able to supply as much as 10 per cent with fear and terror, of the atomic bomb and its vast of the process heat used by American industry. potentialities for destruction. On the other hand, the United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of The Search for Uses Atomic Energy, held at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1955, The Department of the Interior, with the Atomic showed clearly that it can bring great benefits, par- Energy Commission, has made a preliminary study ticularly as a new source of power. With the shortage of the possibilities of using atomic heat for distillation of conventional fuels a present problem in some parts of salt water, to provide fresh water for irrigation, of the world, and a threat for the future in others, or for municipal and industrial purposes. However, the atomic nucleus offers a welcome new supply of while this might provide an application for waste heat energy. It seems to eliminate any fear that the ad- from a nuclear power plant, if it happened to be in vance of our economy may have to be curtailed during a suitable location, it does not seem that atomic energy the next century or so, as supplies of coal and oil would have any significant advantages. approach exhaustion. Another AEC study, with the collaboration of the It is in the atomic reactor that the splitting uranium United States Bureau of Mines, has been concerned nucleus releases a little of its store of energy in a with the gasification of coal. In the process contem- controlled chain reaction (unlike the atomic bomb, plated, steam heated to temperatures of between where the reaction is allowed to go out of control). 2,000° and 3,000° F. would be made to react with the While the radiations emitted by this reaction impose coal right at the mines, producing gas that could be some special problems not encountered in burning used in much the same way as natural gas. This coal or oil, it is—like ordinary combustion—primarily would eliminate the need for expensive transportation a source of heat. Such heat may be used to turn water into steam, which is then fed into turbo-generators of solid fuel, since the gas could be carried through producing electricity. pipelines. Other possible applications, in which some interest If desired, instead, the heat may be utilized directly. was expressed by various groups when the McKinney Except in a few cases where atomically-produced heat, Panel made inquiries, are in the extraction of nitrogen which might otherwise be wasted, can be applied as from the air, to make fertilizers, nitric acid, and other a by-product, it seems to have limited applications essential chemicals; in making acetylene and in t he for heating buildings. However, it may prove a valu- smelting of iron and copper. able source of "process heat." This is heat used directly But heat is not the only form of energy given off in making many materials, such as rubber, cement, by atomic reactors and their products. The nuclear 20 Dr. Stokley is Associate Professor of Journalism at MSU, holding the only post of its kind in any institution in the country; his field is scientific writing. The present article is taken from the author's forthcoming book, The New World of the Atom, published by Ives Washburn, Inc. radiations which are also emitted open up broad thousands of times. The unit is called a monomer new fields of technology. The report to the Joint and in this form it may be liquid. Then, when the Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy by their necessary catalyst is added, these monomers link Panel on the Impact of Peaceful Uses of Atomic themselves together to form the long-chain polymers, Energy (headed by Robert McKinney) stated: and so the material solidifies. "Radiation energy cannot be thought of in the Butyl rubber, polymethy] methacrylate (used where same terms as heat energy. For example, while an glasslike transparency is wanted), polystyrene (an ordinary one-watt light bulb produces a barely per- important electrical insulator), polyethylene (of ceptible amount of light or heat, a one-watt source which "squeeze" bottles are made), and many other of gamma radiation could kill a man in less than one plastics that are now used in large quantities are of hour. Research at Commission and industrial labora- this type; and in them all the polymerization process tories has demonstrated that radiation can be used to —the linking together of the individual units—can be supply energy to initiate some chain chemical reactions initiated by radiation. and to supply all the energy required in basic chemical reactions. Radiation energy can also accomplish Whether radiation would be justified in their manu- changes in the structure of materials and even create facture may be questionable, for only relatively small new materials which are difficult or impossible to quantities of catalyst are needed to start the process produce by other known methods. . . . by present techniques. The reaction vessels in which it is carried out are not expensive, while radiation The future of atomic radiation is . . . speculative equipment may be quite complicated. However, if since little is known concerning the effects of massive it will simplify the operating conditions in any way, quantities of radiation on various industrial processes or permit some other advantages, a change might and materials. Yet the prospect of substituting radia- be justified. tion energy for heat energy appears to offer real respects in the food processing and chemical indus- The process of "grafting" is a familiar one in horti- tries and may conceivably indicate a new direction culture; for example, a dwarf apple or pear tree may from which future supplies for a different kind of be produced by growing these fruits on a quince energy than that now commonly used may come. tree. The process of "graft copolymerization" applies Remembering our comparison of a one-watt light an analogous technique to chemistry. The ordinary bulb and a one-watt gamma radiation source, it is polymer consists of the same unit repeated over and apparent that a small amount of energy in the form over. A copolymer is one of two different kinds of of atomic radiation can be substituted for a relatively links, randomly distributed, while a graft copolymer is large amount of heat or electric energy in some indus-one with a chain of one polymer, upon which chains trial processes." of another are grafted at certain intervals. Just as with the apple and quince, desirable properties of In some cases the readiation may have a trigger effect, two different substances may thus be combined in one. starting a chemical chain reaction that is carried along the rest of the way by chemical energy. This occurs Although silicone rubber is resilient over a consider- in the process of polymerization, by which plastics able range of temperature it is not as resistant to are made. The molecules of these materials are long chains, the same links being repeated hundreds of Ralph Posch already is making his mark in the aviation world. Ralph's only 31, but he's advanced to lead engineer in a career field he's liked from the start. Ralph's progress was speeded by Chance Vought's own growth and by keen company interest in his development. These same career aids are working today for every young engineer who's entered missile and fighter development at Vought. Symposiums on creative engineering, for example, encourage the brand of technical free thinking Ralph has displayed. Company- paid tuition for post-graduate study allows any recent graduate to take immediate steps toward advanced degrees. For an increasing number of junior engineers, Vought offers a nine-month program of job rotation which prepares young men like Ralph for key responsibilities. And in every unit of Vought's engineering sections the young profes- sional is given variety that's both refreshing and broadening. Find out how Chance Vought will do its utmost to help you find and advance in the field that best suits you. Send a resume of your background and interests to: MR. C. A. BESIO, Supervisor, Engineering Personnel Section, CHANCE VOUGHT AIRCRAFT, INCORPORATED, Dallas, Texas To help you plan your future! Send for your copy of our new booklet describing exceptional opportunities for future advancement. careers in the petroleum industry—and especially, Mail the coupon below for the new booklet de- careers in the rapidly expanding petrochemical field. scribing opportunities with Phillips. Let us help you evaluate your opportunities in this 'industry of the future." Phillips is engaged in exploration, production, mnanufacturing and distribution of petroleum and its hundreds of products. As a leader in petrochemicals, Phillipshas major interests in plastics, synthetic rubber, carbon black, chemical fertilizers, rocket fuels and special chemicals. The company is also active in the field of atomic energy and operates one of the government's major reactor installations, Choose a career in the field that interests you most. Philips policy of promotion from within offers Technical Writing B y Harold K. Mintz ed by permission from Nieman Reports, quarterly publication of the Nieman Alumni Council, Harvard University.) Technical writing is the fastest growing branch of question is Dr. Vannevar Bush, formerly president of the profession. Its rapid development was triggered Carnegie Institute, author, educator, and wartime by World War II, stimulated by the Korean conflict director of the Office of Scientific Research and De- and nourished by America's postwar prosperity. Today velopment. This is what Dr. Bush says: there is probably less competition in technical writing than in any other area of the writing profession. Had I invented a new dynamite and reaped a fortune from it, I should be inclined to establish Job opportunities are plentiful, especially in the a Nobel Prize for the interpreter of science, who 5.5 billion-dollar electronics industry, where the term technical writing originated. The Federal Govern- can in these days often serve his fellows far more ment is the biggest purchaser of electronic equipment than the individual who merely adds one morsel in the world, and roughly 4 per cent of the cost of to the accumulated factual knowledge. this equipment arises from instruction handbooks- In the same vein, Charles F. Kettering, retired technical writing. And 4 per cent of billions is big director of General Motors Research Laboratories, business. says that scientific research is completed only when Positions that pay $5000-$ 10,000 are multiplying in its results have been reported to others. Research the automotive, chemical, and aeronautical industries, without publication, he emphasizes, is unproductive. in research organizations and in the Federal Civil Service. And prospects in the fast-growing nuclear power field look promising indeed. Background of Technical Writing What is technical writing? What is its importance Technical writing is not a new art form; it did not and background and what are some of its underlying spring up, full blown, in the 20th century. The first principles? textbook on it appeared in 1908; from then to 1940 Science and engineering are the subjects of tech- there was just a trickle of literature. From 1940 to nical writing. Since most scientists and engineers do 1950 the trickle broadened into a stream, and since not have the time to write or do not write well, the 1950 the stream has developed into a river. need for technical writers becomes obvious. Technical writing of a classic stature dates back Technical writing is impartial, factual, accurate, to the 1st century A.D. to a Roman author, Vitruvius, stimulating. It is designed for a specific purpose- who produced a ten-volume work on city planning to describe a technical device or process for engineers, and architecture. About the same era, Frontinus, a management, customers, maintenance technicians, water commissioner of Rome, wrote a celebrated re- operators of complex equipment, and readers of pro- port on the aquaducts of the Eternal City. In t h e fessional journals, popular magazines or newspapers. 16th century, Georg Agricola (born Georg Bauer), a Technical writing is also extremely flexible and German physician and scientist and the father of appears in various forms: research reports, manuals mineralogy, authored his masterpiece, De re metallica for installation, operation and overhaul, contract pro- Some 350 years later, it was translated into English posals, parts catalogs, progress reports, news releases, by an American mining engineer (and his wife), who instruction leaflets for some home appliances, and later became President of the United States, Herbert do-it-yourself kits. Hoover. Importance of Technical Writing From the days of Rome to the 19th century, science progressed slowly and writers kept pace with it. How- How important is technical writing in our industrial ever, since 1900, science has marched forward in society? Eminently well qualified to answer that seven-league boots, pushing back undreamed of fron- 24 tiers of knowledge. Information has accumulated at 2. Stimulating an exchange of information in a rate far outdistancing our ability to publish, dis- technical writing and allied fields such as tech- tribute, and assimilate. This unbalanced condition nical publishing and illustrating. drives home with sledgehammer force the crying need 3. Encouraging the development of technical today for interpreters of science and technology—in writers. short, technical writers. hi the past centuries, engineers and scientists were 4. Acquainting others with the profession. the elite, the few highly educated people of their Other agencies aiding the cause of technical writing times. They worked alone or in small groups, in sharp are: the National Association of Science Writers, and contrast to the current practice. Engineers and scien- the Society of Technical Writers and Editors (both tists today pool their specialized knowledge and pull in New York City); Science Service and American together as members of project teams in research, de- Documentation Institute (both in Washington, D. C ) ; velopment, design, and production. Their success and the Technical Publishing Society in Lew Angeles. hinges on two factors: technical proficiency and skill Many colleges and universities offer courses in in communicating ideas with one another and with technical writing, including the United States Military the outside world. and Naval Academies. However, the school that has Before World War II, technical writing did not captured all honors is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. exist as a recognized profession and few companies R. P. I. offers a one-year graduate program, available employed full-time technical writers. Engineers and also in the evening division, leading to a degree of scientists did their own writing of reports, very often master of science in technical writing. To be eligible their second most important duty. But when war for this program, students must hold degrees in science came, the pressure of accelerated industrial research or engineering, and once enrolled, must continue and production programs forced scientists to relinquish with science studies. A plan is now being drawn up most of their writing activities to specialists. The for giving parts of this graduate course, under short- Armed Forces needed mountains of equipment and term periods, to industrial writers. instruction manuals. How else could soldiers and Since June 1953, Rensselaer has sponsored a Tech- sailors operate and maintain tanks, planes, and battle- nical Writers Institute that includes lectures, discus- ships at peak performance? sions, writing exercises, and personal consultations When the war ended, an increasingly wide segment with authorities. This annual one-week conference is of industry realized the importance and value of tech- open to representatives of industry and government. nical writing. More and more companies began to In addition to the stimulus afforded by colleges and employ writers, more books and articles started to societies, the technical writing profession is also bene- appear, and more colleges began to give courses in fiting from a new phenomenon mushrooming on the engineering writing. business horizon — technical writing organizations. There are about 100 such firms in the country with Agencies Promoting Technical Writing a business volume estimated at around $75 million. One of the more aggressive agencies in advancing New York City alone has about 40 such agencies and the profession of technical writing is the Society of one of them employs more than 1000 people. Technical Writers, founded in Boston (a beehive of Many manufacturers of complicated apparatus electronics) in 1953. This society now consists of 14 prefer to hire such agencies on a part-time basis rather chapters throughout the United States and represents than try to train their own full-time writers. This con- over 450 members in this country, Canada, South dition prevails, especially if the writing must conform America, and Europe. to government specifications, a painstaking task. The Society of Technical Writers defines a technical Handbooks written to the specifications of the writer as one who: Armed Forces must be engineered as precisely as the A. as his principal function equipment they explain. Because so much skilled effort goes into those manuals, it is estimated they (1) secures, organizes, and presents scientific cost more than $100 a page before printing. or engineering information; or Advertising agencies, of course, grind out reams of (2) edits, reorganizes, and rewrites such in- technical copy, but it differs in one major respect-it formation; or aims to sell, not to inform. Nevertheless, much of their B - (1) teaches the principles and practices of writing ranks high in content and style, and deserves technical writing, and study. (2) has had practical experience in technical writing or editing." Qualifications of a Technical Writer The society, which issues a quarterly entitled Tech- If you write for a living and monthly bills plague nical Writing Review, was organized to promote four you, technical writing may be the answer. It provides objectives: you with a regular income and with research experi- 1- Developing and establishing standards. A pro- ence, both of which help smooth the way for your ject is now underway that will result in a part-time creative writing projects. glossary of terms and abbreviations common (Continued on page 29) to the technical writing profession. ALL GRADUATE ENGINEERS are offered permanent job opportunities. We extend a cordial invitation to every deserving Engineer and Designer to write us their wants. We may be able to supply the square hole for the square peg! YOUR FUTURE depends on your making the right connection with the right firm as quickly as possible. The men hired will enjoy working with some of the top men in the field and with the finest test, research and development facilities. GMs long-standing policy of decentral- ization creates individual opportunity and recognition. REPUBLIC has been pioneering new concepts in aircraft design for over 25 years. Our present production plane is the most advanced fighter-bomber in the U.S. Air Force—the incredible F-105 Thunderchief. Our Guided Missiles Division is investigat- ing the upper atmosphere and advanced satellite problems; and have created the first portable, inexpensive rocket. Terrapin, Our engineers are working ten years ahead .. . which means that every project you're assigned to is at a research or develop- mental level. And you get a crack at responsible assignments from the s t a r t . . . modern facilities to test out your ideas . . . with engineering aides to do the routine work. Well —for one —there's Alexander Kartveli, Vice President, Re- search & Development, who sparked the Thundercraft series. There's Dr. Theodore Theodorsen, for another — among whose accomplishments is the theory of wing-flutter — who heads our Scientific Research G r o u p . . . and there are hundreds of other engineers and scientists of major stature. You'll live on Long Island with its fabulous beaches and parks — less than an hour from New York City's cultural and enter- tainment facilities. ..giving a man the best combination for * well-rounded life...and enough money to enjoy it —coupled with a benefit program that's a model for the industry. Only you can answer t h a t . . . a n d your talent is the key. But everything that is possible for a company to do —for you to achieve your maximum potential - REPUBLIC does . . . including attendance and presentation of papers at professional meetings and advanced studies at prominent universities and colleges. One company after another plays "Your Future you the kind of career that naturally follows such With Us", hoping to make a hit. The reason is a challenging assignment. obvious: today there are more openings for en- Getting acquainted, of course, is a give-and-take gineers and skilled technicians than there are proposition. You can start the ball rolling with a capable young men to pick up the pay checks. letter to Mr. Richard Auten at our Bridgeport We play the tune, too, but we like to think ours Personnel Department. has a new twist, a bright new beat. Since we are a young company in a new and different field, our fresh approach comes naturally. Even though we pioneered the modern helicopter, our baby was probably born after you were! While making no attempt to deny our youth, neither do we attempt to reject the plaudits earned in our few short years. Helicopters are acclaimed everywhere as the world's most versa- tile aircraft. We look to your generation to help Sikorsky helicopters become the world's most versatile means of transportation. And we offer TECHNICAL WRITING— Technical Editor The technical editor, usually an experienced tech- (Continued from page 25) nical writer, supervises the writing activities of many Should you decide to become a technical writer people in many departments of an organization. He (also known as engineering writer, specifications knows how to work with scientific personnel and how writer, or publications engineer), you will need five to direct photographers, illustrators, typists, and print- major qualifications: ers in producing a finished book. His value to the company depends largely on how fast he grasps the 1. The first qualification is a general knowledge of over-all technical picture. science, particularly physics, mathematics, and chem- istry, since one or the other enters all science news In addition, an editor should be somewhat versed today. If you are familiar with a branch of engineer- in copy layout, printing processes, photography, art, ing, your horizons will be that much broader and copyright law, trade organs in his industry, and gov- deeper. ernment "specs" (if his company sells to the govern- ment). Above all, a successful editor must be a 2. Besides this general background, you will have diplomat, for in rewriting and checking accuracy and to specialize. For example, if physics is your field, you English usage, three of his chief functions, he may should decide on what area in the physical world you be treading on someone's toes. And the poorest writers will devote yourself to—nuclear power applications, are often the most sensitive and belligerent about their electronics, electricity, mechanics, heat, light, or sound. literary aptitude. Any one of those subgroups will occupy you for a lifetime of study. There are, of course, other minor skills that editors and writers would do well to cultivate. A flair for 3. However, knowledge by itself is not enough; it the spoken word proves an asset in interviewing, in must be backed up by acute observation, thorough conferences, perhaps for an occasional speech, and analysis, mature judgement. You should be able to also for tape-recording of technical data—a distinct evaluate what a scientist tells you or what he does in possibility in the near future. A well-rounded editor a laboratory or plant. You need not be able to perform and writer should be able to check advertising copy experiments or other techniques of the scientist, but and contribute ideas to it, to snap a photograph, to asking intelligent questions about them and under- sketch passably well. standing the answers—those tasks are yours. Opportunities for technical editors are not nearly Practical experience as an engineer, technician, or so legion as for technical writers but they are increas- even as a hobbyist sharpens your ability to analyze ing, especially in large industrials. and sift data. You should not accept as gospel all statements of scientists; they make mistakes too and your experience helps you detect them. Guideposts in Technical Writing 4- The next trait of a technical writer—understand- Basically, the principles of good technical writing ing of the reader—is one of the obstacles that trips up parallel the principles of any other form of good writ- scientists when they take pen in hand. Jargon is their ing. Yet there are some techniques worth mentioning: technical language and they tend to think that every- 1. Before starting to write, you should gather your body understands it. Scientists usually write as they information, study equipment and processes, form an speak-technically, leaving the readers on their own outline with heads and subheads, and plan illustra- to mine the ore. And very few readers have the tions. These steps will consume at least half your capability or inclination to do so. time but they will minimize your rewriting task, save In order to hold your readers, you should put your- you much waste motion and help get you off to a run- self in their place. Remember, they are always asking ning start-a traditional stumbling block. -how? why? what? An old axiom points the way: 2. Brevity is highly desirable and hard to achieve, Never underestimate your readers' intelligence or but don't attain it at the expense of clarity. Because overestimate their knowledge. technical writing is so often packed with intricate If you tend to say "conflagration" for "fire," "prog- ideas, physics formulas, and calculus equations, clarity nostication" for "prediction," or "illumination" for of expression assumes crucial importance, almost on "light," then you should burn into your mind a few a par with accuracy. astonishing statistics from the Department of Defense. To insure reader understanding, use diagrams and Do you know that 45 per cent of enlisted military charts, tables and photographs freely. Such visual aids personnel now in the Armed Forces have not gradu- should be captioned and numbered, placed in the text ated from high school? And that only about 3 1/2 per where they are most pertinent and specifically men- cent have graduated from college? These statistics tioned in the text. Other means of needling your Probably typify our entire population, which brings readers' attention are the "you" approach and news-peg us to the final major requirement of a technical writer: tie-ins. 5. Writing ability. You may be blessed with an 3. Words are the essential tool in writing and the abundance of the other qualifications; but if you lack way you use them can make or break you. To paint the art of writing simply and clearly, you had better learn it. If You're THE PERSNICKETY TYPE, COME TO WORK FOR US! We want YOU! The kind of engineer who is never satisfied Our training programs for engineers are among with doing a job that will just "get by." The kind of most complete in the country. And as a Standard engineer who constantly strives for perfection, who of Ohio engineer, you would be working in one approaches every assignment determined to do it better America's largest and most challenging groW than it has ever been done before. The Creative Engineer! industries—oil! What company offers the most to this "persnickety" kind So before you decide on any company,lookinto of engineer? We believe it is The Standard Oil Company Standard Oil of Ohio-where creative engineering of Ohio! We are engineering-minded. Seven per cent of counts! Contact the placement director of your school all our employees are engineers. One-half of the president's Or write Mr. E. G. Glass, Jr., Standard Oil Company staff—our top management—are engineering graduates. (Ohio), Midland Building, Cleveland, Ohio. sulfur dioxide, up to 300 tons a day. Oxygen flash smelting is another advance in extractive metallurgy. It's part of a continuing program to step up How ores are made to smelt themselves production, to keep costs down, through, maximum utilization of ores. See the new film: "Milling & Smelt- Important fuel savings ... plus tonnage sulfur recovery ing." 16 mm color prints loaned to engi- .. .with new oxygen flash smelting process neering classes and student technical This is the hot, flaming heart of a new oxygen from the air. You blow this And the previously wasted furnace societies. Write Dept. 129e: Inco-Canada furnace for treating cop- oxygen—and fine copper sulfide concen- gases ? These sulfur-rich gases are col- The International Nickel Company, Inc., per concentrate. trate—into white-hot furnaces. lected and sold for production of liquid New York 5, N. Y. ©isi7.r.j.«.co..j«o. It's an oxygen flash smelting furnace. The oxygen reacts with the concen- That means conservation of fuels, trate. Iron and sulfur burn, creating conservation of sulfur. That also means heat. The ore smelts itself, eliminating efficient extractive metallurgy. need of other fuels: copper collects in In this new process, you separate the matte, iron and rock in the slag. NO ACHILLES HEEL The final test of most products for industry is their ability to withstand — completely — the corrosive effects of long periods of time. In cables this is especially true, since no part of any cable is more serviceable than its weakest point. Fortunately—but not accidentally—no Achilles heel limits Kerite insulation. Kerite cable in perfect working condition after 40, 50, and more years of difficult service is the rule, rather than the exception. Choose Westinghouse for a rewarding future You are making a tough decision. . . "where shall I start my career ... which company offers me the best future?" Your whole career can be affected by your decision, so choose carefully. We sincerely believe you will make a wise decision in choosing Westinghouse, a company where big and excit- ing things are happening. Here you can work with men who are outstanding leaders in fields such as: ATOMIC POWER AUTOMATION JET-AGE METALS LARGE POWER EQUIPMENT RADAR SEMICONDUCTORS ELECTRONICS CHEMISTRY and dozens of others You will have an opportunity to work with a company can pick a career in the industry of your choice . . . in .thatishaving spectacular growth in many fields . . . the type of work you prefer, and in plants sales offices giving you room to grow. and laboratories from the Atlantic to the Pacific. And, you can study for advanced degrees at Company We value our engineers highly, for we know our growth has been due largely to the high caliber of These are just a few of many reasons why you should engineering personnel we have succeeded in attracting. choose Westinghouse. If you want more information Their development into scientists and managers has resulted in dynamic and progressive planning and ask your Placement Officer for our booklete or phone policies. or write the Westinghouse interviewer, or Educational Coordinator named below. We help you apply your training to industry. You Dangerous Peep Show All work is done remotely inside the 38-ton steel A new remote-controlled microscope developed at cell which houses the radioactive sample. First, the the Hanford plutonium plant inspects materials emit- sample is placed in the cell by means of mechanical ting radiation SO intense that its optics eventually go "hands" powered by electric motors. "Mind." Such a "hand" removes the sample from a lead Scientists use the instrument to study changes that container and positions it against grinding and polish- occur in the microstructure of metals exposed to chain- ing wheels. Then, electrical etching equipment re- reaction bombardment. The information they gain moves the top layer of metal which has been made is used to develop alloys and fabrication methods that into a "non-typical microstructure" by the heat of the will make atomic structures withstand increased radi- grinding. ation exposure. Mechanical "fingers" place the radioactive sample Pieces examined in this work have been deformed on the microscope stage, and the scientist manipulates by radiation and in the process have become ray sensitive controls to bring into focus one of three emitters. As a result, the Hanford microscope is compound objective lenses. eventually damaged by these rays. Light beamed through a wall port is focused to a bright pin point, illuminating the polished sample of metal inside the cell. Reflected light from a cir- cular dot of metal, sometimes as small as five one- thousandths of an inch in diameter, is collected by a compound lens and projected through another wall opening to an external eyepiece. There, it is trans- formed into a vastly enlarged image of the circular area. The instrument can optically separate two elements of grain structure one one-thousandths of an inch apart. In effect, it places the observer's eye within one two-hundred and fiftieth of an inch of the "hot surface and still permits the eye to focus. Up Phosphors As with all such advancements in the apparatus of man's living, beginning with rush lights in the caves, the development starts off with great inefficiency and high cost, in one way or another. When Destriau made his first observation of the new light source, it was necessary to allow the eye to adjust for several minutes in the dark in order to see the faint spectral glow produced. Nearly all the great discoveries of our time are based on the observation of just such tiny, imperceptible effects or phenomena. It was 1947 with war intervening, before Destriau raised the glow sufficiently to publish the first comprehensive paper on electroluminescence. Following this, industrial laboratories, led in this country by Westinghouse, launched a basic investigation into the production of light in solids, which began to get off the ground only in 1954. World's First Electric Watch A new era in timekeeping was ushered in with the introduction of the world's first electric wrist watch, perfected after ten years of research, development and testing. No larger than a conventional wrist watch, it incorporates the first basic change in watch construc- tion in almost five centuries. Unveiled at a New York press luncheon, the watch will be available to consumers some time this month. The radical structure of the electric watch com- pletely eliminates the mainspring, an integral part of portable timekeeping devices since it was invented in 1480 by Peter Henlein of Nuernberg, Germany. The new watch is the only one in existence which rims without winding or without periodic agitation. The watch movement is so exquisitely engineered that a tiny energizer the size of a small shirt button will run it for a minimum of twelve months. In fact, the electric watch would run for more than 20 years on energy that would operate a 100-watt bulb for no longer than one minute. The electric watch also has profound implications for our national defense, with miniature timing de- vices so vital to modern weapons of war. The electric watch operates on chemical energy stored in a tiny energizer. This energy is converted into electrical power as it releases a stream of electrons through a coil of fine wire fixed on a balance wheel. The electrical energy through interaction with perma- nent magnetic fields causes the balance wheel to oscillate. This oscillation is the mechanical energy which runs the watch. In the past, the balance wheel only controlled the The over-all result is a precise miniature power power furnished by a mainspring. In the electric plant built into the balance wheel, which in turn watch it furnishes its own power as well as controls it. powers the gears and moves the hands of the watch. The essential difference between this motor and the conventional electric motor is that the power plant, combined with a balance wheel, permits the flow of energy to be strictly controlled and the speed of the hands to be held to an accuracy of more than 99.995 per cent. The coil is made of wire only one fifth the thickness of human hair. Enough of this wire for 1000 watches would weigh only two ounces but would stretch from Dover all the way across the English Channel and well into France. The tiny magnets used in the electrical system are of platinum alloy and have the highest energy content of any magnet in the world today. The gold-plated energizer is designed for long life and low power. It is 400 times more efficient, in terms of space, than the mechanical energy stored in a mainspring, and does an incredible amount of work for its size. together would be only barely visible to the naked NEW DEVELOPMENTS — eye, the engineers said. (Continued from page 35) An electrostatic air filter uses the power pack to do its housecleaning by building up an electric charge Vulcan Gun on the filter. This charge captures dust the same way A rapid-firing 20 millimeter weapon, one of the bits of iron and steel are drawn to a magnet. first specifically designed for present supersonic jet The power pack operates on regular household aircraft, was 'recently unveiled at Aberdeen Proving circuits, 115 or 230 volts, 60 cycles. Ground, Maryland. Named after Vulcan, ancient Roman god of fire, the new weapon was developed by electrical engi- neering company's aeronautic and ordnance depart- ment under the sponsorship of U. S. Army Ordnance and with technical supervision from the Springfield, Massachusetts, Armory. Development of the new 20 millimeter cannon was prompted by the tremendous increase in speed of modern jet aircraft. Until the development of Vulcan, armament fire power rates had lagged behind the speeds of jet air- craft. Vulcan now fulfills the requirement of a weapon capable of firing at an extraordinarily high rate in the short time available to shoot at fast moving targets. The new 20 millimeter cannon has "borrowed" two design features from the original Gatling gun, patent- ed in 1862. Both guns have a rotating multi-barreled cluster, and both are externally driven. External power for the Catling gun came from human energy as the operator turned the crank. The Vulcan gun is externally powered by either electricity or hydraulic fluid Engineers and Army Ordnance officers made a study of every machine gun mechanism patented in the United States. The Gatling gun design was select- ed because its rotating cluster of barrels offered the necessary characteristics for an extremely high rate of fire. According to its designers, the Vulcan gun is simple to operate and maintain, and can be field stripped and reassembled in less than 30 minutes. New Nose Is Good News Ashes to Ashes In the intercontinental ballistic missile race, the A small black box may soon outmode household development of a nose cone which can withstand dusting. Called a power pack, it is being built for flight conditions similar to that of a meteor is one or use with a special electrostatic filter in room air con- the most challenging problems facing engineers today. ditioners. The nose cone is the extremely forward part of the Providing the nearest approach to dust-free air yet missile which carries within control equipment and attainable in the average home, the filter-power pack the missile warhead. combination is designed to remove dust, grime, soot, smoke, lint, and pollen from the air before it is cir- The flight of the ballistic nose cone is similar to culated through the house. The system is designed that of a meteor in that it must descend from extreme to give nearly 100 per cent pollen protection and altitudes at hypersonic velocities and must re-enter better than 95 per cent effectiveness in filtering out the dense layer of air surrounding the earth. dirt which causes discoloration. However, unlike a meteor, missile nose cones must First built for room air conditioners, the power pack not break or burn up but must remain intact and uses less current than three Christmas tree lamps, or functional. In a sense, engineers and scientists are about ten watts, according to engineers. designing better meteors. Over 300 per cent more effective than ordinary The tremendous magnitude of this task is empha- mechanical filters, the electrostatic system filters out sized by the fact that the relatively little knowledge particles so small that 400 such tiny bits packed closely 36 • Few areas of engineering or science offer greater problems—or greater opportunity for achievement—than inertial guidance. At Lockheed Missile Systems' Research and Engineering Centers in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale, engineers and scientists are performing advanced work on all phases of inertial guidance and navigation. New positions have been created for those possessing backgrounds in mathematics, physics, electronics, servomechanisms, flight controls, precision instrumentation and computer design. Inquiries are invited from those possessing strong interest in inertial guidance. Positions are open in inertial guidance and virtually every field of engineering and science related to missile systems at Lockheed's Sunnyvale and Van Nuys Engineering Centers and Palo Alto Research Center. Here R. G. Rickey (left), components specialist, discusses new accelerometer designs with E. V. Stearns, head of the Inertial Guidance Department. Western Electrics new TUITION REFUND PLAN can help you continue your studies while launching an exciting career Under the new plan, Western Electric will refund As one of us, you'd help engineer the manufac- tuition costs for after-hours study at graduate or ture, distribution or installation of the equipment undergraduate level, up to a maximum of $250 for needed for the nation-wide communications net- each school year. work of 49 million Bell telephones. Say, for example, that you decide on a career at Here—where transistors were first developed for Western Electric in one of many rewarding phases production; where repeaters for the new transat- of telephony—electronics, development engineer- lantic telephone cable were tailor-made—there's a ing, design, manufacturing production, plant engi- constant need for new products and new processes. neering, or some other. You may be eligible for Two-thirds of the equipment we make today for financial assistance to help defray the cost of grad- the Bell telephone companies is of types developed uate or other study from the very first day. Choose since World War II. engineering, science or any course that is appro- priate to your job or that adds to your ability to Besides telephone work, Western Electric—over accept greater responsibility, and the Company the years — has been responsible for a continuous will refund to you up to $250 a year for tuition. flow of defense jobs for the government such as the (You'll note from the map on this page that Nike guided missile system and the DEW Line. Western Electric's work locations are well situated There's plenty of room for advancement... in terms of major population areas. That means that whatever your field of specialization. So—whether many of the nation's best schools are close by.) you'd be helping with our telephone job, or work- ing on a major defense project like guided missile Plus values, like the new Tuition Refund Plan, systems—with Western Electric you can expect to give Western Electric engineers many opportuni- grow! ties that other: never have. There's specialized training both in the classroom and on the job . .. For our College Tuition Refund Plan booklet a formal program of advanced engineering study and additional information about Western Electric that includes full-time, off-job courses of up to 10 write: College Relations, Room 1030, Western Elec- weeks' duration . . . a retirement and benefit pro- tric Company, 195 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y. gram that's one of the best known and most liberal in industry . . . low-cost life insurance that would appeal to any man with his eye on the future. And °t paramount importance is the chance to work alongside top men in the field of communications. There's a good deal more for which there isn't s Pace here. Why not write us or contact your place- ment office to schedule an interview when Bell System representatives visit your campus. Your college diploma is your "STARTING BLOCK" at Thompson Products I T takes a lot of time, a lot of work to get that sheepskin. Come graduation, your diploma can get you a quick start towards a solid career at Thompson Products. At Thompson you have a wide choice of fields: Mechan- ical, Electrical, Electronic, Nuclear, Metallurgical, Aeronau- tical or Industrial Engineering . . . Physics or Mathematics A flexible program of experience training points you toward . . . Manufacturing . . . Research and Development . . . a specific job from your first day on. Then you can move ahead Industrial Management . . . Business Administration . . . —in both position and salary—as fast and as far as your Industrial Accounting. talents, ambitions and achievements can qualify you. Thompson is a "growth company". Largely because of its accent on research and development, Thompson has multi- plied its sales 100 times in the past 23 years. It is a "big" company, employing 23,000 in plants located in 19 cities... but each of its many divisions is a "small" company in itself where you cannot get "lost in the crowd". At Thompson you work directly with competent and understanding technical supervisors who are growing them- selves with Thompson. And you grow along with these men. Make your plans now to talk with the Thompson Man when he visits your campus (your Placement Director can arrange it) . . . or write to Ray Stanish, Manager, Central Staff Placement, Thompson Products, Inc., Cleveland 17.0. Men who go with Thompson grow with Thompson Walls Converted Into Paper-thin Light Fixture . . . Electroluminescent Lighting Reprint from Architectural Forum January 1957 In 1936 the French physicist Professor Georges troluminescence is riding. When Westinghouse turned Destriau and a small band of co-workers discovered in 1954 to develop synthetic phosphors to the specific an entirely new method for obtaining light. It con- needs of this form of luminescence, the results were sisted simply of a thin layer of phosphors, such as almost immediate and spectacular. A typical electro- the coating on a television tube, between two thin luminescent panel now consists of a plate of glass on conductive plates. When an alternating current of which is put down first a thin, transparent conductive high enough voltage was applied between the plates, coating (developed by Corning Glass), then a thin the excited phosphors emitted a faint light. This layer of zinc sulfide phosphors embodied in a poly- differed from the fluorescent lamp, then in develop- vinyl chloride plastic film, then a layer of aluminum ment, which employed invisible ultraviolet light from a mercury-glow discharge to excite phosphors into emitting visible light. And it differed from all other means of phosphorescent emission, which included X-rays, as in fluoroscope tubes, and cathode rays, as in television. The new method, in which the two thin plates acted as condensers to create an electromag- netic field, became known as electroluminescence. Today electroluminescence is in exciting develop- ment by nearly all the larger electric and electronic industrial laboratories, headed by Westinghouse, which was quick to take on Destriau as consultant, and by Sylvania Electric. As a practical light source, electroluminescence is not yet efficient enough for wide use, but it is moving up with great speed. And it holds not only the physical potential of outdistanc- ing all other light sources in efficiency but also the Potential of providing the first truly architectural use of light. For, like so many developments crowd- ing in, electroluminescence lends itself, with great economy of means and elimination of clumsy ap- paratus, to panel fabricator It is, in fact, a sand- wich panel of light. The reason that the development has moved so fast since 1954 is that converging streams of knowledge have come together to give it a great push. The rise foil to act as the second plate or electrode—the whole of solid-state physics, producing many exciting new sandwich being little more than 1/8" thick. developments in electronics, is widening the under- standing of energy states in solids. The development The main areas in which improvements in efficiency of television is bringing forth many new phosphors. are due to come are in phosphors and the dielectric And the ability of chemistry to go beyond natural plastic in which they are embedded. New phosphors substances to create by molecular alchemy not only of great variety are arising almost monthly. Late greatly improved synthetic phosphors but also many (Continued on page 75) Other new materials swells the tide upon which elec- How to ground a flying sorcerer Even the most imaginative soothsayer would be way back to hydraulic brakes and all-steel body brought to earth if he could peer into the minds construction. of some of our Chrysler Corporation engineers! We're looking for engineers to join this team. Things he would never dream of in his soaring If you'd like the excitement of creating new and flights of fancy are turning over in the minds of different things . . . of pioneering beyond the the men whose job it is to plan and create future automotive horizon in such dramatic fields as Chrysler Corporation cars. These engineers are atomic power and solar energy . . . Chrysler stirred, but never stymied, by the "impossible." Corporation, we think, is the place for you. And from this "never-say-no" philosophy . . . Good pay? Generous extra benefits? We offer from the farsighted imagination of Chrysler Cor- all that, of course. But most important, unusual poration engineers down through the years have opportunity for advancement to make the most come many distinguished automotive firsts. Push- of your imagination, training and talents in the button driving . . . the first practical automotive rewarding automotive industry. Write us direct. gas turbine . . . and many, many others, all the Address your letter to Mr. L. C. Bettega: Jim Walker asks: Can a mechanical engineer make real progress in a chemical firm? "Pick" Pickering answers: You might call that a leading question, Jim, but the answer leads right into my bailiwick. I came to DuPont in 1940, after taking a combined mechanical and electrical engineering course. So I had what you might call a double reason for wondering about my future with a chemical firm. I soon learned that the success of a large-scale chemical process hinges importantly on mechanical equipment. And the success of this equipment-especially tor a new process -depends on (1) Research, (2) Development, (3) Plant Engineering, and (4) Close Supervision. The net result is that a mechanical engineer at Du Pont can progress along any one of these four broad highways to a top-level position. My own Du Pont experience includes mechanical engineering work in fields as varied as atomic energy, fabrics and finishes, and nylon manufacture. Every one of these brought with it a new set of challenging problems in con- struction, instrumentation and power supply. And every one provided the sort of opportunities a man gets in a pioneering industry. So, to answer your question, Jim, a mechanical engineer certainly has Plenty of chances to get somewhere with a chemical company like Du Pont. in the field ofMaterials Engineering The development of more advanced, effects of radiation on matter are In the field of chemistry, investi- far more powerful aircraft engines important aspects of the nuclear re- gations are made of fuels, high-tem- depends to a high degree on the de- actor program now under way at perature lubricants, elastomeric velopment of new and improved P & W A. Stress analysis by strain compounds, electro-chemical and or- materials and methods of processing gage and X-ray diffraction is an- ganic coatings. Inorganic substances, them. Such materials and methods, other notable phase of investigation. too, must be prepared and their of course, are particularly important properties determined. In the metallurgical field, mate- in the nuclear field. rials work involves studies of corro- While materials engineering as- At Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, the sion resistance, high-temperature signments, themselves, involve dif- physical, metallurgical, chemical mechanical and physical properties ferent types of engineering talent, and mechanical properties of each of metals and alloys, and fabrication the field is only one of a broadly new material are studied in minute techniques. diversified engineering program at detail, compared with properties of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. That Mechanical-testing work delves known materials, then carefully ana- into design and supervision of test program — with other far-reaching lyzed and evaluated according to equipment to evaluate fatigue, wear, activities in the fields of mechanical their potential usefulness in aircraft and elevated-temperature strength design, aerodynamics, combustion engine application. of materials. It also involves deter- and instrumentation — spells out a mination of the influence of part gratifying future for many of to- The nuclear physics of reactor day's engineering students. materials as well as penetration and design on these properties. Could you contribute new ideas to these new fields ? Nuclear Weapons Nuclear Rocket Propulsion Controlled thermo-nuclear energy Particle accelerators High-speed digital computers Critical assembly and reactor research to explore fundamental problems of your own choosing and to publish your findings in the open literature. And for your family-there's pleas- ant living to be had in Northern Cali- fornia's sunny, smog-free Livermore Valley, near excellent shopping centers, schools and the many cultural attrac- I F YOU are a MECHANICAL or ELEC- TRONICS ENGINEER, you may be in- volved in a project in any one of these fields, as a basic member of the ENGINEER, you will work on investiga- tions in radiochemistry, physical and inorganic chemistry and analytical tions of the San Francisco Bay Area. You can help develop tomorrow — today at UCRL chemistry. The chemical engineer is task force assigned each research prob- particularly concerned with the prob- Send for complete information on the lem. Your major contribution will be to lems of nuclear rocket propulsion, facilities, work, personnel plans ana design and test the necessary equip- weapons and reactors. benefits and the good living your family ment, which calls for skill at improvis- In addition, you will be encouraged ing and the requisite imaginativeness can enjoy. to solve a broad scope of consistently unfamiliar and novel problems. If you are a PHYSICIST or MATHEMA- TICIAN you may be involved in such fields of theoretical and experimental physics as weapons design, nuclear rockets, nuclear emulsions, scientific photography (including work in the new field of shock hydro-dynamics), reaction history, nuclear physics, criti- cal assembly, high current linear ac- celerator research, and the controlled release of thermo-nuclear energy. If you are a CHEMIST or CHEMICAL Like to try on this man's shoes? DONALD PLAUTZ belongs to process. He has operated pilot plants, corre- t h e group of engineers at lated data, prepared process manuals, and Standard Oil's Whiting, Indiana, assisted in the initial operation of new Ultra- Research and Engineering Laboratories who forming units. are fitted by training and talent for a process Ultraforming is an intricate refining process engineering career. His fraternal affiliations which Standard invented, patented and makes include Phi Eta Sigma, Tau Beta Pi, Phi available to other refiners, as licensees, to pro- vide increased yields of high octane gasoline. Lambda Upsilon and Theta Tau. Perhaps you're not ready to try on this B.S. (University of Wisconsin); M.S. (Ohio man's shoes yet, but Standard Oil offers out- State); Ph. D. (University of Illinois), all in standing career opportunities to college men chemical engineering, Dr. Plautz has utilized in almost all fields of science and engineering. this training in carrying out varied responsi- bilities on development of the Ultraforming PI TAU SIGMA selected in 1956, three of whom are on the Mechanical Engineering Department Staff, Professor Rotty, Mr. Pi Tan Sigma is a national honorary fraternity for Ditsworth, and Professor Morse. The fourth Honorary Mechanical Engineers. The fraternity was established member selected was Mr. Herman Bickel, Chief Engi- in 1915, first at the University of Illinois, then Wis- neer of Wickes Boiler Co., Saginaw. Other Honorary consin, and later at other leading universities and members include J. F. Wolfram, General Manager of colleges. At the present there are 60 chapters. The Oldsmobile and Claud R. Erickson, Head Engineer MSU Chapter was installed in 1950. for Board of Water, Light, and Electric Commission, The fraternity was established to promote a bond Lansing. There are presently 42 Active members and of fellowship for those in the study and in the pro- 28 Honorary and Graduate members. Active members fession of Mechanical Engineering, who demonstrate are selected from the Junior and Senior class. A good by their academic or practical achievements a real academic record is needed to make a student eligible interest or distinct ability in Mechanical Engineering. for Pi Tau Sigma, but this is not the only prerequisite Membership consists of three classes: Honorary, Active, and Graduate. Four Honorary members were Ideas grow and grow at UNION CARBIDE . . . Last year, approximately one third of Union Carbide's total sales were of products not available 15 years ago. For the past 25 years, the Corporation has averaged one neiv product a month. Now it is introducing them at the rate of two a month. Ideas born in Union Carbide Laboratories grow . . . from exploratory and fundamental research to applied research and product and process develop- ment . . . through pilot plants to production to sales. In all these fields the Divisions of Union Carbide need engineers, chemists, physicists, and business and liberal arts majors. For more information write Co-ordinator of College Recruiting. More graduate engineers moving up in the GAS Industry . . . the nation's sixth largest The Gas industry—the sixth largest in the nation There are many opportunities for you in the Gas —has a total investment of over $15 billion. Last industry. The industry needs engineers, and does year the industry set a new all-time record in not overhire. You won't be regimented. There's number of customers, volume of gas sold, and always room for advancement. With utility com- dollar revenue. In fact, Gas contributed 25% of panies and with manufacturers of Gas equipment, the total energy needs of the nation as compared there's a future for you as an engineer. Call your with 11.3% in 1940. The Gas industry is a major nearest Gas Utility. They'll be glad to talk with force in the growth development and economic you about your opportunity in the Gas industry. health of this country. American Gas Association. CLUBS AND SOCIETIES — The American Foundrymen's Society The Student chapter of the American Foundrymen's (Continued from page 48) Society at MSU was first organized in 1948. Its pur- for membership, Some other qualities are leadership, pose is to familiarize the interested student with the personality, industry, dependability, and probable opportunities available in the foundry industry, the- Future success in Mechanical Engineering. nation's fifth largest. The present officers are Joe Colucci, President; The foundry industry earnestly supports the many keith Salisbury, Vice-President; Dick McCormick, student chapters of the AFS and its close relationship Treasurer; Chuck Kirchhoff, Recording Secretary; has a uniqueness among university organizations. Wayne Sebrell, Corresponding Secretary. MSU's Student AFS chapter is no exception, having as its industrial advisors: Richard Dobbins, Plant En- Pi Tan Sigma has taken an active part in the annual gineer at Albion's Malleable and Ken Priestly, Presi- Engineering Exposition, constructing exhibits, acting dent of Vassar Electrolay Products. Both of these men as guides, and putting up signs. The fraternity also are graduates of MSU. has a bulletin board for a "Know Your Faculty" program, Bach month a picture and a brief history Officers of the chapter for the year 1956-57 are: of a Faculty member is displayed so that students can Chairman, Dwaine Pozen, East Lansing Senior become better acquainted with instructors. Vice-Chairman, Richard Willyoung, East Lansing Senior Each year there is a National Convention of Pi Tau Secretary-Treasurer, Clarence Chambers, Spring Sigma. Horace Prindle represented MSU at the con- Arbor Senior vention held at State College of Pennsylvania last Corresponding Secretary, Rodger Wood, East Lan- year. It is hoped that the 1958 convention can be sing Senior held here, after the new Mechanical Engineering building is completed. (Continued on page 82) HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK WITH GENERAL MOTORS IN THE FIELD OF ELECTRONICS? . . . W I T H MEN WHO ARE ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY'S HIGHEST POWERED GERMANIUM TRANSISTORS AND OTHER ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND PRODUCTS? . . . men who have the ability to solve problems that stand in the way of progress . . . men who give a qualified college graduate a running start on success. They're Delco Radio men— and our most prized asset. You can work with them—become one of them. They have perfected the new high- powered germanium transistors, the beginning of an expanded program of research, development, and produc- tion at Delco Radio. This revolutionary transistor is already filling a vital need, and its potential use is incalculable! To keep this program moving and to develop equally big, new ideas in the field of electronics, Delco Radio needs men like yourself—graduates with de- grees (BS, MS and PhD) in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, physical chemistry, phys- ics, and production engineering. If you are interested in permanent work in the field of semiconductor devices, applications, production, and related engineering jobs, contact us today. You'll find Delco Radio's policies re- garding salaries, promotions, and bene- fits as advanced as the transistor itself. There are many directions to take in building leading producers of basic chemicals for indus- your future career in the chemical field. And try, oifers you the opportunity to take time the truth of the matter is that many college before making this all-important decision. And graduates are not sure in which direction their Hercules will assist you in appraising your own future lies. natural aptitude before you make the final choice. Sales? Production? Research? Development? Hercules' pace-setting growth and continuing Engineering?—They all require a special com- diversification provide many opportunities for bination of personality and talent to insure a careers in creative chemistry. You can learn rewarding career. Hercules, one of the nation's more about Hercules in your placement office. We'd like to send you this record! No matter what branch of engineering evaluate in terms of cold facts and figures. you're following—no matter which phase of A company's basic philosophy, for example engineering interests you most—we want .. .its attitude and approach to its customers you to know SQUARE D and what we have to and to its working team. offer. Of special interest to you, we believe, The "Human Touch" record we want to is the "human touch" side of our Company. send you deals with some of those intangi- There are some things you simply can't bles—musically. We think you'll enjoy it. With the use of the new high intensity X-ray NEW DEVELOPMENTS— machine it is possible to take X-ray photographs of these alloys during the precise moments when, due (Continued from page 36) to temperature changes, the magnetic arrangement existing at present in the new fields of aerothermo- of atoms in the metal is undergoing transformation. dynamics, aeroballistics, hypersonic and other fields Because the crystallographic X-ray machine is at must be extrapolated into unknown technology. least 15 times more powerful than any comparable This means that the frontiers of science in physics, device now in existence, X-ray time has been reduced chemistry, metallurgy, electronics and other basic sharply on iron-aluminum and other alloys under sciences must be expanded and new research tools investigation. This unusually high power—and the must be developed to enable scientists to work in tech- fact that the X-ray beam can be concentrated on a nical areas never before explored. focal spot less than half the normal size-makes it possible to obtain an X-ray source which is 15 times At present designs for unique shock tunnels and more brilliant. Thus, X-ray photographs can be taken ballistic firing ranges to simulate conditions which in one-fifteenth of the usual time, collapsing hours will be encountered by the nose cone in its flight, as of normal work into a few minutes. well as many other test equipment and processes still highly classified, are being made. Because of its unusually brilliant X-ray source, the super-powered machine makes possible metals re- search that previously was considered too costly or Vanguard Pusher A powerful new rocket engine, designated the X405, will deliver a thrust of over 27,000 pounds when it launches the 11-ton VANGUARD rocket during the International Geophysical year. The X405, the main power boost for VANGUARD will operate for about 150 seconds to accelerate the earth satellite vehicle through its initial 36 miles of flight toward outer space. Burning a hydrocarbon fuel and liquid oxygen, the X405 rocket engine will have accelerated the VANGUARD rocket to a speed of 4,000 miles an hour, or more than a mile a second at burnout. Advanced components, including a turbopump and thrust chamber, are credited with making possible the long-duration, high-altitude flight. The engine will be gimbal-mounted to permit changing thrust direction as much as 5 degrees for accurate flight path control. X-ray Machine Traces Atomic Charges in Metals Hitherto unknown changes in the atomic arrange- ment of iron-aluminum alloys have been discovered through the use of the world s most powerful crystal- lographic X-ray machine at electronic research lab- oratory. otherwise impracticable. Especially is this true in cases where metals must be tested at high or low Valuable for their superior magnetic properties, temperatures. X-ray photos have been taken at tem- iron-aluminum alloys may find wide application peratures as low as 300 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. throughout the electrical industry for such apparatus This conceivably could be accomplished with less as generators, transformers, circuit breakers, and sim- powerful equipment, but it would be difficult to ilar electrical equipment. maintain accurate temperature control, and because of the long exposure time which would be necessary, The designer of the super-power X-ray said new information on the previously puzzling behavior of the cost of liquid helium-the cooling agent-would iron-aluminum would give metallurgists greater in- be prohibitive. By reducing exposure time to one sight into these metals. fifteenth of that formerly required, the cost of liquid helium needed for cooling is reduced proportionately. Heretofore we were able to observe that at certain temperatures, iron-aluminum reacted in unexpected In addition to conducting studies at low tempera- ways. We were aware of these changes but were tures, it has been possible to photograph metalsina unable to understand or explain them. 56 T HIS part is a housing that must accurately position the spindle of a grinding machine that operates at high speeds. Dimensional stability is of prime importance. The manufac- turer machined the part from bar stock. That meant drilling the hole—a costly step. Other factors raised costs even more.The manufacturer couldn't main- tain the precise tolerances required and reduce production costs, too. After studying the problem, Timken Company metallurgists recommended a switch from the bar stock previously used to Timken* seamless steel tubing. Immediate savings resulted. No drill- ing was required—the hole was already there. Scrap loss was reduced. More parts were produced per ton of steel. One of the annealing operations re- quired with bar stock was eliminated. Stress-relieving operations were devised to insure complete stability of the finished part.Tolerances were held. And final reports showed that the switch to Timken seamless steel tubing cut production cost per housing 26%. And, What Do Fungus Tests Have To Do with Turbine Aircraft Engines? • It's like this. Allison engines today are flying in all conditions are maintained during the required test parts of the world . . . in sub-zero areas, as well as in period. Following the test, components are subjected tropical areas where the climate is hot and sticky . . . to a functional test; then disassembled; inspected; where growth of fungus on electronic parts, for in- decontaminated and returned to the Qualifications stance, could cause malperformance. Parts Cabinet. So, the fungus test is one of seven environmental Not too glamorous, this test. But, it does point out tests conducted on engine components at Allison. the ramifications involved in the production of mod- Purpose, of course, is to determine whether or not the ern aircraft engines which must perform perfectly constituents of the components—such as insulation, under widely varied conditions. or possibly some lubricants—will support fungus. On • • • one engine model, some 50 parts are subjected to the Allison—a leader in the design, development and fungus test. production of aircraft engines—is looking for young Six types, or clean strains of fungi (above)—repre- graduate engineers and technically-trained personnel. sentative of those encountered in tropical areas—are Why not arrange for an interview with our representa- kept growing in one of the Allison test labs at all tive when he visits your campus. Or, write for in-' times. Engine components are inoculated with a mix- formation now: Personnel Dept., College Relations, ture of fungi spores; then placed in an air tight cham- Allison Division, General Motors Corporation, ber for 28 days. Specified humidity and temperature Indianapolis 6, Indiana. are your plans as- precise ! as your planning? The proof of the planning is in the finished plans. That's why you're smart to use Eagle TURQUOISE—the pencil the professionals prefer. Look what it gives you: Uniform grading (17 scientific formulas guarantee exactly the blackness you want—from every pencil, every time!). A strong non-crumbling needle point that stays sharp for line after long line of unchanging width. Inimitable smoothness— thanks to Eagle's exclusive "Electronic" graphite. TURQUOISE makes your plans look sharp— and you, too! WHITE FOR FREE SAMPLE Turquoise wood pencil and Cleantex Eraser, naming this magazine —or buy any of these drawing instruments from your favorite dealer. concentration of the element determines the intensity NEW DEVELOPMENTS — of that wave-length component. At present the instru- (Continued from page 56) ment is able to detect all elements with atomic number equal to 22 (titanium) or higher. super-heated state. X-ray "snap shots" of metals as The X-ray intensity at each wave length is measured hot as 3000 degrees Fahrenheit have been taken, by a geiger or proportional counter. The signal is making it possible to study the characteristics of the amplified through a vacuum-tube arrangement to acti- metal before it vaporizes or undergoes some chemical vate a pen on a graph. The X-axis of the graph indi- change at the elevated temperature. cates the wave length and the Y-axis charts intensity. The technician can analyze this data into a quanti- The machine is also equipped with an adapter tative analysis. which gives an X-ray beam only 400 millionths of an inch in diameter—about one-tenth the diameter of a human hair. This thin, intense beam approaches the dimensions of the tiny crystallites which make up the crystal of a metal, and permits the investiga- tion of individual crystals with an exactness not possible with a beam of larger size. X-ray Steel Analysis "Point probe microanalysis," a new metallurgical research technique, permits analysis of steel-specimen areas 10,000 times smaller than is possible by any other method. The new technique was conceived in France about six years ago and is now being devel- oped and refined by American scientists. The point probe method of analysis involves the use of an electron microscope containing a focused electron beam to excite X-ray emission from a region as small as a few microns in diameter. The charac- teristic X-rays emitted are then analyzed by a crystal spectrometer. This method has wide application in metallurgy for study of inter-granular corrosion, analysis of segre- gation of alloying elements among the metallic phases and along metallic grain boundaries, measurement of inter diffusion during welding and plating, and for determining the composition of fine precipitate par- ticles. The basic instrument being studied and modified is a vertical 7 1/2-foot electron microscope with a 4-foot electron column. The steel samples to be studied are placed in a specimen chamber through a door in the base of the column. A vacuum is then created by a standard oil-diffusion pump. An optical binocular microscope and mechanical stage motion permits the operator to make a visual adjustment of the specimen under the beam. New Electronic Memory Unit Can Handle The beam is generated by an electron gun which Millions of Items at Split-Second Speeds accelerates electrons through approximately 30,000 A new memory device has been built that will volts. The beam is focused by three electrical lenses. enable electronic computers to store more than a The electron-beam cross-over point formed by the million bits of information in a space little larger than objective lens is focused by the repeater lens on the a shoe box and to recall any or all of the items in a surface of the steel sample. few millionths of a second. The focused beam strikes a selected area of the The new memory consists basically of thin, printed specimen's surface, causing X-ray emission. The plates of special magnetic material perforated with X-ray beam is then analyzed to determine its com- small holes. ponent wave lengths by reflection from a lithium- A key point in the operation of all electronic com- fluoride crystal. Each chemical element in the sample puters is the information storage system in which vari- emits an X-ray of characteristic wave length. The 60 HAMILTON STANDARD PRODUCTS D I V I S I O N OF UNITED AIRCRAFT CORP. Bradley Field Road Windsor Locks, Conn. It's the Test by Fire for High Alloy Steel A jet engine on a test stand represents the In your industrial future, you're practically kind of metal-killing service that no steel certain to run into problems of corrosion, could stand until A-L pioneered in suitable heat or wear resistance—of strength high-temperature alloys. Then, and only then, with light weight—or of special electrical came aircraft superchargers, jet and rocket requirements. The right special alloy steels engines, gas turbines, etc. can solve them, and we're the people to Outside of the stainless and high-tempera- see (a suggestion that is equally good it the ture steel families, other fields in which development and production of these high Allegheny Ludlum blazes the trails include alloy materials appeals to you as a career). electrical steels and special magnetic mate- Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation, rials, tool and die steels, and sintered carbides. Oliver Bldg., Pittsburgh 22, Pa. Progress and Diversification AT PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS COMPANY GLASS Window and plate glass plants operated at capacity in 1956. Partial production was started at Pittsburgh Plate's new Cumberland, Md., plate glass plant. PAINTS & PLASTICS Many new products, including Duracron acrylic enamel were introduced in 1956 for both consumer and industrial use. Addi- tional capacity is being planned in 1957 for Selection Plastics, a series of versatile thermosetting resins. CHEMICALS During 1956, wholly-owned s u b s i d i a r y , Columbia- Southern Chemical Corpora- tion, began operating a titanium tetrachloride plant at Natrium, W. Va. A new trichlorethylene plant was completed at Barberton, ' Ohio. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT Expanded facilities in new and modern labora- tories, plus growing budgets, assure new and improved glass, paint, chemical and other products. New techniques and equipment, perfected by research and development teams, are helping speed production. These forward- looking programs not only mean continued progress at Pittsburgh Plate and Columbia- Southern, but also better products and service for the customer. FIBER GLASS Production facilities for both Superfine and OUTSTANDING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES textile fibers were expanded during 1956 at Progress and diversification at Pittsburgh Plate is providing excellent career me Company's Shelbyville, Indiana plant. opportunities for qualified graduates. If you are interested in putting your talents and initiative to work where they will be respected and rewarded, by all means look into your career possibilities with Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. Write to General Personnel Director, One Gateway Center, Pittsburgh 22, Pa. 1. Do you wish to extend your experience in electronics systems ? 2. Would you like to instruct others in advanced fire control systems and labora- tory techniques? 3 . Would you like to handle a responsible position representing a leading electronics organization? 4.Do you believe that you can accurately relate your findings and studies in tech- nical language? 5. Are you interested in such devices as an- alog computers, digital computers, power supplies, transmitters, receivers, and mi- crowave antennas? 6. Do you enjoy working with people? If you can answer "yes" to four of the above questions and have an Electrical Engineering or Physics degree, chances are that you can qualify for one of the several engineering positions in the Hughes Field Engineering department. In addition to giving you well-rounded experience in electronic systems and con- trols, Hughes offers you training at full salary, moving and travel allowances, per diem expenses, and many other benefits. For further information write Mr. W. A. Barnes at the address below. Since man first discovered fire, food has been heated waves they needed. So in a way, we can think of the by placing it near or in contact with heat, but soon, Second International Polar Year as being the grand- Mrs. Housewife may be cooking by radio waves. In parent of radio cooking, and radar in turn as being its this method the heat is not applied to the food but parent. is generated within it. Strange as it may seem, this method might be Now how does this method of cooking work? We considered as an unexpected and unplanned outcome all know that when two sticks are rubbed together of the Second International Polar Year. During this they become heated. Every Boy Scout knows this; event in 1932-3, scientists carried on a research pro- he is taught how to use it to start a camp fire. The gram in the arctic. One of the studies concerned the heating is due to friction between the two pieces when ionosphere. To study this region of upper atmosphere they are rubbed together. Now all matter is com- they sent out short pulses of radio waves and meas- posed of molecules. These molecules are free to move ured the time for them to be reflected back to the around. Even though a substance may appear to be transmitter. Results from this work became the fore- solid, nevertheless the molecules which make up the runner of radar. Radar became an important means substance can and do move about. At low tempera- of detecting aircraft during the Second World War. tures they vibrate slowly, while at high temperatures But what does radar have to do with cooking? they vibrate much faster. To answer this we must turn to the early days of radio broadcasting. It was noticed that people working near When a substance, say a piece of steak, is placed in the transmitters often became unduly fatigued. It was or near a coil through which radio waves are traveling soon learned that they actually ran a few degrees of the alternating electric field around the coil causes fever although they were evidently in good health. the molecules in the steak to move about much faster. Dr. W. R. Whitney, Director of Research at the Gen- And thus the temperature is raised, since it is the eral Electric Company, performed some experiments speed at which molecules move that determines how and learned that stray waves near the transmitter hot a thing is. caused the fever. When a steak is cooked on the stove the outside Other researchers then became interested and made further studies to see how this form of artificial fever cooks first. The temperature on the inside gradually might be used in a practical manner. They found increases and finally the steak is done through. But that when substances were placed inside or near coils with radar cooking there is no heat applied to the through which radio frequency waves were traveling outside; the heat is generated within the steak and the temperature of the material was raised several it cooks at the same speed throughout its thickness. degrees. Further experimenting showed that the heat- What are the advantages of radar cooking? To ing effect was greater for the shorter wave lengths. But the radio tubes used in those early days were not begin with some people say that foods cooked by this suitable for extremely short wave lengths. method taste better. It is claimed that the natural juices are retained. But there is a very practical bene- However, when it was discovered that extremely fit too. We now enjoy the benefits of home frozen- short radio waves could be used to detect aircraft, food cabinets, but we all know that first the food must considerable research was carried on to improve the method which later became known as radar. be thawed before it can be put on the stove or in the oven. This is an inconvenience, especially when the Probably the most important single development unexpected guest arrives for dinner. which made radar possible was a special type of radio tube capable of generating extremely short waves, With radar cooking, thawing is not necessary. One This tube is known as a magnetron. simply takes a steak out of a zero degree deep-freeze, Experimenters who had given up heating by radio w aves now had a tube which would generate the short National Bureau of Standards, indicated their own IGGY, CHOGGY— convictions in a report to the US Senate: "These and (Continued from page 13) many other questions are the objectives of the IGY program. They are important to man's understanding centered at the magnetic pole. Other data was ob- of the Earth and the universe surrounding him. The tained then which is still of value. answers will provide him not only new basic knowl- During the second Polar Year, Arctic geophysical edge by applications in many fields of human activity studies resulted in new knowledge of the ionosphere —from the raising of crops and transpolar air travel to (the region of upper atmosphere which reflects radio better radio communications and navigation. . waves to ground level) by new radio sounding Through this joint effort of many nations, there is methods, sending short pulses of radio waves upward ample assurance that man will better learn the nature and measuring the amount of time taken for their of his environment from the depths of the Earth to return. Radar was developed on the basis of this outer space." study, which thus greatly advanced radio science as well as geophysics. IGY was undertaken in recognition of the enor- mously valuable results produced by the Polar Years. A fraternity had sent its window curtains to the Scientists hope that they may anticipate even greater cleaners and there was some delay in having them accomplishments to grow from IGY, which may well returned. One morning a note arrived from the girls' be the forerunner of future international projects. rooming house across the street. "Dear Sirs," it read, The rockets and radio waves will be sent into space "may we suggest that you procure curtains for your in 1957-8, explosion sound waves which will help tech- windows. We do not care for a course in anatomy." nologists probe the interior of the Earth, measurement The chap who left his shaving to answer the door and of ocean currents and tides, and study of the particles receive the note sent back the following answer: "Dear which are bombarding this planet from Outer Space — Ladies: This course is not compulsory." all this may help answer some critical questions. Is the Earth's climate changing? Are glaciers receding? Will melting Arctic ice eventually engulf coast low lands? What are cosmic rays and where do they come from? Just what causes the aurora? What do sunspots, and solar flares, have to do with long-range radio trans- mission on Earth? The officers of the US Committee for IGY, Drs. Joseph Kaplan of UCLA, and A. H. Shapley of the Lockheed aerodynamics projects offer advanced problems Aerodynamics Engineers at Lockheed are working on advanced problems that cover virtually every phase of aircraft. The full scope of their work can be seen in the wide range of aerodynamics problems Master's Degree encountered in Lockheed's diversified development program. Work-Study Program Among the advanced problems are: The program enables graduates in I Determine means of controlling a supersonic vertical rising aircraft Engineering, Mathematics and Physics to through the transition flight stages from horizontal to vertical flight. attain a Master's Degree at the University of 2 Determine the dynamic response of supersonic aircraft in high rate California at Los Angeles or University rolls by application of five degrees of freedom analysis procedures. of Southern California while gaining 3 Study optimum operating descent procedures to minimize costs important practical experience on the on a new turboprop commercial aircraft. engineering staff of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, California. 4 Conduct and analyze wind tunnel research on new and radically different external radomes to be carried at high speed by Additional information may be obtained from early warning aircraft. your Placement Officer or Dean of the Engineering School or by writing 5 Perform generalized aeroelastic analysis combining structural and E. W. Des Lauriers, Employment Manager aerodynamic knowledge to determine optimum lateral control devices for use on very high speed, low load factor aircraft. and Chairman of the Master's Degree Work-Study Program. These—and many other—significant problems have created new positions for experienced Aerodynamics Engineers and Aerodynami- cists in Lockheed's expanding program of diversified development. You are invited to contact your Placement Officer for a brochure describing life and works at Lockheed in the San Fernando Valley. ATOMS IN INDUSTRY— search Laboratory, were done with a million-volt X-ray machine, modified to give cathode rays of (Continued from page 21) similar energy. In other laboratories, electrostatic machines, of the Van de Graaff type, have been used solvents as acrylonitrile. Perhaps a graft of acryloni- to produce these radiations. Unlike radioactive iso- trile on silicone rubber might produce a new type, topes, which gradually decay in intensity, the cathode which would be both solvent-resistant and resilient. ray generator gives a steady output. Morever, it Although such work is now in its early stages, work emits radiation only as needed, while turned on. The at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, by Dr. Ber- radioactive materials emit it constantly, whether it nard Manowitz, indicates that radiation techniques is wanted or not, until they reach the end of their lives. may make such grafts possible. The reactor itself represents a source of radiation. Rubber is a polymer and, for most applications, is With a homogeneous reactor, or one using liquid vulcanized by the process originally discovered by fuel, the radioactive gases produced by fission may Charles Goodyear. This sets up cross-linkages from be steadily drawn off and used on the spot for radia- one Polymer chain to another, making the product tion. With solid fuel reactors there are several possible much stronger. Studies by the Goodyear Tire and methods. The fuel elements that have seen service, Rubber Company, and the Wright Air Development and have become loaded with fission products, might Center, have demonstrated that vulcanization of rub- serve as radiation sources before they are put through ber may be accomplished by radiation. the reprocessing plant. The fission products them- Work at the General Electric Research Laboratory selves, after having been removed, can be used as has shown that something similar may be done to sources. One of these is cesium 137, with a 37-year polyethylene. The unbreakable squeeze bottles made half-life, which emits both beta and gamma rays. of this plastic, in which many products are now mar- Then again, cobalt may be placed in the reactor, in a place where otherwise the neutrons would not be keted, have been limited in their application because utilized. By such means ordinary cobalt, of mass 59, they collapse into a shapeless mass when exposed to is converted by neutron capture into cobalt 60, a a temperature about that of boiling water. Thus, it beta and gamma emitter of 5.3 years half-life, which has not been possible to sterilize them by steam or finds many uses as a source of radiation. other heat, a process that would be necessary if they were to be used for medical applications. That ample radiation sources will be available in The General Electric Company scientists, however, the future is indicated by an estimate that, by 1980, found that if such bottles are exposed to high-energy with 137 million kilowatts of power available from radiation they could be subjected to temperatures nuclear fuel, the fuel elements will yield about 100,000 considerably above the boiling point of water, and kilowatts of radiation power per year, while 20,000 still hold their shape. This process is now being kilowatts from cobalt 60 and 3,000 kilowatts from applied to the production of a polyethylene tape for cesium 137 will have accumulated by 1980. electrical insulation, which will stand much higher temperatures than standard tape. In addition to these cases, where radiation triggers Use in Thickness Gages off a chain reaction and supplies only a small fraction One of the most widely used applications of radia- °f the total energy required, there are other chemical tion is the beta-ray thickness gage. Sheet aluminum, processes for which radiation can furnish all the as well as plastics and other products, may be made energy needed. Experiments have been made which indicate that such chemicals as carbolic acid, hydro- by passing the material between two heavy rolls, a gen peroxide, glycols (one of which is used as a fixed distance apart. To maintain proper thickness, permanent anti-freeze in automobiles), and hydrazine it is necessary to check the product, and readjust the are considered possibilities for such a mode of manu- rolls if there is any variation. If this were to be facture. accomplished with hand-operated calipers, it would be necessary to stop the process and take a measure- Hydrazine is particularly interesting. This is a ment. compound of nitrogen and hydrogen (N 2 H 4 ), similar to ammonia (NH 8 ) 8 , which bums with a violet flame. Measurement on the fly, however, is possible with It has great possibilities as a fuel for rockets or jet beta rays. All that is needed is to place on one side Planes, but is made at present by a rather expensive of the sheet material a source of beta rays (such as Process. Dr. Manowitz suggests that if a radiation strontium 90) of known intensity, and on the other a Process can be economically applied, every plant now radiation detector that measures the amount that waking ammonia could turn out vast quantities of passes through. The thinner the sheet, the stronger h ydrazine. is the transmitted beam, thus the gage may be cali- brated to indicate directly-say in thousandths of an inch-the thickness of the metal, plastic, or other Other Radiation Sources material, even as it moves along at high speed. More- Radiation for such application can come not only over a degree of automation may be introduced, by from a reactor, or from reactor products. The experi- (Continued on page 70) ments on polyethylene, at the General Electric Re- 69 high pressure, the net savings were figured at about ATOMS IN INDUSTRY— $6,000. Several thousand such spheres are in use. (Continued from page 69) having some sort of automatic control of the space Further Radioisotope Uses between the rolls, which, in turn, is regulated by the reading of the thickness gage. Radioisotopes are also finding countless industrial uses as tracers, where their radioactivity permits some In 19.54, 350 companies were using these gages, particular substance to be followed, even through and several large companies (rubber and abrasives) an intricate process. One such use is in sending oil reported estimated savings of $100,000 per gage per through pipelines that may be thousands of miles in year. Assuming three gages per company (the actual length. These pipes are used to carry various kinds range was from one to twelve) an annual savings of of petroleum products. After one kind of oil has gone from a minimum of $25,000 to a maximum of $100,000 through, another will be sent along immediately fol- per gage, the AEC estimated annual savings from a lowing, and there is very little mixing at the interface. probable of $25 million to a high of $100 million. However, at the receiving end it is necessary to While beta rays have rather low penetrating power, know accurately when this interface arrives. Then a they can get through things like paper, plastics, and quick shift is made in the valves, so as to feed the aluminum, if it is not too thick. Gamma rays, on the new arrival into a different tank. If it is necessary to other hand, like X-rays, may penetrate even consider- wait until the second product actually starts pouring able thicknesses of iron and steel. Radium has been out at the end of this pipe, the previous product may used in the past as a source of gamma rays to take be seriously contaminated. Therefore at the refinery, radiographs of thick castings, and now such reactor- just as the new kind of oil starts, a radioisotope is produced radioisotopes as cobalt 60, yttrium 88 (with injected and is carried along with the flowing oil. a l00-day half-life), or tantalum 182 (113 days) can At the other end a workman waits with a Geiger be used in the same way. In many large plants, X-ray counter against the pipe; when the interface arrives generators of 1 or even 2 million volts energy are used for a similar purpose. there is an outburst of clicks that tells him the time has come to shift to another tank. With the switch The radioisotopes, however, make a more compact made at the right time, there is very little mixing. and portable means of taking such radiographs. For example, the Ford Motor Company is well equipped This also has produced important savings. As o with high-voltage X-ray equipment, but in one case 1954, an AEC statement reported, at least three oil the company purchased nine huge steel pots, each companies were using this method and others were to hold 100 tons of slag from their steel mill operations. expected soon to follow. These companies reported Some external defects appeared which were ques- that every time the method was used they saved about tioned by the inspectors. As the pots weighed 30 tons $500. Since it may be used an average of three times each, it would have been difficult to move them to daily the year round, annual savings have reached the X-ray laboratory and cobalt 60 radiographs were perhaps $2 million. made, inspecting them where they stood. The radio- Antimony 124 is the isotope generally used. Since active isotope was placed inside the overturned pot it emits gamma rays as well as beta, it can easily be and X-ray films were placed on the outside surface, detected through the pipe. With a half-life of 60 thus recording a shadow picture of the internal parts days, it lasts long enough to travel the distance, and of the metal. as it decays it turns into a stable isotope of tellurium; therefore, no long-lived radioactivity remains in the oil. In another case, a three-story office building was erected at the Ford plant, using floors constructed of One oil company made use of radioisotopes to study prepoured concrete. These were raised and held in problems of wear and lubrication in gasoline and diesel position by plates welded to the roof support beams. engines, and to find the effects of various lubricants. It was necessary to test these welds, since the outer This involved a determination of wear on the piston appearance was not sufficient to show their quality. rings, as they slide up and down inside the cylinder. Here again cobalt 60 was used to produce the gamma To run the engine long enough for worn metal actually rays with which radiographs were made, showing to appear on the cylinder walls might take many that the welds were safe. months, but radioactivity gives the answer in hours. A new piston ring is inserted in a reactor, where Such tests can produce a real saving in costs of the action of neutrons makes it radioactive. Then this construction, since the boiler code of the American ring is placed on the piston of an engine, which is Society of Mechanical Engineers permits pressure operated in the usual way. The oil employed is not vessels to be made of 12 per cent thinner boiler plate originally radioactive, but it soon becomes so, from if the structure is completely radiographed. This not a minute amount of material worn off from the ring, only allows a 12 per cent saving in the amount of and by measuring this activity accurately, the exact steel used, but also the welders' time is saved, since amount of wear is determined. Also, it is possible to they are welding thinner pieces. On one Horton- place a photographic film against the cylinder wall, sphere fifty feet in diameter, used to store gases under 70 ALLIS-CHALMERS ... where you can design, build, research or sell products like these • • . and grow with 3 growth industries You can grow faster in a company that supplies the to many fields of engineering: electric power, hy- basic needs of growth! Power, construction and draulics, atomic energy, ore processing. manufacturing must grow to supply the needs of our There are many kinds of work to try: design population which is increasing at the rate of 50,000 engineering, application, research, manufacturing, per week. Allis-Chalmers is a major supplier of sales. Over 90 training stations are available, with equipment in these basic industries. expert guidance when you want it. Your future is But there's another factor of equal importance: as big as your ability can make it. Allis-Chalmers Graduate Training Course offers un- Or, if you have decided your field of interest and usual opportunities for the young engineer to: are well qualified, opportunities exist for direct as- signments on our engineering staff. • Find the type of work he likes best • Develop engineering skill In any case—learn more about Allis-Chalmers. • Choose from a wide range of career possibilities Ask the A-C manager in your territory, or write Allis-Chalmers, Graduate Training Section, Mil- Allis-Chalmers graduate training course has been a model for industry since 1904. You have access waukee 1, Wisconsin. ard part of the company's operation and other com- ATOMS IN INDUSTRY— panies have been licensed to use it. The AEC estimates that an annual saving of between $1 and $5 million (Continued from page 70) has resulted. after the engine has been running. This makes a In testing the wear of tires a rubber company added radioautograph, for, where the surface is radioactive, a radioactive compound to the tread when they were the film is exposed, while other parts are unaffected. made. A car could be equipped with one of these Thus, when developed, there is a picture of the radio- tires, and driven around. Then, as wear occurred, the active areas, the density indicating the strength of radioactivity of the tread would be reduced. This the activity and the amount of material worn off the could be measured even while the automobile was ring. moving, with a radiation detector close to the tire. Atomic radiations ionize air and make it electrically Similarly, in testing effects of detergents and their conductive, so that a charged body will be discharged efficiency as cleaning agents, samples of cotton were if some radioactive materials are near by. This effect treated with radioactive dirt. The radioactivity, meas- is utilized in the dosimeter, worn like a fountain pen ured before and after washing, gave a very accurate by workers in atomic plants to show the amount of index of how effectively the dirt had been removed. radiation they are receiving. At the beginning of a period of work the device is charged to a known In an assembly line where production parts are level, and at the end its charge is again measured. dipped successively into a coating material, and some From the amount that is lost, it is possible to tell how automatic means is desired to stop the process when much exposure to radiation the worker has experi- a certain thickness has been reached, a small amount enced. of radioisotope may be added to the coating solution. Then, as the product passes down the line, it may This same principle is utilized in the printing indus- pass a series of Geiger counters, which indicate the try, where sheets of paper coming from a press may degree of radioactivity and hence the thickness, which acquire a charge of static electricity. This causes one sheet to repel another, and it is hard to stack them. could thus be kept uniform. Formerly, it was often the practice to have a gas flame In making steel by the open-hearth process, it may arranged so that the sheets would pass over it quickly be desirable to keep a continuous check on the dis- as they left the press. The flame also ionizes the air tribution of phosphorus between the slag and the and lets the charge leak away. Ordinarily, the paper metal. If a small amount of radiophosphorus were moves so rapidly that it does not ignite, but there added to the molten bath, it would go into the slag, may be some fire hazard. A bar containing polonium, along with the normal phosphorus. By measuring which occurs naturally and emits alpha rays, or some the radioactivity of samples removed periodically the similar isotope, produced in a reactor, may now be percentage of the element in the slag can be deter- placed near the sheet, thereby discharging it. mined. The same thing can be done with sulfur. Although the thickness gage is perhaps the most To measure pollution in a stream, some radioactive important radioisotopic application in process and material may be added to the stuff being dumped. quality control, there are many others. In separating Then a sample of the water may be taken down- a mixture of compounds, such as the different hydro- stream, and its radioactivity measured. If there is carbons present in petroleum, an extraction column none, it would generally mean that there is no pollu- may be used. This is a vertical tube, packed with a tion. Something similar may be done to measure the material that has selective absorption for the different flow of a liquid. A bit of radioactive tracer may be liquids passing through it. Some will go more rapidly injected, so as to be carried along. Then, by meas- than others, and it is necessary to know when one has uring the time it takes to pass two Geiger counters, gone through, or another started. This can be done by introducing into the mixture a sample of one of the a known distance apart, the rate of flow can be found. compounds present, prepared with a radioactive iso- Pneumatic tube systems are often used in large tope of carbon or another element that it contains. plants to carry orders and other messages, but some- This will behave just like the nonradioactive com- times the carrier gets jammed and the failure is hard pound, and go through the column with it, but a to locate. In this case, a small and harmless quantity detector at the bottom will show when the tagged of a radioisotope may be applied permanently to the atoms arrive. Similarly in other chemical processes carrier. If it becomes stuck, all one has to do is to the same methods may be employed. check the length of the pneumatic tube, from the One is in the catalytic cracking of petroleum to outside, with the Geiger counter, and radioactivity make gasoline and other types of oil, the introduction will be encountered when the jammed carrier of radioisotopes permitting the process to be followed reached. closely. The AEC has reported that, by such means, one oil company saved an estimated $100,000 by A radioisotope may also serve as a leak detec avoiding a week's shutdown and the loss of gasoline For example, one factory had a radiant heating sys- production that would have been suffered. This tern, of pipes embedded in the concretefloorand tracer technique for cracking control is now a stand- 72 INDUSTRIES THAT MAKE AMERICA GREAT TEXTILES... SPINNING FABULOUS YARNS The textile industry—through its variety freed us from any dependence upon im- whose experience with steam extends over of processes and products—plays one of ports such as silk. Concentrated develop- nearly a century, has long been a contribu- the most significant roles in the everyday ment of the industry's manufacturing pro- tor to textile industry progress. B&W lives and activities of all Americans. To- cesses has brought new techniques and boilers and associated equipment arc being day, efficient men, methods and machines methods to improve and speed up the improved constantly as B&W's research produce yarns and fabrics for an almost transformation of raw fibe.r into finished and engineering facilities devote time, ef- endless list of products of which clothing, material. fort and money to help make better boilers carpets, drapes, tires, belting, shoes and But not content with the dynamic prog- for all industry. The Babcock & Wilcox furniture are but a sample. With hearten- ress already made, the textile industry is Company, Boiler Division, 161 East 42nd ing regularity, textile manufacturing ad- continuing to reinvest earnings to insure Street, New York 17, N. Y. vances are being made, new fibers and further advances. It is enlisted—with its blends created, and new applications de- suppliers and processors—in a never-end- veloped. ing effort to improve machines and methods. Pacing textile industry progress is an An important requirement in this second intensive research program. Synthetics now largest industry in America is steam, used are as familiar and serviceable as cotton, in textile plants for power, processing and wool and other natural fibers, and have heating. The Babcock & Wilcox Company, try are making possible savings through process and ATOMS IN INDUSTRY— quality controls estimated at $100 million annually. (Continued from page 72) This important business is growing larger with every new idea. It contrasts sharply with atomic power through which hot water was circulated. When a from which few, if any, have so far made money. leak developed at some unknown point in the system, "Produced as byproducts of nuclear reactors, these it seemed as if the piping would have to be dug up radioisotopes provide industry with small sources of until the leak was located. radiation and tracers. These atomic tools are so Instead, a salt containing sodium 24, which emits cheap, require so little investment, permit such prompt gamma rays, was dissolved in the water. A technician returns, and are so free from information control went all over the floor with a Geiger counter until restrictions that their use is expanding rapidly. he found a place from which there was considerable radiation. Here the radioactive salt had leaked out "Radioisotopes are being used in industry, but and accumulated, and it was possible to pinpoint the greater significance may lie in future utilization of leak and take up the floor at the right place. Since the atomic heat and radiation. Process heat and radiation half-life of sodium 24 is only 15 hours, after a few in such industrial fields as food preservation and indus- days its activity had dropped practically to zero. trial chemical production hold important promise. Thus, there was no long-remaining activity to consti- Many other major areas undoubtedly exist for both tute a hazard to workers. atomic heat and radiation. "These goals for industrial research and develop- ment could make real contributions to our economy. Future Goals They are within the competence of existing industrial Summarizing these various industrial uses of atomic research strengths." energy products, the report of the McKinney Panel said: "The one million dollars worth of radioisotopes now being sold annually by the Commission in indus- RADIO COOKING— (Continued from page 65) places it in the radar unit and within 5 minutes the steak is sizzling done. It is reported that a 15 pound frozen turkey can be roasted in Wz hours; rolls baked in 1% minutes. A chocolate cake bakes in 4 minutes and potatoes bake in 4 to 5 minutes. When Bill or Mary come home from school they will be pleased to learn that "hot-dogs" cook in 30 seconds. This unique food preparation method has been used in several restaurants throughout the country for five or six years. Restaurant operators have found it especially well suited for preparing baked lobster. They say that it takes only 5 to 6 minutes to prepare a frozen lobster and that no other method so well pre- serves the delicate flavor of this popular sea food. Another reason for its popularity in specialty restau- rants is the fact that the unit can be located in the dining areas and because of its phenomenal perform- ance attracts patrons' attention. In this respect, it promotes the sale of certain special dishes in much the same manner as infra-red broiling, charcoal cook- ing and rotisserie barbecuing. It reminds one or the days when a chef with his tall hat flipped pancakes in the front window. The housewife may want to know the size of the appliance, how much it costs and how expensiveitis to use. At present, radar cooking units are made in only one size; about the same dimensions as the ordi- nary built-in-the-wall type conventional oven. Two or three years ago they sold for about $1200.00 but the manufacturer now predicts that they will soon sell for near $800.00 and eventually they hope to compete- in price with ordinary cooking units. It Is reported thai the cost of operation is the same as for any ordinary gas or electric oven. Pan the radar-burgers, please. TECHNICAL WRITING— tion to the right people at the right time in such a way that they can grasp it with the least difficulty. (Continued from page 29) An old adage buttons up the introduction, body, word-pictures, it is better to use two-syllable words and conclusion in a neat package: Tell your readers (Anglo-Saxon preferred) than five-syllable words, what you're going to tell them, then tell them and plain words than technical ones, concrete words than finally tell them what you've told them. abstract ones. Try to avoid weak, colorless verbs, and use adjectives and adverbs sparingly for they carry little weight in technical writing. Science is constantly enlarging its vocabulary, ELECTROLUMINESCENT— largely from Latin and Greek. And nothing causes (Continued from page 41) more grief for readers than strange-looking words they don't understand. But how many writers commit that last year Westinghouse put on a public demonstra- blunder! They forget that as writers, they are pri- tion in which it showed how in five separate panels marily teachers and the aim of teaching is to inform, different phosphors produce green, blue, yellow and not to befog. red light, while a mixture of the first three produces white; how, using different phosphors on a single 4. When introducing a scientific term, you should panel, green light may be changed to blue or white define it immediately. For example: When an elec- or pink simply by raising the frequency of the cur- tron, a very tiny particle of negative electricity, strikes rent from 60 to 10,000 cycles; and how, by stacking a .... four different transparent color-emission panels to- On the other hand, a physicist may explain a calorie gether, frequency changes can produce in turn all the as "the amount of heat required to raise the temper- primary colors of the rainbow. A demonstration ature of one gram of water one degree centigrade." room paneled with 112 panels, each a foot square, Such a description would leave your readers cold. It operating on 350-v alternating current at 3,000 cycles, would be much more compelling to say: "A man produced a greenish light with a brightness of about digging ditches burns 160 calories an hour, or a pat 100 foot-lamberts (50 foot-candles at working sur- of butter equals 100 calories." By explaining the un- faces) or an efficiency of 3 lumens per watt. This is known in terms of the known, your message breaks about 1/10th the efficiency of a translucent-screened through the knowledge barrier. fluorescent ceiling. However, it is easy to overwork definitions and to Brightness is still obtained at the expense of clutter up an article with them. Too many definitions efficiency. A brightness of over 2,000 foot-lamberts bog down the reader and cause his interest to lag. has been achieved experimentally in the laboratory, 5. Another difficulty may arise in dramatizing well over that of the fluorescent lamp, but at the scientific achievements. If you write, for instance, expense of 600-v, 20,000 cycle current. At ordinary that the latest jet plane streaks through space at Mach 110-v, 60 cycle house current, the panel light is con- II, many of your readers will be unimpressed. You siderably dimmer than a television screen. Progress therefore point out that Mach II is twice the speed on low-voltage phosphors has been made by both of sound and the speed of sound is about 740 miles Sylvania and Westinghouse, though the probability is an hour. But you don't stop there. You explain to your that the system will always require for best results readers that when they zip along at 60-breaking the higher than ordinary voltages and frequencies, which law, naturally—they cover one mile while the jet sweeps means circuitry to convert to these. At the present through 24 miles! stage, on a comparable basis, electroluminescence at its best has reached an efficiency of about 10 lumens 6- As you remember, your sole purpose as a tech- per watt against 16 for the 100-watt incandescent nical writer is to describe a technical device or process lamp and 60-70 for the 40-watt fluorescent tube. for your particular class of readers. To produce a live, readable report, you should get as close to your But electroluminescence has climbed to this effi- Project as possible, even if you only tighten nuts and ciency from a low of only 0.5 lumen per watt three bolts. It's this "in-the-field" and "on-the-spot" cover- years ago. And, whereas the incandescent lamp and age—not shuffling papers in an ivory tower—that will fluorescent tube have about reached the practical lim- best equip you with an understanding of the practical its of their efficiency, the phosphor sandwich is only aspects and theory of the whole picture. at the beginning. Theoretically, due to the simplicity and physical nature of the system, its likely maximum If you have a general science background and a efficiency is estimated to be about 240, which would science specialty, keen powers of analysis and judg- be about four times the efficiency of the present very ment, understanding of your readers, and a knack for efficient flourescent light, with even less heat produced clear, concise writing—there are challenging and well- than by that notably cool light source. Broadly, there- Paying positions for you in technical writing. fore, in its effect on power consumption and air- As a technical writer your key objective is not to record facts on paper; it is to slant the right informa- (Continued on page 84) "Whoever told that guy that he was a prof.? He just doesn't know how to teach the stuff. Everybody hates him. Every time he tries to explain something he digresses so much that no one can understand what he's talking about. I think he ought to quit teaching and go back to the farm." "Yeah, I flunked, too." • • 4 Then there's the one about the moron who thought steel wool was the fleece from a hydraulic ram. » « « Newton's tenth law—the dimmer the porch light, the greater the scandal power. « « « Three engineering students look- ing at a beautiful girl: "By golly!" cried the M. E. "By gum!" cried the E.E. "By tomorrow night," sighed the C. E. o » * Statistics show there are three classes of coeds - the intellectual, the beautiful, and the majority. e o • "I simply gotta divorce this wom- an," the disconsolate man told the court. "She insists on keeping a goat in our bedroom and the smell is so bad I can't stand it." "That sounds bad," said the judge, "but couldn't you open a window?" "What, and let all my pigeons get out?" « e • "It's quite simple," explained one of the C.E.'s in E.E. 330, "to hook up an electric powercircuit.We merely fasten leads to the terminals and pull the switch. If the motor runs, we take ourreading.Ifit smokes, we sneak back and get an- other one." go where research gives you plenty Of Service Many things can help-hinder- your progress in engineering. One such is the kind of research available in the company you join. This, by no coincidence at all, is another area in which Boeing can be of real help to you. Boeing backs its engineers with one of the most extensive arrays of research laboratories in the industry. In addition, electronic computing and data processing equipment gets you the answers you want— fast. So do such facilities as the huge Boeing Flight Test Center. And the Boeing wind tunnel, most complete and versatile privately owned tunnel in America. This outstanding facility, capable of velocities up to Mach 4, is at the full-time disposal of Boeing engineers. It has enabled Boeing to gain more wind tunnel time in the field of jet aircraft than any other company. These facilities help Boeing engineers maintain leadership in advanced fields of flight. They help Boeing research engineers and scientists extend the boundaries of knowledge in many fields. They could help you get ahead. At Boeing you'd enjoy many other advantages; a high starting salary, career stability, a liberal retirement plan and company-paid graduate study programs. There are family advantages too; a choice of three sections of the country, each with excellent housing and schools, shopping centers and abundant recreation facilities for the whole family! ODE TO A LAB REPORT When I grow old and even older, I'll never forget that manila folder, Bane of existence, object of hate And never less than three weeks late. Title, object, method, theory- The clock strikes one, my eyes are bleary. If I could have my preference I'd never write a reference, Never compute efficiency For reading numbering eighty- three, But many like that have I done, At least infinity plus one, Many to tell the dullest dullard That graphs are labeled and curves are colored. Engineers Arise — storm the fort; And abolish forever the lab report. — Unanimous • « # Date: "You remind me of the ocean." Agri: "You mean I'm wild, ro- mantic and restless?" Date: "No, you make me sick." » o » A Chinese visitor was heard to observe: "Funny people you Ameri- cans. You take a glass and put sugar in it to make it sweet, and lemon to make it sour. Then you pour whiskey in it to make it hot and ice to make it cold. And then you say, 'Here's to you' and then you drink it yourself." • • • Father: "What do you mean by bringing my daughter home at this hour of the morning?" Engineer: "Have to be in class by 7:30." o o o Since we call professors "profs, it's easy to figure out what we ought to call assistants. • * • Dear Pop: Everything fine at school. I'm getting lots of sleep and am study- ing hard. Incidentally, I'm enclos- ing my fraternity bill. Your son, Pudge- Dear Pudge: Don't buy any more fraternities. Your Pop. Spartan Engineer DEVELOPED by Thomas Savery in 1698, this water raising engine operated as follows: steam admitted to vessel "A" displaced water in the vessel, forcing it up through check valve "B." Then a stream of water was poured over the outside of vessel "A" causing the steam within to condense. The resulting "vac- uum" drew water up through check valve "D," again partially filling the vessel. This cycle was repeated alternately in two vessels — resulting in a crude con- denser-operated pump. I ~ R Surface Condensers are a vital adjunct to modern, high- pressure steam turbines. Ingersoll- Rand research and engineering over the years have steadily in- creased condenser efficiency per cubic foot of space, effecting econ- omies in installation cost and sta- tion construction. The forward looking twin shell condenser at the left, integrated with a 191,000 KW turbine, marks another important advance in con- denser design by Ingersoll-Rand. If you're interested in a profit- able, progressive career in engi- neering look into the job opportu- nities available at Ingersoll-Rand. For further information contact your placement office or write to Ingersoll-Rand. 79 NEW DEVELOPMENTS — Since any desired information can be formulated in terms of 0 and 1, it is possible to employ a storage (Continued from page 60) or memory system in which each of the memory elements can be switched electrically to represent one ous elements of a computing problem are stored or the other of these two values. electronically and recalled instantly as they are needed. The development of the magnetic core system several The new aperture plate memory stores this informa- years ago brought substantial gains in speed and tion in the form of magnetic fields. One of the two efficiency by providing for the first time a means for values is represented by a flow of magnetism, or mag- storing thousands of bits of information and recalling netic flux, in one direction around a hole in the plate, them instantly in any desired order, combination, or while the other value is represented by a magnetic quantity. flux in the opposite direction. The new apertured plate now carries this develop- The small plates used in the new system are made ment several steps further, providing a means for of a special ferromagnetic material, a ceramic-like handling millions rather than thousands of bits of substance that can be molded in any desired size or information, and at the same time offering far greater shape, and hardened by heating. The experimental compactness and operating simplicity than could be units are less than an inch square and contain 256 achieved with the earlier system. holes, permitting the storage of 256 bits of information This development should permit the design and in each plate. construction of larger and more versatile electronic Production of the presently-used magnetic core computers and data processing systems, and it will memory system involved a complex assembly oper- at the same time provide a compact and economical ation, since it was necessary to thread wires in two type of memory for relatively small computing equip- directions through tiny ferromagnetic cores, and then ment. to link all of the cores in a system with two more wind- ings. The row and column windings in the core system Information Is Stored in Magnetic Form served to address each individual core, while the other windings provided the means for storing and reading The operation principles, like those of the magnetic core system, are based on the fact that computer out information. language consists only of "0" and "1," used in various With the new plate system, the plates themselves combinations to represent any words, numbers or are insulators and the holes can be joined by conduc- symbols. (Continued on page 84) FTL's GRADUATE Tuition Refund Plan —Just one of many ways FTL cooperates with ambitious young engineers to pave the way to achievement and faster promotion "The more a man knows the faster and taller he grows"— in electronics or any other profession! Federal Telecommunication Labora- tories, knowing the value of developing its engineering personnel, provides for reimbursement of two-thirds of tuition costs upon completion of approved graduate level courses — plus another one-half of tuition upon award of de- gree— plus time off with pay to attend classes. Check FTL's list of challenging as- signments and select the field that holds the future you want. Let FTL's tuition refund plan help you get it — raster.1 EAST COAST ASSIGNMENTS INCLUDE! Radio Communication Systems Traveling Wave Tubes Electronic Countermeasures Air Navigation Systems Antennas * Missile Guidance Transistors and other Semiconductor Devices Computers ' Telephone and Wire Transmission Systems Opportunities for relaxed living and career- building also at FTL's West Coast Laborato- ries: San Fernando, Col., 15191 Blodsoc St. — openings in Digital Computers, Inertial Navigation Systems and Infra Red Systems. Polo Alto, Cat, 809 San Antonio Road — openings in Carrier Systems. Parable of an Engineer ically, "I am a different kind of engineer." "I do not understand," said St. Peter, "What on earth do you (Reprinted from the American Engineer) do?" The engineer recalled a definition and calmly One day three men: a lawyer, a doctor and an replied, "I apply mathematical principles to the con- engineer, appeared before St. Peter as he stood guard- trol of natural forces." This sounded meaningless to ing the Pearly Gates. St. Peter and his temper got the best of him. "Young man," he said, "You can go to Hell with your mathe- The first man to step forward was the lawyer. With confidence and assurance, he proceeded to de- matical principles and try your hand on some of the liver an eloquent address which left St. Peter dazed natural forces there." "That suits me," responded the and bewildered. Before the venerable Saint could engineer, "I am always glad to go where there is a recover, the lawyer quickly handed him a writ of tough job to tackle." Whereupon, he departed for Mandamus, pushed him aside and strode through the the Nether Regions. open portals. And it came to pass that strange reports began to reach St. Peter. The Celestial denizens, who had Next came the doctor. With impressive, dignified amused themselves in the past by looking down upon bearing, he introduced himself: "I am Doctor Brown." the less fortunate creatures in the Inferno, com- St. Peter received him cordially. "I feel I know you, Dr. Brown. Many who preceded you said you sent menced asking for transfers to that other domain. them here. Welcome to our city." The sounds of agony and suffering were stilled. Many new arrivals, after seeing both places, selected the The engineer, modest and diffident, had been stand- Nether Region for their permanent abode. Puzzled ing in the background. He now stepped forward. St. Peter sent messengers to visit the other domain "I am looking for a job," he said. St. Peter wearily and to report back to him. They returned all excited shook his hand. "I am sorry," he replied; "We have and reported to St. Peter: "That engineer you sent no work here for you. If you want a job, you can go down there," said the messengers, "has completely to Hell." This response sounded familiar to the engi- transformed the place so that you would not know neer and made him feel more at home. "Very well," it now. He has harnessed the Fiery Furnaces for he said, "I have had Hell all my life and I guess I can light and power. He has cooled the entire place with stand it better than the others." St. Peter was puzzled. artificial refrigeration. He has drained the lakes of "Look here, young man, what are you?" "I am an engineer," was the reply. "Oh yes," said St. Peter, brimstone and has filled the air with cool perfumed "Do you belong to the Locomotive Brotherhood?" breezes. He has flung bridges across the Bottomless "No, I am sorry," the engineer responded apologet- Abyss and has bored tunnels through the obsidian cliffs. He has created paved streets, gardens, parks and playgrounds, lakes and rivers and beautiful waterfalls. That engineer you sent down there has gone through Hell and has made of it a realm of happiness, peace and industry." CLUBS AND SOCIETIES— (Continued from page 52) Professor Charles C. Sigerfoos of the Mechanical Engineering Department is the faculty-advisor of the chapter and has unselfishly served in this capacity since 1948. At present there are about 30 members in the chap- ter and there is room for many more. Interest in the foundry field and yearly dues of $4.00 constitute the only requirements of membership. A student member- ship in the AFS entitles one to a year's subscription to "Modern Castings," reduced prices on technical books, and reduced rates on field trips. It also provides the opportunity for contracts which may prove valuable upon graduation. As an added uniqueness of AFS, the parent organ- ization returns the membership fee to the student chapter to help finance its projects. Among these pro- jects at MSU, are: Field trips to a representative foun- dry each term, participation in the career carnival, a student-industry banquet at the end of the Spring term, and co-sponsorship of the Michigan Regional Foundry Conference. Everyone is cordially welcome to attend these affairs. Those who join the student chapter will find that the letters AFS also stand for "A Friendly Society." us maintain and extend our leader- eration systems, pneumatic valves The rapid scientific advance of our and controls, temperature controls, modern civilization is the result of ship. If you fall in that category, you'll find working with us fulfilling cabin air compressors, turbine new ideas from creative minds that motors, gas turbine engines, cabin are focused on the future. Our engi- in stimulation, achievement and financial rewards. In addition, finan- pressure controls, heat transfer, neers not only have ideas but have electro-mechanical equipment, elec- the ability to engineer them into cial assistance and encouragement will help you continue your educa- tronic computers and controls. products. We are seeking engineers in all That's why The Garrett Corpora- tion in the graduate schools of fine neighboring universities. categories to help us advance our tion has grown in both size and knowledge in these and other fields. reputation to leadership in its areas All modern U.S. and many foreign aircraft are Garrett equipped. We Send resume of education and expe- of operation. That's why we are seek- rience today to: Mr. G. D. Bradley ing more creative engineers to help have pioneered such fields as refrig- NEW DEVELOPMENTS— (Continued from page 80) tors using the highly efficient printed circuit technique in place of the complex storage and readout windings of the previous core system. The development of these aperture plates has now reached a stage which opens possibilities of memories of very large capacities—millions of bits. Because this arrangement requires much less driving power than previous systems, it promises also to reduce and sim- plify the associated electronic circuits. ELECTROLUMINESCENT— (Continued from page 75) conditioning load, the development of electrolumines- cence has high promise and significance. The Shaping of Light Architecturally, electroluminescence opens even more exciting prospects. These do not lie simply in the direction of simplifying the luminous ceiling, growing in beauty and complexity, from its present one-foot of fixtures, ballasts, reflectors and screening to a panel less than an inch in depth. They lie even more in shaping a new, soft, glareless, shadowless and seemingly sourceless light to architectural structure, for there are no foreseeable limits to the size or shape such panels may take. They may be curved to fit com- pletely luminous shell domes or other free-form struc- tures that are now rising. They may be molded into luminous balustrades, stair wells or stair risers and to other useful and decorative interior or exterior effects. They free lighting from the point source or fixture. Moreover, electroluminescence introduces some quite new concepts into room lighting. Lighting may now move away from the ceiling toward extensive wall friezes of light to promote the psychologically warmer, more intimate effects of lighting at shoulder or head height. Two knobs would control such light- ing, one for brightness, the other for color. Brightness would be adjustable to the level of outdoor light and to the interior task and need. Color would be adjust- able to the mood. Panel light could be turned toward the warm red end of the spectrum for gray, drab, cold days, toward cool blue in hot summer weather. The dramatic possibilities for commercial buildings are, of course, almost limitless. It may be some time before this new lighting is feasible on any large scale, though a period well within five years seems practical for some uses. It will probably appear first in large buildings and in- dustrial plants, where the prospect of completely lighted interior structures holds promise for increased efficiency in specialized operations. But panel lighting is a development that architects and engineers must take into account for the future in the full range of their art. 84 The Russian school teacher asked a pupil who the Nurse: "Doctor Jones, I believe that engineering first humans were. student has passed his crisis." "Adam and Eve." the kid replied. "And what nationality were they?" Doctor: "How can you tell?" "Russian, of course," said the kid. Nurse: "Well, when I left him he was trying to "And how do you know," asked the teacher. "Easy," the kid replied. "They had no roof over blow the foam off his medicine." their heads, no clothes to wear, and only one apple e « o between the two of them — and they called it Paradise!" 0 0 * The government has perfected a simplified tax form It's amazing what some women get away with, and for next year. Here it is: still keep their amateur standing. 1. What was your income last year? o o « 2. What were your expenses? Did you hear about the I.E. who was a big gun in 3. How much have you left? industry; he had been fired seven times. 4. Send it in! 0 O O A grocer was standing in front of his store when he saw a driverless car rolling slowly down the street. He ran to the car, jumped in and pulled on the emer- gency brake with a jerk. As he got out, a little proud, a man walked up. "Well," said the grocer to the car owner, "I stopped it!" "Yeah, I know," said the owner, "I was pushing it- • a • Prof.: "What is an engineer?" Student: "A person who passes as an exacting ex- pert on the basis of being able to turn out with pro- lific fortitude innate strings of incomprehensible formulae calculated with micromatic precision from vague assumptions which are based on debatable ng- ures taken from inconclusive experiments carried out with instruments of problematical accuracy by persons of doubtful reliability and questionable mentality for the avowed purpose of annoying and confounding hopeless chimerical group of fanatics referred to all too frequently as Engineers." Alluminum is where the excitement is. New uses, new designs, more metal being produced than ever before. Tomorrow will be even better. Maybe you've seen Alcoa's Forecast ads in Time, Saturday Evening Post, The New Yorker. The men who will make this forecast come true are in college today. Perhaps it's the man who sits next to you in Advanced Phys Met or Machine Analysis or Heat Power Design or Chem Engineering Kinetics or Marketing or Cost accounting. Or maybe it's you. If you have that extra spark of imagination . . . creativity • • •adventurousness . . . take the first step: see your Place- ment Director or write for your copy of Alcoa's Career Guide. It tells an exciting story . . . of the future of the young Imagineers who join up with the men who built the aluminum business. Quo Vadis Engineer "Where goest thou, Engineer?" Out to work in an industry crying for technically trained men. The situ- ation is such that there are simply not enough Engi- neers to go around. Each year the number of Graduat- ing Engineers falls short of the number demanded by industry. As is the case with supply and demand, when the demand is greater than the supply, the ask- ing price goes up. In the past two or three years the starting salary for Engineers has increased about $30 a month each year until now the average starting salary is around $470 to $480 a month. The average Engineering graduate has pretty much of a choice concerning where he wants to work and for whom he wants to work. At the Michigan State University placement bureau there are usually ten or more companies every day interviewing Engineers — it wasn't always so. Here is what the Engineering graduate of 1950 was faced with. In 1950 four companies came during the year to interview Engineers. One company said they would speak to the top 5'/< and no others need apply. They hired nobody. Two other companies made no such restrictions as to who could be interviewed but they didn't hire anybody either. The fourth company hired 5 men — one Mechanical Engineer and four Electrical Engineers. Of the 520 Engineers who graduated that year approximately 25 had jobs to go to when they graduated. The starting salary was in the neighbor- hood of $250 a month. Roy Genaw, the man who furnished this information, was president of Tau Beta Pi in 1950 and one of the top men in his class. He had to hitch hike around the country after graduation look- ing for a job. The Engineer has finally come into his own. In this age of increasing technology the Engineer is becom- ing more and more necessary — but it wasn't always that way. E.R.L. Uncle Sam said this aircraft compass must respond by 5 degrees in not less than 1 second or more than 1-2 seconds. That's only 2 lOths of a second leeway- far too little for human hands and eyes to catch the action accurately. So, side-by-side, the stop watch and compass act their parts before the movie camera. Then individual frames along the film show the precise instant that the 5-degree mark is reached. Product testing and quality control are naturals for Photography. They are typical examples of the many Wa ys photography works for businesses, large and How General Electric stacks up on your job check list • COMPANY REPUTATION—As an engineer, the names of • ADVANCED STUDIES—General Electric offers to technical Thomas Edison and Charles Steinmetz should be known to you. graduates the Tuition Refund Program and Honors Program These men, who so greatly influenced the industrial surge of our for Graduate Study wherein you may take graduate courses at country since the 19th century, are symbolic of General Elec- nearby universities. In addition, G.E. sponsors graduate-level tric's past and present technological leadership. Company courses where top professional men teach in tne respective fields. • SALARY—General Electric's salary program is planned with a long-range view for your career; a well-considered starting • TRAINED COLLEAGUES—As a G-E engineer, you may be salary and merit increases based on your contributions. Through working with outstanding men who are responsibleforthe regular counseling by your supervisor you know just "how you envisioning, production, and distribution of such new Product are progressing". as man-made diamonds, high-speed rocket and jet engines, th • OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVANCEMENT—Through the new heat pump, commercial atomic power reactors and elec Company's Personnel Registers, and individual appraisal of tronic ovens. your qualifications and preferences, you are considered for all • EMPLOYEE BENEFITS—General Electric's outstanding bene- new or related jobs and promotions throughout the Company. fit program for you and your family includes all the usual lif • TYPE OF JOB—Based on your personal preferences and accident and illness insurance and pension plans, plus a Savin abilities, you will work in various marketing, manufacturing or and Stock Bonus Plan and discounts on G-E home appliance engineering fields. Your technical or managerial experiences • THE COMPANY'S FUTURE—General Electric's investment may be in any of nearly 100 product departments where you in research can mean much to you. Forty-two major Compan contribute to the engineering, manufacturing or marketing of laboratories, dedicated to invention and innovation,willplaya some of the more than 200,000 G-E products. major role in doubling the Company's sales during the nex • PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS—General eight years. Only through research is a companyassuredof Electric, a pioneer in industrial training programs, hastens your future growth. For you, this growth at GeneralElectricmeans professional development through classroom and on-the-job new and challenging technical and managerial positions. assignments as a part of the Company's marketing, manufac- General Electric Company, Section 959-3, Schenectady5,N.Y turing and engineering programs. Specific position placement is also available if your interests are already formulated. • JOB LOCATION—There are opportunities for you as a G-E engineer in 150 cities in 45 states, plus many foreign countries.