"At U. S. Steel there is a wide and varied choice of opportunities offered, under the most agreeable working conditions." rpHE RAPID RISE of Harry M. Crooks and fuel utilities throughout the Quoting Mr. Crooks: "Through -L to his present responsible position large National Works plant. This the training received at the mill, the is typical of that experienced by position includes supervision of mill engineer has the opportunity to worK many hundreds of college graduates and furnace air supplies for the steel- in and become acquainted with every who have joined forces with U. S. making process, steam and mixed phase of steelmaking and with every Steel. gases for power, and open hearth oil department of the plant." Presently Assistant Superintend- and tar. In carrying out this work, he If you are interested in a challeng- ent of the Power and Fuel Depart- supervises a force of 250 men. ing and rewarding career with United ment, National Works, National Mr. Crooks decided to work at States Steel, and feel you can quali- Tube Division of United States U. S. Steel because he felt that U. S. fy, get in touch with your placement Steel, Harry M. Crooks graduated in Steel had one of the finest training director for additional information. January, 1949 with a BS degree in programs available in industry to- We shall be glad to send to you our Mechanical Engineering, after serv- day. During his training, he arrived informative booklet, Paths of Oppor- ing three years in the U. S. Navy. He at the personal conclusion that, being tunity, on request. Write to United started with U. S. Steel on February an engineer, his best opportunities States Steel, Personnel Division, 1 as a student engineer. Within a were in the operating branch of the Room 1662,525 William Penn Place, year-and-a-half he was made Process steel industry. Pittsburgh 30, Pennsylvania. Engineer in the Power and Fuel De- partment, and ten months after that, Power Engineer. After three years as Power Engi- neer, he was promoted on March 1, 1954 to his present job as Assistant Superintendent, with a wide range of responsibilities, including all power Opportunities now available at General Motors for outstanding young engineers -in these fields: Thousands of engineering graduates are Enormous product diversification • Intensive building splendid careers at GM right this decentralization • Choice of job location • moment. Among the advantages they find Creative encouragement • Sense of personal with us are these: participation and achievement • Recogni- • Vast training programs • Practically tion of professional progress • Advancing unlimited research facilities (including those responsibilities • Unusual prestige and of the fabulous new GM Tech Center) • job security F YOU BELIEVE you can help General you in touch with us, or write us directly. I Motors maintain its leadership in a variety of technical fields - if you are Why not do it today—while it's on your mind? confident you can help General Motors • • • • continue to produce more and better IMPORTANT: 4-page leaflet, "A Sum- things for more people—here's what we mary of Job Opportunities in General urge that you do: Motors," gives you the whole exciting Either ask your Placement Office to put story in capsule form. Write for it today! ...on economy in national defense "The widespread belief that there is an inherent conflict cally equivalent to the choice which minimizes the cos of interest between those who put national security first of attaining that capability. Moreover, the weapon on the one hand and the taxpayer and his cost-conscious characteristics so chosen are typically similar at different representatives on the other is simply erroneous —• except budget levels. In these circumstances economy and mi I" when the level of the national security budget is at issue. tary effectiveness are not opposing objectives to be com- Once the budget level has been fixed, the choice of promised; they are different but equivalent aspectsofthe weapons which maximizes our military capability is logi- same national objective." -Charles Hitch. Head of the Economics Division go where engineering is i n t e r e s t i n g It'sbasic thatyoul'getmorefun out of working on interesting projects than on stodgy ones. So it makes sense to choose a company and an industry in which you'll draw engineering assignments that give you excitement—and professional satisfaction. That way, you'll get more fun out of life, and advance faster, too. It just so happens that Boeing offers you assignments on some of the most interesting projects in the country. For instance—an advanced supersonic guided missile weapon system; the 707, America's first jet transport; the revolutionary B-52 eight-jet nuclear weapons carrier; the KC-135 jet transport- tanker, and top-secret research projects. There's a whole world of opportunity for you at Boeing, in research, design, manufacturing or service. Boeing's growth (400% more engineers today than 10 years ago) creates an expanding need—and long-range opportunities—for engineers of all kinds: electrical, mechanical, civil, aeronautical, industrial, or related fields, and for mathematicians and physicists. At Boeing you'll enjoy high starting salaries, career stability, retirement and pension plans, company-paid opportunities for graduate study, and a host of additional benefits! Our niche in the economic health of this nation in peace, and its defense in war, is to develop and produce the high-alloy steels and other special metals that play an irreplaceable role in modern design and future planning. The function of these materials is to do what ordinary metals cannot even approacn in resisting corrosion, heat and wear, and in performing vital electrical and electronic chores. ©The kind of pioneering work we do may be what will appeal to you after college. In any event, whenever your industrial future brings you face-to-face with problems that only special high-alloy steels can solve, the place to come for answers is Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation, Oliver Building, Pittsburgh 22, Pa. Questions students ask Du Pont — and some of the answers in summary form "Do you hire men who have definite military commitments?" "Would a graduate degree help my chances for advancement asks Oran A. Ritter, Jr., of Louisiana State University. at DuPont?" asks John C. Nettleton, of Villanova University. ^es, because DuPont has always been interested in men on a Many factors are involved, and an advanced degree would un- long-term basis. Du Pont has employed many graduates with doubtedly have a favorable effect in all technical work, but military commitments even though they were due to report it would probably be of more direct benefit in research or de- for duty a few weeks after joining the Company. velopment at DuPont than in production, marketing or sales. "Where would I work for DuPont?" asks Gaylord E. Moss, "How are chances for advancement in a large company like of Tufts College. DuPont?" asks Herschel H. Loomis, Jr., Cornell University. Du Pont has more than 140 plants and research and develop- Good! DuPont is large, but it's made up of 11 independent ment laboratories scattered through 26 states. If you have a departments — like smaller companies — under one manage- definite preference, and DuPont has an opening there for ment. And it's a basic policy to promote from within and on which you're qualified, your chances of getting it are good. merit as Company growth creates openings. Your objectives are probably high professional standing, good income, good security and good living. All four can be achieved at Douglas. Douglas has the reputation of being an "engineer's outfit," with the three top administrative posts being held by engineers. Maybe that's why it's the biggest, most successful unit in its field. Certainly it offers the engineer unexcelled opportunities in the specialty of his choice . . . be it related to missiles or commercial or military aircraft. You've looked around. Now look ahead . . . and contact Douglas. Brochures and employment applications are available at your college placement office. For further information about opportunities with Douglas in Santa Monica, El Segundo and Long Beach, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma, write today t o : D O U G L A S A I R C R A F T C O M P A N Y , Inc. C. C. LaVene, Box 6102-J, 3000 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, Calif- FEATURES 17 New Materials . . . The Key to Modern Progress 19 Your 9th Annual Engineering Exposition 20 "Anti Social" Silicones 23 Jets On Exhibition 24 The Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant 26 Lagrange's Equations Are Not Fundamental 31 The Revolution at MSU 32 Fossil Fuels . . . How Long Will They Last and What Then 34 A Lead Computing Gun Sight Gyro 53 Thermoelectronic Heating and Cooling DEPARTMENTS 40 New Developments 62 Clubs & Societies Cover- THREE OF THE MICROMIDGET RACE CARS THAT WILL RACE SATURDAY, MAY 11, DURING THE ENGINEERING EXPOSI- TION. NICE WORK ON A HOT SUMMER DAY THE temperature at altitudes of 36,000 feet and above Fuel and oil tanks are located inside the test chamber, goes far below zero, so it's standard procedure to demon- and they—with the engine—are permitted to "soak in strate the starting capabilities of modern jet aircraft engines the frigid temperature before firing up. Tests of 72 hours in a man-made "climate" of a brisk minus 67°F. "soak" duration have been made on Allison Prop-jet At Allison, demonstration tests are run periodically on engines. Of course, the front opening is clamped shut for both military and commercial aircraft engine models in the test, and performance is checked by remote controls. cold weather tanks like the one shown above. But, occasionally, it's necessary for an engineer to "bund e And, how do they get the tank's inside temperature up" and go inside the cell. It's nice summer work. down to the required 67° below zero? Here is one way • • • Allison engineers do it. Outside air is cooled first with Allison now is in the midst of an engineering expansion air-to-water heat exchangers. Then, a mechanical refrig- eration system takes the air temperature to below zero. and development program representing an expenditure o For the third step, the cold air is run through a turbine $75 million. Completion of the program will make t e section of an Allison T-38 engine. As the gas expands, it Allison engineering Research and Development Center comes out at about a minus 130°F. There is some warm- one of the most complete in the world . . . an ideal place ing as the air is piped to the cold tank, but usually, warm to apply your academic training. Write for information air has to be added to bring the tank temperature UP about your future career at Allison: Personnel Dept. to a minus 67° Fahrenheit! College Relations, Allison Division, General Motors Cor- poration, Indianapolis 6, Indiana. The Garrett Corporation has built an your disposal.. .have your choice and controls, temperature controls, outstanding reputation for pioneer- of location among the Los Angeles, cabin air compressors, turbine ing because of engineers whose Phoenix and New York areas. Also, motors, gas turbine engines, cabin financial assistance and encourage- pressure controls, heat transfer, minds are not shackled to the past electro-mechanical equipment, elec- •••or even the present. We concen- ment will help you continue your education in the graduate schools of tronic computers and controls. trate on the future. We are seeking engineers in all If you're the sort of engineer to fine neighboring universities. All modern U.S. and many foreign categories to help us advance our whom an obstacle is only a chal- knowledge in these and other fields. lenge, you'll be interested in working aircraft are Garrett equipped. We have pioneered such fields as refrig- Send resume of education and expe- with us. You'll have the finest rience today to: Mr. G. D. Bradley research and laboratory facilities at eration systems, pneumatic valves Have you heard about linear programming? It's a new tool of Management Science—a mathematical technique devised to help management make decisions more quickly and accurately than ever before. Suppose, for example, you are a manager faced with a veritable jungle of figures—schedules, machine loads, cost inventories. A decision based on these must be made. Once you would have had to be satisfied with an educated "guesstimate," or perhaps recourse to trial and error. But now, with linear programming and electronic com- putation, you can get not merely "an" answer, but the best possible answer—and get it fast. The computer's the key Key to the success of linear programming is an electronic computer—IBM's 704. Its tremendous calculating speed and data capacity solve complex management problems often in a matter of minutes. If you are preparing for an engineering career, or are majoring in math or physics, perhaps you would enjoy helping IBM create electronic computers such as the 704. The potential of this phase of electronics presents one of the brightest chances today for a rewarding career. Why not ask your Placement Director for a copy of IBM's brochure? Or write direct to our Manager of Engineering Recruitment: A frank statement about the future in Field Engineering At first glance, Field Engineering may not seem to possess ing today offer the rewards and opportunities which are the potential and stature often associated with other engi- available to the Technical Liaison Engineers, Field Engi- neering activities. neers, Technical Training School Engineers, Technical Manuals Engineers, and Field Modifications Engineers At Hughes, however, nothing could be further from the who comprise the Field Service and Support Division. truth. Engineers and physicists selected for this highly respected Men who undertake the responsible task of evaluating phase of our activities at Hughes enjoy a number of dis- Hughes-produced military equipment in the field are in tinct advantages. These include generous moving and the enviable position of becoming thoroughly familiar travel allowances between present location and Culver with the complete design and operation of the advanced City, California. For three months before field assign- electronics systems involved. ments you will be training at full salary. During the entire time away on assignments from Culver City, Essentially, Field Engineering embraces all phases ofsupport you'll receive a generous per diem allowance-, in addi- required to assure maximum field performance of Hughes tion to your moving and travel expenses. Also, there armament control systems and guided missiles. E.E. and are company-paid group and health insurance, retirement Physics graduates selected for this highly important and plan, sick leave and paid vacations . . . and reimburse- respected phase of our engineering activities work with the ment for after-hours courses at UCLA, USC, and odicr armed forces and airframe manufacturers at operational local universities. bases and plants in continental United States and overseas. E.E. or Physics graduates who feel they arc qualified to The knowledge, background and experience so gained as- join the Field Engineering staff at Hughes are invited to sure unusual opportunities for more specialized develop- write for additional information about this exciting and ment in other divisions of the Research and Development rewarding opportunity to establish a challenging career in Laboratories at Hughes. In fact, few openings in engineer- electronics. Write to: Once o n l y ' w a s t e rock"., now a new source of Nickel How Inco's mine engineers the mine. From crushers the ore goes production of nickel from ore de- utilize a panel-caving method a quarter mile by conveyor to hoists posits once only "waste rock. in order to recover nickel from that lift it to the mine head. Inco has prepared a full-color huge ore deposits that formerly From there, the ore is milled as sound film-Mining for Nickel-that were not practicable to mine fine as sand. The concentrate is then shows the operations of modern Panel caving is one of the newest pumped to the Inco reduction plant nickel mines. 16mm prints are loaned mining methods put into use by The 71/2miles away. for showings before technical soci- International Nickel Company. Panel mining; new concentrating eties, engineering classes of univer- The tonnage of ore handled by this machinery; new, continuously im- sities and industrial organizations- method is immense. Sometimes a proved operating practices; pipeline For details, write Dept. 130f, single block measures 200 by 800 transport. Add them together and The International Nickel Company,Inc. feet. It may weigh as much as 1% you can see how they make possible New York 5, N. Y. million tons. As these heavy masses move down- ward they break into pieces small enough to drop through chutes and into machine crushers deep inside This record tells why-musically • We'd like to send you a platter. There are a lot of things to consider in .. .We think that last factor is mighty selecting the organization with which you important. We call it the "human touch" ele- will stake your future. For example, how is ment and it's pretty well explained, music- the company rated in its field? Is it known ally, in a theme song we had recorded for a as a "quality " company? Is it growing? Is it recent national sales conference. The Ray aggressive? Is it big enough to offer you the Porter singers do some rather unusual vocal- opportunities you want? Is it too big—to izing you'll probably enjoy. Clip the coupon the point where, of necessity, it deals with and let us send you a record. It's good listen- numbers instead of individuals? ing with a little food for thought thrown in. Today it's the modern BOILER FEED PUMP . . . marking another milestone in pump developmentby lngersoil-Rand I N power plants throughout the country, modern Ingersoll-Rand boiler feed pumps are being speci- fied again and again to meet the increasing demand for heavy-duty high-pressure service. These trim, compact multi-stage pumps, of the solid forged-steel barrel-casing de- sign, are delivering trouble-free per- formance with sustained efficiency for pressures from 1000 to 6500 psi and capacities up to 2800 gpm. If you'd rather help make indus- trial history than read about it, why not look into the fine job op- portunities available with I ngersoll - Rand. For further information, contact your Placement Office or write Ingersoll-Rand. 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 FJ-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. G R E A T . . . When iT COMeS TO CNDUKANCe Alexander the Great's physical endurance Kerite is designed to withstand these con- was legendary, well-nigh superhuman. Tough- ditions—for years. Incredible as it may seem, ness and resistance were vital in Alexander's Kerite Cable, in perfect operating condition time . . . and they are today, too—in the after 30, 40, 50 and more years service in cables that serve as the nerve system of rugged applications throughout the world transportation, power and industry. is the rule rather than the exception. Moisture, heat, cold, deteriorating ele- Nothing, of course, lasts forever . . . but ments, time itself—all combine to make Kerite lasts indefinitely. It represents one inroads on cable installed underground, un- of the wisest investments in service that der water, or exposed to the air. can be made. The Key to Modern Progress Materials are the key to modern progress. The "best" could be any of a number of things—light centuries-old arts of metallurgy and ceramics have weight, durability, close tolerance, electrical conduc- long been responsible for much of America's technical tivity, resistance to high temperature, fatigue or cor- advancement. With the development and use of high- rosion resistance, or a low neutron capture cross sec- speed jet engines and atomic radiation, starting just tion, among others. over a decade ago, it soon became evident that man's inventiveness was out-stripping available materials. The design, development and manufacture of elec- In electronics, chemistry, aviation, and atomic energy, trical apparatus are controlled and limited by ma- requirements continued to develop which the metals terials and processes—whether for the improved per- of the old technology were unable to satisfy. formance of established products or for the ever-in- creasing variety of new ones. Technical progress in As a result, new types and areas of metallurgy and a product frequently depends on the performance of ceramic started to evolve. The chief characteristic the metals and ceramics in them, as with the in- of this new phase of development has been the driv- candescent lamp of some 50 years ago or aircraft gas ing, scientific interest in the fundamental of crystal- turbines and atomic power plants today. The effi- line solids: metals and ceramic materials. ciency of the gas turbine could be greatly increased The cause of this new approach to the study of if a metal was available that could maintain its metals and ceramic materials can be traced directly strength at a temperature above 1800°F without los- to the condition that, for the first time in history, ing resistance to corrosion and oxidation. Similarly, the properties of materials have fallen behind the progress toward low-cost nuclear power will be only industrial arts they serve. In order to meet the con- as rapid as permitted by the development of new and stant and continuing demands of an ever-changing better materials than can withstand exposure to world for new and better materials, it was necessary nuclear radiation in conjunction with the more familiar for metallurgy to transform itself from an empirical engineering requirements. waft into a sophisticated science. Examples of other areas where material properties The new metallurgy has made its best showing are limiting developments are the ceramic materials in the largely military-sponsored fields of high-speed that are the insulators on power poles for the trans- night, electronics, and nucleonics. Nevertheless, in mission of electricity, the thermal insulating materials a score of critical areas, the properties of materials— in furnaces and refrigerators, and the barium-titanate an d a lack of understanding of their behavior—are or ferro-electric materials which are used in sonar ap- retarding and limiting the development of new ap- plications. plications and devices. Metallurgists across the nation The size and effectiveness of a clock motor are are today engaged in a research program of unparal- determined by the material properties of the rotor and leled scope and complexity in an attempt to overcome the performance of television transformer cores is de- the material barrier which is hampering and slowing termined by the oxide materials contained in them. America's technological progress. As metallurgical re- If the energy losses of magnetic sheet steel for power search reveals more information about the nature and transformers could be reduced one-half, the efficiency response of metals and alloys it is possible to hasten of electrical transmission in America could be tre- those developments which are currently bottlenecked mendously improved. °n design engineers' drawing boards because of un- av ailable or costly materials. Zirconium, a metallic element, has been known since 1824, but only in the last 10 years has it reached . A company that is primarily a producer of metals commercial importance. The first feasible extraction is keenly interested in improving the quality of its process for Zirconium was the iodide process devel- Product. Those companies that are essentially con- oped in 1925. The Kroll process, which is adaptable to sumers of metal are obviously concerned with ob- taining the best materials for their products. The (Continued on page 68) 17 Your 9th Annual Engineering Exposition Once again the campus spotlight is focused on noon, about 1:30, H hour after the time trials. A "Jet the Michigan State Engineers, for it is May, and time Flyover" will signify the start of the race. These for the 9th Annual Engineering Exposition. It's the mighty midget autos are built by the engineering time of the year when the engineers temporarily take students and have powerful two horsepower motors. time out from their studies, to present an appealing The cars can obtain average speeds of about 25 mph. view of Engineering to many guests, particularly to The midget autos are built for speed and acceleration, high school students. and this year's course makes it a> necessity that they The Engineering Council is in charge of the or- also be built for durability. Last year, the race was ganization of the exposition. Its members, with won by the Electrical Engineers car, driven by Duane Fred Tenhoor as its General Chairman, have worked Patten, with the Agricultural Engineers entry second. many long hours to set up exhibits that will point This year, a minimum of six and possibly eight cars out the accomplishments, challenges and oppor- will participate. Some of the entries being Electrical tunities of Engineering. This year, as in the past, Engineers, Ag. Engineers, Triangle, S.A.E., Civil and there are exhibits presented by the engineering stu- dents, industrial exhibits and some special shows. Mechanical Engineers. Your author is predicting General Motors is here with a special show "Pre- another victory for the Electrical Engineers. The view of Progress" and Bell Telephone is showing race will start in front of the Band Shell on Audi- "Voice Beneath the Sea." There will be cash prizes torium Road. (See diagram for course of the race). awarded to the individual with the best exhibit based The course is about 'A mile long and will be circled on originality, engineering application, and presenta- tion. First prize is $15; second, $10; third, $5. These Prizes are in addition to the Dean's Trophy which goes to the department with the best representation and presentation. Each year during the exposition, the JETS (Jun- ior Engineering Technical Society) club presents in- dividual and group projects which they have worked on during the year. JETS club members are high school students, who have special interest in science and engineering, and plan to study to become engi- neers. Their projects are judged for originality and scientific accuracy. Prizes are given which include scholarships, drafting instruments, slide rules and other tools of the profession. The JETS Club was formed in 1950, by Dean Lorin Miller and Professor Harold Skamser of the Engineering College at M.S.U. ft was formed to stimulate the necessary interest in students who may have the ability to develop into top notch engineers. Today there are 116 clubs in 20 states and two foreign countries, many of whom will participate in this exposition. The midget auto race will again be a feature at- traction this year and will be held Saturday after- "Anti Social" Silicones What they can do for you What are Silicones? Silicones are chemical com- By 1942 Corning research had reached the point pounds consisting of the element silicon and oxygen where commerical production could be planned. with other elements. You are already familiar with Corning Glass joined Dow Chemical in 1943 to or- some silicon compounds. Common sand is a compound ganize Dow Corning. Both General Electric and Dow of silicon and oxygen. A piece of quartz rock is Corning produced several silicone products for the another crystal form of this substance. The glass in armed forces during World War II. your home is also a silicon compound. The car polish or floor wax you use may contain silicone. Your rain- The first silicones were fluids. Some of the fluids coat may also be coated with silicone. were thin like water and others were thick like oil. The thickness or viscosity of these fluids hardly There are three basic producers who make sili- changed at all with the variations in temperature. cones. These three producers are Dow Corning, Gen- Many fluids, such as petroleum oil, become quite thin eral Electric Silicone Products Department, and the when heated. When they are cooled they become thick Silicones Division of Union Carbide and Carbon. and do not pour easily. When silicone fluids were first There are very few little firms producing silicones. produced they were used for damping fluids in instru- The tricky engineering and the large capital invest- ments. They also were added to petroleum oils to ment are too great for small producers. prevent foaming. When they were first manufactured, Commercial production of silicones, as a family limited production prevented the silicone fluids from of chemical compounds, was started less than fifteen other uses. The need for fluids, to be used at extremes years ago. Production is rapidly expanding now. In of temperature, has provided many new uses tor 1951 about five million pounds of silicones were pro- silicone liquids. duced. The production had expanded to more than Why are silicones of such value? They are im- thirty million pounds by 1956. Silicon production has portant because of half a dozen major characteristics. grown from almost nothing fifteen years ago to more They are excellent dielectrics or insulators for elec- than forty million per year. The industry now em- trical circuits. Wide ranges of temperatures do no ploys about 2,500 people. None of the three producers affect them. They do not easily react with other of silicones is an independent organization producing materials. Water is repelled by silicones. Some sin- only silicones. They are part of larger corporations, cones have a rubbery quality. therefore the sales and production figures are not made public. Estimates for the total sales of the in- Silicone rubber is now the big thing in the silicone dustry in 1956 range from thirty-seven million to fifty industry. It has been estimated that 20% to 30% of million dollars. the total amount of silicones produced is rubber. In 1944 both Dow Corning and General Electric inde- In the 1920's, because of the growth of plastics, pendently developed silicone rubbers. Thefirstrubber much interest was shown in the possibility of making was more like cheese then rubber. This rubber re- hybrid compounds by mating plastics with glasses sisted high temperature and was strong enoughtobe or silicon compounds. In the 1930's Corning Glass ex- used for gaskets in searchlights and aircraft super- plored this field. They developed a variety of usuable chargers. Research has improved these rubber com- hybrids. At about the same time General Electric pounds. They now have physical propertiescloseto started a long range study of silicone-glass insulation. organic rubbers. They have some very important properties that makes them superior to organic rub- still not have the pores of the leather or the fabric bers. They are quite resistant to high temperatures closed up? This is what silicone can do for you. Sili- and do not break when bent at temperature as low cone coated fabrics allows air to come in, but it keeps as minus 180 degrees fahrenheit. water out. The different varieties of silicone rubber have It was the search for heat resistant dielectrics or many uses. They are used to impregnate fabrics, insulators that started the commercial development which are laminated to tubing and hoses for extreme of silicones. To obtain the full advantage of glass-tape temperature applications. A non-sticking rubber com- insulation in electric motors, a resin had to be found position has been made for covering press-rolls on that would not deteriorate at high temperatures like paper making machines. Another silicone rubber was conventional electric varnishes. Motors using silicone developed for use on jet planes. It is heat resistant resins can be run more efficiently and give more horse- and doesn't swell. It has more than a 500 degree power at higher temperatures. Motors using silicone fahrenheit temperature range. A transparent silicone resin and glass tape insulations had their life ex- rubber interlayers for safety-glass windshields and pectancy increased 10 to 100 times the life of motors canopies on supersonic jet aircraft has been developed using conventional resins such as shellac. that is unaffected by temperatures greater than 350 degrees. Silicones are said to be "antisocial." Other materials do not readily stick to a surface that has been treated One form of silicone rubber is quite different from with silicone. Because of this property they are used ordinary rubbers. It is a flexible rubber which conducts for release agents for metal-castings and rubber-form- electricity. It can be molded or run under hot rolls ing molds. An example of this use is the automobile to shape it without changing its electrical properties. tire industry. Before the tires are molded, the inside Organic rubbers usually change under such condi- of the molds are coated with silicone. The silicone tions. This rubber is also very resistant to heat. It can prevents the rubber from sticking to the mold and the be made easily into different or odd shapes. It could tires can be easily removed. Silicones are also used be used as an electric heater which wouldn't break for release agents in glassmaking equipment, plywood as easily as a ceramic or graphite heater. Electrical manufacturing, plastic molding machinery and even conducting tubing or hoses can be made from this bread pans in bakeries. At the end of World War II rubber. It will drain off static charges and thus pre- it was the rubber industries' use of silicones for re- vent sparking. This type tube or hose is used to han- lease agents that kept the silicone business going dle explosive gases or dusts. This silicone rubber does during the transition from military to commercial not react with most chemicals and it resists weather peace time use. During this period lubricants and very well. polishes were made, resins were improved and de- veloped into superior high temperature coatings and Silicones have the characteristic of repelling water. the silicone rubbers were given much better physical Masonry and concrete can be treated with special properties. Today silicones can be used in industry solutions or emulsions of silicones to prevent deterior- in one form or another. ation. Leather and textiles can also be made per- manently waterproof with silicones. How would you like to have your shoes and raincoat waterproof, yet (Continued on page 74) three...two...one...HlSTORY! Never before in the long story of scientific breakthroughs has a single coming event so captured the imagination of the entire world. It is that moment in history when the final countdown launches the Martin VANGUARD, man's first earth satellite vehicle, marking the commencement of the new age of scientific exploration. There is no "background experience" available for the com- ing Age of Astronautics, and the learning curves are only be- ginning. Hence the opportunities at Martin in this biggest of all adventures are a beginning engineer's dream. Contact your Placement Director, the Martin Representative, or J. M. Hollyday, Dept. C-3, The Glenn L. Martin Company, Baltimore 3, Maryland. JETS on Exhibition In a short time, most of us will go down to visit are completed, he may take them to the club pilot. the 9th Annual Engineering Exposition at M.S.U. His pilot goes over them with him and his little dream As we wander around Olds Hall and its vicinity, we is ready to make its first step into reality. Sometimes will be amazed by many of the displays. Some of other members will look over his plans. They may add these will seem to be a work of art. Truly, the crafts- comments ranging from "good idea" to "it will never manship, ingenuity, and work that the engineer con- work." tributes to these devices causes us to appreciate the By this time the school year is well underway. engineering profession. The young engineer begins to face the problem of The displays usually represent years of work and getting the necessary material for his project. He may achievement. In some, there is an indication of things need some metal work done, or he may need a spe- to come in the future. One display, in particular, will cial sized gear. Possibly he need glass cut in a special have this characteristic. Of course, it is probably pre- way. There are many possibilities. The high school sent in a different manner than that to which one shop is usually open to him. There he can do much of is usually accustomed. At this display, we should get his metal work, but he may need a special part which some idea of what the future engineer is like. Just he cannot make. Friends may offer suggestions which how is he preparing to make a better tomorrow? he will look into. He may find this special part in What are his present ideas, and how seriously does the discarded "junk" pile of some factory, or some he pursue at them? Needless to say, this display is boy in the town may be able to produce it for him. sponsored by the JETS (Junior Engineering Technical He continues in this manner. Soon he has his Society) clubs throughout the nation. necessary parts collected and he is ready to assemble An important aspect of these clubs is individual his project. Now time is running out—the Engineering or group projects. The members work on their proj- Exposition is just weeks away. This means he had ects during the school year in the various high schools. better devote more time to his project. At last the Usually the club member works on something which (Continued on page 66) is of high interest to himself. With the help of his Pilot (club advisor) and other club members, he will make his project. The project may be anything that shows application of engineering principles. It may be a model house, a magnetic train, a repulsion coil, or one of many other possible devices. We may wonder just how extensively the student works at his project. Usually in the fall of the year, the member began thinking about projects for the coming year. After some research he came up with an idea. Now he is ready to begin collecting data on his device. This may involve writing to various in- dustries, consulting engineers, and other sources. Within a short time, he will have a fairly good idea of the purposes, applications, etc. of his project. With a working theory in mind, the young en- gineer may take to the drawing boards. He draws the "blueprints" for his project. When his drawings by Fred Rvdek, Ch.E. '59 reserves of coal and oil. These two elements are uran- several years ahead of our development in this field. "To be a business league of members of In- ium and thorium. Both of these elements are naturally Our first breeder reactor is not scheduled to go into dustries in tilt1 United States interested in the Fred P. Rudek, the author of "The Enrico Fermi Power Plant," is from Brooklyn, New York and is a Junior, majoring in Chemical oocuring elements that can be mined, refined, and operation until 1960. (This reactor is now under con- conservation of natural resources and the eco- Kngineerinit. He attended the State University of New York and re- ceived an A.A.S. desree in Chemical Technology. Fred is also a mem- prepared for use as nuclear fuels. struction at Lagoona Beach, Michigan. It is to be op- nomical production of electric energy, and to ber of the student affiliate of the A. I. Ch. E. erated by the Power Reactor Development Com- study, develop, design, fabricate, construct and Scientists have estimated that the heat which is pany.) Even little Belgium is thinking seriously of It was 52 years ago, in 1905, that Dr. Albert potentially available in one pound of uranium is operate one or more experimental nuclear power the development of breeder reactors. realtors and any and all component parts, to the Einstein announced to the world his startling Theory equivalent to the amount of heat energy derived from 2,600,000 pounds of coal. In terms of potential elec- The United States did have an initial lead in this end that there may be an early demonstration of of Relativity—the theory that matter is also concen- trated energy. The now famous equation e-mc2, trical power output the advantage of uranium over field, but let it slip away. The Argonne National the practical and economical use oi nuclear en- (energy equals mass X velocity of light squared) can coal is essentially proportional to the difference in Laboratory built an experimental breeder reactor of ergy for the generation of electric energy, together the heat energy produced by each. about 1000 kilowatts power as far back as 1950. This with such industrial and scientific products and be interpreted to mean that the form of a very tiny reactor, the EBR-I, provided us with a great deal of by-products and applications as may seem de- amount of matter could be converted to energy. sirable . . ." There is one hitch though that must be kept in scientific information, and in particular, definitely es- Einstein upset the old concept of our universe and unlocked the door to the Atomic Age. mind. At the present time our reactors are using only tablished that breeding is possible. But high power On August 4, 1956, the PR DC was granted a pro- the fissionable isotope of uranium as a source of breeders are still several years away. The reactor in visional construction permit and four days later ground Today, atomic energy is a fast developing indus- power. This isotope of uranium which is directly Michigan is one of the few full scale power breeders try. Aside from the use of the atom as a weapon of was broken for the first privately owned breeder re- fissionable, is U-235. If we continue to depend on the that are in the actual construction stage here in the actor in the United States. national defense, nuclear energy has proven itself to United States. quantities of this isotope that are available, as our be beneficial to the people of the world in many The Power Reactor Development Company thor- significant ways. But of all the benefits that atomic only source of fissionable material, then all the uran- 1 hope I haven't misled you into thinking that the oughly investigated the engineering and economic energy has brought to us, the most promising seems ium reserves now known to exist in the world will United States has been standing still in the develop- aspects of many basic types of nuclear reactors be- to be in its use as a new source of heat energy to drive give less energy than the known reserves of coal. ment of nuclear power. Actually the U. S. has taken fore reaching their decision to build a breeder reactor. our turbine generators. This is because U-235 is only 0.7 percent of the uran- steps to encourage industry to undertake research They found that the breeder reactor showed the most T h e E n r i c o Fermtomic Power Plant Atomic power seems to have been discovered ium we find in nature. This would seem to place us and construction program in the nuclear power field. promise of becoming competitive with conventional just in time to prevent serious worry about our fuel right back where we started from. This is not true. In the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 provisions were power plants, so it won out over the more conven- reserves. Actually one of the most compelling reasons made to allow interested industrial firms limited ac- tional types of reactors already in operation at differ- for developing atomic power is to extend these re- For quite some time now, atomic scientists and ent laboratories throughout the country. cess to restricted information. They were also given serves. engineers have been experimenting with a type of permission to finance private research investigations The PRDC plant has been named after the late reactor that will regenerate its own fuel. Recent de- a t some of the atomic energy laboratories around the Dr. Enrico Fermi, an Italian-American scientist who, Last year the United States produced approxi- velopments have even indicated that more fuel can country. mately 40 percent of the world's electric power out- be produced than is consumed. Reactors of this type with a number of associates, was the first to initiate put. About 80 percent of this power was produced are known as breeder reactors. It has become obvious a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Dr. Fermi was also Another step toward the introduction of private one of the first scientists to recognize the importance by steam-driven turbine generators. The heat energy, that breeder reactors will be of the utmost importance industry into the nuclear power field came in Janu- of the breeder principle. He maintained that the first necessary to produce the steam for the turbine-gen- for a large scale atomic power economy. It is n 0 ary, 1955. It was then that the Atomic Energy Com- erators, was derived from reserves of coal, oil, and gas. nation to develop the breeder reactor would lead unreasonable to assume that in 30 to 50 years, a large mon announced its Power Demonstration Reactor This tremendous output of electrical energy con- the world in nuclear progress. Thus it was with Dr. fraction of our power will be derived from atomic Program. They also extended an invitation to industry Fermis' prophecy in mind that the Board of Directors sumes equally tremendous amounts of fossil fuels energy. This will only be possible if the supply of inviting them to submit proposals for the construction (coal, oil, and gas). With no letup of the expansion of the PRDC chose to call their project the Enrico atomic fuel is sufficient. Breeders seem to be w- °f reactors of various types. Fermi Atomic Power Plant. rate in sight, experts have predicted that, by 1975, despensable for this purpose. the electric power needs of the United States will be Industry was quick to answer, and a number of The breeder reactor is similar to other types of three or four times higher than last year's output. Other countries have fully recognized the im- Proposals were submitted for the consideration of the nuclear reactors in that it releases heat energy through At that rate existing fuel supplies will become danger- portance of breeders. This is particularly true o A.E.C. Among these proposals was one from the controlled nuclear fission. However, it differs from ously depleted, and fuel costs will begin to rise. Ac- Great Britain, which has the greatest need for atomic Power Reactor Development Company, to design, most other reactors in two major ways: companying the rise in fuel costs will be a rise in the power because of the high cost of mining coal from construct, own and operate a developmental breeder 1. It produces more fissionable material than it cost of electric power. When the production costs partly exhausted coal fields and because of an actual reactor. The proposed site was Lagoona Beach, Mich- shortage of coal which goes hand in hand with this consumes. become prohibitive, then production will be cut— igan-about thirty miles southwest of Detroit. this is something we cannot afford to do. Britain has therefore taken the lead in the actual 2. It uses high energy (fast) neutrons without construction of atomic power reactors, and in its Pro- The Power Reactor Development Company is the use of a moderator. Our only answer seems to be in the utilization of gram is including fast breeders in an important way. composed of twenty-one industrial organizations, or- The full name of the PRDC reactor is-fast neu- nuclear power. At the present time we have at our They started their breeder development in 1951, an ganized under the laws of the State of Michigan. The tron breeder reactor. The name implies that the disposal two nuclear fuels that offer an energy re- are now expecting to put a full scale breeder reac PRDC was organized to fulfill the following purposes which are expressed in its Articles of Incorporation: (Continued on page 70) serve at least 20 times greater than the total known into operation in 1958. This means that they are no 25 24 Mechanical Engineers Beware... Lagrange's EquationAreNot Fundamental Editors Note: This article is a follow up on the the diagram is more correctly referred to as a linear as one of the "things" of the electrical system, but is b. the summation of the indications taken from article in the last issue of the Spartan Engineer, graph studied formally under the mathematical de- really of no concern or use in the basic study of these the second instrument (across measurement) "Kirchhoffs 'Laws' Are Not Laws at All." signation of topology. A pair of variables, called the systems. The model of a physical "thing," energy, sum to zero around the circuits. voltage and current variables, are associated with except for one outstanding group of proponents, has c. the two indications taken relative to the same Lagrange's equations are considered by many to be largely been relegated to a position of no importance each element or line segment of the linear graph. pair of measure points can be correlated by a the foundations of Mechanics. in electrical network theory. These variables are mathematically undefined and mathematical function. If a solution is to be Some Schools use the Lagrange equations in work- are used simply to represent the indications of a pair If the other areas of physical science are viewed realized, the correlating function must be ;m ing with electro-mechanical systems, however, it is of meters, one placed in series with and the other in from the same perspective, exactly the same pattern ordinary linear, constant-coefficient differential indicated in this article that this is actually a step parallel with the measure points in the physical sys- results. Namely, the number indications taken from equation. backward in progress and the better approach is to tem. The numbers taken from the meters are the sensed instruments are the realities and not what is convert the whole system to a linear graph with sub- realities of concern, not the imaginary physical models But what about Lagrange's equations and the said about what they represent. In mechanics, for conservation of energy? Are they fundamental to the sequent reduction to the final system of equations. in common use. The invention of an imaginary phys- example, if f(t) represents the indication of the "force ical" model involving little charged particles moving analysis of all systems? Do they simply represent an Historically, some of the earliest attempts to sys- meter" and x(t) the indication of the "displacement alternate formulation technique, or perhaps neither? tematically analyze electrical networks were made in around in the wires adds nothing to the solution of the meter," then these two variables respectively obey the The need for a systematic method of formulating the terms of Lagrange's equations and energy concepts problem. In fact, the danger of physical models is vertex and circuit equations of a linear graph of the equations for the electro-mechanical systems, or in- taken from mechanics. In fact, "explanations" of elec- that too often the investigator or student spends too mechanical system. The graph of the mechanical sys- terrelated systems in general, has forced many people trical phenomenon, in general, were, and still are, much of his time looking for the "thing" called voltage tem or any other system is established in exactly the in the profession to face this question and make a de- attempted in terms of the physical concepts of forces, and current, instead of concentrating on the relevan same way as that of the electrical system, namely, by cision. Some have concluded that Lagrange's equa- particles and mass borrowed from mechanics. Electric aspects of his problem-mathematical correlate, pat- associating an element or line segment of the graph tions and classical mechanics are fundamental to all current is defined as the flow of charge, or electrons, terns of meter indications, reshaping of the physical with each pair of measure points in the physical sys- physical sciences and consequently have made efforts and voltage as the "difference-of-potential" resulting device, etc. tem. to formulate electro-mechanical problems using La- from separation of the charges. The electron is de- The second important point to be noted in connec- As in the case of the R, L, and C coefficients in grange's equations. The basic philosophy leading to fined as a particle of mass having a certain physical tion with network theory is that the indicating instru- electrical networks, the k, b and m coefficients (spring this conclusion is that energy is a physical "thing" dimension. While some early and some very late at- ments have been so constructed (either consciously and energy conversion the basic problem. constant, damping constant, and mass constant) are tempts at electrical network analysis also followed or unconsciously) that the summation of the i(t) and to be considered simply as coefficients in the differ- It is possible to show that certain primary vari- the techniques developed in mechanics, namely, La- v(t) variables, associated with the graph and repre- ential equations relating the f(t) and x(t) variables ables, with properties determined by a system of or- grange's equations and the energy concepts, electrical senting the meter indications, sum to zero,atthe network theory, as it is known today, did not develop associated with the element of the graph. They are dinary, linear, constant coefficient, differential equa- vertices and around closed paths respectively. These not physical "things"! tions, satisfy Lagrange's equations, i.e., the so-called on a foundation of Lagrange's equations. Rather, an algebraic equations, called the vertex and circuit entirely new and different technique has been de- Note that when viewed as a problem of correlat- energy relations. However, this does not mean that equations, along with the differential equations show- these Lagrange equations can in any sense serve as veloped. Unfortunately, the generally-used methods ing numbers taken from indicating instruments, the ing the mathematical relationship between each i (t) a base for establishing the differential equations or of formulation have, for the most part, failed to leave theory of linear graphs developed in the study of and v(t) associated with the graph elements con- the properties of the solution of the differential equa- behind the rather awkward and essentially irrelevant physical models borrowed from mechanics. stitute a sufficient set of equations for systematically electrical networks is immediately extendable to the tion. Quite the contrary. The basis for this conclusion formulating the dynamic equations for any system, analysis of all physical systems. The only requisite is can be presented by analogy in terms of the follow- The network diagram, or equivalent circuit as it however complex. that it be possible to find or invent a pair of indicating ing example. is sometimes called, represents the starting point in Finally, in the formulation of electrical network instruments such that A set of algebraic equations has an easily formed electrical network analysis. When the question is equations, the concept of energy appears in a sec- a. the summation of the indications taken from sum which is definite and has definite properties. But raised as to precisely what is the network diagram ondary manner, i.e., it is derived by means of the one type of instrument (the through measure- or equivalent circuit, many interesting points with time integral of the product of the two primary vari- (Continued on page 68) ment) sum to zero at the vertices of the graph. far-reaching implications come to light. First of all, ables, v ( t ) i ( t ) . Energy is still fairly widely viewed 27 26 May 1957 exploring the universe: In vessels powered by the airless "burning" of nuclear fuels, men may soon make voyages of discovery to unknown continents that lie beneath the ocean's surface; and, so, prospect for new metals in the waters of, extract new minerals from the energetic sea the mountains of, seek new elements on the shelves and beaches of, herd new flocks to the grasses of, draw new energies from the tides, the waves, the atoms of, the energetic sea. NOW FOR THAT JOB The great day is about to dawn . . . and at last you're on your way to test that hard-earned degree you have been working on for four years or more. We hope that you have given consid- eration to applying for an engineering career at Public Service Electric and Gas Company, one of the nation's larg- est and most progressive utility com- panies. New Jersey has so much to offer . . . in work, in home life and in cultural pursuits . . . that you are certain to enjoy your career here. AND AS FOR YOU JUNIORS During the Summer months, give a lot of thought to where you want to work after your graduation. Public Service provides excellent Cadet Training Courses in the Electric Operating Department, the Gas Operating Department; the Sales Engineer- ing Department and the Commercial Man- agement Department. You would be wise to consider working for Public Service. The Revolution At M.S.U. A good professor always works to improve his more of engineering science and mathematics. These courses; a dean attempts to improve the work offered seem the needs for the engineer of the future, the by his college. The engineering teaching profession man who will design the machines and systems of as a whole has been working to improve its efficiency. the year 2000. If you do not know who he is, look Engineering teachers have an organization known in your mirror. The year 2000 is 43 years away-with- as the American Society for Engineering Education in the professional lifetime of you students now in which, with industry advice, has been studying means the engineering college. You are to work with the of improvement of engineering education. Of course, jets and rockets of the future, not the steam engine it is necessary to recognize that such studies are made of the past. The steam engine was simple, the rocket by committees, committees are made of people, fre- is not. quently college professors, and the committee reports Concerning mathematics, the report recommends are therefore a reflection of the thinking of the in- proficiency to at least the differentia] equation level dividuals. In addition, the reports may reflect the for all—MSU is now at that level—it also defines a varying backgrounds, experience and training of the set of basic engineering sciences as committee members. Thus reports of committees 1. Mechanics of solids (statics, dynamics, and should be taken as stimulants to the thinking of the strength of materials). individual reader rather than as gospel to be fol- lowed blindly. 2. Fluid mechanics. In this connection an engineer once worked out 3. Thermodynamics. some equations which led him to the result that the 4. Transfer and rate mechanisms (heat transfer, ideal committee was composed of 1.97 people, thus mass transfer, and momentum). a majority of one was always available to settle any 5. Electrical theory (circuits, fields, and elec- question. It has also been said that if four new ideas tronics). are needed on a subject then appoint a committee of three people—one will be of two minds on the subject! 6. Properties of materials (micro and macro views of structure). Returning, however, to the report of the ASEE committee on the "Evaluation of Engineering Educa- You may recognize some of these as titles of tion," it can be assumed that it was seriously pre- courses you have had, or will take. Some will not ap- pared, but still was the result of the thinking of about pear in your curriculum—some are important to one thirty-five minds, was a compromise, and should be kind of engineer, some to others, many to all en- employed as a guide to thinking as to generalities, gineers. The effect of the ASEE report will be to make but should not be taken as rigid and firm in its de- all teachers aware that engineering education is tails. It will also be assumed that it has not been read dynamic, that it is a never-finished job, that we must by engineering students (it has 36 pages, which seems work to fit it to the needs of the engineer of the a sufficient reason therefore) but that as juniors or future. seniors, possibly beyond the reach of any of its recom- Perhaps this may allow a few of you to understand mendations for stiffer courses, you may still be inter- the upheavals in curriculum, the changes in courses, ested in its effects on the preparation of younger the additional work heaped on staff in preparing new engineers who will follow along after you. material. All this is designed to keep our MSU en- Essentially the report does recommend stiffer gineering education a dynamic thing. If a body does courses, less in the nature of skills and techniques, not move he may be dead! 31 May 1957 How long will they lasmd what then? In 1800 the United States was a small, weak, and energy. Another reason for the increasing consumption import oil at the increasing rate of 70 million barrels ing plant. It can produce petroleum at a cost only undeveloped country. England was just the opposite. of energy is that the per capita consumption of en- a year. Last year we had to import 500 million barrels slightly greater than the drilling method of obtain- She was the first country to develop extensively her ergy is increasing. The increase is evident in the fact and it is believed that by 1959 we will have to im- ing oil showing that someday it may be economical to resources and industry and as a result she led the that more than half of the fossil fuel (coal, petroleum, port 700 million barrels. If the world already has develop the oil shales extensively. The U. S. G. S. world in trade and progress during the 18th and 19th demands as great as production in 1959, where will (United States Geological Survey) estimates that and gas) energy consumed has been consumed since centuries. Few people could imagine that someday the United States get the necessary imports? All of there are 200 billion barrels of oil recoverable from 1920. With the rapidly increasing consumption how the United States would replace England as the the previously mentioned figures are assuming pres- our oil shales using only the reserves that will pro- long will our fossil fuels last? First, let's consider our duce 15 gallons a ton. However, the oil now being world power. After the middle of the 19th century reserves of petroleum. ent trends in production and consumption. The United the United States discovered its vast resources of States could increase production and meet the de- recovered at the experimental plant at a cost slightly coal and iron and it began to develop as an industrial Most of our computed reserves are based on the greater than the present costs of producing petroleum mand, but it would mean using up our strategic re- nation. With its extensive deposits of coal near both, recent work of Lewis G. Weeks, chief geologist of is taken from shale assaying 30 barrels per ton. So, serves and shortening the overall life of petroleum. transportation and a labor supply, the United States the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. He has with present methods only a few billion barrels of grew rapidly and by 1900 had equaled in strength the computed that there are 67 billion barrels of onshore Comparing the reserves and production Weeks the 200 billion barrels of reserves would prove eco- other great powers. In the early 20th century the reserves in the United States. Of these reserves, half believes that production will be forced to decline nomical for production. Two other major problems to automobile came into being and along with it petro- of them have been proven by drilling. He believes in 10 or 15 years in the United States and shortly the use of oil shale are the facts that it requires a leum also became important. With its extensive re- that there are 10 to 20 billion barrels of offshore re- after in the rest of the world. All of the important place to dispose of billions of tons of ash remaining sources of coal and petroleum and their development, serves. This gives the United States a maximum total oil fields in this country that were opened before after distillation and the fact that a tremendous the United States soon passed England in economic of 87 billion barrels of reserves. In the rest of the 1940 have now passed their peaks of production. 9 of amount of water is required in an area which has a strength to become the world power. world Weeks believes there are over 600 billion barrels the producing states have passed their peaks along scarcity of water. At the present time the production of onshore reserves of which 1/5 has been proven by with 8 producing countries abroad. In about 1965 or of oil from oil shale is negligible. Today we enjoy the comforts of regulated heating drilling. In addition he has come up with the figure 70 production in the United States can be expected in the home, transportation by the automobile, the to start on the downgrade due to depleted reserves It is believed that there are as many as 300 billion of 300 billion barrels of offshore reserves. He believes railroad, and the airlines, and as previously mentioned and by 1980 production will begin to decline in the barrels of petroleum in the Athabasca tar sands in that his estimate may be small for the rest of the the prosperity of a highly developed industrializa- rest of the world. Despite the decrease in production northern Alberta. However, much of it is deep under world and in estimating the total maximum oil re- tion. All of this would have been impossible without serves in the world he set the number at 1280 billion our demands will still be increasing. Demands in the the earth and as a result will never be recovered our fossil fuels. barrels. United States in 1975 is computed to be twice the economically. production. Palmer Putnam in his book, Energy of At the present extraction of oil from the oil shales As long as a steady stream of fuel comes flowing At present the world is using % million barrels of the Future, states that 1970 is the last date on which in to meet our needs, most of us never worry about or oil tars is not economical. However, as our reserves petroleum every hour of which the United States has economically recoverable gas and oil will be available. become smaller our oil will be harder to get. We will how long our greatest sources of energy will last been using one half. The consumption of petroleum although we know the reserves are finite and someday So far in our computation of oil reserves we have have to drill deeper and drill more holes to find a is increasing at the rate of 10% a year. In 1959 the producing oil pool. In 1943 the average depth of wells they will be depleted. Everyday we are using more world will be using a million barrels per hour and not included two potential sources. They are the oil and more energy. There are two reasons for this. shales and the tar sands. It is believed that there are was 2976 feet. In 1953 it was 4062 feet with several 3.9 billion barrels for the year. Foreign Production wells much deeper. One exploratory well was 20,000 One is the increasing population. In 1951 the world a million, million tons of recoverable oil shale in the in 1956 stood at 3.2 billion and is increasing at the feet deep. The greater the depth of drilling and the population was computed to be about 2,411,000,000. world of which the United States has 55%. The aver- rate of 230 million per year. This will bring the pro- amount of exploration required the greater will be the At the present rate of increase it is calculated that age content of petroleum in these shales is 10 gallons duction to 3.9 billion barrels in 1959. Thus, at pres- cost of production. When the cost of production raises by 2050, 7.3 billion people + or — 1 billion will be Per ton. The most important oil shale in the United ent trends production will equal consumption in States is located in Colorado. At Rifle, Colorado the living in the world. This will increase the need for 1959. Since 1948 the production of the United States (Continued on page 58) energy since each person requires a given amount of U. S. Bureau of Mines has an experimental produc- has run behind consumption and we have had to 33 32 May 1957 A Lead Computing Gun Sight Gyro The design of a lead-computing gun sight requires the face of the eddy current disk. Under static con- a built-in device to supply automatically the required ditions its axis is aligned with the gyro spin axis. If lead for the gun if the gunner keeps the target in his the gyro axis is displaced from the magnet axis, eddy sight. It is naturally quite impossible for a gunner to currents are induced in the disk, producing a retard- properly estimate the required lead with the speeds ing force which has a component torque about the of aircraft today, so that the most that can be required spin axis and another about an axis perpendicular to of the gunner is that he keep the target correctly it. The latter tends to precess the gyro to line up with sighted. Therefore, this problem asks for a stability and response analysis of a gyroscope-eddy current the magnet axis. Since this torque varies essential) disk system created to provide the required lead. linearly with displacement, the main motion is de- scribed by a time constant T which depends on the Explaining Figure 2 excitation of the magnet If the direction of the mag- In Figure 2, motor 1 and eddy current disk 2 com- net axis is changed, the gyro follows it, with a lag prise a gyroscope pivoted on axis 3-3 in gimbal 4, angle depending on the rate of change of direction which is in turn pivoted in the main frame on the and on the strength of the magnet field- sight of axis 5-5. The pivot bearings have negligible torques and the gyroscope is statically balanced about Operation of the Lead-computing Gun Sight the center of gimbal suspension. Motor 1 is an induc- In use as a computer, the frame of thesightis tion motor capable of maintaining speed essentially fastened to a gun carriage with the magnet axis paral- constant under operating conditions. Eddy current lel to the gun axis. An optical system is linked to the disk 2 has the form of a segment of a sphere with gyro to set up an aiming line parallel to the gyro axis. its center at the center of gimbal suspension. It rotates with the rotor of motor 1 and forms part of the gyro- The gunner moves the gun so that the aiming line scope flywheel. stays on the target. Because the gyro is lagging the gun, it follows that the gun leads the target. The Electromagnet 6 is fastened to the frame of the strength of field is adjusted so that this lead angle is sight so that its flux links the conducting sheet on tXpB, where pB is the angular tracking rateofthe 34 aiming line, and t is approximately the time of flight A Stability Criterion of the bullet to the target. The desired results are a stability criterion for the If the gun motion is halted, the lead angle decays system and, rate of change of nutation amplitude as exponentially with a time constant T. a function of the spin moment of inertia, rotor speed, time constant T, and the moments of inertia of the Data on Figure 1 gyroscope about axis 3-3 and of the gyroscope and rO=VAt=rtpB gimbal about axis 5-5. Products of inertia of the g>TO VA=Velocity of target and gimbal about the pivot and spin axis are negligi- 0=Lead Angle ble. Keep results in literal form as long as possible. The following numerical data are offered as typical r=Distance to Target values: t—Time of Flight of Bullet to Target W of spin=1400 rad/sec For very large velocities of disk material under I of rotor about spin axis=.OO18 in. 1b. sec.a the magnet pole the reactance of the current paths I of gyro about 3-3=.005 in. lb. sec- displaces the current pattern slightly from the pole. I of gyro and gimbal about 5-5=.OO7 in. lb. sec.2 However, for the velocities considered here it may T = l sec. be assumed that the force acts under the center of the pole. Its magnitude is proportional to the relative Solution Outline velocity and its direction is opposite to the direction To investigate the operation of the lead computing of travel of the disk material under the center of the device, the equations of motion must be solved. The pole. This description serves to allow representation equations of motion are obtained from an application of the various components of the damper force for of Newton's laws to a rigid body. The result is Euler's the analysis. Later it should be possible to represent torque equation. the effects of this force in terms of the time constant To solve this equation, the torque applied to the T. body must be evaluated. This consists of the torque When the gyroscope is disturbed, its transient due to the tuned damper as well as that due to the motion is a nutation, or oscilation about its center of eddy current disk. This torque is equated to the rate suspension. The resultant displacements and motions of change of angular momentum. of the eddy current disk produce eddy current torques The exact equation, as written, is nonlinear but which may damp the nutation or cause it to build up, can be linearized through the method of small mo- depending on the proportions of the system. Thus tions. the eddy current system which serves to generate the computer lead angle may feed energy into the The stability of the linearized equation can be in- initially small nutational motion. To absorb this en- vestigated in a number of ways. Perhaps the simplest ergy a tuned damper is mounted on the shaft (5-5) of these is Routh's criterion. This, however, indicates of the outer gimbal ring(4). This consists of a disk only that the system is stable or unstable. To deter- coupled to the shaft elastically and with viscous damp- mine how stable the system is, further work must be ing. The elastic and viscous forces are created only done. by relative motion between the shaft and disk. Thus A knowledge of vector algebra is very helpful in for steady rotation, no forces are exerted. working this problem. No blue sky...justBlackand white facts to back up our belief that you and Collins should 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; 1954 sales, $100,000,000, and 1956 sales, $126,000,000. (Note There is a limitless variety of fields and types of work for graph.) This company has grown, and is growing at a phe- the Collins engineer. Recent Collins work in air and ground nomenal rate. Total employment is 9,000 of which 24% communication, and aviation electronics include develop- are research and development personnel. ments in transhorizon "scatter" propagation; single side- You grow when the company you work for grows. band; microwave and multiplex systems; aircraft proximity warning indicator; aviation navigation, communication and FACT NUMBER 2 : flight control; broadcast; and amateur equipment. 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 fluctuation in sales. Notice that even during periods of Right now we are prepared to offer you a technical or 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 Collins has based its growth on the solid foundation of are concerned. stability in the engineering department. You will work in one of Collins' new research and develop- 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. At Collins there is no compromise when quality is at stake. L. R. Nuss FRED AIKEN HAROLD MCDANIEL / / you're the man we want, you'll get real satisfaction Collins Radio Co. Collins Radio Co. Collins Radio Co. out of this quality-consciousness. Cedar Iowa Rapids, 2700 W. Olive Ave. 1930 Hi-Line Drive Burbank, California Dallas, Texas 36 What's doing at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in the field of Aerodynamics Although each successive chapter in gine inlet, compressor, burner, tur- Moreover, since every aircraft is the history of aircraft engines has as- bine and afterburner. From both the literally designed around a power- signed new and greater importance theoretical and applied viewpoints, plant, the aerodynamicist must con- to the problems of aerodynamics, he is engrossed in the problems of tinually project his thinking in such perhaps the most significant de- perfect, viscous and compressible a way as to anticipate the timely velopments came with the dawn of flow. Problems concerning boundary application of tomorrow's engines to the jet age. Today, aerodynamics layers, diffusion, transonic flow, tomorrow's airframes. At his service is one of the primary factors in- shock waves, jet and wake phenom- are one of industry's foremost com- fluencing design and performance of ena, airfoil theory, flutter and puting laboratories and the finest an aircraft powerplant. It follows, stall propagation — all must be at- experimental facilities. then, that Pratt & Whitney Aircraft tacked through profound theoretical — world's foremost designer and and detailed experimental processes. Aerodynamics, of course, is only builder of aircraft engines — is as Adding further to the challenge and one part of a broadly diversified en- active in the broad field of aero- complexity of these assignments at gineering program at Pratt & Whit- dynamics as any such company P & W A is this fact: the engines ney Aircraft. That program — with could be. developed must ultimately perform other far-reaching activities in the in varieties of aircraft ranging from fields of instrumentation, combus- Although the work is demanding, supersonic fighters to intercontinen- tion, materials problems and me- by its very nature it offers virtually tal bombers and transports, func- chanical design — spells out a unlimited opportunity for the aero- tioning throughout a wide range of gratifying future for many of to- dynamicist at P & W A. He deals operational conditions for each type. day's engineering students. with airflow conditions in the en- Scientists Use 'Whiskers' to Study Forces They mask any attempt to measure the much larger Between Atoms forces which hold the metal atoms themselves to- gether. One of modern science's oddities—highly pure "By conducting tensile tests on whiskers, where and perfect metal crystals known as "whiskers"—are imperfections do not exist, we can pull the individual enabling scientists to gain new insight into the atoms far enough apart, without breaking, to get a enormous forces which bind atoms together. measure of the interatomic forces. This enables us, In a paper delivered during the seventh New York for the first time, to check modern theories of inter- meeting of the American Association for the Advance- atomic forces." ment of Science at Hotel Martinique on December In Dr. Eisner's whisker experiments, only a small 29, Dr. R. L. Eisner, research physicist, described a force—less than one hundredth of an ounce-is re- new technique for evaluating these forces by measur- quired to pull the average whisker apart. This force, ing the tensile strength of whiskers of iron and silicon. which must be controlled and measured with un- Dr. Eisner's technique is one of the most accurate usual accuracy, is obtained by a light-weight pendu- methods known for pulling apart the tiny crystals and lum about 12 feet long. The whisker is "clamped" measuring directly the applied stress and the amount between the bob of the pendulum and a special "take- of strain they undergo. Precise, delicate equipment up" screw. As the screw is tightened, the whisker is required, Dr. Eisner said, because the tiny strands pulls the pendulum from its vertical position. Each of metal may be 40 millionths of an inch or less in millionth of an ounce of pull displaces the handling diameter—about one hundredth the thickness of a pendulum exactly the same amount—about one ten- human hair. Use of the method, the scientist reported, thousandth of an inch. has cast new light on the nature of the interatomic forces which give all metals their ultimate strength. The stretch of the tiny whisker is measured by reflecting a beam of light from flat optical mirrors "In whiskers, a metal exists in a perfect condition," attached to the clamps at each end of the whisker, Dr. Eisner said. "In contrast, any ordinary piece of to form an "interference pattern." As the whisker metal contains countless millions of structural im- stretches, the mirrors move and cause changes in the perfections. Under stress, it is these imperfections pattern similar to the changing "rainbow" colors seen which govern how and when the metal will break. in soap bubbles or thin films of oil. These changes are electronically amplified and analyzed to disclose the amount of stretch. The technique accurately measures changes in whisker length down to less than one millionth of an inch. "Our experiments reveal considerable data about interatomic forces," Dr. Eisner said. "We have found that, freed of the limitation imposed by impurities and imperfections, these forces give iron a strength of more than half a million pounds per square inch. "Whereas in ordinary steel the imperfections cause it to flow and deform at one-tenth its ultimate strength, we have found no such 'plastic' deformation when interatomic forces only are involved. Even the elastic limit of 'soft' metals such as tin in the prefect struc- tural state is at least ten times the maximuminthe best steels in common use today. "We. think we are beginning to understand the origin of these interatomic forces which 'glue atoms so tightly to one another. Our plan is to try our ex- periments on the very simplest metal atoms in order "One microgram of tool material can easily be to gain additional data which, we hope, will verify measured in the chips. This amounts to the material our theoretical conclusions. Such an understanding, worn off the tool during a single second of operation," we feel, is a necessary first step toward someday mak- he said. ing use of these enormous forces in the new and better metals of the future." A production type lathe had made the "job of properly engineering the installation quite a little more difficult," he declared, but this was offbalanced Atomic Power Plant Generator by the fact that "information is obtained with actual Bound for Shippingport, Pa., site of the world's production equipment under simulated production first fullscale atomic power plant devoted exclusively conditions. to serving civilian needs, this 100,000-kw generator In measuring piston ring wear in automotive en- is prepared for shipment at the East Pittsburgh plant gines, Dr. Somerville said "our interests differed con- of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Shown being siderably from those of several oil companies who lowered onto a flatcar by two traveling cranes, the have already established equipment for doing this 202-ton generator measures nearly 29 feet in over-all type of work." length. When installed, the unit will not be housed in a building-the first such installation of its type ". . . We were interested in obtaining the highest in this part of the country. Duquesne Light Company possible sensitivity so as to study the details of the of Pittsburgh is building the electric generating part wear process as a function of time, instead of ob- of the Shippingport plan and will operate the over-all taining information concerning the operation of a plant. The plant is expected to be in operation in given lubricant over a period of several hours under 1957. constant operating conditions. "Higher levels of activity, and more sensitive detection equipment were used to meet these require- ments," he said. Quartz Infrared Lamp Hailed for Versatility In two and one half years, the smallest, hottest electrical heat source on the market—the tubular quartz infrared lamp—has developed almost unbe- lievable versatility. This lamp is three-eighths of an inch in diameter and comes in lighted lengths of 5, 10, 16, 25, 38 and 50 inches at 1(X) watts per inch! And its applications are legion. It is used for cooking and food warming-from a hamburger to a roast—but it is also used by railroads and machine shops for shrink-fitting pinions and bearings. It is used by thousands of secretaries-although they may not know it—in office copying machines. It touches the lives of millions of people because it is used in the printing industry to set ink in high- speed presses. In the textile industry, this radiant energy source-with other drying facilities—speeds up and improves textile processing. It is used to produce supersonic wing-surface New Uses for Radioactive Isotopes temperatures for the aircraft industry in a develop- mental quartz infrared oven with adjustable segments Radioactive isotopes are being used to study cer- to fit aerodynamic contours. In this application, spe- tain phases of both production tool and automotive cial 1000-watt quartz lamps, designed for intermittent engine wear, Dr. Alexander Somerville said today at burning only, are mounted in a closely meshed two- the National Industrial Conference Board's 5th annual layer grid and operated to produce a total energy conference on Atomic Energy in Industry. concentration of more than 150,000 watts per square "We have found it very practical to operate using foot. short half-life, 24-hour tungsten-187 which is a strong It bakes lacquers, enamels and varnishes in a gamma emitter," Dr. Somerville explained. "By using fraction of the time required by other baking pro- this short half-life material we can obtain a very high cesses. sensitivity and reduce the difficult contamination and disposal problems." There are many directions to take in building leading producers of basic chemicals for indus- your future career in the chemical field. And try, offers 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 tor 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. He pointed out, however, that success of his pre- NEW DEVELOPMENTS dictions depends on making atomic fuel available for (Continued from page 41) heating purposes, design of a reactor specifically for In drying processes—where liquids must be evap- low-energy heat production and over-all reductions orated-the quartz infrared lamp is replacing gas in costs of building and operating reactors. Nelson and oil ovens, electric heaters, and even blowtorches. said that the Hanford installation has shown itself to be "remarkably sound and trouble-free system." Some of the reasons for this expanding and diversi- "Although development projects often operate at fied use of quartz infrared lamps are: a loss," he stated, "this system will make a profit, 1. Quicker heat—Infrared lamps warm up almost saving the taxpayers a net of about $60,000 a year instantly. Their energy creates immediate heat when after a three to seven-year amortization." it reaches a product that can absorb it. Even more Enough heat is recovered in the system to heat important in many processes, the time has been re- more than 1000 average-size houses during the winter duced from hours to minutes. season, he added. 2. Efficient operation—Old-type ovens burned fuel that heated the air which in turn heated the product. Metal to Help Crack Jet 'Heat Barrier' Direct infrared heating is more efficient. Developed by Scientists 3. Uniformity—The compactness and simplicity Scientists have developed a new high-strength, of the quartz infrared lamps permit ready installa- high-temperature metal which is designed to help tions providing uniform, constant energy. push back the "heat barrier" now being encountered 4. Cost—Infrared systems are economical to in- by jet engines in the nation's new supersonic air- stall, simple in construction, and are made largely of craft. standard parts. Maintenance is easy and inexpensive, Announcement of the metal, for use inside the operating cost is low. No power is used when the unit red-hot interiors of jet engines, was made by D. W. is not in use. Expensive controls are not needed. Gunther, manager of the Westinghouse Materials En- 5. Space—Infrared ovens require substantially less gineering Department. He described it as "a signifi- space than other types. cant advancement in the field of gas turbine disc materials." 6. Comfort and safety—Employees work in a com- fortable temperature because infrared adds little heat "As jet planes travel faster and faster into the to the air. Hazards are minimized because the source realm of supersonic flight, they encounter what is of heat is enclosed in the bulb. commonly called the 'heat barrier'—excessive heating The amazing versatility of the quartz infrared lamp, according to engineers, is due to its small size, high operating temperature, and ability to withstand the shock of violent temperature change. The tube is made of fused translucent quartz which has high mechanical strength, low coefficient of expansion, high melting point, superior insulating properties, and resistance to acid and thermal shock. Even when the tube is heated to a cherry red, it al- most never cracks when subjected to such extreme abuse as being doused with water or touched with a piece of ice. The lamp is designed to last more than 5000 hours. Heat From the Atom Within a few decades, factories, office buildings and other large structures may be heated atomically "without a speck of soot, an ounce of ash or a cubic foot of smog," a General Electric Company engineer predicts. S. L. Nelson, manager of one of the processing operations at the Hanford atomic plant, says that successful use of reactor waste heat for Hanford buildings has shown that dirt-free atomic heating is technically feasible. Nelson made these forecasts in an article in the GENERAL ELECTRIC REVIEW, a company en- gineering publication. 44 How John Peacock met "White Alice" ' I met 'White Alice' at Bell Telephone Labora- on its face, so a de-icing system was devised to tories," says John. "That's the code name for limit that ice to an inch or less. the communications system linking defense in- "We had to work fast, on a very tight time stallations along 3100 miles of Alaskan borders. schedule, in order to beat Alaska's winter close- "Laboratories people had made a basic survey in. And we did. From start to finish, 'White to determine the kind of system needed. I was Alice' was an exciting and interesting project. assigned to the group that developed tropo- But now I'm working on another over-the- spheric antennas for over-the-horizon UHF horizon radio system that's just as absorbing. radio transmission. By the way—it's to be in Florida!" "Besides the usual critical problems involved John M. Peacock has been a Mechanical in systems of this sort, we had some extraordi- Engineer with Bell Telephone Laboratories nary factors to deal with, too. There were prob- since 1953. Able, imaginative young engineers lems of snow. The structures had to withstand and scientists will find interesting and reward- 150-mile-an-hour winds. And research showed ing career opportunities throughout the Bell that in the Arctic up to sixteen inches of ice System at Bell Telephone Laboratories, with could accumulate on the antennas. We had to Bell Telephone Companies, Western Electric design them to be strong enough to support and Sandia Corporation. Your placement officer this weight without collapsing. But the antenna can give you more information about all Bell would not function properly with this much ice System Companies. engines must be able to run at higher and higher NEW DEVELOPMENTS temperatures and they must do this without having (Continued from page 44) any of their components suffer significant losses in mechanical strength. The new metal is intended as of the plane due to its own impact with the onrush- a structural material for use in the turbine section ing air," Mr. Gunther declared. "It is the same phe- of the jet engine, where the hottest moving parts are nomenon which causes a meteorite to burn to ashes found. It offers special promise as a material for con- as it falls at high speed through the earth's atmos- structing turbine discs. phere. In aircraft, this heating creates many serious problems, not only in the general structure of the A jet engine turbine disc, Mr. Gunther explained, plane, but also in the jet engine which powers it." is a metal wheel that is bolted to the aft end of the rotating shaft of the engine. Anchored to its outer Impact heating is now a major consideration in rim are some 50 or more turbine blades. White-hot the design of the inlet and compressor of modern jet gases from the burning fuel push against the blades engines. By using titanium for those parts that were and spin the disc and shaft at speeds up to 20,000 formerly made of aluminum, magnesium and low- revolutions per minute. The disc, whirling at red-hot alloy stainless steels, engineers can protect these sec- temperatures, undergoes stresses as great as 50,000 tions of the engine from the effects of impact heating pounds per square inch. without sacrificing the turbojet's light-weight ad- vantage. "Present materials for turbine discs and blades are pushed to the limit by today's jet engine require- However, back in the turbine section of the engine ments," Mr. Gunther said. "Future progress will de- exists what might be called a second "heat barrier" pend, in part, on designing better materials of con- which is proving to be a much more difficult problem struction. This new disc material, we feel, is a step for the turbojet designer. A jet engine gets its energy in this direction-toward providing the jet engine for propulsion by increasing the temperature of the of tomorrow." air passing through it. As a general rule, the greater the increase in air temperature, the more thrust a Mr. Gunther said that development of the new given engine will produce and the faster the airplane material was done by Dr. J. T. Brown and Dr. A. W. will fly. If the speeds of new fighters, bombers and Hoppe of the Materials Engineering Department's missiles are to continue up the supersonic scale, their metallurgical development section. The metal, he STEAM AND THE WORLD'S LARGEST BAKERY This new boiler plant at Nabisco's huge Chicago bakery was planned to provide, efficiently and economically, the steam that the bakery must have on tap at all times for heat, hot water and various processing operations. Because the reliability, efficiency and economy of its steam source are so vital to this world-famous company, they selected B&W boilers. Think a moment of most companies' use of steam—and its cost. Take a fast turn around a boiler plant. Spend a little time chatting—perhaps quite prof- itably—with engineers. Get the facts on a company's invested steam dollars in relation to the return they're getting. If the facts add up to problems, B&W en- gineers can and will help industrial com- panies and their consulting engineers solve these problems. service records of thousands of B&W When a B&W boiler is chosen, long- boilers, in thousands of large, small and range performance is assured. And isn't medium sized industrial and utility that what the buyer really wants? Not the plants, supply that assurance. boiler but its end product, the steam, and the assurance of an efficient, de- The Babcock & Wilcox Company, Boiler Division, 161 East 42nd Street ' pendable, economical steam source.' The New York 17, N. Y. said, already has progressed to the point where Giant Lathe Cuts Big Jobs Down to Size 3500-pound ingots have been prepared on a pilot plant scale. Recently installed as part of a $1 million-plus improvement and expansion program at the East Dr. Brown disclosed that the new material, which Pittsburgh plant of Westinghousc Electric Corpora- is referred to simply as W545, is an alloy of six es- tion, this giant lathe speeds the production and re- sential elements: iron, nickel, chromium, and in pair of large electrical equipment. One of the largest smaller proportions, molybdenum, titanium and boron. lathes of its type in the country, it measures 50 feet "Increasing the operating strength of temperature in length and is capable of handling jobs up to 15 of a high-temperature alloy can be done by adding feet in diameter. Shown here is a 104-ton double- armature undergoing shaft refinishing. Built by West- greater quantities of these ingredients which cause inghouse in 1916 for a large eastern steel company. hardening in the alloy," Dr. Brown explained. "How- the double-armature is part of a huge motor which ever, this procedure usually results in a loss of duc- powers a rolling mill. After nearly a half-century of tility, causing the alloy to become brittle and more service, the armature required only surface refinish- susceptible to fracture. This low ductility starts to ing of the shaft itself. A precision instrument despite grow during the hardening process when imperfec- its size, the lathe trimmed less than ten-thousandths tions and dislocations of the atoms occur along the of an inch of metal from the shaft, permitting it to individual grain boundaries of the alloy. It appeared be set in its original bearings without expensive likely that one solution to the problem might be to modifications. The capacity of the lathe made it pos- fill up these spider-web lines of brittleness to make sible to do the job without dismantling the armature, the precipitation reaction more generalized within a practice usually necessary on smaller lathes. the grains rather than concentrated at the boundaries. This called for an element whose atom was of such a size that it would not merely move in and be a substitute in the alloy lattice for one of the iron, cobalt, nickel or chromium atoms, which are all about identical in size. It would also have to be a larger size atom than carbon, nitrogen, or oxygen which can actually slip inside the crystal lattice of the alloy. The element boron filled the bill. Approximately % the size of the iron atom, it is too small to be a sub- stitutional-type atom and too large to be the inter- stitial type. "Basically, W545 is a modified version of Discaloy, a high-temperature alloy first developed some ten years ago, and an outstanding turbine disc material in its own right," Dr. Brown said. Dr. Brown reported that laboratory quantities of W545 were prepared by melting in an induction-type furnace. The ingots obtained were processed into specimens, which were tested for stress-rupture strength under severe temperature conditions. "Our tests show W545 to be an outstanding high- World's Largest Electronic 'Brain' strength, high-temperature alloy," Dr. Brown de- Joins the Army clared. "When heated to a temperature of 1200 de- The world's largest electronic "brain" was demon- grees Fahrenheit and subjected to a stress of 75,000 strated publicly for the first time by the Army pounds per square inch, the W545 test samples with- Ordnance Corps which estimated that the new sys- stood these conditions for as much as 300 hours tem would save "many millions of dollars." without breaking. Under equivalent conditions, stand- The $4.1 million electronic data processing sys- ard turbine disc materials would probably have a tem known as Bizmac, is installed at the Army Ord- lifetime of less than ten hours. nance Tank-Automotive Command headquarters in "We think that W545 shows unusual promise as Detroit. a turbine disc material," Dr. Brown added. "Now The system has reduced months of paper work that it is being prepared on a pilot plant scale, we to minutes of push-button operation. It keePS; track think it will soon find its way into experimental jet of more than 100,000,000 facts about the Armys vast engines. Its use should permit an increase in the inventory of tank and automotive spare parts through- operating temperatures of a jet engine by as much out the world-everything from nuts and bolts to en- as 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which could mean about 100 miles per hour added to a jet's top speed." Complete in forty-eight hours an inventory pro- NEW DEVELOPMENTS cedure that once took up to three months. (Continued from page 47) Handle in a half-hour a price calculation that used tire engines. Bizmac maintains up-to-the minute in- to take a clerk five weeks of steady work. formation about what supplies are on hand, how fast Process by computer in one hour as much work they are being used, what has to be ordered and in as 400 girls with hand calculating machines could what quantity. turn out in the same time. Substantial Savings Seen for Taxpayers Record information on magnetic tape and read from tape at 1,700 words per second—a rate at Maj. General Nelson M. Lynde, Jr., Commanding which it could finish Tolstoy's "War And Peace" General of OTAC, told newsmen at a press demon- in about five minutes. stration: "From what we have seen of the Bizmac system in operation so far, we feel that it can con- Store on a single 101/2-inchreel of magnetic tape tribute importantly to our job in two ways. First, it as much information as was previously held in ten can streamline our operations and help the system file shelves. to be more responsive to the Army's demands. Second, Print shipping orders and other business paper it can save the taxpayers substantial sums of money. work at a speed of 600 lines a minute. "It should make possible a sharp reduction in Reduce by 85 per cent, over the next year, OTAC's our inventories because of its more timely processing visible records which are now on some 10,000,000 of records. We estimate that, over the next two years, file cards, punched cards, metal plates and hand- the amount of inventory that we carry can be cut written sheets. substantially. Four Basic Units in the System "This would mean that the cost of maintaining our inventory would be reduced by many millions of The Bizmac system includes four basic units: dollars—and this, of course, would be a continuing Input Devices for preparing and feeding information saving. At this rate, the Bizmac system would pay and instructions into the system; Storage Devices for for its initial cost, many times over, every single year." filing information within the system so that it is readily accessible on demand; Data Processing De- Business Ally in Battle with Paper Work vices for sorting and computing as dictated by in- Brig. General David Sarnoff, said in a statement structions; and Output Devices for providing finished read at the demonstration that the Bizmac system copies of the information required. has many unique features which "mark it as a giant Being developed by RCA engineers since 1949, step toward automation in business." Bizmac is a highly flexible system designed for stand- "Because Bizmac can deliver the results of its ard business procedures. It operates on the "building work in almost any form that modern high-speed block" principle so a business organization can use business operations require," he said, "it is capable as many or as few units as it needs to do its job. The of producing significant improvements in the data processing procedures used by both military and Detroit installation is the first Bizmac system to go civilian organizations. It provides business with a into full operation. powerful new ally in the continuing battle with paper work." New Aluminum Casting Alloy The Bizmac installation in Detroit covers about LOS ANGELES, CALIF.-A new aluminum 20,000 square feet of floor space, and includes some casting alloy so strong that a square inch could lift 220 units of nineteen different but fully integrated ten Cadillacs has been developed by a Los Angeles types of equipment. Data on more than 170,000 sep- company. arate tank and automotive spare parts are fed into the system daily from ten Ordnance depots in the Called 42B, it greatly simplifies the job of pro- United States and ultimately from overseas depots. ducing intricate, completely-formed aircraft and mis- Bizmac, under the direction of skilled operators, sifts sile parts in a single operation. the data to make sure the right supplies are at the The new alloy is 40% stronger than the best pre- right place at the right time, preventing both costly vious alloy. It cuts to one-third the time formerly surpluses and critical shortages that might interfere with a task force's combat readiness. required to make this part. Since 42B is such an improvement over existing Performs Wide Variety of Tasks aluminum alloys, its use may result in many expensive At electronic speed, the Bizmac system can take forgings being replaced by castings of 42B in the air- inventory, catalog spare parts, prepare manuscripts craft and other industries. for catalogs, forecast supply requirements and pro- Discovered by metallurgists in a company's pro- duce budget summaries. Charles S. Diehl, Chief of duction development laboratory, 42B is already being OTAC's Electronic Data Processing Branch, said the used for jet plane and missile parts. Other uses a Bizmac system can: being explored. 48 To a Young Man who wants "Room to Grow" If you're a technical student looking for a special chemicals. The company is also active "career with a future," you can make no in atomic energy and operates one of the wiser choice than the petroleum industry . . . government's major reactor installations. especially the fast-growing new field of petro- Mail the coupon below for your copy of chemicals! Phillips Petroleum Company is a our booklet describing opportunities with leader in this field. Phillips. At Phillips you can choose a career in the field of work which interests you most . . . exploration, production, manufacturing or the distribution of many types of petroleum products. If your interests lie in petrochemi- cals, Phillips is engaged in research and pro- duction of plastics, synthetic rubber, carbon black, chemical fertilizers, rocket fuels and "If I were in your place... "This model represents one of the outstanding developments of the aircraft industry, the Snark intercontinental guided missile. It illustrates a point that I think is important in choosing a career after you are graduated. Young graduates of only a few years ago are responsible for the dramatic accom- plishments of the Snark. "Even more startling things are on the boards.,. and consider all the possible challenges to the imagi- nation. For example, thousands of newly-conceived formulas were considered before the Snark's guid- ance system was perfected! Hundreds of young engineers, like yourselves, contributed their fresh ideas in the process. Although young, these men are now veterans in this important field. Yet we all know that missile development is still in its infancy. "It was this tremendous opportunity for indivi- dual initiative that attracted me to the aircraft industry. And if I were in your place today, I'd certainly look into it seriously as a most promising career possibility'.' A t Northrop Aircraft you'll be with a hard-hitting pioneer company that has won distinction in _ manned aircraft and guided missile production.""" Among the high-priority projects that will appeal to your ambition "and ingenuity is Northrop's Snark SM-62, the first intercontinental guided missile designed for assignment to the Strategic Air Com- mand of the U.S. Air Force. Other significant Northrop accomplishments are the development of boundary layer control to improve aircraft range performance, and the first operational inertial and celestial guidance systems. Still another project to tax your imagination and skill is Northrop's new supersonic jet trainer, the T-38, now being developed for the Air Force. In Northrop's great new multi-million-dollar engineering center at Hawthorne, you'll be associ- ated with experienced engineers and scientists who will respect and encourage your initiative, enthusi- asm and ability. You will also enjoy many financial advantages that are considered outstanding in the industry... liberal salary, security benefits for yourself and family, and a company-paid program for continuing your engineering studies. Write now and ask us questions as they apply to your engineering objectives. Tell us your ambitions . . . we believe we can relate them to opportunities at Northrop. Address Manager of. Engineering Industrial Relations, Northrop Aircraft, Inc., 1019 East Broadway, Hawthorne, California. Can you tell which men are "GOING PLACES"? Perhaps all of them—and you, too—will go places, if you get divisions operates as a company in itself, where you are an important individual. started in the right place after graduation! Able, understanding technical supervisors work with you at Thompson Products tries to make sure that you get started in Thompson, men who are moving ahead just as you are. They the right place—either on a specific job, or in training for one, know the kind of help a man needs when lie's starting on a new whichever seems better for you. job, at the beginning of his career. Thompson's diversification gives you many choices: Mechani- We invite you to discuss your career with us. You may wish cal. Electrical, Electronic, Nuclear, Metallurgical, Aeronautical to check first with your Placement Director, to ask him about or Industrial Engineering . . . Physics or Mathematics . . . Manu- Thompson—then write to Ray Stanish, Manager, Central Stall facturing . . . Research and Development . . . Industrial Manage- Placement, Thompson Products, Inc., 1845 E. 30th St., Cleve- ment . . . Business Administration . . . Industrial Accounting land 14, Ohio. • . . Purchasing. We feel that Thompson's reputation as a "growth company" is largely due to the attention given for many years to concen- trated research, development and improvement of products and methods. Today Thompson is engineering and manufacturing for the automotive, aircraft, industrial and electronic markets. Thompson is a "big" company, employing over 25,000 people - a t the same time it is "small" in that each of its many IFYOU'RETHE DISCONTENTED TYPE, COME TO VVoRK FOR Us! We want YOU! The kind of engineer who's engineering graduates. Our training programs never contented with the usual, "accepted" for engineers are among the most complete way of doing things. The kind of engineer in the country. And as a Standard Oil of Ohio who's always searching for an approach engineer, you would be working in one of that's new, different, better. The Creative America's largest and most challenging Engineer! growth industries—oil! What company offers the most to this "dis- So before you decide on any company, look contented" type of engineer? We believe it is into Standard Oil of Ohio—where creative The Standard Oil Company of Ohio! We are engineering counts! Contact the placement engineering-minded. Seven per cent of all our director of your school. Or write Mr. E. G. employees are engineers. One-half of the Glass, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), president's staff—our top management—are Midland Building, Cleveland, Ohio. Thermoelectronic Heating and Cooling Five years ago an unusual means of heating and narrowed down to the Peltier Effect. By then the cooling began to be investigated in the laboratories inner structure of metals was quite clearly seen as a of the Radio Corporation of America. It consisted close crystal structure of atoms with their shells of simply of two tiny slugs of dissimilar metals, joined electrons loosely held so that electrons might roam by an electrical contact. When a direct current is freely between the atoms. And the number of known passed through the metals in one direction, it pro- metals and alloys had increased enormously. More- duces a cooling effect at the junction of the two over, great strides had been made recently in the metals. When the current is reversed, heat is produced understanding of a class of materials known as semi- at the junction. This dual action is known as thermo- conductors, in which the movement of electrons (i.e., electrical—or more properly thermoelectronic—heat- electricity) could be initiated and controlled to useful ing and cooling. It is the newest, most radical, most ends. It seemed probable that the Peltier Effect might controversial development on the horizon, combining now be fruitfully studied. heating and air conditioning in a single system. A small group under Nils E. Linlenhlad, RCA Last year a large number of such thermoelectronic research engineer, began to hunt for more efficient units were linked up in series in panels to show that metals which in combination would improve the without moving parts and simply by reversing the Peltier Effect. The goal is to achieve the widest tem- current, they were capable of heating or cooling a perature difference between the cold junction and small demonstration room. It must be recognized at the hot, thereby getting a maximum of heating and once that this system is nowhere near production as cooling for power expended. In five years of search yet, that it is still in the early stages of development, ing Lindenblad has come up with materials that which accounts for the controversy. But the develop- increase the efficiency of the unit about eight to ten ment is moving fast, is already drawing in other times over the original starting materials. For obvi- ous competitive reasons HCA is in no hurry to reveal industrial laboratories and shows promise for the their composition, but they are not simple semi- future. In addition, it fits compactly into the type of conductor metals. A typical combination, though not panel-wall construction toward which building tech- one of the best, is zinc antimonidc and lead telluride. nology is trending. How It Works Peltier's Effect The first result of this improvement in materials The principle of thermoelectrical cooling was dis- was a small experimental refrigerator unit demon- covered some 120 years ago by the French physicist strated two years ago, followed last year by an im- Jean Charles Athanase Peltier. He observed that proved refrigerator and the room air-conditioning the passage of an electrical current through two panel previously noted. These presented essentially closely joined metals, such as bismuth and antimony, new problems in engineering and design, particularly produced not only a heating of the junction when in constructing the air-conditioning unit. current was moving in one direction, as might be The basic unit consists of two tiny rods of expected from the well-known fact that conductors heat up when carrying electricity, but an absorption thermoelectrical metals mounted on a 4"-long cop- of heat, or cooling, when current was moving in the per-coated aluminum fin and capped by thin 2" opposite direction. This mysterious cooling action squares of conductive metal. Connecting a great num- became known as the Peltier Effect. For over a ber of such units in series forms a wall panel 6" century it remained a minor laboratory curiosity. thick, in which the squares of conductive metal pre- sent a flat surface to the interior of the room while When, in 1951, at the request of RCA s Chairman the fins extend out in back to the exterior air or an David Sarnoff for an electronic method of air condi- air passage. Sandwiched between them, in the inter- tioning, the RCA Laboratories began searching tor (Continued on page 54) some known phenomenon to build on, the quest soon 53 May 1957 the air. Lindenblad's solution for this is to run one THERMOELECTRONIC HEATING part of the panel colder than the whole to act as a (Continued from page 53) dehumidifier, meanwhile providing a small trough at stices between thermoelectrical rods, is a layer of the bottom of the panel to run off any residual con- styrene foam plastic or similar material to insulate densation. This would require humidity thermo- the warm surface from the cold one, as the case may static controls, now readily available. In addition, of be. In the cooling cycle, current passing through the course, since the whole system runs only on direct units in one direction cools the squares, which there- current, a rectifying unit would be required in nearly upon absorb heat from the room and pass it back all locations to convert a.c. to d.c, but this is readily through the rods to the fins, which by self-convection solved by small vacuum-tube units, or by even more dissipate the heat to the air. In reverse cycle, the compact semiconductor rectifiers now coming to the squares are heated while the fins are cooled to a point fore. below the outdoor temperature, thereby drawing heat RCA is confident that the problems can be solved. from the air which, added to the resistance heating Actually, with one year given over to a general search of the panel's thermoelectric units, heats the room. of the field, Lindenblad and his group have been In effect, the unit is a reversible heat-pump in which working intensively on the Peltier Effect for only the pumping action is performed by the movement four years. Based on the progress made thus far, of the electrons between thermoelectrical materials, RCA estimates that it may be ready for production alternatively heating or cooling an enclosure. in about five years. For very special applications, This is by no means the final structure of the sys- where high operating costs might be justified, it is tem, which may take other and different forms. ready now. The major task ahead is to find still more efficient thermoelectronic metals. "We haven't by any Further improvements in thermoelectronic materials means come to the end of the road with respect to will allow a reduction in fin size and a consequent achieving greater and greater temperature differ- reduction in panel thicknes and weight. Or the fin ences," says Dr. E. W. Engstrom, RCA executive surface may be reduced simply by using a fan to aid vice president. All electronics grew out of a tiny in heat dissipation or by circulating a coolant. But phenomenon noted in one of the earliest incandescent the present experimental panel was designed to real- lamps and called the Edison Effect after its dis- ize the ultimate advantages of the system: no moving coverer. Other electrical and electronics companies parts, no noise, no drafts. Two panels, about 5 are not so sanguine about the Peltier Effect, but all dimensions, were installed in an experimental room, the major ones are investigating it and a group of 6'x7' in floor area. Estimations are that the same large air-conditioning firms, including such giants as panels would be adequate for a room about four or Carrier Corp., have a cooperative research project five times that area. On 600 watts input to the panels, going on it. Oddly, the largest number of published about 3,600 B.t.u. per hour for heating or cooling are papers on the subject is now coming out of Russia. produced to achieve a 25° F. differential in room The ultimate target is to bring thermoelectronic temperature. This is about 6 B.t.u. per watt hour heating and cooling up to the efficiency of the heat- against 25 B.t.u. produced by a conventional quarter- pump. Actually, something less than this might be ton air conditioner. settled for, since economy of operation is not the sole criterion, otherwise much of present-day air condi- The Electronic Future tioning would never be installed. There also is an Obviously, all this is still far from the efficiency of economy of means which must weigh to the advantage conventional air-conditioning equipment as well as of a system requiring no ducting, no fans, no central the mechanical heat-pump. Lindenblad estimates that plant, no compressors—the whole weight of appara- the present thermoelectronic system is overall about tus yearly growing more complex and consuming a one-fourth as efficient as conventional systems, though greater and greater part of building costs. This sys- some competitive critics would place it even lower. tem requires only wire lead-ins to small built-in units Thermodynamically, this system, like the heat-pump, or room panels. In the kitchen it may lead to the operates most efficiently on a 10 to 15° differential disappearance of the refrigerator in favor of freeze- in temperature or less. To get more cooling or heat- drawers and cabinets built into the work area at ing-and experimentally RCA has pushed this up points of convenience. In buildings it would lead to to an 80° differential—the system must operate with the incorporation of heating and cooling as an in- less efficiency and a consequent greater consumption tegral part of wall structure or in ceilings (in which of power. Hence, thermoelectronics has the inherent case an exhaust stack would be required). Architec- limitations of the heat-pump, particularly as applied turally, the possibilities are varied and the technicians to heating. expect that architectural design will do much to shape There are other and lesser problems, chief among the system to final use. which is the problem of condensation. As in the Thermoelectronics is representative of many other common refrigerator or in panel-cooling systems em- developments which seek new, more subtle and freer ploying the circulation of cold water, the thermo- means to handle such problems as light and energy- electronic cooling surfaces condense moisture from It is research that opens up the future. 54 Spartan Engineer Graduates in engineering, physics, applied math., allied sciences: You can do much better than a standard career today! Careers, like cars, come in various models. And now The techniques adays such things as security, adequate compensation of Electro-mechan- vacations-with-pay are not "extras" any more—they're ical Engineering just "standard equipment"! reach their ulti- As an individual, mate efficiency in you decide whether their application to you want white wall missile guidance tires or maybe a systems, fire and s p o r t s c a r . You flight control sys- should do no less tems, computers in choosing where and recorders. You you want to work. will explore, study, At North American, test, develop and produce apparatus that can extend fringe benefits are or supersede the human nervous system. second-to-none ; ROCKETDYNE DIVISION-Builders of Power for Outer but you can get Space. much more than that. Such extras as creative work, If you like challenging work, the large liquid propel- advanced technology, latest facilities to implement lant rocket engine is your field. This Division operates your work—these all add up to rewards an ordinary the biggest rocket engine workshop in the Free World: job cannot give. You'll work with men of high profes- the Rocketdyne sional standing. Your personal contribution will earn Field Test Labora- quick recognition. tory in the Santa It will be worth your while personally, as well as Susana Mountains. financially, to find out about the extras that go with The engineers and a position in any of these four pioneering fields. scientists say they meet more differ- MISSILE DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERING ent phases of work The SM-64 Navaho Intercontinental Missile is only one in a week here than of the projects here. You can well imagine the exacting in a year of "con- standards of the . ventional" practice. work, the quality of ATOMICS INTERNATIONAL-Pioneers in the Creative the facilities, the Use of the Atom. caliber of the men. At this Division you will see a new industrial era tak- Here you will deal ing shape, and play your part in putting the peaceful with speeds well atom to work for mankind. Nuclear Reactors of various up into multiple kinds, for both power and research applications, are Mach n u m b e r s , designed and delivered to order by Atomics Interna- encountering phe- tional. With many "firsts" to their credit, these dedi- nomena that were cated men continue to spearhead the progress in this only being guessed exacting field. at a few years ago. For more information write: College Relations Repre- sentative Mr. J. J. Kimbark, Dept. 991-20 Col., North American Aviation, Inc., Downey, Calif. RCA BIZMAC reduces weeks of paper work to seconds—cuts costs by millions! In almost the twinkling of an eye, electronics ment stores keep split-second inventory control. handles calculations that would take any person And for the U. S. Army, it keeps track of literally days of work. billions of ordnance parts all over the world. T h e newest — a n d largest — electronic "brain" The leadership in electronic research that made (more accurately, electronic data processing sys- Bizmac possible is inherent in all RCA products tem) is Bizmac, developed by RCA. and services—to help make life fuller, easier, safer Bizmac is quickly becoming one of t h e most through "Electronics for Living." powerful allies of business a n d industry. It "reads," WHERE TO, MR. E N G I N E E R ? RCA offers careers in re- sorts, catalogs, analyzes, calculates, forecasts-re- search, development, design, and manufacturing for engi- duces months of paper work to seconds-cuts costs neers with Bachelor or advanced degrees in E. E., M. E. or by millions! Physics. For full information, write to: Mr. Robert Haklisch, For insurance companies, Bizmac can keep its Manager, College Relations, Radio Corporation of America, finger on millions of facts daily. It can help depart- Camden 2, N. J. FOSSIL FUELS (Continued from page 33) enough we will be able to use our previously un- According to the relationships of the reserves of economical reserves such as the oil shales. Also we fuel, the demand, the production, and the level set may be able to recover oil from old wells which were on what is economically recoverable our fossil fuels not developed properly, leaving much of the oil in will begin to go out after 1980. As fuels get scarce the well. These sources, due to the high cost of pro- our economic framework may change bringing once duction, will probably never add more than a few uneconomical fossil fuels into production. Also our billion barrels to our positive economically recover- efficiency in consumption and production may in- able reserves and therefore would only extend the crease, causing the date of decline to be moved ahead life of oil about 10 years. a few years. We may develop more economical meth- Now, let's consider our natural gas reserves, and ods of deep mining and more economical methods their life. So far the United States has used 175 tril- of distilling oil from oil shales. We may develop lion cubic feet. According to Putnam there are 180 a more economical gas engine such as the gas turbine. trillion cubic feet of proven reserves in the United But despite all these improvements, we are still going States. He believes that the total reserves known and to run out of fossil fuels sooner or later and they will unknown are about 600 trillion cubic feet. At the have to be replaced by something else. present time we are producing 10 trillion cubic feet There are a number of possible sources of en- annually. Production is increasing 8% annually. At ergy at least one of which we will someday have to this rate production in the United States will reach use. There is one inexhaustible source. That is the its peak in 1968 and will then begin to decline. There use of the sun's rays or solar energy. If we could are no data for the rest of the world, but for every convert 10% of the solar energy falling on the earth barrel of oil produced about 3000 cubic feet of gas at an efficiency of 10% we could supply heat power are produced. and nutrient to 17 billion people. That is about 6 or 7 The last of our fossil fuels to consider is coal. Up times the present world population. Enough heat to the present time coal has supplied 84% of the fossil strikes each acre of ground each year to equal the fuel energy used in the world. Since it is not eco- heat of 800 tons of coal. One way of using solar en- nomical to transport coal long distances I will only ergy is for solar space heating. It would be feasible consider the reserves of the United States. Crichton where temperatures are not extreme and where there (1948) said there were 3.1 trillion tons of reserves is a lot of sunshine. It would prove very feasible in of which 260 billion are economically recoverable. the southern portion of the United States, but its use There are a number of reasons for the low quantity in the northern states would be doubtful. It is ulti- of economically recoverable coal. One is that much of mately possible that solar space heating may provide our reserves lie at great depth or in beds less than one fifth of our comfort heating and 6% of our total two feet thick. At present only 7% of the coal in the energy at a cost no greater than 2 times the present United States comes from coal seams less than 3 feet cost. Solar heat could also be applied to heating water thick because thinner beds are not economically mine- in the same geographical areas. able. Another reason for the small amount of eco- nomically recoverable coal is that the recovery from Another source of energy is water power. It now the average mine has often been as low as 50%. A contributes 1% of the United States energy demands tremendous amount of coal is left in pillars to support and it is doubtful whether or not it can provide more. the mine. Also, some of our coal is high in sulphur and ash content and made unusable. Also, 75% of our Another source of energy is fuel wood. It supplied coal reserves lie west of the Mississippi; our greatest the major portion of the world energy until 1880 when reserves being in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and it was replaced by coal. By a maximum expansion North Dakota. 75% of these reserves are very low of our forests we could eventually produce enough grade lignite and subbituminous coal, both of which wood to supply a major part of our fuel. It is doubt- are non-coking. They could only be used through ful whether or not such extensive forrestration would processing since they decompose easily and under- ever be used. goes spontaneous combustion. Such a low grade of Wind power is another potential source of energy- coal isn't worth transporting and only about 10% of The energy of the wind is transformed into electrical it could be used locally. energy by a windmill and a generator. An experi- mental windmill has been set up on Grandpa's Hill Production of good coal is increasing at a rate in Vermont. From it most of our knowledge on wind of 3% annually and will reach its peak in 1970. It is power has been derived. The windmill requires a believed that the good coal will last to 1995. To in- continuous wind of at least 18 miles per hour to gen- crease our fuel reserves scientists have tried to make erate electricity. Thus the system would only prove use of the deep and thin beds by making producer useful in a few small windy areas. gas which is carbon monoxide. This is done by burn- Another source of energy is earth heat. More than ing the coal in place with insufficient oxygen. The 10 times the present yearly requirements for world en- disadvantage of such gas is that carbon monoxide ergy flows from the earth each year. Its most notic- has a very low heat content. Russia is the only country able effect is in volcanoes and hot springs. In parts 58 Spartan Engineer of Iceland volcanic steam has been used for heating Possibly by 2000 wo may be able to greatly modif) purposes, but it seems doubtful as to whether or not our present energy system, One means of modifies we will ever develop this source of heat to any ex- tion would be a greater expansion of electrification. tent since the energy from it would be hard to collect We could have all our heating done by electricity, and is not often found where it could be put to use. We could have all of our means of transportation The most likely source of energy for the future operated by electricity. Possibly we will be able to develop small nuclear heating units suitable for houses seems to be nuclear fuels. At present only a small and some sort of small power unit for vehicles. If amount of energy is being produced from atomic such would become the ease we could change nearly fuels. It is in the form of electricity and is being pro- all ol our energy requirements over to nuclear fuels. duced at a cost only slightly higher than that of coal. It is believed that such use of nuclear energy, with The Atomic Energy Commission believes that 708 the exception of electrification, would result in a high of the electricity generating work load could be car- cost of energy. Still, such costs would not be nearly as ried by nuclear energy. Nuclear energy could also great as the present costs of solar heat if it were our be adapted to comfort heat in certain localities. In only source of energy. According to the Atomic En- districts where severe heating seasons are combined ergy Commission the earliest possible time that we with a dense population we could have heat supplied could develop atomic energy to peace time use is by a district steam plant whose energy was supplied 1970. So we would have atomic energy at least to by nuclear fuels. This type of heating could supply some degree when we need a new source of fuel. one-sixth of the urban comfort heating by 2000. So far we've been unable to adapt nuclear fuels to such Although concentrated deposits of uranium are rare, uranium is a common constituent of the earth's things as home size comfort heating units and land and air transportation. (Continued on page 60) world we have today and if this inventive genius of FOSSIL FUELS man makes as rapid strides in the future as it has (Continued from page 59) in the past, we may survive the crisis unscathed. crust. Most of the world's reserves of uranium are in At the present we have not developed another source the low grade sources such as shale and marine phos- of energy, but when the need becomes more urgent phates. There are 26,000,000 tons of recoverable re- and more men concentrate their inventive effort on serves of uranium. There is also 1 million tons of this problem, we will surely solve it. thorium, another nuclear fuel. These reserves are be- lieved to have energy equal to 25 times that of the Gordon Utter, the author of "Fossil Fuels: How net recoverable fossil fuels. Much of the reserves are Long and What Then," is a senior majoring in ge- in the United States and at present the United States, ology. He is from Monroe, Michigan. Gordon is a Canada, Belgian Congo, Portugal and Australia are member of Sigma Gamma Epsilon, the geology the biggest producers. The biggest producing area in honorary, and Gamma Delta. His hobbies are hunting the United States is the Colorado Plateau. and fishing. Based on our present knowledge nuclear fuels Next year Gordon plans on working for his would never be capable of supplying more than 20% Masters Degree in Geology here at Michigan State. of the world's energy requirements, but if our energy system can be modified entirely to nuclear energy the 26,000,000 tons of reserves would last us for 3 or 4 centuries. Despite the present limitations, nuclear energy seems at present to be our best potential source of power. Perhaps we may use in part a num- ber of the sources. Whatever the source may be, the world will have to begin using it by 1970 or 80 and by 2000 will have to depend on it almost entirely. We can now ask the question: Will the world sur- vive the crisis? It is doubtful whether or not this question can be answered positively. We know that the inventive genius of man has given us the modern APPETIZER Good starting salary, attrac- tive surroundings for work flavored with challenge and excitement. ENTREE Accomplishment and steady financial progress, garnished with generous measures of prestige and security. DESSERT Large serving of responsibility topped with even greater op- portunity to work creatively. Unfortunately, a good career can't be ordered a la carte (or any other way!). It happens only when the right man comes along to join the right com- pany at the right time. We've seen it happen often. And if the bright future of Sikorsky helicopters is any indication, we'll be in business long enough to see it happen again and again — perhaps to you! Address your resume to Mr. Richard L. Auten at our Bridgeport Personnel Dept. KNIGHTS OF ST. PATRICK Last spring during the intermission of the May versity campuses. It was organized last year on this Hop, fifteen outstanding junior and senior engineer- campus on a suggestion by Dean Ryder as a means ing students passed under an arch of slide rules to be of bestowing honor on those junior and senior engi- dubbed Knights of St. Patrick by the beautiful Queen neers who have made outstanding contributions in of Engineering. Thus another in a long history of Engineering and campus-wide activities. To be eligible traditions in the Engineering School and at M.S.U. these students must also perform satisfactorly in the began. classroom. These five seniors and ten juniors had been chosen Since the Knights is composed of members active on the basis of their extra-curricular activities, demon- strated leadership ability, character, and service to in all phases of campus activity, the function of the their school as the first official members of the Knights organization is primarily that of an honorary. They of St. Patrick at Michigan State. meet once or twice each term in Old College Hall for informal get-togethers and to discuss future plans. The Knights exists nationally as an engineering honorary and is active on several mid-western uni- (Continued from page 62) Four ohms and seven volts ago, our farads brought forth into this great capacitance a neutralization ded- However, spring term finds the Knights working hard on the Miss Engineer contest and the selection of icated to the power that all condensors are created new members. equal. Right now the Knights are busy interviewing coeds At this great inverse feedback when all oscillators representing the women's living units as candidates are consuming the power of electricity is when a cur- for Miss Engineer. Through a series of teas, the rent of great dissipation is achieved. Knights will select the five finalists on the basis of When the great electrons have the right to short beauty and personality. From these five charming out all circuits and blow fuses, etc. Here have gathered girls, one will be elected Miss Engineer by the votes of all engineering students. She will be crowned at the great powers of inductive and capacitive reactance the May Hop to reign over the Engineering Week who are fighting a very high signal strength to obtain festivities including the Exposition and Auto Races. resonance. Miss Engineer will also have a chance for more fame Whereby we dedicate this day to our electrons as our representative in the Miss M.S.U. contest who have been lost in the vast field of ionization. So next year. let us aim our inductance, minimize our impedance, Present active members of the Knights of St. increase our voltage in our effort to defeat this great Patrick are Roland Brown; Bob Fox, vice-president; amount of distortion. Let us generate our harmonics Mary Ann Hafke, secretary; Pete Kondo; Jim Leigh, to such a scale that our neutralization will forever be president; Dave Lee; Frank Paganini; Ike Shepard, of pure resistance. treasurer; Bill Stanke and Bob Warner. They have been ably assisted by their advisors, Dean Ryder and We therefore dedicate this day to the Elecrtical Professor Boyd Ringo. Engineers of Michigan State University. ENGINEERING EXPOSITION These coeds were voted on by all engineering students (Continued from page 19) and the one receiving the highest number of votes will be crowned Engineering Queen. The other lour 20 times. A rigorous safety inspection will be held coeds will serve as her court at the dance. prior to the race and all cars will feature roll bars, The stall ol the Spartan Engineer hopes that all and safety belts. those who attended the "1957 Engineering Imposi- Saturday night, May 11, is the big night of the tion" Found their visit here both enjoyable and edu "May Hop," an all-university semi-formal dance, spon- rational. Many members ol the School ol Engineer sored by the engineering council. The dance will be ing, both student and Faculty, put many long hours held in Kellogg Center from 9 to midnight. Tickets of hard work into making this year's exposition a suc- are available from the various engineering societies cess. The only measure ol their success or failure, and at the Union Concourse ticket window for $3.00 however, is the publics opinion ol the exposition, a couple. During the intermission, the Engineering Any comments that yon, the public, would like to Queen will be crowned "Miss Engineer for 1957." make would be greatly appreciated. Please send your The Engineering Queen will be picked from five comments to: finalists who are: Rosemary Meyer, Lansing; Clara The Spartan Engineer Christopher, Muskegon; Joan Loveless, Grosse Pte.; P. O. Box 468 Rhea Raymond, Livonia; and Pat Heiland, Chicago, 111. East Lansing, Michigan pery roads. All the projects will not necessarily have JETS new ideas, but most will make use of some engineer- (Continued from page 23) ing principle. project is assembled, and he is anxious to test it. He A loving-cup will be presented to the most out- tries it out. If he is lucky and has made all of his standing JETS club. It is given to the club which the calculations right, it will work like he predicted. If judges feel has contributed the most to furthering this is the case, he is eager to demonstrate it for his the interest of the youth in the engineering profes- friends, and to show them its good qualities. sion. Last year this award was given for the first time, and the Traverse City club was the winner of the Usually this is not the case. The young engineer, initial contest. Various industries and organizations like many of his seniors, may not have made the have provided gifts for club members and pilots. necessary allowances for work under certain condi- These will be given to them during the Exposition. tions. Maybe his device doesn't work smoothly enough All club members will receive a packet of some small or maybe it doesn't work at all. Again a searching articles of the engineering profession. process begins. Somewhere, sometime, someplace, he made one little mistake. With more checking and ex- At the Exposition the members will have the op- perimentation, he usually finds the "bug" he has been portunity to visit with members from other clubs. searching for. This may possibly be eliminated by They will go on tours of the engineering buildings increasing the voltage or by a little change in some and inspect various displays of the Exposition. They part of the device. The Exposition is now just around will be able to talk with representatives from the col- the corner. Can he get his project done for the judg- leges and also some industries. The Engineering ing? The young engineer is persistent and also lucky, Council, Tau Beta Pi, and JETS Alumni will act as because he usually gets it done just before the Ex- hosts and guides. These organizations will be in position. charge of setting up the JETS exhibit and other activ- ities for the clubs during the Exposition. Arrange- As far as his project is concerned, the JETS club ments have been made to house members in the short member has one thing left to do. Like many engi- course dormitory for the weekend. neers, he feels that making a device is only part of the job. The other part is to "sell" it to the consumer, Many of us probably feel that most engineering industry, or anyone who may have a use for it. At displays are strictly of interest to the engineer. This the Exposition the student will try to "sell" his project should not be the case with the JETS exhibit. There to the judges. If he has done a good job he may get will be an element of interest present for almost any- a cherished prize. The prize will be some tool of one. The engineer will have the opportunity to com- the engineering profession. These will be awarded pare young ideas with some of his own. The educator May 10th at the general meeting of the JETS clubs will be able to see how eager young minds can grasp in the afternoon. theories, and put them to practical everyday use. The The JETS expect about 150 projects for com- Philosopher will be able to find elements of how the young man of science feels about the future. Almost petition this year. Reports from the various clubs everybody should find an interest in the JETS exhibit. show that there are many new ideas. One member That interest may range from strictly science to just has made a magnetic T-square, which he feels should seeing how young men of tomorrow are working and help the draftsman do his work. Another member adjusting today to make that tomorrow a better one claims he has a new type of differential. This, coupled for everybody. under the right condition in one's automobile, should give maximum starting and stopping ability on slip- The JETS exhibit will be in Room 110 in Olds Hall. You can't miss it! You might find it quite inter- esting, and even if you don't, it isn't a bad way to waste time. 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- • Find the type of work he likes best signments on our engineering staff. • 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 course has been Allis-Chalmers, Graduate Training Section, Mil- a model for industry since 1904. You have access waukee 1, Wisconsin. KEY TO MODERN PROGRESS were working in metallurgy. In 1953 this figure dropped to 3.8? and in 1954 to 3.1& In 1955 it (Continued from page 17) was 2.3%. mass production of Zirconium, was reported in 1946. United States colleges graduated 657 metallurgists Previously Zirconium has been considered one of the in 1956 and careful projections indicate that fewer uncommon or rare metals even though it is more than 500 students will be graduated in the fields of abundant than nickel, copper, zinc, and lead. The metallurgy in 1957. high cost of extracting the metal from the ore, chiefly Zircon, which is plentiful in our Florida beach sand, has been the primary deterrent to its use. The era of nuclear reactors has commercialized the LAGRANGE'S EQUATIONS metal Zirconium because its excellent corrosion re- (Continued from page 27) sistance and low neutron capture cross section make it most useful in this field. certainly this sum is not sufficient for determining the originating system. In exact analogy, Lagrange's equa- In 1953 the production of Zirconium metal sponge tions are satisfied by sets of variables with certain totaled 75 tons for the year. In 1956 the rate was properties, but are not sufficient for determining the more than 300 tons per year and the estimated pro- original set of equations which establish the proper- duction for 1957 is in the order of 2,000 tons. Thus ties of these sets of variables. Zirconium, in the short space of 10 years, has changed from a laboratory curiosity to a vital material for the It is possible to show that the variables associated nuclear age. The largest application of Zirconium at with linear graph theory satisfy Lagrange's equa- the present time is in nuclear reactors where it is tions. However, the mathematical detail necessary to used for the permanent structure, to clad the radio- prove this statement precisely is not given here. active fuel, and to alloy with the fuel for altering its Rather, the conclusions reached by the authors at characteristics. The design of nuclear reactors utilizes MSU are indicated. four characteristics of Zirconium: corrosion resistance; low neutron capture cross section; workability into In the Lagrangian formulation, the energy func- desired shapes; and necessary strength under operat- tions are evaluated in terms of what is referred to ing conditions. in graph theory as the "element" variables. It can be shown that if the energy functions required for the Lesser applications of Zirconium include its use Lagrangian formulation can be evaluated, the linear for high-temperature alloys, and as a degasing agent graph can be drawn. and grain refiner for certain magnesium and alumi- num alloys. In the Lagrangian formulation the dynamic equa- tions are obtained by taking the partial derivatives Closely related to Zirconium in chemical properties of the energy function with respect to a set of co- is the metal Hafnium. In fact, most commerical grades ordinates or variables. Although, there may be many of Zirconium metal contain about 2% Hafnium. This sets of generalized coordinates with which to dif- occurs because Hafnium is found in the Zirconium ferentiate, no method is available for systematically ores. In contrast to Zirconium, Hafnium has a very establishing even one set. However, when the linear high neutron cross section. Thus reactor grades of graph is used as the basis of formulation, this informa- Zirconium metal are required to have a maximum of tion is systematically supplied. 0.02% Hafnium. Even when one supplies the information as to what The ability of Hafnium to absorb neutrons did not constitutes an independent set of generalized coordi- escape the attention of the metallurgist, however, and nates, the derivation of the final system of equations when the nuclear propulsion plant of the USS Nautilus using Lagrange's equations is far more formidable was designed the control rods were made of the little- known metal, Hafnium. Manufacture of these rods than by the use of properties of graphs. The former required extensive development of the metallurgy of involves integration with subsequent partial differ- this new metal. entiation, as well as matrices quadratic in form. The latter technique involves simple matrix substitution New metals and alloys promise to open up entire of variables. new technologies and to expand the frontiers of the old—providing the manpower shortage can be solved. The weakness of the Lagrangian formulation as compared with the use of graphs has been evidenced The United States today faces a desperate shortage in part by a continued effort in the profession to es- of trained metallurgists for its jet-engine, atomic- tablish electrical analogs of mechanical systems. Un- energy, and guided-missile research and production fortunately, the electrical analogue, as normally ap- programs. Dr. J. H. Hollomon, internationally known plied, requires that the equations of the mechanical metallurgist, recently stated that the demand for system be formulated first by other means. The real metallurgists with advanced degrees will be at least simplification comes when the physical systems are twice the available supply during the next few years. all viewed as a problem of correlating observations In the years since 1950 the professional manpower and the same basic properties of linear graphs used situation in metallurgy has deteriorated. Of the 520,000 irrespective of the type of meter to be associated with professional engineers in the nation in 1950, only 5% the through and across variables. 68 How to write a success story STANLEY NELSON, automotive engineer, is typ- intelligent analysis of a problem in his field ical of many young men we like to tell about may either improve our service to a valued in the Standard Oil organization. He keeps customer or help us to secure a new one. proving to be the right man in the right job as He likes to keep moving, too, and he's done he advances with us. that. He held several sales positions in Stan likes engineering, of course. He grad- Minnesota and attended Standard's intensive uated from the University of Minnesota with a Sales Engineering School in Chicago before B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1950. being promoted to his present position in which He likes people. He especially likes to get he works out of the Mason City, Iowa, divi- into business problems with them where he and sion office. his company can help. Truck maintenance, As men like Stanley Nelson earn their way lubrication, and fuel consumption are big items upward in our organization we have frequent to fleet operators, large and small, who have openings for ambitious college men to follow found that help from Stan pays off—for them. them. You might find a career in engineering, And he likes selling. He functions frequently research or sales with this stable and progres- as a key man for the sales department. His sive company rewarding, too. FERMI POWER PLANT reactor. Power, in the form of heat energy, is pro- duced in the reactor by means of neutrons which (Continued from page 25) cause fission of the U-235 nuclei. Additional neutrons neutrons used in the reactor are fast neutrons. The and large amounts of heat are released with each neutrons come out of a fission with speeds of about fission. The amount of heat produced is directly pro- ten thousand miles per second. In some types of re- portional to the rate of this fission. When no neutrons actors they are permitted to collide many times with are present in the reactor, no power will be produced. atomic nuclei, and in each such collision they lose Surrounding each fuel pin subassembly (there are some of their speed. Usually their speed is reduced 91 subassemblies, 144 fuel pins to a subassembly) is to about one mile per second. Then they are called the breeder "blanket." The blanket is made up of a thermal neutrons, and reactors in which this process non-fissionable isotope of uranium. This isotope, goes on are called thermal reactors (the reactor on the U.S.S. Nautilus is a thermal reactor). In a thermal U-238, will not undergo fission but will react with reactor most of the fissions are caused by thermal the neutrons to form plutonium. Plutonium is a fission- neutrons, and only a very few neutrons are able to able material. The actual mechanism of the reaction, cause fissions while they are fast. (Fissions are the starting with the fission of an atom of U-235 is shown processes whereby large nuclei are split into two in diagrammatic form below. The neutron strikes parts by a neutron collision. In this case the large the U-235 nucleus causing fission to occur. As a re- nuclei is that of the U-235 atom.) The substance used sult of this fission, two new substances called fission to slow the neutrons down from ten thousand to one products are formed. Along with the fission products mile per second is called the moderator. The best a quantity of heat is emitted and two-and-a-half moderators are materials which contain many nuclei neutrons are formed. These neutrons are now free of low atomic weight such as hydrogen or carbon. to cause more fissions or be absorbed by the breeder In a reactor, materials like water and graphite are blanket. Let us assume that only one neutron collides used as moderators. with another U-235 nucleus. That leaves the other 1.5 neutrons free to be absorbed by the U-238 sur- In a fast reactor the use of a moderator is avoided rounding the core. When the U-238 absorbs a neutron as far as possible. Then the neutrons remain fast it is transformed into an atom of plutonium. So in one and will make fissions while their speed is still several fission, one atom of U-235 has produced 1.5 atoms of thousand miles per second rather than one mile per fissionable plutonium. In the future when plutonium second. In order to accomplish this all materials con- can be used as a fuel for a fast reactor, the probable taining hydrogen are kept away from the reactor ratio of fuel consumption to fuel production will be core. about 1 to 1.5. Such a breeder would then be like Suppose we examine the reactor core of the Enrico a coal furnace which makes more coal than it uses up. Fermi Atomic Power Plant. The original fuel for the breeder reactor is the fissionable isotope of uranium In the example below, the one neutron that struck that was mentioned previously—U-235. The fuel ma- another U-235 nucleus will in turn cause another fis- terial is contained in cylindrical pins thirty inches sion and another 2.5 neutrons to be emitted. If on the long, assembled to form the reactor core. A total of average, one of the neutrons emitted in each fission 450 kilo-grams will make up the fuel charge of the (Continued on page 72) Rick Bruhn specializes in preventive "medicine." professions represented on the world-wide rosier Rick is the Mobil marine engineer in Hong of Mobil personnel. We also employ nuclear Kong. His counterparts work in every major physicists, geologists, mathematicians, chemisti Free World port—more than 400. and engineers of every type, marketing analysts, As you trust the skill, training and experience marketers . . . people prepared to handle more of your doctor, so do the men who know marine than 100 different positions. machinery trust the Rick Bruhns to diagnose If you qualify, the Mobil companies offer you their ships' needs and prescribe the right fuels an opportunity to build a career through train- and lubricants. ing that will utilize your talents to the fullest... Mobil know-how created the first and most constantly challenge your ingenuity . . . reward comprehensive service of this kind. It helps as- you with a lifetime of richly satisfying work. sure that goods you send or receive move without * * * delay—that as a passenger you arrive and depart For more information about your opportunity on schedule—that every voyage is a Bon Voyage. with the world's most experienced oil company, Marine engineering is only one of many see your College Placement Officer. used to control the reactor. These rods contain the FERMI POWER PLANT nuclear poison boron carbide. Insertion of the rods (Continued from page 70) into the reactor core will cut down the number of causes another fission, then a chain reaction will be free neutrons in the core. With this decrease in the the result. If more than one neutron from each fission number of neutrons, a comparable decrease in the strikes another atom of the fuel, then the total num- number of fissions will follow. This in turn will tend ber of neutrons in the reactor will increase. Conse- to decrease the number of neutrons, since additional quently more heat energy will be produced until the neutrons are emitted as a result of fission. When the temperature reaches a point where everything melts. rods are removed, the process will gain in momentum Then the reaction will stop. An incident of this type again until it reaches a desired level. The control can happen within a matter of seconds and the re- rods work just like a combination brake and acceler- actor is no longer operable. Obviously, some method ator in an automobile. Just as a car can be accelerated lor controlling the rate of production of neutrons must be devised if the reactor is to operate properly. and decelerated at will, so the power of a reactor can be increased or decreased by the control rods. Actually there are three methods available for controlling the reaction in a nuclear reactor. The first That explains how the neutrons are taken care of, of these is to vary the amount of fuel in the reactor. now let's consider the heat produced by the fission This can be accomplished by installing movable fuel of U-235. This heat must be removed from the reactor rods that can be removed or inserted as the situation compartment before it can be put to any use in the demands. The second method is to have movable production of electrical power. Remembering that rods installed that are made of a substance which in order to keep the neutrons fast, all substances con- absorbs neutrons easily. (Rods of this type are called taining hydrogen must be kept out of the reactor core, poison rods.) Finally, part of the neutron reflector let's consider what liquids can be used to absorb the (around the core assemblies) may be made movable. heat and transfer it somewhere else. Water is immedi- This would tend to control the amount of neutrons ately ruled out because of its hydrogen content. The "leaking" from the reactor. type of liquid needed is one that is not corrosive at high temperatures; one that will not develop ex- The PRDC reactor is utilizing the poison rods for tremely high pressures under high temperatures, and control purposes. A total of ten control rods will be one that is free of hydrogen or carbon. Extensive research was carried out at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Schenectady, N.Y., and it was decided that liquid sodium would fill the bill. So liquid sodium is pumped through the reactor core and the heat is absorbed. The sodium is heated to 800 degrees F through contact with the hot sur- faces of the closely spaced fuel and blanket elements. The sodium is then pumped to an intermediate heat exchanger, where the heat is transferred to a second liquid sodium system. The secondary liquid sodium system then carries the heat into a boiler where steam is produced. The boiler is so designed that water is flowing in one end and superheated steam is flowing out the other end. The steam is then passed thru a conventional turbine to produce electricity. The sec- ond liquid sodium system is provided for safety rea- sons to prevent radioactive sodium from coming into contact with water in the event of a boiler tube failure. When the starting switch is thrown, putting the Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant into operation, a new giant will be born. It will not be big as far as power plants are concerned, producing only 100,000 kilowatts of power, but it will be a giant in the field of nuclear power development. It is one of the first big steps towards restoring to the United States the leadership in this important section of the atomic power program. Remember, the breeder reactor is an essential part of any large scale program for the development of economical nuclear power. Spartan Engineer DECIDE NOW to build your future with F T L Hundreds of engineers in recent months have made the decision to go forward with Federal Telecommunication Labo- ratories. They liked FTL's long-range pro- gram of challenging assignments . . . its modern, expanding facilities and "small- company" project system. They liked FTL's unlimited oppor- tunities for solid achievement and re- warding professional recognition . . . its unique location, congenial fellow-work- ers and dynamic leaders. You'll like FTL, too! Why not decide now to join our growing team? 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, Cal., 15191 Bledsoe Si. — openings in Digital Computers, Inertial Navigation Systems and Infra Red Systems. Palo Alto, Cal., 809 San Antonio Road — openings in Carrier Systems. Another use for silicones is for coating glass con- SILICONES tainers such as bottles and jars. When the surface of (Continued from page 21) these containers is treated with liquid silicones they do not break as easily. The silicone reacts with the "Lustergrip," a new process for coating paper bags glass surface and forms a very hard coating. Con- has been developed to prevent skidding and slipping tainers treated with the silicones do not scratch as of the bags when piled on top of each other. This easily as regular containers that have been coated. antiskid coating gives paper bags made out of smooth This coating also increases the mechanical handling kraft paper, such as those used for suger, approxi- mately the same degree of slip-resistance as rough by increasing the ability of the container to slide kraft paper printed with so-called noskid inks. Smooth more easily. kraft paper stays cleaner and prints better than rough Silicones are a specialty product. As with most kraft. This insures a more attractive package. Du- specialty products the price is not the important pont, "Ludox," the same substance that adds the factor. What is important is that silicones can do some antiskid property to your safety floor wax, is the jobs much better then conventional products. In source of friction. Have you ever run your hand the long run it is often more economical to use the over sandpaper? That is how "Ludox," works. Sub- more expensive silicone products than the cheaper microscopic particles, so small that they don't mar the standard materials. Silicones often last longer and do apparent smoothness of the kraft paper, acts like ultra- the job more efficiently. These factors usually mean fine sandpaper. This increases the surface friction savings in time and money. and stops skiding. Silicones cost from three to four dollars a pound, Mixed with a filler, "Ludox," is applied to the about one half of the cost ten years ago. Even with front and back of the finished multiwall bags. This this big reduction in price many industries try to coating prevents the ink from smearing when the bags engineer their products so that the use of expensive rub together, as well as providing a nonskid surface. This product can be of great value to industries. silicones will not be necessary. Silicones are not used unless they are shown to be far superior or as eco- Slippery bags are a safety hazard. When a bag nomical in the long run as conventional materials. slips and breaks, it also represents a lose of money Two industries that have found that silicones do the and time. job better are the asbestos siding industry and the Another very important use of silicones is for auto tire branch of the rubber industry. The siding special lubricants that must be used at extreme tem- industry uses them to waterproof the siding. The peratures. It is also useful for surfaces, such as rubber rubber industry uses them for mold release agent in or plastics, that are adversely affected by conventional their auto tire branch. Both of these industries have oils or greases. High temperature oven conveyors and completely converted to silicones use. They have found chutes or molds of glass forming machines are ex- silicones so superior that they have eliminated the amples of where this special lubrication is needed. former methods that used conventional material. Silicone lubricants have been found to be much more superior than conventional lubricants. The silicone industry must make its own market. Except for special uses they can't compete econom- One special grease is called red or strawberry ically with conventional materials even if the price grease because of its distinctive color. This grease of silicones were reduced to half of what they now contains a substance called estersil. It is a white cost. The silicone industry is meeting this problem fluffy material consisting of fine silica particles. More by first looking for places to apply the use of silicones than ten billion of these tiny particles are needed and then they try to make a silicone that will do the to cover the head of a pin. These particles are joined job. They also provide a technical service to industries together in a sponge like structure which is capable to help them solve some of their problems by using of holding great quantities of oil. Greases made with silicone. estersil are resistant to water as each of these may be thought of as wearing a chemical raincoat. The silica repels the water. In tests that were made estersil grease functioned exceptionally well when water was present. Conventional greases that had soaps as thick- eners did not lubricate the parts properly. One of the big advantages of estersil grease is that it is extremely stable at high temperatures. Ordinary greases, with soap thickeners, become quite thin at temperatures that do not even begin to effect estersil greases. Be- cause this grease is special, they decided to make it look different than other greases. The red or straw- berry color from which the grease gets its nickname is just a red dye that has been added to give it a distinct identity. 74 F o r F o r t y Years our name has been Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation . . . more generally called "Union Carbide." Now our company name will be Union Carbide Corporation. The change is in name only. The people of Union Carbide will continue to pioneer in developing and producing carbons and gases, chemicals, plastics, alloys and nuclear energy. your first move CAN DECIDE THE GAME your first job CAN DECIDE YOUR FUTURE 1,000 styles —750 stores —yet photography gives headquarters inventory figures overnight Thom McAn ends ten-day hand-copying jobs with Kodak's Verifax Copier—now gets complicated sales, size and style data off in a day. B EFORE, when Thom McAn's mer- chandise manager or stylist needed word on sales or style trends on vital stock allotment statistics. This is because the facts, kept on files of removable panels and cards, in certain stores, it took as much as can be slipped into a Kodak Verifax ten days to hand-copy the records. Copier and copied, photographically But today, when headquarters lo- accurate, in a minute. cated in New York requests informa- Photocopying is just one of hun- tion on any shoe style or store, the dreds of ways photography works to- New England merchandising center day for all kinds of businesses, large Tliom McAn calls the Verifax Copier and small. It helps with product de- "the kingpin of the allotment control sys- gets the latest facts and figures away tem." It copies a store's style allotment in that night's mail. And styling, buy- sign, takes kinks out of production, records and width breakdowns and in ing and distributing functions get increases sales, improves customer less than 60 seconds has a dry print ready 24-hour—instead of ten-day—service and personnel relations. for the mails. Engineering opportunities in 150 U.S. cities The geographic location in which you in over 200,000 product lines has been with one of the nation's most diversified will work and live is one important con- highlighted by this wide dispersal of enterprises. sideration as you plan your future career. Company facilities. Boundless opportuni- For more information about General There are many reasons why technical ties in engineering, manufacturing, and Electric's programs for technical grad- graduates join General Electric Company. marketing are open to outstanding engi- uates, consult your Placement Director One of these is the opportunity to work neering and science graduates in a variety or write to Mr. Gregory Ellis, General in engineering, marketing, and manufac- of professional interests. You can find the Electric Company, Section 959-2, Sche- turing in any of 150 American cities in satisfaction of a highly rewarding career 45 states. nectady, N. Y. Thus, an engineer can satisfy his geographical preferences in planning both his professional career and selecting his future home. General Electric's continuing expansion