In choosing your career... consider United States Steel ...the leader in the one industry that's truly basic! IandTthehas been said: "United States Steel is industrial family that serves the nation the world." For in our homes and fac- For complete information on the oppor- tunities available at United States Steel for young men of ambition and foresight, send tories . . . in communications . . . in transpor- for a copy of our free book—Paths of Oppor- tation—steel is basic. tunity. Doing so may very well be the begin- This means that in the complex and rami- ning of a successful and rewarding career for fied organization which constitutes United you at United States Steel. States Steel, unlimited opportunities are pre- sented to the college graduate—whether his preference is engineering, administrative work, or any of a score or more of other activities in this highly diversified industry. In the final analysis, United States Steel is men . . . men of high caliber, exceptional ability, broad vision and complete dedication. Traditionally, United States Steel looks to its young men of today to become its leaders of tomorrow. Because engineering isaprofession at GM -we offer you a career- not a job One REASON engineering standards at General Motors are community's affairs—because a truly professional man is a so high is that General Motors recognizes engineering good citizen as well as a good engineer. as a profession. And the men who engineer the many dif- All this is for a reason—and a good one. ferent products made by GM are respected for the profes- Many of the men who will fill the key positions at GM in sion they practice. the future are the young engineers joining GM today. This That is why, when you are invited to join GM as an engi- is not theory, it is fact. For 14 of our 33 Vice-Presidents neer, you don't simply take a job—you start a career. are engineers, 23 of our 42 Division General Managers are It is a career that is rewarding both professionally and engineers, too. financially —starting on your first day of association with Today we are looking for young engineers —such as you — GM at any one of its 35 divisions and 126 plants in 70 who may fill these positions tomorrow. The rewards—both cities and 19 states. professional and financial —are substantial. If you feel you During your early days at GM, for example, you work have the ability, write us. It could be the most important with a senior engineer who guides your career along pro- letter of your life. fessional lines. you are also actively encouraged to pursue your education towards an advanced degree. For we at General Motors recognize that, in doing so, you will become more valuable to us a n d the engineering profession. You are given the opportunity to obtain professional recog- nition through participation in engineering society forums, Presentation of technical papers, winning of patents and other recognition of your accomplishments. you are also encouraged to take an active role in your ...on the engineer and national security "With our national security at stake, engineers have ational factors must be considered. Today their influence responsibilities greater than in any preceding age. They on national policy decisions must be understood if we face two vital questions: What military posture will are to build and deploy a military capability that can ensure greatest security? What means —what weapon deter war. In choosing weapon systems it is no longer systems — will provide the desired military posture? enough to maximize speed, power, altitude, and payload. These questions cannot be answered in purely technical As more and more powerful weapons become attainable terms; in addition to those factors with which engineers it is imperative that their use be increasingly determined are at home, social, political, strategic, tactical, and oper- by the real needs of our civilization." — E. /. Barlow. Head of the Engineering Division Tests on Asphaltic Materials The suitability of an Asphaltic material for VISCOSITY TEST (Fig. 2) highway or other use depends upon charac- indicates the fluidity of liquid Asphalts. Vis- teristics which can be determined by a series cosity measures the consistency of these of tests. Four of the principal tests are: products just astl'.e penetration test measures the consistency of semi-solid products. Those PENETRATION TEST (Fig. 1) liquids flowing too slowly for accurate meas- indicates the consistency or hardness of urements by the viscosimeter at 77 °F are Asphalt cements (which are semi-solids) tested at higher temperatures—usually at used in hot-mix Asphalt pavements. The 122°F, 140°F, or 180°F. softer the product, the greater its number of FLASH POINT (Fig. 3) Penetration units. On the basis of consistency indicates the temperature at which vapor .... d e n o t e d b y penetration ranges . . . ignition may occur when heating and manip- Asphalt cements are classified into grades, ulating Asphaltic materials. Those paving grades now recommended by DISTILLATION TEST (Fig.4) TheAsphalt Institute are: indicates the amount of Asphaltic residue to expect in liquid Asphalts after lighter PENETRATION GRADES constituents volatilize under manipulation 60- 70 85-100 120-150 200-300 and use. It indicates, too, the relative rapidity (a 40-50 penetration grade is recommended at which these lighter constituents "cure" out forsepcialand industrial uses.) of the Asphalt. nescent panels on the ceiling and three walls. These panels were one- foot-square flat glass plates about as thick as a window pane and coated with a plastic containing the phos- phor. They were topped off by an aluminum conducting coating. Hooked up to a source of power, these plates had a brightness of 100 foot lamberts in their present stage of development. Since some phosphors have more than one emission band, the color and brightness of electroluminescent lighting can be changed by varying the frequency. It is possible to con- trol the color of a room, and bright- ness too, simply by twisting a knob. Besides supplying ordinary light, this new light source has other fas- cinating possibilities. Just one is "picture framing" television. An electroluminescent cell might replace the conventional cathode-ray tube in such a set. Westinghouse engineers, under the supervision of E. G. F . Arnott (Princeton '28), developed electro- The Light With no Third Dimension luminescent lighting under the name A new source of light is nearing and become a practical light source of "Rayescent" lighting. Westing- practicality. Called electrolumines- of the future. house approached the problem, not cence, it comes from a flat surface. In an incandescent lamp, light as a commercial venture, but as a By the twist of a knob, you can comes from a single point. In a pure research project. Much work change the brightness, or even the fluorescent lamp (form of gas- remains to be done in this field. It is color, of a room. discharge), light comes from a typical of the pioneering develop- Since electric lighting first became straight line. In electroluminescence, ments undertaken by Westinghouse. practical, only three basically dif- light comes from an area or flat sur- Challenging opportunities for the ferent light sources have achieved face. Electroluminescence is light graduate engineer exist in many fields widespread use—incandescent, fluo- emission from phosphor powders em- . . . including: rescent, and gas-discharge lamps. bedded in an insulator, excited by an a-c field. ATOMIC POWEE RADAR Now a fourth basic type—electro- AUTOMATION SEMICONDUCTORS luminescence—is nearing practical- Westinghouse engineers gave the JET-AGE METALS ELECTRONICS ity. With fewer theoretical limita- first practical demonstration of this LARGE POWER CHEMISTRY tions than any of its predecessors, new light source. They lighted an EQUIPMENT it promises to revolutionize lighting entire room with flat electrolumi- . . . and dozens of others. OPPORTUNITIES AT DU PONT CONTINUE TO GROW FOR ALL KINDS OF ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS Career opportunities at Du Pont are search and development as well as in greater today than ever before be- plant engineering and production cause of the Company's continued supervision. growth. In 1957, Du Pont's sales were at the $2 billion level. Four new Metallurgical engineers conduct plants were being built. New research studies in metal fatigue and corrosion programs were being launched, and and engage in fundamental research new products were moving into the into the nature and properties of production and marketing stages. All elements. of these developments tend to broaden opportunities at Du Pont for the Civil engineers have many assign- young scientist and engineer. ments, including design and super- vision of the construction of Du Pont plants and laboratories. ALL KINDS OF ENGINEERS Students with chemical engineering Men studying for degrees in electri- and chemistry degrees are needed, of cal, mining, petroleum, industrial and course. But the opportunities are many other specialized fields of engi- equally great for students majoring neering will find equally challenging in many other fields. And the type of outlets for their talents at Du Pont. work for these men varies greatly. If you're interested in finding full Among other things: scope for your ability, Du Pont offers Mechanical engineers work in re- you plenty of opportunity. Each of Du Pont's operating depart- performance is evaluated at regular ments has its own training program intervals by your supervisor. These because each has special require- discussions bring out your strong and ments. But both formal and informal weak points and together you work programs are tailored to the interests out a program for improvement. This and needs of the individual. training and evaluation continues year after year as you advance in Generally, you go to work on an the Company. assignment at once and start learning right away. This headstart on respon- sibility is an important factor in your SEND FOR INFORMATION BOOKLET progress. Based on your qualifica- Booklets on jobs at Du Pont are tions, you're given one segment of a yours for the asking. Subjects project to tackle almost immediately. include: mechanical, civil, metal- You learn quickly and informally in lurgical, chemical, electrical, in- consultation with your supervisor and strumentation and industrial other engineers on the same project. engineers at Du Pont; atomic This training is supplemented by fre- energy, technical sales, research quent meetings, seminars, studies of and development. Name the sub- plant operations and procedures. ject that interests you in a letter And since Du Pont is interested in to DuPont, 2494-B Nemours the progress of the individual, your Building. Wilmington 98, Del. VOLUME 11 NO. 1 NOVEMBER, 1957 FEATURES 18 Mistic by Helen Buechl 20 The Steel Industry's New Lease On Life by James A. McConaghy 24 What Next? by Judy Simons 26 The Development Of Fine Particle Magnets by William R. Mitchell 31 Are You Eating Yourself To Death? . .by Karen Paulson 60 A New Challenge . . . Solar Energy by Frank Schreihans 72 Crystal Filters edited by Norm Dill 74 Stovepipes That Fly by John F. Artman 80 What Nuclear Energy Means To Plastics by Thomas E. Dergazarian DEPARTMENTS 32 New Developments 46 Clubs & Societies 86 Index To Advertisers 88 Sidetracked INDIANAPOLIS, IND.: (Special) Hundreds of engineers and technicians, applying their academic training first hand, have designed, developed and produced the Allison Model 501 Prop-jet engine and Aeroproducts Turbo-propeller (above) shown in a test cell at the mammoth Allison plants in Indianapolis. These General Motors experts have produced an engine which develops nearly 2.3-horsepower per pound of engine weight. Already in use with Air Force Troop Carrier Wings in the U. S. and abroad, Allison Prop-jet engines and Aeroproducts Turbo-propellers will power America's first Prop-jet commercial airliner, the ultra-modern Lockheed Electra. Working shoulder to shoulder with propulsion system experts, newly graduated engineers are assuring their futures by carving a niche for themselves on the General Motors team of today. If you would like to know more about this team, write Personnel Department, College Relations, Allison Division of General Motors Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana. graduate study opportunity... an important "plus" benefit at Los Alamos! When a scientist or engineer comes to Los Alamos to work, it is important to him, and to us, that his fund of knowledge continues to grow. For that reason, the Graduate Center at Los Alamos is one of this interesting community's most valuable assets. The Center, operated by the University of New Mexico, offers graduate programs in the fields of nuclear, mechanical and electrical engineering, chemistry, physics and mathematics. Additional facts of interest... • Instruction is by recognized leaders in their scientific fields from the laboratory staff and from the University of New Mexico • Classes are held in the evening, a few minutes from your Los Alamos residence • One-half of your tuition is paid by the Laboratory • Unique laboratory facilities and equipment are available • Los Alamos technical library, among the nation's most complete, is open 24 hours each day for study and research. College graduates in the physical sciences and engineering who are interested in accepting important research assignments and at the same time continuing their advanced education are invited to write for more information. Details about the Laboratory, the Graduate Center and the delightful family living conditions in northern New Mexico will be sent by return mail. ARE YOU THE "IMPOSSIBLE" TYPE? If your answer is yes, you're a Detroit Edison engineering type. The kind who'll tackle an impossible problem—and lick it. You're not afraid to have a new idea. You're the kind of young engineer who works hard at finding faster, more efficient, more economical ways. In short, you're the inquisitive, exploration-minded sort of engineer Detroit Edison is looking for. At Edison, your assignments will be liberally sprinkled with exciting challenges to your training and ability. And creative engineering is called for even on ordinary jobs. You'll enjoy a big helping of prestige when you're associated with Detroit Edison, too. It's one of the Midwest's best-known, best-liked, most progressive public utility companies, noted for its pioneering accomplishments and leader- ship in America's business enterprise system. For some outside evidence of Edison's reputation, take a look at the March 25, 1957 issue of Electrical World. It contains eight pages, by some of America's leading electrical equipment manufacturers, devoted to recent engineering accomplishments in Detroit. They emphasize the important contributions Detroit Edison engineers make and will continue to make to equipment and systems engineering and design. Think we're stretching our story a bit? Here's your chance to find out. Drop us a note and we'll send you a copy of "Detroit Edison Engineering"—it tells about the challenges and opportunities waiting for you. Write to the Employment Department, Detroit Edison, Detroit 26, Michigan. Or check with our repre- sentative when he visits your campus. This 3-D model of an ore body shows where future supplies of into Nickel will be mined How do Inco engineers keep a mine how large it is, and of what grade. ever before — although some of this "alive"? For one thing, they try to They know, as well, how to get that ore lies a mile or deeper under- learn as much as possible about the ore out of the ground in the safest, ground. And the Company also reports location of ore for the future. most sensible, most economical way another fact: its multi-million dollar New levels—new exploring possible—know what shafts may have "mine-more" program makes possible to be sunk, what tunnels and drifts to today's high output of Inco Nickel. As soon as they open up new levels, drive. Know, in a word, how to reach the engineers start up exploratory And looking to the future-in 1961, and mine every possible ton of usable Inco Canada's Nickel output should drilling, to probe and "feel" in many ore. And, having mined it, how to directions. extract every possible pound of use- be 385 million pounds a year. A hun- Their hollow-shafted drills bring ful metal. dred million more than in 1956! out specimen cores that show where "Mining for Nickel," color film, is loaned there is worthwhile ore and where Reserves—at new highs to technical societies, universities, in- only worthless rock. dustry. The International Nickel Com- Today Inco has larger reserves than pany, Inc., Dept. 143f, New York 5, N. Y Hundreds and hundreds of ore samples These ore samples enable Interna- tional Nickel engineers to build small models of their mines' ore bodies. So they know where each ore body lies, One of the many hurdles that can slow down your progress as an engineer is getting lost in the crowd. It can happen in smaller companies as well as in big ones. That's because size itself is not the villain. The thing to watch out for is the kind of company organization that swallows you up and erases your individual identity. Boeing is one company that takes steps to see that engineers don't get lost in the shuffle. Boeing engineers, for instance, work in small integrated teams where initiative and ability get plenty of visibility. Each engineer gets a personal merit review every six months— assuring you a continuing opportunity for individual recognition. In addition, Boeing engineers are eligible for advancement at any time between reviews. There are many other advantages to careers at Boeing—including assignment to exciting missile and jet-age projects, high starting salaries, liberal retirement and company-paid graduate study programs. There are family advantages, too. One is a choice of three sections of the country in which to live. In each Boeing community you'll find good housing and schools, a youthful spirit, and abundant recreational facilities for the whole family. Boeing has openings for engineers, and for physicists and mathematicians—openings with a world of opportunity for advancement. Perhaps you have heard some classmate say, almost complacently, "Times have changed." With many branches of industry today openly competing for good science and engineering graduates, who can blame the young graduate-to-be for feeling supremely confident. You know you can get a job, know that salaries are high and are fully aware that men with technical backgrounds are moving up to administrative positions in ever-increasing numbers. Nevertheless, in many respects, times have not changed at all. That "first job" is every bit as important today as it was five, ten, twenty years ago. Starting salaries remain only one of many factors to be considered. And a man's future is still necessarily linked to the future of the company for which he works. Moreover, a thoughtful examination of such matters as potential growth, challenge, advancement policy, facilities, degree of self-direction, permanence, benefits and the like often indicates that real opportunity still does not grow on trees. For factual and detailed information about careers with the world's pioneer helicopter manufacturer, write Mr. Richard L. Auten, Personnel Department. There's fission and then there's fishin'... just five minutes apart for 3M'er Jim Johnson From the lab to the lake in only five finest. In this young, fast-growing minutes—that's 3M-land! It's a company there's always been plenty place where young men like Jim of opportunity for young men to get Johnson, with a talent for both ahead, and for new ideas to get a engineering and happiness, find life hearing. Witness such original prod- good . . . to them and their families. ucts as "SCOTCH" Brand Cellophane Tape, and the "SCOTCHLITE" reflec- There's some kind of outdoor fun tive signs that guide you safely on going on year 'round—golf, fishing, highways day and night. More than swimming, boating, hunting, skiing, 22% of the products 3M sells were skating. And never more than five developed in the last five years. miles from job or home. And as for compensation, 3M engi- There's work, too—vital, exciting, neers and executives are substan- creative work geared to the future. tially above the average in take- For 3M is a research-minded com- home pay, home ownership, car pany. Its scientific plant, including ownership, and stock ownership! the new multi-million dollar Central So, if you're interested write 3M, Research Laboratory, is one of the St. Paul 6, Minnesota. Frank Kovalcik, Purdue '48, Covered 24,000 Miles in 1956 as Western Editor of ELECTRICAL WORLD F YOU'RE LIKE MOST PEOPLE, you think of an "When I got my B.S. in E.E. I started with I editor as a man who's "chair-borne" most of the time . . . tied to a desk at an indoor job. Nothing could be further from the facts when it's ELECTRICAL WORLD in New York. Within a year I was promoted to Assistant Editor and made re- sponsible for a department of the magazine. Before the big jump to San Francisco as Western Editor in a McGraw-Hill editor you're thinking about. Frank Kovalcik, Western Editor of McGraw-Hill's '54 I served briefly as assistant to the managing ELECTRICAL WORLD Magazine, can quickly tell editor. you that. He's anything but a desk man . . . covers "As Western Editor my search for news takes me 11 states and part of Canada. Frank says: into all important phases of the electric utility indus- "In 1956, I made eight major field trips, covered try—and into association with top management an( close to 24,000 miles. I was underground in a trans- engineering men. Working with them is a constant former vault in Los Angeles, inside a diversion tun- reminder that the choice of an engineering-editoria nel in Idaho, atop a steel transmission tower in career was the right one for me." northern California. Projects visited included The Dalles multi-purpose project, Hoover Dam, Hells YOU—and McGraw-Hill Magazines Canyon, and even behind the scenes (electrically) at You, too, may find the right opportunity for your the Republican National Convention. But none of self with McGraw-Hill—the world's largest pub them can touch the "Operation CUE" A-Bomb test lisher of business and technical magazines. If you 1 covered a year ago! are the kind of man we're looking for—both an engi "My chance to witness the detonation of a nuclear neer and an alert, inquisitive, knowledgeable man device came when the Federal Civil Defense Admin- who likes to report, appraise and write, we want to istration and the A.E.C. decided to test non-military talk with you. effects of the blast. I reported on what happened to Send today for your copy of "Successful Careers electrical utility lines and equipment." in Publishing at McGraw-Hill" for information (Frank wouldn't say so, but his story set a record... about career opportunities. Or write to us about from explosion to editorial pages in four days! The yourself. We're interested in your background, extra pictures at right were part of his original coverage of curricular activities, college record, summer jobs an< this fast-breaking—"hot"—news story for his maga- career goals. Write to: zine.) McGraw-Hill As A Place to Work Frank can tell you about this, too: "My first editorial job—with the Purdue Expo- nent in college—didn't use my engineering training, but it showed me the way to communicate what's new in engineering . . . to report and interpret the work of engineers for the benefit of other engineers. Frank Kovalcik (right) and Karl M. Bausch, Chief Elec- trical Engineer of Bechtel Co. and official observer at "Oper- ation CUE" for the Edison Electrical Institute. Smaller illustrations taken by Frank show typical blast damage caused by a test detonation of a nuclear device to electric utility lines and other facilities. Within the hallowed halls of M.S.U. lies the an- Eventually, the machine will store up its own swer to a schoolboy's dreams . . . no, it isn't the library library of these tapes and exchange them with other with its storehouse of knowledge, nor is it the labora- computers in various parts of the country. tory of the psychology department where live-rat In less than one thousandth of a second it can experiments are carried on daily. multiply twelve digit numbers or add two numbers It is a mechanical "brain" or computer, as they call ten thousand times per second. it in the Electrical Engineering building where it is It will be used to solve differential and liniar being built. The gigantic machine has been under equations and problems in economics, statistics, chem- construction since September, 1956, and is now near- ing completion, according to Dr. L. W. Von Tersch istry and agriculture. Most aircraft factories own or who, aided by technicians and graduate assistants, lease computers to save long and tedious calculations is building the mathematical genius from thousands in research. oi miles ol wires and hundreds of electronic tubes The number system of the machine consists of and transistors. two numbers only, 1 and 0. 0-0 "MISTIC," as it is called, stands for Michigan 1-1 State Integral Computer. Because it is being built on campus, it will cost about $150,000. If purchased 2-10 from a commercial supplier, it would cost approxi- 3-11 mately $750,000. 4-100 5-101 "Once a problem is translated into the machine 6-110 in terms it can work with, a multitude of problems 7-111 can be solved by the computer," says Von Tersch. 8-1000 9-1001 To solve 40 simultaneous equations which would take weeks to solve by other means, the computer In many digital computing machines it was found would need only 193 seconds; 4 to introduce the that the normal scale of 10 did not work as well for problem, 181 to solve it, and 8 to produce the answer. engineering practices, so tbis binary scale was intro- Even coded musical symbols can be fed into the duced. machine which will respond with a variety of answers, The complete cycle of one problem through the depending upon the conditions under which the machine begins with the introduction of the informa- machine is set to respond. tion into the computer by means of two tapes. One Information is introduced to the machine by means tape will contain the information to be used, the of a perforated tape. Answers appear on printed paper other will contain the directions. For example, the or perforated tape, resembling the old piano roll in directions might say multiply the first number by the miniature. The tape is then run through a printer second, then add to the third, etc. which decodes the answer. Then the problem, or program, as it is called, 18 Spartan Engineer moves into the control section which tells the rest Because a knowledge of coding operations is neces- of the computer what to do by means of electrical sary to make use of the machine, a course in com- impulses. The significance of this step lies in the fact puter coding at M.S.U. is being offered during fall that the contents of the memory system of the machine term with 60 faculty members and advanced students. enters here, directs, and then returns to its respective electronic tube. The computer has been compared to Instructor is Dr. G. P. Weeg, ass't. professor of a very simple human mind. mathematics and former mathematician in design and guidance at the Sperry Rand Corporation which de- The major feature this machine has over the veloped "UNIVAC" and "UNIVAC Scientific." standard commercial adding machine is the fact that Thirty people are needed to operate the machine. it can come to its own decision and get the job done Since there are approximately 2,000 machines in ex- with fewer instructions, i.e., add one thousand num- istance today, 60,000 persons are needed. bers without one thousand instructions. Industries which have bought these machines offer The programing is still difficult and research is an intensive 80 hour two-week instruction program being carried on to establish some kind of instructions and it is hoped that employees without technical more closely resembling human language so problems training or even college degrees, will be able to learn can be more easily set up. Problems take days and to program and operate the machines. sometimes months to write up correctly. If a program is red into the machine and contains an error, the The first calculating machine was invented by computer stops because it gets confused and mixed Pascal in 1642 to aid collection of French taxes. The U P- The essential functions of the machine include machine was capable of addition and subtraction. addition, subtraction and shifting; and variations of Interest in a computer flourished in 1850, when one these three functions produce the answers. was perfected by Babbage who soon lost heart be- cause there was no mechanical power as we know it Service laboratories around the country will rent today, but 1937 saw the revival of interest in com- ne machine on an hourly rate basis and also pay an puters. nourly fee for the problem change into code. During the war, the Defense Department took A similar machine, called Illiac, was built at the a keen interest in the machines and the government university of Illinois in 1953, and provides most of granted research funds to experiment with the ma- the tapes used experimentally on Mistic now. Other chines. After they were perfected in 1949, the govern- machines are now in operation in Argonne National ment became the leading purchaser, a position it has Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los kept to date. Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Rand Corporation of An interesting example of a computing machine Santa Monica, and the University of Sydney, Australia. application which, at first sight, seems non-numerical The State College at Ames, Iowa, is constructing one whichwillbe completed soon. (Continued on Page 56) The Steel Industry's New Lease on Life In L9S1 the United States was forced to import rect shipping, or high grade ores, of the Vermillion over 10,146.000 long tons of Iron ore. The total con- range cannot last over 35 years at the present rate sumption of the- United Slates in that year was above of consumption. 123,288,000 lonu tons of ore. The high grade ores of The steel industry buys ore by iron content only, Lake Superior have been a vital factor in the develop- they do not pay for sand and other impurities. There- ment ol the world's largest industrial concentration. fore the iron ores are divided into grades. The high- This development is on and near the shores of the est grade ores are called direct shipping or Mer- Great Lakes. chantable ore, and contain over 50? iron. It is only In the past KM) years 2,300,000,000 tons of high necessary to place the high grade ore into rail cars grade ore have been mined and shipped From the or boats and haul it to the blast furnaces. The low Lake Superior region. The thoughtful American is grade ores contain 35?-50'/ iron and must be con- sini- to ask, "Just how long can the lew iron ore de- centrated prior to shipment. This process of con- posits of the United States last at this rate? Our eco- centration is called benefaction. Wash ore is a type nomy is based on a steel foundation and we must of low grade ore that is mined in small particles and have iron ore il we are to survive as a leading world needs only washing to remove most sand and im- power." purities. If the ore is in larger sizes that must be crushed prior to washing, it is intermediate ore. Fortunately lor our country a few men saw this problem over forty years ago and devoted their life It has been a general practice in all mining opera- to obtain the answers. As part of this answer, a new tions to use only the best ore and leave the rest until wond has been added to our vocabulary that will circumstances forced their utilization. However in the have great effect on our future economy. That word Mesabi range, far-sighted conservation policies caused is Taconite. To the geologist working in the Minnesota both types of ores to be used at the same time, and iron districts it is a ferruginous chert, or a rock of even the rocks that could not be used in present re- silieon that contains about 25% iron. fining methods have been stockpiled for the future. Low grade ores constitute 30? of the shipments from Taconite is found in a zone about 100 miles long Minnesota and give jobs to 40? of the people em- extending west from Lake Superior in the Mesabi ployed in the state's iron industry. This progressive mountain range. It is estimated that there is enough conservation policy has saved 330 million tons of di- iron content in this deposit to make ten times as much rect shipping ores by benefaction of low grade ores. steel as the United States has produced in all of his- tory. A similar rock called Jasper is found in the Mar- The supply of good iron ore is increased by im- quette and Menominee ranges of Michigan and porting ore from; Cerro Bolivar, Venezuela; Kiruna, Wisconsin. The outer crust of the earth is composed Sweden; Labrador; and Liberia. However, we must of about 4.2% Iron which makes it the fourth most be able to depend on our iron and steel supply during abundant element. Why then, worry about where war time. Because all of these imports are by ocean we will get the ore to keep the steel plants going? routes, they are very vulnerable to air and submarine The answer is simple economics. Once a mineral is attack, also the costs are increased. removed from an area it cannot be replaced. The di- The location of the present Mesabi range was at 20 Spartan Engineer one time the beach of a great sea. As iron bearing silt ing steam pressure. The jet-piercer can drill a nine- was washed into the sea it was deposited in a strip inch hole through twenty to thirty feet of Taconite about 100 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide. Before rock per hour. Special equipment must be made to silt deposition was completed, the mud was 500 to crush the rock, also trucks and railroad cars must be 700 feet thick. With time the area was lifted above made of the toughest steel. sea level and was subjected to the pressures of folding and faulting. The iron of the silt was in very small The ingenuity and determination of one man, Dr. particles which had been washed into the sea from Edward W. Davis, has been the outstanding factor an old mountain mass. Water seeping through the in developing a successful method for Taconite con- rocks oxidized the minerals and washed away the centration. Not only did Dr. Davis develop the funda- sand until the iron content had been about doubled, mental process of ore extraction and agglomeration he Taconite is ore that nature has not concentrated or forming iron balls out of powdered ore, but it was through leaching and solution. It is the "mother lode" his persuasiveness that sold the idea to politicians of of the high grade ores. the state. The politicians had to be convinced of the practicability of the process and its value to the state Oldtime miners swear that the only thing harder so that they would pass special tax legislation which nan Taconite is an old time miner. Taconite is so hard would attract industry and huge sums of money to that it cuts the conveyor belts and destroys the bear- Minnesota. ings of the equipment that is normally used in ore concentration processes. A completely new method of Both state and federal governments have given exeavation drilling has had to be developed. A con- liberal tax concessions to the mining companies that ventional drill will cut through only about one foot are exploiting the Taconite reserves. The state tax on is Taconite per hour, and the service life of the drills high grade ore is 50 to 60 cents per ton, but to en- is veryy short. The mining engineers working with courage development, Taconite is taxed at less than Taconite have learned a lesson from the Indians of ten cents per ton. The federal government is allowing Unlted States the companies to write off 75$ of their investment over the early - T h e I n d i a n s k n e w t h a t if a five year period. intense heat WaS a p P l i e d t 0 a s m a 1 1 P a r t o f a flint r o c k the difference in r a t e s °f expansion would cause small Why must the government make such inducements particles ° f flint t o s P a 1 1 off - T h e y u s e d this procedure to companies to encourage them to exploit this almost to fashiona r r ° W h e a d s a n d o t h e r a r t i c I e s - T h e modern unlimited reserve of iron ore? By October, 1955 when adaption of t h i s P r i n c i P l e is a huge machine called the first load of Taconite pellets was shipped from the jet-piercer. The jet-piercer uses a fuel of kerosene Silver Bay, Minnesota, the steel industry had invested and pure oxygen to d evelop temperatures of 4500 300 million dollars. It is estimated that by 1970 the degree F h r e n u e i t - The rock disintegrates and the small pieces are blown out of the hole with the escap- (Continued on Page 23) Nov ember, 1957 "For today's engineer, yes..? "You are probably the most sought after young men in America today. Industries of all kinds want you. You've got a wide choice, so which field do you choose? "The way I look at it, the aircraft industry has the most opportunity for you. It combines more advanced engineering sciences than any other field ... elec- tronics, communications, propulsion systems, hydrau- lics and pneumatics, thermodynamics ...all these and many others. With this variety, interesting careers can be had either by specializing in one area or by moving- from one to another. "Obviously, you are going to want recognition for your work. You know that the aircraft industry pays well... hut think about this: aviation is relatively young and its life-blood is young men with new ideas. Numerous important advances have been made just in the last few years. Who knows what new fields—and new opportunities—today's research will uncover? "So, for today's engineer, yes, 1 would say that your best bet is the aircraft industry. Nowhere else can you ' find such opportunity, such challenge ... and such compensation and added benefits. In my estimation, there is no place where you can put your college- training to better use'.' Ibenneering the aircraft industry there is such a variety of engi- fields that a desire for virtually any one can satisfied. As research continues more areas will be embraced and, as aircraft engineers pierce these bar- riers and solve today's problems, new challenges and opportunities arise. Northrop engineers have been meeting these challenges successfully for years. Air- planes such as the F-89 Scorpion, the new supersonic twin-jet Northrop T-38 trainer, and missiles such as the Snark SM-62 are examples of Northrop's engineer- ing theory and capabilities. In Northrop's new Engineering and Science Center, your training can be applied to top priority projects and your future will be made more secure by intensive on-the-job training. Regular reviews reward you for your capabilities and accomplishments, adding further financial security. The extra benefits at Northrop, such as company-paid insurance and over three weeks vaca- tion with pay, are among the most generous in the entire industry. Write now and ask us how your qualifications car be applied to a career at Northrop. Regardless ol whether you are an upper-classman or not, we believe we can show you that Northrop offers you a grea future. Address Manager of Engineering Industria Relations, Northrop Division, Northrop Aircraft, Inc. 1032 East Broadway, Hawthorne, California. TACONITE and then baked. The method now being used is called (Continued from Page 21) nodulizing. It does not require the machinery of the briquetting process, nor the expensive coke of the total investment in Taconite production will exceed sintering method. First the damp powder is pulled one billion dollars. Besides actual production facilities onto a revolving fabric drum by vacuum, and the investment is for a completely new harbor and the water is sucked out. The cake is then pushed off two new towns for the employees. After the financial with a blast of air, and placed in a revolving balling arrangements had been made, there still remained drum which is tilted. Just as damp snow will ball if many problems that were of great complexity. it starts to roll down hill, the ore forms nodules about the size of eggs as they move through the drum. The blast furnace is a fussy eater and its diet must These nodules are then placed into the furnace. be carefully regulated. The ingredients to make steel are important but the texture of the furnace charge The furnace procedure is very critical because if is more important. It must be porous so that gases the temperature is too low, the balls will be "green" of the blast furnace will remove the iron content, and lack enough strength to withstand shipping. On yet it must be strong enough to withstand shipping the other hand if the furnace is too hot the whole and the total weight of the furnace charge without charge will fuse together in the furnace. Experimenta- being crushed to dust. Dust will smother the action tion has shown that a temperature of about 2400 de- of a blast furnace. grees Fahrenheit gives good results as the nodules are strong enough to be bounced off of a brick wall Most of the problems involving taconite concen- without breaking. tration have been solved so that the process is now workable. After blasting and being transported to the Labor costs to produce one ton of Taconite con- mill, the rock is first crushed by a machine that re- centrate are about the same as for one ton of high sembles a huge bell. This crusher produces pieces of grade ore from an underground mine. However, the rock that will pass through a one inch screen. The ore cost is three times as much as open pit production. is then transferred to the rod mill where long rods Another item that increases the cost of production tumble in a revolving cylinder. The ball mill, which of Taconite is the large volume of waste material. For is the final crushing process, gives the ore a texture each ton of Taconite balls that are produced there will much like that of face powder. be two tons of tailings, or waste sand. If the Taconite production reaches 40 million tons as planned, then Because the iron is scattered through the ore in the iron companies will have to find some place to very small particles, a major problem has been the dump 80 million tons of worthless sand each year. separation of iron from sand. Several methods have One suggested solution is to dump the sand into the been devised and each has advantages and disad- Great Lakes. The filling would be negligible and it vantages. The process of floatation is accomplished by should improve the fish spawning grounds. placing ground ore in a liquid that has a density be- tween iron and that of sand. Sand, being less dense, Other than its huge reserves Taconite has other naturally floats but the heavy iron sinks to the bottom advantages as an iron source. The pellets can be and is collected. The process that shows promise of stored in winter for shipment during the ice-free being most practical is magnetic separation of the months, so the operation is a year-round enterprise. iron by huge magnets. The major disadvantage of this The uniform quality gives better pig iron. The cost operation is the fact that only a small part of the total of pellets is high, but so is transportation of useless laconite reserve is magnetic. For magnetic separation water. High grade ore is 11.5% water, therefore the to be practical as a future method of concentration, annual shipping costs of this worthless water is about an inexpensive process must be found which will $21,500,000 per year. Taconite pellets contain no change non-magnetic Taconite ores into magnetic ore. water. Each ship load of high grade ore is only 51.5? oatteHe Institute of Columbus, Ohio has developed iron, but a Taconite shipment is about 65% iron. an experimental process to do this. Gamma Iron, as Taconite production has come a long way in the BatteUe Institute calls the finished product, is pro- last 47 years since the first plant to produce Taconite duced by treating the Taconite non-magnetic ore in ore was started near Coleraine, Minnesota. The many wens of controlled atmosphere. Gamma Iron retains large iron and steel companies, who have made in- f his artificial magnetism for three to four days. If this vestments in the Lake Superior Taconite ores, are can be done on a large scale it would open the full striving for even greater advances. Virtually every aconite reserve to exploration. concentration plant in the area is a research labora- tory. For example, Oliver Mining Company, of °ne of the last problems to be solved in Taconite Duluth, has an extensive research program that can °ncentration was that of agglomeration, which is the set up and tear down a pilot plant within a few hours. Process of forming balls from the powder-fine con- The goal for Taconite production is set at 20 mil- centrate. The process called sintering has been used r lion tons annually by 1960. This production should be some time to make use of the powders produced doubled by 1970. Because of the large investment y concentration of low grade ore. Coke is mixed with in a Taconite ore concentration plant, it will operate f P^'der and burned This burning causes the at full capacity at all times. It will be the function of on sh to fuse into large blocks which are broken and other iron sources to act as a stabilizer for fluctuating PPed. Another method of agglomeration is briquet- demands on this important national resource. Si m which the concentrate is pressed into molds N °vember, 1957 23 What Next? A fantastic discovery causes a stir in the plant kingdom. News of the unbelievable plant growth stimulant, Wittwer of Michigan State University, one of the gibberellin, is claiming the hopefully expectant at- leading gibberellin investigators in this country? tention of thousands. Agriculturists, horticulturists and Toward the end of the last century a strange rice botanists have similiar dreams; that their plants will disease was discovered in Japan. Because the affected growfaster,bigger, and produce flowers and fruits seedlings grew very swiftly, reaching an abnormally sooner. They arepeering over the shoulders of the large size and then dying, the disease was labeled gibberellin researchers in h o p e that their fondest "Hakanac, meaning, "foolish seedling." In 1926', a wishes may be granted by this chemical. To these Formosan plant pathologist, Kurasawa, became curi- people, gibberellin Is a golden promise. ous about bakanae and discovered that a peculiar Among the varied miracles gibberellin has per Fungus, Gibberella Fujikuroi, caused it. This was the formed for the researchers so far are included the beginning of the thirty years search which ended in overcoming of dwarfness in plants, an Increase in the sensational discovery of gibberellin. His twelve fresh and dry weight, earlier seed germination, and years of attempts to isolate the active principle of fruit letting in the absence of pollination. Flowering the disease failed, but Kurasawa found that sterile and normal seed production has been hastened and filtrates of the culture in which the fungus had grown dormancy in many plants has been broken. Botanists produced the same overgrowth, when applied to the are looking optimistically to a plant revolution. plants, as the disease itself. Jack, with his fabulous bean stalk, couldn't have Japanese mycologists, who took up the search, accomplished .my more than it appears the scientific found the disease had inconsistencies and at times world may succeed in doing with gibberellins. Their had no effect at all or at other times, dwarfed the effects are not limited to a few botanical families, but plants instead of producing gigantic growth. In 1934, include many economic plants. Among the few plants this mystery was on its way to being solved by them, that have not yet shown any noticeable effect from when it was found that one of the substances pro- the use ol the chemical are onions, and two species duced by the disease was fusarinic acid, which was of pine and white spruce. responsible for growth inhibition. Finally, in 1938, a team of research workers at the University of Tokyo Recently, with the advent of the first commercial isolated the plant growth substance. It was named sales and advertising of the product, the green-(and "gibberellin" after the fungus Gibberella. not so green) thumbed American gardener has had Then came the attack on Pearl Harbor and World his interest aroused by it. He says to himself, "Maybe War II. Seven reports had been published in Japanese this is just the thing to get that little sapling sitting and all but one had been translated into English by in the back yard to hurry along to hammock size 1943, but the war cut off further reports. It was not or perhaps it might get that bed of annuals to bloom until 1950, that about a dozen additional papers were before those in the garden of the guy next door." abstracted from Japanese and two U. S. physicians became interested in the work. These men, Mitchell Just what is the story of this substance that has and Angel of the U. S. Army Chemical Corps Biologi- been called. "What may well be the most important cal Laboratories at Camp Detrick in Maryland, met chemical find in twenty-five years . . ." by S. H. with failure in their attempt to prepare pure gibberel- 24 lin. H o w e v e r , they s t a l l e d the w h e e l s of Investigation in motion o u t s i d e of t h e Orient. Two groups ol biologists and chemists, one at the Imperial Chemical Industries in England and the Other at the Northern Regional Research Laboratories U.S.D.S. in, Peoria, Illinois, worked on the problem. England found that an isolated substance, gibberellic acid, was related to the Japanese gibberellin \ (Ga) and biologically identical. The U. S. team isolated this same substanee and called it gibherellin Y This gibberellin, they w e r e able to produce by utilizing Well aerated fermentation tanks of 300 gallon capacity and treating the organism In much the same way as the fermentations for antibiotics, such as penicillin or streptomycin. These tanks yield twelve grams ol gib- berellin for every 160 gallons of culture medium ill three days. It is in this manner that gibberellins are now being prepared. Gibberellins and their possibilities for crop pro- duction are creating much excitement and specula- tion in agricultural circles. A patent is pending in Australia tor their use in promoting growth of pasture grasses. It may overcome midsummer dormancy in some of these grasses as well as promoting earlier growth in the spring and encouraging later growth in the fall. Increase in yield and dry matter is ap- parent with as little as one ounce per acre. In Puerto RiCO, gibberellin is being considered tor application by airplane to increase growth in fields of sugar cane. Food crops of all kinds have possibilities, espe- cially those grown lor their leaves or leaf stalks, such as spinach, rhubarb, celery, lettuce, cabbage and kale. Because ol the increase in size ol the stalks it aopears that gibberellins may enable celery growers in \liehi gall, to market their CropS two to three weeks earlier. Although the yield is not increased in crops such as corn, sugar beets, soybeans, potatoes, beans and broc- coli, the Crops mature (aster, allowing quicker mar keting. The hastening of seed production could be a boom to seed companies. Biennials, plants usually requiring two years to produce seed with a cold period included, have been hurried to the seed producing stage. Our lumber shortage problem may be eased by the use of gibberellins. It has been reported that new growth of nursery stock and forest trees is greatly increased by applications of the growth promoter. Young, one to three year, maple, poplar, oak and tulip trees, have increased sharply in height when tested. More flowers will be available for home use from the florist because of the increased production possible in greenhouses. These and other unlimited possibilities, lie in store for the plant world. It is believed that the agricultural impact of gibberellins will equal or exceed that of DDT or 2,4-D. This does not mean, however, that the use of fertilizers may be discontinued, as so many people have mistakenly believed. In fact, due to the rapidly increased growth rate, more will probably be necessary to create well balanced growth and to pre- vent treated plants from becoming spindly. It is be- (Continued on Page 54) 25 The Development of Fine-Particle Magnets A major development in the field of magnetic most elements, there are many electrons all spinning technology was disclosed in December, 1956, by the around each atom in different directions. In nearly General Electric instrument department. The company all elements there are usually just as main of these reports the development of an unusually versatile and electrons traveling around clockwise as there are elec- powerful permanent magnet composed of a new fine trons traveling counter-clockwise. The orbits of two particle ferromagnetic material which has been quite electrons traveling in opposite directions have a can- successful in its experimental stages. Magnets made celling effect on these two respective magnetic fields. from elongated sub-miscropic particles of iron which, The balance in cancelling is found in all of the ele- when pressed together, are found to be as strong as the ments except iron, cobalt, and nickel. These elements best Alnico type permanent magnet. This new pro- differ in that there are more electrons spinning in one duct is believed to have 100,000 times the resistance direction than the other; this then creates a magnetic to de-magnetization that ordinary iron possesses. field associated with each atom. The use of magnets is of fundamental importance If a group of iron atoms, which have lopsided elec- to industry for their demand is ever increasing in tron spins, were put together—what would happen. radio and television sets, photo light meters, and in It was found that by some very complicated move- many aircraft instruments. The average American ments the orbits of adjacent atoms would interact jet bomber uses over 200 magnets in the instruments in such a way that the associated atoms would In- which serve to keep the plane aloft and on target. come aligned. Then the magnetic field of each iron atom would closely parallel its neighbors, and the It was during the 1920's that scientists from Gen- eral Electric, along with scientists in Japan, found the spinning electrons within their magnetic field would secret to the new type permanent magnet which they cause the atoms to become closely bonded. named Alnico. This magnet has been termed the The concept of magnetic domain showed that in backbone of the permanent magnet production dur- a sample of iron, cobalt, or nickel there are millions ing the past twenty years. There has been continuous of colonies of parallel aligned atoms. These colonies work in the improving of the Alnico magnet; how- or magnetic domains are found to vary in size depend- ever, it has its limitations, and study has been directed ing upon the element. When an outside magnetic toward basic research. In 1930 the concept of "mag- netic domains" was discovered, and it has been field is applied to the sample, the domains tend to termed the keystone to modern magnetism study. readjust themselves immediately into an alignment with the induced field, which primarily is a result of In order to understand the development of the the shifting of the domain's boundaries. This, basic- new magnet better, it is probably appropriate to dis- ally, is how a material becomes magnetized. cuss just what a magnet is. This information was quite important in developing a new strong perma- Transformers, which are electro-magnetic devices, net magnet. More basic data has developed in the contain a metal core which will easily withstand being field of magnetism in the past ten years than has magnetized and demagnetized. This is to say, the- been learned in the past twenty centuries. metal core has a narrow hysteresis loop which indi- cates that the magnetic domain boundaries can be' If one visualizes a simple atom with an election moved easily. A metal which would Strongly resist traveling in an orbit around it, each different orbit movement o) its domain boundaries would conversely finds itself in a miniature magnetic field. However, in be indicated by a wide hysteresis loop. This wide loop 26 Spartan Engineer is characteristic ot permanent magnets, and this is the principle problem confronting scientists who are working in the field of magnetism. How can one make a magnet which will cause the movement of domain boundaries to remain stationary? It is known that these magnetic dominions have dimensions: thus, the isolation of the domains was attempted. The earliest method which w as attempted was the development of case-hardened steel magnets. Particles of carbide were precipitated into molten steel just as it began to set up. in hopes that the carbides would form boundaries around each domain. This would then possibly prevent the reversal of such domains, making a strong permanent magnet. But end results showed that the magnets were quite weak. and not at all the product which was desired Hie idea which led to the present stage of de- velopment of a permanent magnet was to prevent 1 "niain-boiiiulan movement by the elimination of tw boundaries. The domain boundaries in iron have a width of ,„•,,,K ., millionth of an inch, ami the (l( v ' elopment of an iron particle this si/e would con- ta »i no boundary. The object would be to make each Particle so small that each physical particle would be •l Single domain unit. Since the particle cannot be demagnetized by a moving boundary it would be W>nipelled. when large numbers are bound together. 0 change polarity simultaneously in one immense """P- Such an occurrence would require a large Viantitv of energy to be exerted, especially when "'"' are strong ciw.il Forces to be overcome. The first observations of sinule domain iron pal ™*s were made In L896. Several varied attempts We'd like to send you this record! No matter what branch of engineering evaluate in terms of cold facts and figures. you're following—no matter which phase of A company's basic philosophy, for example engineering interests you most—we want ... its attitude and approach to its customers you to know SQUARE D and what we have to and to its working team. offer. Of special interest to you, we believe, The "Human Touch" record we want to is the "human touch" side of our Company. send you deals with some of those intangi- There are some things you simply can't bles—musically. We think you'll enjoy it. Are You Eating Yourself to Death? Each year 370,000 Americans die as a result of digested cholesterol is excreted through the bile atherosclerosis, a type of hardening of the arteries; duct and the gall bladder. If there is an overabun- since World War ii. the number of Americans suffer- dance of cholesterol, however, it will tend to pre- ing heart attacks has increased steadily: heart disease cipitate out of the solution and settle either in the is the nation's number one killer. You may know all bile duct or in the gall bladder. When it does so, these facts, the question remains, what can you do it becomes the nucleus for gall stones. Thus it re- about it? ceived its name "solid bile." Recently there has been a tremendous amount of One of the unique characteristics of cholesterol interest in and controversy over—cholesterol and its is that if it is not supplied in your diet, your body relationship to coronary disorders. On one side, in- will manufacture it. It is for this reason that those vestigators are saying that the high fat intake of the people who would tend to make you believe that you American diet is responsible for an increase in the should cut cholesterol out of your diet are giving you cholesterol content of the blood. Others claim that it poor advice. In fact, there is evidence that it is even is the animal but not the vegetable fats that are at harder on your body to have to manufacture the the root of the trouble. One or two individuals haw cholesterol than it is to digest it. implicated hydrogenated fata, the vegetable shorten- ings on the market, as one of the main causes. Cholesterol performs many important functions in the body. It is found in all the tissues but especially At the present time, researchers are busy studying in those of the nervous system; it composes a large cholesterol; its functions and its effects. As yet, ex- part of the brain. It acts as an insulator in the white perimental e v i d e n c e is t o o i n c o m p l e t e to tell you matter of the nervous tissue and is an important part that this or that substance is the primary cause of of the architecture of the cells. coronary heart disease. In the months ahead, it will be 'important that you be able to evaluate and inter- As a constituent of the blood, cholesterol helps pret the findings of scientists in this matter. In order to transport fatty acids which are necessary for life. to do so, you should know what cholesterol is. what its It is also believed to be a forerunner of other steroids functions are in your body and what happens to your such as bile acids, sex hormones and adrenal cortex body when various heart disorders occur. steroids. Dietary cholesterol has been known to exist in The level of cholesterol in the blood serum of man the tissues of man for almost 200 years. Its name is higher than it is in any other mammals. Experi- was derived from the Greek words which mean ments show, however, that it is poorly absorbed by " solid bile." It is a white fatty alcohol which is found man and is also only slowly metabolized or digested. in all animal tissue. Since it Is absorbed in the pres- The degree to which it will he absorbed depends to ence of tat. bile is important to the digestion of a neat extent upon the "kind" of fat with which it cholesterol just as it is for the digestion of fat. It Continued on Page 64) travelswiththefat to the liver and then- the un- 31 New Technique Eliminates a television picture until he just fails to clearly dis- Television Picture Lines tinguish these individual lines. For a 24-inch picture, this 'normal' viewing distance turns out to be about The dark horizontal lines clearly visible in any ten and one-half feet. Placed closer than this, the "close-up" look at a television picture may someday viewer begins to distinguish the horizontal line struc- be a thing of the past. ture of the picture, which is distracting. Scientists have developed an experimental method The new technique employs a method of wobbling lor eliminating these "scanning" lines—now considered the electron beam vertically as it makes its repeated a natural limitation on the size of television picture traces across the television picture tube. The slight people enjoy watching. Elimination of the lines, the up-and-down motion of the beam broadens the white scientists say, could he a step toward larger-size tele- lines which carry the picture information and narrows vision screens in the home. Elimination of the scan- the distracting black lines which lie between them. ning lines is made possible by a simple but basic change in the construction of the television picture This so-called "spot wobble" actually dates back tube found in all standard television receivers. several years, but heretofore the methods for accom- plishing it have involved considerable equipment and This change consists of splitting in half one of have not been entirely satisfactory. The new system the tube's cylindrical metal "grids" used to focus its eliminates these problems by taking advantage of the electron beam into a tiny round spot. "split grid" structure inside the television picture tube itself. The standard television picture is broken up into horizontal rows which appear as black and white The split focusing grid still serves its regular lines at the television receiver. The white lines contain function of sharply concentrating the electron beam the picture information, which is 'painted' by a beam on the screen, but at the same time a fluctuating volt- of electrons that sweeps back and forth across the age may be applied which wobbles the beam up and fluorescent screen on the inner face of the picture down about 15 millon times per second. The "wob- tube. The black lines between each pair of white ones bling" voltage is supplied by a single electronic tube are unexcited areas of the screen not used in con- fitted to a socket into which the television picture structing the picture. Present television standards in tube is plugged. The "spot wobble" is still in its ex- the United States set the number of picture lines at perimental stages and has not yet been adopted on a 525. commercial scale. Previous research, which has been verified by experiments, shows that the viewer moves back from Scientists Control Titanium Furnace With Atomic Radiations Atomic radiations, in the form of highly energetic gamma rays for radioactive cobalt, have been put to a new and important use by scientists. Gamma rays are being employed to detect and control the level of molten titanium in a new "cold hearth" arc furnace designed to prepare the purified titanium metal. To carry out their new assignment, the penetrat- ing gamma rays pass through as much as 15 inches of solid metal. The successful operation of this new titanium arc furnace demands exact control of the molten surface of the titanium ingot inside it. Such control must be foolproof, precise and fast working- yet must be accomplished under extremely difficult conditions. For example, the temperature of the white- hot liquid titanium is more than 3000 degrees Fahren- heit-made so by an electric arc which consumes as greater. These changes in the amount of gamma radia- much current as the combined capacity of 150 modern tion are used to detect the ingot's position and bring homes. it to its correct level. Gamma rays are penetrating, high-energy radia- The gamma rays passing through the furnace art- tions which come from the spontaneous disintegration detected by means of two "scintillation counters." of certain radioactive atoms. By beaming these rays Such a counter contains a crystal which changes the through the walls of the furnace and the 12-inch gamma rays into flashes of light. The counter then titanium ingot inside it, engineers are able to "see" converts the light flashes into electrical pulses and the actual level of the titanium. This information is amplifies them. These amplified pulses are fed to used to automatically raise or lower the ingot to its electronic circuits which are designed to drive a correct operating level, thereby insuring proper opera- hydraulic system that raises or lowers the titanium tion of the furnace. ingot to the exact position required for proper opera- ation of the arc furnace. This control by gamma rays, brings a new degree of reliability and safety to titanium arc furnace opera- The whole system is so precise that it can detect tion. It is a critical job of measurement and control and maintain the level of the titanium ingot to within which would be very difficult to handle by any other one-hundredth of an inch of its ideal operating posi- means. tion. If, for any reason, the ingot moves beyond its prescribed limits, the gamma ray control causes im- To design the gamma ray control a duplicate of mediate shutdown of the furnace. the actual cross section of the titanium furnace was built. This included the furnace itself and the titanium ingot inside, with the latter's curved top surface hol- lowed out something like a bowl. "Moving Sidewalk" In Dallas Air travelers tired of trudging through long airport The source of gamma rays, a small needle of corridors will have the pleasure of riding to and from cobalt-60, is placed outside the furnace and in line their planes on a "moving sidewalk" at the new $7 with the top surface of the ingot. The "hot" cobalt-60 is kept inside a shielded lead "box" having walls about million Dallas Love Field, Dallas, Tex., scheduled to four inches thick. When a door in the "box" is opened, be opened this fall. a beam of gamma rays passes through the furnace Three "moving sidewalk" units totaling 1,435 feet walls and across the top surface of the ingot. in length will carry passengers in both directions through the three corridors or "fingers" leading out If the ingot inside the furnace is too high, it partly from the main terminal building to the airplane load- mocks the beam of gamma rays, reducing the amount ing gates. The operating speed at first will be 132 of raditaion getting through the furnace. If the ingot feet a minute, about half average walking speed and is too low, the beam is interrupted less by the ingot, considerably faster than moving stairs. Passengers and the amount of radiation through the furnace is may walk while they ride and thereby increase their rate of travel. When the public becomes accustomed to "moving sidewalks," consideration will be given to increasing their speed. The Dallas "moving sidewalk" is the first ever installed at an airport. It has several unique features, one of these features is that it will go around corners and may be installed in the form of a loop so that passengers are carried in two directions. The curving feature is not utilized at Dallas but will be used in other locations where the course is irregular rather than in a straight line as at Dallas. Passengers will stand on a rubber carpet fastened to individual 24-in. by 42-in. pallets linked together by universal couplings. The pallets are mounted on 41/2-in.diameter rubber-tired wheels which run on a steel track. Three 30 h.p. electric motors, located in the basement under the terminal building, transmit power through lugs on a sprocket chain which engage the underside of each pallet. The rubber carpet does not pull any part of the load but is used only as a cover over the pallets to give passengers a smooth, even platform to ride on. It is made of solid rubber and contains no reinforcing fabric like that used in conventional conveyor belts. FIGURING OUT A CAREER? Selecting a career can be puzzling, too. electronic computer plant. "It takes creative Here's how Lee Baker found the solution engineering ability to design these systems," to his career problem—with IBM: says Lee, "and administrative ability to 'sell' Despite his impending Service hitch, Lee a system to higher management." was hired by IBM in 1953. As a Technical * * • * Engineer, he entered the General Manu- facturing Education Program, a 10-month There are many excellent opportunities for course with rotating assignments in all well-qualified engineers, physicists and phases of the work: manufacturing, pur- mathematicians in IBM Research, Develop- chasing, production. Then came two years ment and Manufacturing Engineering. Why in Korea. Now back at IBM, Lee has been not ask your College Placement Director promoted to Production Control Engineer, when IBM will next interview on your responsible for designing systems to insure campus? Or, for information about how a smooth flow of work through the IBM your degree will fit you for an IBM career, NEW DEVELOPMENTS pumped past test specimens placed inside the system. (Continued from Page 33) Chemicals added to the fluid vary its corrosive effect on the specimens under test. The temperature, pres- The shortest of the three "Glide-Ride" units meas- sure and velocity of flow of the fluid are closely con- ures 218 ft. in each direction and is installed in the trolled. north corridor. The units in the east and west cor- ridors are 250 ft. long each way. All carpets are 42-in. The main function of these new loops will be to wide, permitting pedestrians to ride two abreast. The study the corrosive effects of hot, pressurized fluids corridors are completely enclosed and air conditioned. on the structural materials in nuclear power plants. The "moving sidewalks" rise on a gentle grade from They will be devoted to such specialized tasks as each end so that their center sections are about 8 ft. developing and testing corrosion inhibitors, corrosion higher than their ends. This provides an underpass resistant alloys and corrosion resistant joints in struc- to permit trucks and other service vehicles to drive tural materials. Corrosion is a major materials' prob- under the corridors. lem which has been intensified by the advent of atomic power. The new equipment will be a major Extensive studies and experiments demonstrate asset in helping solve many of the problems it pre- that the "Glide-Ride" conveyors are a safe, practical sents. and efficient method of handling pedestrian traffic and they promise to become as commonplace as elevators The loops were designed to operate at pressures and moving stairs when architects and engineers up to 2000 pounds per square inch and temperatures fully realize their usefulness. as high as 600 degrees Fahrenheit. These conditions, which are similar to those exist- ing in actual atomic power plants, are maintained 'Test Loops' Aid Atomic Studies by a thermal pressurizer and external heaters. To help speed the development of peacetime The fluid in the loops is circulated by a "canned- atomic power, engineers have placed into operation motor" pump inserted directly into the system. Be- two new experimental atomic "test loops." fore the fluid is admitted to the loops it is purified The test loops will aid in the development and and degassed in a special purification system. A small application of new "atomic" materials and supply amount of the fluid is continuously diverted from the information to guide the design and manufacture of loop and circulated through a deionizing loop which atomic power equipment. removes the corrosion products from the fluid and provides for sampling and tests of purity. Pressure, Each of the test loops consists of a system of temperature and fluid flow are accurately and auto- stainless steel pipes containing a fluid which can be matically controlled in the loop during its operation. Each loop has two identical test sections which hold the specimens to be exposed to the fluid. Each section is equipped to handle up to 105 specimens at a time, and are so arranged that one can be shut down for removal of the specimens without stopping tests in the other. The result is a flexible test loop of large capacity, and one which is especially adapted to the precise, closely controlled experiments required for a broader understanding of the whole problem of corrosion in atomic power equipment. High-Temperature Optical Strain Gauge Testing of materials will never become routine as long as new materials are developed and older ones are improved. This is particularly true in the case of alloys designed for 1200 and 1250 degree F operating temperatures. Where do you find delicate instruments to measure physical properties of alloys at such temperatures? In some instances, the building of an instrument to do the job involves almost as much work as the development of the alloy itself. One important metal property required is the variation in modulus of elasticity at elevated tem- peratures. Also vital, is the degree of surface strains incurred by heat cycling. NEW DEVELOPMENTS (Continual from Page 35) To obtain this information, engineers adapted for high-temperature service a standard optical gauge used for measuring strains at room temperature. The small instrument roughly 1 1/2 inches long by 3/4 inches wide by 5/8 inches high consists of a metal framework to hold two tiny mirrors, one stationary and the other movable. The mirrors are mounted on blocks of Helractaloy alloy, which have one knife edge that contacts the sample. In operation, the gauge is clamped to the metal surface, a beam of light is aimed at one mirror, reflected to the other mirror and then back to light source, where a scale indicates the angle of the return beam of light. When the sample is heated to test temperatures, the movable knife-edge rotates slightly changing the mirror angle and in turn the light beam return angle. Since there is no mechanical linkage between the strain gauge and the measuring device, an extremely high degree of accuracy is possible. With proper calibration, This photograph shows a cutaway view at the new lightning arresters: Also shown is a diagram demon- changes as small as 20 millionths of an inch can be strating how the ceramic magnet causes the arc to spin. detected. The chief difficulty from a materials standpoint netic life is virtually infinite. The magnet is enclosed in adapting the room temperature gauge to a high- in a brass shield so that the discharge currents go temperature gauge was the mirror surfaces. A success- around the outside of the magnet and therefore do ful combination consisted of silver brazing a Y« by not demagnetize it. Currents of 100,000 amperes have 5/16 inch strip of 30-mil-thick platinum to the Re- fractaloy knife edge blocks. Even at 1250 degrees F, been measured in the gaps with no ill effects to the the platinum stays bright and reflective and the 20 magnets. millionths of an inch accuracy is now almost as easy The reliability of the new device lies in its utter as it was at room temperature. simplicity. The new magnetic design is being used in all station and line type arresters. Arcs Go 'Round And 'Round In Lightning Arresters Instant Radar Maps A small doughnut-shaped ceramic magnet is mak- Airplane pilots and navigators can now consult ing life miserable for arcs in lightning arresters. The a map that is only twenty seconds old made night or magnet placed mechanically "in series" with the gap day in flight by radar. With a device called a radar surface provides a constant magnetic field in the gap. strip recorder which presents a photograph of the When the arc is drawn, it is at right angles to the ground beneath the airplane as seen by airborne magnetic field, and therefore spins like the armature winding of an electric motor. radar eyes, navigation to pin point accuracy in now possible. The airborne system is equally useful in Previously, the arc tended to stay in one spot. peace or war. With discharges of relatively long duration, such as switching surges, there could be pitting at those spots Previously navigators and pilots have had to rely on the electrode surfaces. This could eventually on memory or hasty notes and calculations taken change the arrester spark over. from radar presentations in the air. The new automatic device requires no operator; it combines electronics When the arc spins and moves, pitting cannot and photography to make it easy to determine the occur, so gap life is lengthened. Also, the ability of airplane's exact position and true flight path at any the gap to interrupt power-follow current is improved. time desired in flight without relying upon memory or radio equipment on the ground. Since the arc must spin, critical electrode spacing has been simplifield by placing a small pimple on one Initially designed for use with an airborne radar surface; only this pimple spacing is critical. Once the system, the strip recorder with its associated fast arc is drawn, the magnetic field drags it off the pimple, film processor is adaptable to practically all types and around the gap, which aids arc interruption. of airborne radar. In addition, the device is useful as a ground recorder of radar or telemeter informa- The ceramic magnet is made of barium ferrite, tion relayed from flying radar sets. In such uses, the which electrically is an insulator. However, its mag- strip recorder makes it a simple matter for ground 36 controllers and observers to monitor the flight path of a missile or drone aircraft. Instrumental in making the rapid strip recorder feasible is a unique process developing high sensi- tivity film in only ten seconds. The process uses only one liquid bath, which functions at a high tempera- ture to speed the photographic development. Liquid is literally wiped onto the 9-inch wide film in the radar strip recorder much the same as painting walls with a squee-gee. The transparency which emanates from the monobath developer is then viewed directly on a translucent lighted screen about the size of a sheet of notebook paper. The recording and develop- ment process is continuous, so that the pilot, navigator, or other observer sees a slowly moving portion of a long strip of film which is automatically wound up on a roller in the machine. The roll of film is a per- manent record which can be used for reference or later compared to other flight records. If desired, prints or other negatives can be made from the trans- parency roll. High precision optics and advanced electronic techniques went into the development of the radar strip recorder. The optical system includes mechani- cal adjustments which enable the pilot or observer to manually correct the machine for airplane wind drift. This wind drift adjustment results in a rectilin- ear record which maps the ground accurately along perpendicular axes, regardless of wind conditions at diodes are employed in its various circuits. Magnetic nigh altitude. In addition, special electronic circuits elements are used where presently available transistors built into the recorder automatically correct for dis- do not have the necessary power handling capabilities. tortions due to the altitude of the aircraft. All units of the system are broken down into 200 1b. pieces, each having their own transit cases. Working equally well day or night, above clouds or in clear weather, the radar strip recorder promises The computer has been in operational test for to revolutionize air navigation by combining the ac- about ten months. Excellent operation results have curacies of radar, the convenience and utility of been attained. photography and the speed of electronics. Cooling Aircraft Electronic Equipment Tracking System To Report 72 Targets In Three Dimensions Cooling of electronic equipment aboard high- speed aircraft is a major problem. Two choices are A radar track-while-scan system, which automati- available to designers of electronic equipment; either cally tracks up to 72 targets in three dimensions, has build the cooling system for the equipment, or build been developed. This is a hybrid digital-analog sys- the equipment so that it can withstand high ambient tem in which error sensing is a completely analog temperature operations. The unit being placed in an function accomplished under the control of digital oven for tests is designed for operation at 400 computer which computes, controls and displays in- degrees F. This requires use of special high-tem- formation on all 72 tracks. The result is a reduction perature components, along with special construction of equipment required and an increase in accuracy techniques with heat-transfer paths optimized for of track over ranges considerably in excess of other maximum heat conduction. For example, ordinary types of tracking systems currently undergoing test. solder will melt at this temperature. Consequently, a special high-temperature solder is used, and is Unique in the industry is the incorporation of melted with a device that almost amounts to a junior- three-dimensional information in the track-while-scan sized spot welder. system, diredtly from a single radar source. In addi- tion, individual monitors for each track are provided, The device shown is a radar coupler, a unit that and automatic track fault alarms permitting one oper- couples a fire-control system to the automatic pilot ator to successfully monitor 12 tracks. control system, to automatically zero an airplane in on its target. This is a redesign of a standard coupler, The computer components are made up of plug-in and the performance of this unit will be compared package units, using printed circuits and all static (Continued on Page 52) components. Approximately 1500 transistors and 11,000 There's anengineer's _ world at western Electric THE world's largest manufacturer of com- • Besides this company-wide program, a A munications equipment our continued progress depends greatly on our engineers. number of our divisions offer individual engi- neering courses in their own specialties. We They have a key role in the production of some also sponsor a Tuition Refund Plan for out-of- 50,000 types of apparatus and component parts hours study at nearby colleges. Open to all that Western Electric makes in a given year. employees, this plan helps our engineers study for advanced degrees at Company expense. • To our engineers falls the monumental task of developing manufacturing operations and of • Truly there's an engineer's world here at Western Electric . . . one in which engineers in planning the installation of telephone central every field of specialization can expect to grow. office equipment across the nation. They devise the new machines, tools and methods needed to do our job. They also shoulder the major responsibilities in carrying out the defense con- tracts the government has asked us to take over - major projects like the Nike guided missile system and SAGE, the continental defense system. • In the course of their technical work, engi- neers participate in such broad managerial functions as production, merchandising, instal- lation, and many others. What's more, we have a record of promotions from within. It s not surprising, therefore, that fifty-five percent of the college graduates in our upper levels of management have engineering degrees. • Naturally we do everything possible to en- courage and speed the professional develop- ment of our engineers. Just recently, for example, we inaugurated a full-time off-the-job Graduate Engineering Training Program at special training centers, a program with few parallels in American industry. • The new engineer moves into the first phase of this program, Introduction to Western Elec- tric Engineering, four to six months after he joins us and devotes nine weeks (if study to such technical subjects as communications sys- tems, military electronic systems, product de- sign principles. He takes part in the second phase. General Development, after the first year on the job. In this phase he devotes nine weeks to courses in human relations, semantics, engineering statistics, electronics, measure- ments and instrumentation, systems circuit anal- ysis. The third phase, Advanced Development (4 weeks per year), is available to selected engineers and is geared to the individual to help develop his creative engineering abilities; goes deeply into such subjects as magnetics, computer applications, electronic switching. radar fundamentals, feedback control systems and technical paper writing. The right decision now, at the launch- PPG, it isn't necessary to wait for a ing of your career, can do much to man's retirement or death before you influence your success. move up in the ranks. Opportunities Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company has are opening up all the time in all of its a host of fine young men who are hold- important divisions: Paint, Glass, ing responsible positions in the PPG Chemicals, Brushes, Fiber Glass. organization. Ten years ago, many of This is your year of decision. We them were faced with the same decision invite you to look into Pittsburgh Plate that now faces you: "Which company Glass Company. To help you become shall I select?" better acquainted with PPG, we sug- They chose PPG because it offers gest you get a copy right away of the unlimited opportunity. PPG has never booklet entitled, "Toward New Hori- stopped expanding or growing in its zons with Pittsburgh Plate." Ask your 73 years of existence. Its markets are placement officer for a copy or write constantly increasing. PPG's manage- directly to the Pittsburgh Plate Glass ment is progressive. It seeks men who Company, General Personnel Director, can grow with the company . . . men One Gateway Center, Pittsburgh 22, who can take over responsibilities. In Pennsylvania. Melvin Janes, a friendly, sandy-haired man in his early forties, may well be the world's only trackwalker with a doctor's degree. Since 1953, Dr. Janes has trudged many a mile along railroad tracks from Maine to Texas. His mission: to check with his own eyes the killing power of a unique railroad-bed weed destroyer. Weeds are a menace to railroad men. They are a fire hazard; wheels slip on them; they hold moisture which rots the ties and undermines the roadbed; they make maintenance difficult. More than 50 kinds of weeds grow along the tracks. Some die easily and stay dead—but many are too tough for ordinary weed killers. When Mobil scientists developed a promising new oil-based killer—AGRONYL R—Dr. Janes took to the tracks to check it out. It killed the weeds, all of them. Moreover, it's heavy and doesn't blow on to adjacent farmland. It leaves a film that discourages new growth (and also helps keep the tracks from rusting). Chemical research is only one of many profes- sions represented on the world-wide roster of Mobil personnel. We also employ nuclear physi- cists, geologists, mathematicians, engineers of every type, marketing analysts, marketers . . . people prepared to handle more than 100 differ- ent positions. If you qualify, the Mobil companies offer you an opportunity to build a career through training that will utilize your talents to the fullest . . . constantly challenge your ingenuity . . . reward you with a lifetime of richly satisfying work. For more information about your opportunity with the world's most experienced oil company, see your College Placement Officer. The many sides of Honeywell "The story of Honeywell, as I know it, is a story of "The future is even more challenging. Planned "Our Honeywell division is making "Products of our Micro Switch Di- "We specialize almost entirely in growth—from a thermostat to over 12,000 products; diversification puts Honeywell in such new fields as the brains of automation. We turn vision help giant aircraft land safely, comfort control. Typical of the ad- out such small, but complex and interlock machine tool operations, vances our division has made re- from a handful of employees to more than 30,000; office and factory automation, process control, plas- important components as gyros, feed instructions into electronic com- cently is the Supervisory Data Center* from a basement in Minneapolis to a world-wide tics, atomic energy, electronics, missiles and satel- flight controls, servos, synchros, elec- puters. These are just a few of their which enables one man in one loca- organization. For Honeywell, world leader in auto- lites. Whole new areas of opportunity are waiting tronic amplifiers and magnetic con- applications—applications which are tion to read and control the tempera- matic controls, has expanded as rapidly as this excit- for today's engineering graduates in each of Honey- trols. Engineering projects now in growing year after year. The devel- ture of every room in a large building. progress point to many new prod- opment of these precision switches Our other new products include Air ing field. And employment, sales and income have well's divisions. Here are some division representa- ucts and applications from our divi- requires high engineering skill, puts a Blenders, Zone Control Systems, increased steadily year after year. tives to tell you about them." sion, including development of new premium on your imagination, offers Electronic Air Cleaners and many transistor applications. Opportuni- you tremendous opportunities for more. Our business is a rewarding ties? They're here by the score." advancement and recognition." one for engineers!" This is Honeywell: more than 12,000 highly engineered prod- ucts, 14 separate divisions, loca- tions sprinkled throughout this country and abroad, projects by the hundreds on the outposts of every major technological ad- vance. It's a land of opportunity for the engineering graduate. Want to learn more about it? Send for our free booklet, "Your Curve of Opportunity!' Write to: "Our Research Cenrer is a focal poinr "In the past six years our engineer- "Here at Honeywell Ordnance we're R. L. Michelson, Dept. TC29C for Honeywell's over-all research ing force has trebled through our putting all our experience and imag- No company in the fast growing in- "This division of Honeywell manu- Personnel Administrator program. Here, Honeywell scientists expansion into such advanced fields ination into maintaining America's strumentation field is growing faster factures two different classes of prod- Minneapolis-Honeywell Reg. CO. and engineers conduct basic research as inertial guidance, jet engine con- technological lead. We work in such than Honeywell's Industrial Instru- ucts: Instruments and Photographic Minneapolis 8, Minnesota into areas such as Heat Transfer, Met- trol, computers, fire control and new fields as infrared sensors, mis- Equipment. Our recording oscillo- ments Division. There's practically allurgy, Thermodynamics, Solar En- bombing systems, fuel management, siles, servo mechanisms, new types graphs—typified by the radically no physical quantity under the sun ergy, Radioactivity, Electronics, etc. and precision gyros. We have devel- of turret control systems. We've de- new 'Visicorder'—are used in a wide that Honeywell instruments cannot This research supplements other re- oped and produced more autopilots veloped proximity and mechanical range of industrial, scientific, and search carried on by Honeywell's sep- measure, and, in most cases, control, military applications. Our famous than any other manufacturer, and fuzes, antiaircraft fire control sys- arate divisions, plays an important built the reference system for the from open hearth furnaces to com- 'Strobonar' electronic flash equip- tems, underwater warfare equipment plex processes still on the designer's part in the company's development Earth Satellite Rocket. The diver- and other products in widely diver- ment is used by 5 out of 6 news- program. There's certainly plenty of sity and wide acceptance of our prod- boards. Finding new applications papers and all important press serv- sified fields. Our more advanced anddesigningthe instruments, com- opportunity for the imaginative ucts indicates the boundless oppor- ices. The variety of products and products, naturally, are still classified' puters and read-out devices of to- scientist or engineer here." tunities we have for engineers and markets of the Heiland Division but they offer outstanding challenges morrow, offer you a fascinating scientists." promises an ever-expanding field that and opportunities." present and an unlimited future" challenges young engineers." Historically, the process of combus- bringing together of fuel and air in like the J-57, J-75 and others stands tion has excited man's insatiable proper proportions, the ignition of as a tribute to the vision, imagina- hunger for knowledge. Since his the mixture, and the rapid mixing tion and pioneering efforts of those most primitive attempts to make of burned and unburned gases in- at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft en- use of this phenomenon, he has volves a most complex series of gaged in combustion work. found tremendous fascination in its interrelated events — events ocur- While combustion assignments, potentials. ring simultaneously in time and themselves, involve a diversity of Perhaps at no time in history has space. engineering talent, the field is only that fascination been greater than Although the combustion engi- one of a broadly diversified engi- it is today with respect to the use neer draws on many fields of science neering program at Pratt & Whitney of combustion principles in the (including thermodynamics, aero- Aircraft. That program—with other modern aircraft engine. dynamics, fluid mechanics, heat far-reaching activities in the fields At Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, transfer, applied mechanics, metal- lurgy and chemistry), the design of of instrumentation, materials prob- theorems of many sciences are being applied to the design and develop- combustion systems has not yet lems, mechanical design and aero- ment of high heat release rate de- been reduced to really scientific dynamics — spells out a gratifying vices. In spite of the apparent sim- principles. Therefore, the highly future for many of today's engi- plicity of a combustion system, the successful performance of engines neering students. A.S.C.E. Chi Epsilon The American Society of Civil Engineers is open Chi Epsilon is the only National civil engineering to all Civil Engineers, sophomores and up. Freshmen honorary. It was founded at the University of Illinois can be visiting members only. The meetings consist in 1922. Chi Epsilon has 48 chapters. The local MSU of general business, then a program, usually a speaker chapter was founded in 1951. or a movie, Chi Epsilon's purpose is to recognize and honor One of the activities that has been planned for the outstanding men in the field of civil engineering. this Fall term is a joint meeting with the Senior Sec- Its membership is selected from the upper one-third tion of the A.S.C.E. of the junior and senior civil engineering classes. The Officers of the chapter for the year 1957-1958 are: members are selected for their scholarship, character, practicability and sociability. President Stanley Badelt Vice President Dick Carr Chi Epsilon's activities include tutoring in their Secretary Darrcll Hall field, participation in the engineering exposition, and Treasurer Ken Minto social functions for its members. Faculty Advisors: The officers of Chi Epsilon are: Professor A. H. Leigh President Emory Garlick Professor L. V. Northstine Vice President Don Stroud Secretary Walter Meinert Treasurer Murl Webster A.S.M.E. Transit Editor Rassie Carswell Faculty Advisor Professor Leo. V. Nothstine The student branch of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers is open for membership to any AIEE-IRE undergraduate Or graduate student registered in a The American Institute of Electrical Engineers regular course leading to a degree in engineering. and the Institute of Radio Engineers are National A.N.M.K. is composed of more than 50,000 mem- Professional societies for electrical engineers. A joint bers, including over 11,000 student members. Stu- combination of these two societies form the student dent sections are maintained at over 140 colleges and chapters. The student branch of the AIEE-IRE has universities throughout the United States and Canada. local chapters in the United States, Canada, and South An immediate benefit that a student will receive America. The MSU chapter was founded in 1948. when joining A.S.M.E. is the monthly issue of Any electrical engineer or anyone interested who Mechanical Engineering. Also as a student member is a student at MSU may join the AIEE-IRE. Its you will receive a student pin, membership card and meetings are held on Tuesday nights during the school coupons which entitle you to five technical papers term. free of charge. In addition members in their senior year will receive "The Unwritten Laws of Engineer- The AIEE-IRE gives various aspects of Electrical ing" and prior to graduation, a copy of the "Profes- Engineer which are recent or not available in classes, sional Guide for Junior Engineers." acquaints students with industrial personnel, and in- dustrial proceedure by tours, participates in the en- This year the bi-weekly meetings will be held gineering exposition and provides social activity for on Wednesday nights, in room 111 Olds Hall, at its members. 7 P.M. Activities for the year include field trips, and a joint meeting with the senior section. The officers of AIEE-IRE are: Officers of the chapter for the year 1957-1958 are: Chairman Richard Plugge Vice Chairman Robert Riddle President Gayle Gardner AIEE Secretary /. Medford Vice President Robert Klett Treasurer Richard Tubbs Secretary Mary Joan Lichtty Treasurer John Talbot Faculty Advisors Harry Hedges Faculty Advisor Dr.G.H. Martin E. O. Ebert (Continued on Page 48) 46 As a leader in many fields, Union Carbide offers a handsome assortment of plus factors with its jobs. It's a top producer of petrochemicals—and U. S. output of petrochemicals has roughly doubled every five years since World War II. It's a leading producer of oxygen—and new steelmaking methods use such vast quantities of oxygen that consumption in '57 is expected to be double that of '55. And these are only two of the expanding fields in which Union Carbide is a leader. In terms of jobs with plus, this growth means Advancement with a capital 'A." As our markets expand, we need more people to handle the development, production, and sale of our products. Representatives of Divisions of Union Carbide Corporation, listed below, will be interviewing on many campuses. Check your placement director, or write to the Division representative. For general information, write to V. O. Davis, 30 East 42nd Street, New York 17, New York. American Society of Civil Engineers The student with the qualifications of at least a Sophomore and majoring in Civil Engineering is in- vited to become a member of the Michigan State American Society of Ag Engineers Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. This opportunity is one gamble which excludes the Any student that is enrolled in either the Agricul- possibility of loss. The finishing touches of a graduate tural Engineering or the Agricultural Mechanics cur- engineer are supplied through the benefits gained in riculums is eligible for membership in the Michigan the Chapter. Since the Chapter is under the Senior State branch of the American Society of Agricultural Society, which is made up of men in the profession, Engineers, many worthwhile contacts are made. The student society is affiliated with the parent At present, the Chapter is made up of approxi- national society. Student members who belong to the mately one hundred members. It is general practice National receive the National ASAE Journal. to have a meeting every other week. When the big red ASCE banner is seen in the corridor of Olds Hall, The club usually holds its meetings on the second a meeting is scheduled for that evening. The only fees and fourth Tuesday of each month of the school year. assessed are the annual dues. We aim to have short business meetings. The out- standing part of our club meetings is the program that These meetings include picnics, field trips, films, is held after the business meeting. In the past our and get-togethers with the Senior Society. The main programs have included such topics as Tornadoes, event of each year is the Joint Banquet which is held The Nebraska Tractor Test, Tractor Testing in Italy, for the Senior Society. It is put on by the students and the Possibilities in Sales Engineering. We plan and held on the campus. on having just as interesting programs throughout the year. The Chapter couldn't have two better men for faculty advisors than Prof. A. Leigh and Prof. L. In June of 1957 the American Society of Agri- Northstine. The contributions these men have made cultural Engineers held their National meeting at for the Chapter are far in excess of those necessary Michigan State University. The student club made the to do the job. arrangements for the student National meeting to be held at the same time. The club also had the responsibility of publishing Chi Epsilon the National ASAE Student Journal. Ike Sheppard, as editor of the Journal, was assisted by a very capable Chi Epsilon fraternity was founded by a group of staff. This was our most outstanding activity for the Civil Engineering students at the University of Illinois year. in 1922. Candidates for membership are judged on the basis of scholarship, character, practicality, and The club is planning a tour for sometime in winter sociability. Chi Epsilon has forty-eight chapters at term. We are also planning on attending the Michigan engineering schools all over the country. Section meetings of the ASAE to be held during win- ter and spring terms. One of Chi Epsilons well known members is Dr. David B. Steinman, the designer of the Straits of Our two advisors have been indispensible to us. Mackinac Bridge. They have been an inspiration to all of us. We are thankful for the cooperation given us by Mr. Beuchle The Michigan State Chapter of Chi Epsilon was and Mr. Wheaton. established in 1953. The local group has 36 members. 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. The newest — and largest — electronic "brain" The leadership in electronic research that made Bizmac possible is inherent in all RCA products (more accurately, electronic data processing sys- and services-to help make life fuller, easier, safer tem) is Bizmac, developed by RCA. through "Electronics for Living." Bizmac is quickly becoming one of the most search, development, design, and manufacturing for engi- powerful allies of business and industry. It "reads," neers with Bachelor or advanced degrees in E. E., M. E. or sorts, catalogs, analyzes, calculates, forecasts-re- Phvsics. For full information, write to: Mr. Robert Haklisch, duces months of paper work to seconds—cuts costs Manager, College Relations, Radio Corporation of America, by millions! Camden 2, N. J. For insurance companies, Bizmac can keep its finger on millions of facts daily. It can help depart- Howard hughes fellowships Ten awards are open to candidates inter- ested in studies leading to a Doctor of Philosophy or Doctor of Engineering degree or in conducting post-doctoral research. Each Fellowship provides a cash award of not less than $2000 . . . a minimum salary of $2500 for summer or part-time work . . . up to $1500 for tuition, books, and research expenses.. . and moving and transportation costs. Eligibility is based on the completion of one year of graduate work in physics or engineering, and qualification for graduate standing at California Institute of Technology, Uni- versity of California (Berkeley), or Stan- ford University. Application closing date: January 15, 1958. master of science fellowships One hundred awards are open to partici- pants who will complete courses leading to the Master of Science degree within 2 academic years. Tuition, admission fee, and books will be provided. During the summer and part-time during the aca- demic year they will have the oppor- tunity to work with experienced Hughes scientists and engineers, while receiving salaries based upon their ability and technical experience. Applicant must receive his B.S. degree during the coming year in Aeronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Me- chanical Engineering, or Physics. Partici- pant may request his graduate school from the following six institutions: Uni- versity of Southern California, UCLA, Stanford University, University of Ari- zona, Purdue University, or West Vir- ginia University. tion detector, giving a measurement of the amount NEW DEVELOPMENTS of gross ring wear. (Continued from Page 37) The isotopes revealed that ring wear rate at the beginning of engine break-in is high and increases suddenly with each speed change. At higher engine with the Standard used with a cooling system, both speeds the rate decreases because the ring becomes size wise and performance wise. Biggest advantage of better fitted to the cylinder wall with time. the high-temperature equipment is that some of the space that would be required by a cooling system can Under typical cold starting conditions, the report be conserved, and the added complexity of a cooling said, the wear rate pattern indicated that 75 per system is avoided. cent of total wear during a two-hour run occurred during the first six minutes. City driving indicates "that practically at no time Advance In Electronics Simplifies Design are the engine speed and load constant," the re- Simpler radio and radar receivers will result from searchers explained. "Transients are even produced the inclusion of crystal filters. A technique known by many drivers while waiting at stop lights." as multiple conversion has been used for years to "Because of these continuous changes under actual get around certain filtering problems. Using a crystal operating conditions," they said, "a better under- filter in the circuit, multiple conversion becomes un- standing is needed of wear produced by these transi- necessary. The result is a radio or radar receiver with fewer parts. The higher the frequency of the re- ents under laboratory conditions." ceiver, the more applicable this simplification be- They also pointed out that their findings were comes. And higher frequencies are the trend. preliminary and as radioisotopes reveal more informa- Primary applications of the highly reliable crystal tion about the causes of "transient" wear it will be filters will be in the field of mobile communication possible to improve engine wear performance. equipment such as military vehicular radios; walkie Dependable worldwide communications are now talkies; taxicab and industrial radios; military com- well on the way with the advent of a new type of munications and navigation equipment in ships and radio and radar component. The device, called a high airplanes; intercontinental radio systems, such as over- frequency crystal filter, makes it possible for more the-horizon scatter links; telephone systems; radar radio stations to transmit without overlapping and systems; and missile systems. Many other varied ap- interfering with each other. At the same time, the plications for crystal filters and associated devices new device greatly simplifies electronic equipment. are also foreseen, including a tiny button microphone High frequency crystal filters are to existing conven- which can be worn on the lapel and which will trans- mit messages or speeches several hundred yards with- tional filters what transistors are to vacuum tubes. out any connecting power sources. These same quartz With more and more radio communication mes- crystal devices will make it easier to generate sages crowding the air-waves, allotment of frequency frequency-modulated signals for noise-free commu- bands to various radio and radar needs has become nication (better FM stations). Sources of other uses an ever-increasing problem. Up to now, filters have are forecast by electronic specialists who hail the presented serious bottlenecks to designers of high new low-cost filters as one of the more important frequency radio systems. The higher one goes in fre- technological advances of this decade. quency, the harder it becomes to design a workable filter. Radioisotopes have been described as "the first tool" by which engineers can record continuous However, mass-produced high frequency crystal changes in auto engine wear as they might occur in filters represent a major breakthrough in the com- actual driving. This is done using radioactive iron munications art. Now that crystal filters are com- piston rings to measure wear under "transient mercially available, military and industrial designers conditions." have already started to work on new designs which These conditions approach what occurs when an will provide significantly better communications and automobile engine is in actual service with speed navigation equipment. changes, quick accelerations, cold starting, stop-and- One of the biggest headaches with radio receivers start city driving. They open a new field of engine in the past has been the constant servicing necessary— wear research. particularly tuning and alignment. With crystal fil- Although radioactive piston ring tests are not new, ters, a radio receiver does not normally have to be most earlier tests were confined to "steady state" aligned once it is manufactured. The quartz crystals, operations with engines running at constant speed each about one-half the size of a small silver coin, and load. are extremely stable under severe environmental con- ditions. Abrupt temperature changes and repeated The recent tests varied from one minute to 20 heavy shock and vibration do not adversely affect hours. Radioactive wear particles accumulating in the crystal filters. the lubricating oil were monitored with a scintilla- (Continued on Page 63) 52 THE DEVELOPMENT MAGNETS (Continued from Page 27) Studies also reveal that the tighter these particles are to one another, the stronger the magnetic attrac- tion. Likewise, the further apart these whiskers are, the greater the resistance to demagnetization. The an- nouncement of the new type magnet indicates an advancement of great strides; however, there is much development yet to be accomplished. It was indicated that it will be several years before fine particle mag- nets will be commercially available—then, only in limited quantity. There are possibilities that the fine particle ap- proach may lead to magnets of undreamed-of power, for already these magnets in research testing are equal to the strongest magnets that are being produced com- mercially. It is believed that an increase ten times their present strength will be quite possible with fine particle magnets. Lastly, this fine particle development permits the use of iron exclusively, relieving the need for using cobalt, which has been an important ingredient in the conventional type permanent magnets. Since cobalt is easily induced with radioactivity, its absence in per- manent magnets will be beneficial in that ferromag- nets can be used in nuclear reactors. is in a completely soluble, powdered form. It is fairly WHAT NEXT? stable as a dry form, but should be used within a (Continued from Page 25) week after mixing with water. Gibberellins may be developed in foliar sprays in combination with fertil- lieved that gibberellin works Its wonders of stem izers, insuring a better balanced plant growth. Ac- elongation In stretching the size ol individual plant cording to R. G. Fuller, of Battella Memorial Institu- cells and keeping them elastic longer. The increase tion, investigators for the Lilly Company, "It is in weight is d u e to t h e assimilation of larger a m o u n t s readily absorbed by the roots, stems and leaves and of carbon. Gibberellin is not thought of as a plant moves rapidly through the entire plant. At very low growth hormone. In spite of the fact that it acts dosage it evokes useful plant-growth responses, yet similarly. it appears to be relatively nontoxic to plants at much A small Dumber of plants produce undesireable higher dosages." reactions to Ga treatment. It weakens the stems in Scientists can't decide what to try next with their grain crops, which causes lodging (the plant falls new find. Many questions remain unanswered. De- over), Some greenhouse-grown crops become spindly tailed studies of the effects on market, storage and and turn light green it treated during the winter, due nutritional quality of the affected plants, have not to a lack of sufficient light intensity. Intermediate been performed. Treated food crops have not yet and late season crops, such as tomatoes and all pep- been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration pers, have their flowering and fruiting delayed from a of the U. S. Government. These are now undergoing lew days to several weeks after treatment. tests which include the feeding of treated plants to Present production is in the hands of the Northern experimental animals. Chances are, gibberellin is Utilization Branch of t h e U. S. Agricultural H e s c a r c h harmless to humans, since some plants are believed Service, Peoria Illinois. Dr. V. II. Stodola, of the to produce it anyway. As yet, there is no evidence U.S.D.A., has done a great amount of work in the field proving otherwise. and he prepared the first gram of pure Ga and gib- The researchers want to make sure Ga has no berellic acid and sent out 100 samples to research effect on future generations of plants, although past workers. Recently commercial formulators have begun tests have resulted in normal descendents. the production of large amounts of the chemical. Merck and Company of Railway, N.J., was the first Much laboratory, greenhouse, and field testing firm to make it commercially available under the is needed before the full power of gibberellins will name of "Gibrel," at $10 an ounce, which is enough be realized. By that time, ample supplies will be avail- to cover approximately an acre of land. G. B. Penick able at a lower cost, making their use profitable. and Company and the Eli Lilly Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, are also in production. The Charles Like so many modern scientific discoveries, gib- Pfizer and Company of Brooklyn, N.Y., plans to mar- berellin seems to be a fairy tale come true. Just what ket gibberellic acid in a product called "Agristrim." dreams and needs it will fulfill, depends on the imagination and foresight of the human mind. It is Gibberellin is applied to the plants at widely vary- likely, however, that you and I, no matter who we ing rates and in main forms. Gibrel is used as a spray are, will in some way feel a stir of the breeze created and that prepared by the S. B. Penick and Company by the storm of enthusiam over this new chemical. Maximum results from a college education... Education is the springboard for motors; prime engine development; ing at Garrett. With company finan- your future. Couple it with the cryogenic and nuclear systems; cial assistance you can continue your Proper engineering experience, such pneumatic valves; servo control units education at outstanding universities as you receive at Garrett, and you and air motors; industrial turbo- located nearby. havetheingredients for a successful chargers; air conditioning and pres- Project work is conducted by career in engineering fields which surization and heat transfer. small groups where the effort of each will be expanding for years. In addition to direct assignments, individual is more quickly recog- At Garrett, specific opportunities a 9-month orientation program is nized and where opportunities for in aircraft, missile and technological available to aid you in selecting your learning and advancement are fields include: system electronics; field of interest. This permits you to greatly enhanced. For complete computers and flight instruments; survey project, laboratory and information, write to Mr. G. D. Bradley. gas turbine engines and turbine administrative aspects of engineer- MISTIC (Continued from Page 19) is the translation from a foreign language into some base language A dictionary of foreign language words and their equivalents in a base language can be set up in a machine with the mechanical translation con- sisting of translation via a printer, one word at a time. The only limit seems to he in the enormous size of vocabulary. A limited vocabulary of scientific jargon would aid translation of research papers. A somewhat surprising application of automatic digital calculators is that of opponent in various games. Possibly the most elementary type of play for the machine is typified by the game of two-handed whist. The machine can be set for card values by code, and the machine can receive a dealt hand. The latest development in the field of computers is a portable machine which weighs 400-500 lbs. (The Mistic weighs about one ton.) Hut the problem of power source has not been solved yet, while the large machines can use regular voltage. Maybe someday the schoolboy won't have to worry about math homework, if Dad can afford a computer. Then too, maybe Dad will be able to calculate the stock market risk and race track possibilities. Pushing back the frontiers... in chemistry Exploring new frontiers is still a pretty excit- Mills, Iowa, he did his graduate work in or- ing business, especially in the great scientific ganic chemistry at the University of Chicago. and research centers like the Whiting Labora- He received his BS in chemistry from St. Olaf tories of Standard Oil Company. Here men College. Northfield, Minnesota, in 1950. He like Dr. Omar Juveland are engaged in impor- is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, tant exploratory work such as the search for and the American Chemical Society. new and improved catalysts for use in high Busy young men like Dr. Juveland have Polymer chemistry. In the photograph. Dr. found opportunity and work to their liking in Juveland is recording data on a polymerization the Standard Oil Laboratories at Whiting, process taking place in this research area. Indiana. They share in the progress and ac- complishment which contribute so much to Dr. Juveland is one of the group of young the technical advancement and improvement scientists in Standard's Hydrocarbon and required by America's expanding economy. Chemicals Research Division. Born in Lake YOUR LEADERSHIP CAREER with INGERSOLL-RAND N ovivebusiness or industry could long sur- without pumps. Their vital liquid- engaged in research, design, manufacture or sales of I-R pumps, you can be sure of three moving function is a fundamental part of things — prestige, permanence and progress. our modern civilization. That's why pump The Company is a leader in its field, and engineering offers such a varied and fascinat- ing career — cutting across virtually every so are the men you will work with. Here, branch of every industry. long-range security and opportunities for ad- vancement are second to none. For further Ingersoll-Rand's Cameron Pump Division information on leadership careers at Ingersoll- in Phillipsburg. N.J., is one of the oldest, Rand, contact your Placement Office, or write largest and most progressive pump manu- to Ingersoll-Rand, 11 Broadway, New York facturing plants in the world. As an engineer 4, New York. QUALITY shows when the chips are down The Allegheny stainless the job better, lasts longer and costs less in and super high-temperature steels used in the long run than any other material on jet and rocket aircraft engines and equip- the market. ment are pure economy, Decause they do There may be many occasions in your the job that's required of them, and they industrial future when Allegheny Stainless last! They stand up under metal-killing con- and other special steels can help you either ditions of heat, load and corrosion, and to make money or to save it. Or you may they're dependable. decide to make our career yours: the develop- There are lots of other jobs for stainless ment and engineering of stainless and heat- Steel that aren't as spectacular, or perhaps as resistant steels; tool and electrical steels; tough, as those aboard a jet. Hospital, dairy sintered carbides and magnetic materials; titanium, zirconium and other special-prop- and restaurant equipment are good examples, erty metals. • In either case, we'll be or the many uses in cars, trains, appliances, delighted to talk to you and work with you. buildings and homes. Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation, Oliver But, in these and thousands of other cases, Building, Pittsburgh 22, Pennsylvania. Stainless again gets the call because it does Solar Energy! The rapidly diminishing energy supplies of our We have learned to use our fuel more efficiently, country, as well as other countries of the world, is be- replacing fire places with furnaces and steam locomo- coming of great concern to present day engineers tives with diesels. But the most effective solution is and scientists. The generations of the future will be to use a substitute for coal, oil, gas, etc. dependent on the engineers of today if they are to enjoy as bountiful an economy as our own. How will Solar energy and atomic energy are hopeful pos- our children survive without coal, oil, or natural gas? sibilities. The total amount of atomic energy that can It is estimated that all of the earth's economically be produced by nuclear fission of known supplies of usable fossil fuel may be consumed within 60 to 70 uranium (and thorium) exceeds the total amount from years. In another 100 to 175 years we may run out of all our fossil fuel supplies. When the economic prob- nuclear fuels. The sun will be with us, however, as lem of extracting uranium from low grade ores is long as there are people on the earth. We are just solved, the atomic energy available can greatly ex- beginning to think about using solar energy. ceed our fossil fuel energy. But uranium and thorium are in limited supply, just as coal and oil are. Nuclear All our energy comes originally from the sun. fission of hydrogen remains a difficult and remote pos- Through the marvelous process of photosynthesis sibility for continuing our sources of energy into the which we are just beginning to understand, the carbon distant future. dioxide in air and water combine in living plants through the agency of sunlight in the presence of The eventual answer seems to be the use of solar chlorophyll. But industrialized nations cannot begin energy. The climate of the earth will not change to live off the current product of sunshine. For run- sensibily for the next ten trillion years. The sun can ning their machines they depend almost entirely on be considered an almost infinite source of energy. the solar energy of bygone ages, accumulated by Each year the earth receives from the sun at least photosynthesis and preserved by geological accidents 3.2 x 10 21 Btu of energy, or the annual equivalent of as fossil fuels. Buried trees give us coal, and the de- about 122 trillion tons of bituminous coal. In a single composition of small photosynthesizing organisms day, 1.5 square miles of the earth's surface obtains give us petroleum. These sources of energy are ir- from the sun enough energy to equal that of one replaceable because their rate of production is so Hiroshima type atom bomb. In the United States very slow. alone, the energy annually obtained from the sun is fully 2000 times the nation's total energy requirements. How much fuel do we consume? In the United Although solar energy is everywhere, the problem States, we feed ourselves about 3000 kilocalories of is how best to use it. food per person per day, but we feed our machines at the rate of 150,000 kilocalories. This energy runs our factories, our automobiles, and our trains and Very few methods for harnessing solar energy heats our buildings. It does all our work for us ex- have been developed that can begin to compete eco- cept what is done by hydroelectricity. The world's nomically with conventional sources of power; coal, demands for energy are increasing rapidly, not only oil, and gas. This is why large-scale applications of because of the population increase, but also because solar energy today are, with few exceptions, the same each person is demanding more of the products manu- as those known to the cave man. This does not mean factured. that new, practical, large-scale applications may not emerge within the foreseeable future, particularly as 60 Frank A. Schreihans, the author of SOLAR ENERGY, is a senior in Chemical Engineering. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi and Phi Lambda Tau, both Engineering Honoraries, he is also a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He is married and has three chil- dren. In his spare time he lifts weights for the Michigan State Weight Lifting Team. supplies of conventional fuels decline sharply and There are several areas in Asia and Africa where solar prices rise accordingly. distillation of sea water and brackish water from wells would be of great help. In one specific case One of the oldest applications of solar energy is in 2000 gallons per day were needed for a fish cannery the production of high temperatures. This use dates on the eastern coast of Africa and this water was back even before the time of Archimedes, who was brought a long distance by ship. Here distillation of a solar energy pioneer. In 1774, Antoine Lavoisier sea water would prove economical even at the present. used solar energy to melt iron. Several years ago, William M. Conn, at Rockhurst College in Kansas During World War II, Massachusetts Institute of City, Missouri, erected a ten-foot parabolic aluminum Technology developed a solar distiller that has now mirror that was able to produce temperatures up to become standard equipment on life rafts. Solar energy- 3000° C in as little as ten seconds. Conn's solar fur- can also be applied to the recovery of salts from nace, which created a 0.3 inch spot of heat, was used brine. Currently in the United States hundreds of primarily in the study of metals and refractories-their thousands of tons of salt are annually produced by melting point, high-temperature and modifications, solar evaporation. a nd potential used as structural components in jet engines. Continual efforts are being made to increase the rate at which sea water can be solar-evaporated. Re- Solar energy permits extremely high temperatures searchers, working with brines from the Dead Sea, to be developed instantaneously and without the in- have found that solar evaporation can be greatly ac- troduction of chemical contaminants (carbon, for ex- celerated by the use of special dyes that step up the ample, in the case of electric furnaces). Despite these absorption of solar energy. advantages, solar furnaces have thus far found few. According to a report by the Presidents Materials any, large scale commercial applications. Policy Commission, the potential market for solar The elevated temperatures developed in solar heating in the United States may be more than thir- furnaces can be used to generate steam, which, in teen million units by 1975. The report estimates that turn, can operate small engines. The production of these heating units will cost about $2000 to $3000 Power by solar energy seems feasible, but the lenses apiece. This could satisfy about ten percent of the and reflecting mirrors that have so far been developed nation's energy requirements in 1975. About 20,000 have not been notably effective over large areas houses in Florida already have roof-mounted solar nevessary for the conversion of heat into work. collectors to supply hot water. Another barrier is the immense capital investment that The big advantages of solar space heating will would be required to build a sizable plant. probably be based mainly on a type of heating in During the past lew years, the National Physical which solar energy is not merely captured and put Laboratory in Pusa, India, has been investigating the to use at once, but is captured, stored, and used as use of solar energy for the production of steam to needed. The difference means a more elaborate and drive low-horsepower engines. These engines would costly building design, but one that is essential if solar be used to drive water pumps and small looms. energy is to become an effective replacement for the fuels now used for space heating. The distillation of salt water seems economically (Continued on Page 62) feasible in areas where fresh water is at a premium. 61 SOLAR ENERGY or reflectors. With flat plate generators, about 1% of the intercepted solar energy is converted to electricity. (Continued from Page 81) When the solar energy is focused either by lenses or One of the first ventures in Improved solar heating reflectors that continually follow the sun, efficiencies Will a house built at Massachuscttes Institute of Tech- of 3.5% have been attained. nology. In this four room dwelling, the sloping south roof was covered by a glass-enclosed metal plate that In future large scale applications, the use of ther- served as the heat collector. Water warmed by con- mocouples may be seriously curtailed by the high tact with the collector was pumped into a 1200 gal- cost of the thermocouple material that would neces- lon tank in the attic, and from there, was circulated sarily be involved if an effort were made, for example, throughout the house for space heating. to tap the total solar energy available in an area of several acres. Also important is the problem of elec- A major drawback of this method is the difficulty trical resistance of this material. However, there is encountered in maintaining uniform interior tempera- always a possibility that new, improved alloys will be tures. Maria Telkes, then at M.I.T., in an effort to developed that will overturn all present notions about overcome this difficulty, devised a chemical method the upper limits of thermoelectric efficiency. of storing solar heat In use of a compound that un- dergoes a phase change at a constant temperature For the direct conversion of sunlight into elec- somewhere in the desired range of 90° to 100°F. The trical energy, photovoltaic cells and photogalvanic compound selected was Glauber's salt, the decahy- cells are available. In the former, electricity is gen- drate of sodium sulfate. At 90' F., this compound erated when light falls on one of a pair of dissimilar loses its water of hydration and, at a uniform tem- metals or oxides. A typical photovoltaic cell consists perature and with a continuous input of heat, is of a copper disk covered on one side with a thin layer gradually converted to anhydrous sodium sulfate. of selenium. In the operation of a selenium cell, only Mainly because of this transformation, one cubic foot about 0.1% of the incident sunlight is converted to of Glauber's salt is able to store about 8.5 times more electrical energy. heat than an equal volume of water when the tem- peratures of both are raised from 80° to 100°F. As a typical photogalvanic reaction, an electrical potential is generated between illuminated and dark In a solar house employing chemical heat storage, cells of thionine and iron sulfate as a result of the air wanned by contact with the heat collector is cir- light sensitivity of the oxidation-reduction equilibrium culated to a heat storage bin filled with closed con- of these two materials. Here again, a serious short- tainers of Glauber's salt. From the storage area, the coming is the low efficiency of energy conversion. warm air is circulated to the rest of the house. At night, as the circulating air cools down, the anhydrous The new solar battery announced by Bell Tele- salt picks us water of crystallization and gives off heat, phone Laboratories is able now on a small scale to thus minimi/ing the fluctuations in air temperature. convert sunlight directly into electricity with 112 This method of chemical heat storage was first efficiency. Sunlight has also furnished enough power put into practical use in Dover House, built at Dover, to run a midget transmitter, which had a broadcast Massachusetts, in 1948. This four-room house, con- range of about eight miles. structed at a cost of $33,000, including $3000 for the A sizable share of research in the solar energy solar heating equipment, uses some 21 tons of Glau- field is focused on the basic study of photosynthesis. ber's salt. Although, thus far, chemical heat storage Although photosynthesis is fundamental to life it- has been applied only to domestic space heating, its self, the efficiency of utilization of sunlight in the use in industrial space heating and in the temperature production of farm crops is extremely limited. In the control of chemical reactors may have very definite temperate zone, only about 0.1 to 0.5% of the total solar possibilities in the future. radiation that annually falls on an acre of land is fixed as organic matter. Quite likely, solar heating in the future will move ahead most rapidly in southern areas of the United One of the major scientific challenges is to dis- States, where sufficient sunshine is available the cover new ways to utilize more effectively the photo- year around. In such states as Florida, Texas, Arizona synthetic processes of nature. An ultimate goal is the and California, the use of solar energy as a means of industrialization of photosynthesis, the large scale producing domestic hot water has already made growing of crops under strictly controlled industrial noticeable headway. In these solar water heaters, a conditions to insure the maximum use of sunlight in network of pipes is ordinarily mounted on the roof the production of foods, fuels, and chemical raw ma- and exposed to the sun from behind one or two layers terials. of glass. The sun-heated water, at a temperature of approximately 150°F., is stored in an insulated tank In this field there is always the possibility that for use as needed. ways can be found to combine carbon dioxide and water in the production of carbohydrates, without the Intensive studies have been underway to increase use of chlorophyll and living organisms. Theoretically, the efficiency with which solar energy can be con- there is no reason why this cannot be done. verted to electricity by the use of either heat-sensitive or light sensitive devices. Where heat is used, the Much work is being carried out today on photo- most common devices are thermocouples or thermo- synthetic reactions that do not necessarily involve piles. In solar thermoelectric generators, the sun's formation of compounds identical with those pro- rays are ordinarily intercepted by flat plates, lenses duced by living organisms. Such photochemical re- actions as the oxidation of water to hydrogen peroxide on light-activated zinc oxide surfaces are being ex- nary window glass. In 1946, in another Russian pro- plored. Research headed by Lawrence J. Heidt of ject, a solar converter, also employing parabolic mir- M.I.T. has centered around the study of sunlight as rors, began supplying power to a cannery at Tashkent a means of producing both hydrogen and oxygen in Central Asia, where a solar research institute is now from aquaious solutions containing cerous and ceric located. ions. This approach, involving the photosynthesis of energy rich fuels, is believed to offer the best promise Many problems exist in solar energy research; such of partly overcoming at least two of the major draw- as, the cost of solar energy conversion, the intermit- backs of solar energy—its unavailability at night and tancy of sunlight, and the fact that solar energy, al- its inability to be transported about in concentrated though abundant, is diffused over immense areas. The form as such. The hydrogen and oxygen could be expenditures of billions—as was required for the de- stored and later combined to give back the stored velopment of atomic energy—would mean real pro- energy. gress in use of the world's number one energy source. The meteorological implications of solar energy The biggest problem is manpower. It takes engi- can not be neglected. If improved methods for pro- neers and scientists to develop sunlight into an eco- tecting crops against frost could be devised, and nomical source of power. They are needed to tackle growing season thus lengthened, the food supply in such problems as solar heat transfer, development of certain areas of the world could be increased ap- improved photogalvanic cells, and better understand- preciably. Conversely, if absorption could be induced ing of the fundamental mechanisms of photosynthesis. on snow surfaces so that melting would be speeded, And in the future, they will be called upon to design, the ground would be available for planting sooner construct and operate the large scale installations in the spring. Meteorology could make an important that will make possible the mass utilization of solar contribution to the advancement of solar energy by energy. developing an improved method for specifying the amount of solar radiation at any given point on the As the University of Wisconsin's Farrington Dan- globe. Expensive shields and ditches are now being iels predicted some years ago: "When we have used used in California to conserve solar radiation and to up much of our coal and oil, exploited our available influence wind currents as to minimize frost damage. land with intensive farming, the trebled our popula- tion, we will unquestionably be able to call upon the The Russians have been active in the field of solar sun to give us the means to satisfy our ever-increasing power. In 1941, F. F. Molero of the U. S. S. R. Acad- demands for fuel, food and power. But there is a long emy of Sciences constructed an experimental solar and challenging road of research and development energy plant at Stalingrad. To focus the sun rays, which must be followed first . . . We cannot eat sun- Molero used 33-foot parabolic mirrors made of ordi- shine." Wellesley Road Bridge, a smaller London project NEW DEVELOPMENTS is also making use of the natural rubber bearing in- (Continued from Page 52) novation. Bearings are now available with nominal capacities Revolutionary Natural Rubber Bridge Bearing of 50 and 100 tons. In appearance, the bearings are merely large blocks of rubber—the 100-ton unit meas- Until the advent of a new natural rubber bearing uring 24" x 16" x 7 1/8" deep, and the smaller unit that has just been introduced in England, bridge 11" x 16" x 7/1/8"deep. Actually, however, the rubber engineers were restricted to the traditional nests of is interlayered with steel plates. These plates have rollers or sliding plates for bridge expansion bear- a minimum cover of 1/4" of natural rubber about their ings. The problem with these was maintenance. Rollers edges and are therefore unaffected by the elements. tend to wear flat after a period of time. Both rollers and plates are subject to rust. Now a new natural The shear ratings of the bearings are the same rubber bearing fulfills all requirements of longitudinal in any direction in the horizontal plane. The compres- movement, with the added benefit of long life with sion rating of the two bearings is such that for most no maintenance whatsoever. bridge work the bearing can be regarded as a pinned support, the actual rotational stiffness for the longer This bearing was introduced in the construction bearing being 1,800 tons ft. per radian. of London's Pelham Bridge, a quarter of a mile in Bearings with greater capacity and different prop- length with dual vehicular roadways and pedestrian erties are now being developed. Work is being par- Pavement. The end spans of the bridge are reinforced ticularly concentrated on bearings with vee'd plates concrete. The center spans, which total 288 ft. and which provide lateral stiffness with the same longi- cross the railway, are constructed with welded steel tudinal rating and also with domed bearings which grinders, composite with concrete deck slab. These have high lateral stiffness in all directions but low are the spans that are to be supported on the newly rotational stiffness. designed rubber bearings. EATING YOURSELF TO DEATH increase and the presure decreases, a suction effect is created." As the blood stream moves along the veins, it also has speed and pressure. In the circulatory system, the suction effect is produced when the blood is absorbed and the form in which it is eaten. There moves around an abrupt curve and at points of are two kinds of Fat; animal and vegetable. Recent branching. experiments carried out by Cooper and associates in- volved the intake of buttrfat versus corn oil. The suction thus caused pulls the inside of the vessel walls toward the center of the vessel. If the It was found that with an increase in butterfat suction continues to irritate the vessel wall, it will and a decrease in eorn oil, there was a rise in the begin to thicken at these points, perhaps building up cholesterol level of the blood. This result was at- a clot. When stress, exertion or emotional disturbances tributed to two things; an elevating factor in butter- cause sudden increases in the heart beat and speed fat and a depressant factor in corn oil. This indicates of the blood, there will not be enough room for the that the rise in the cholesterol level was due not only extra blood to pass by the clot or else the clot will to the fael that animal fats are more readily absorbed, break off and hemorrhaging will take place. but that vegetable fats have the property of interfer- ing with absorption. In either case, essentially the same thing happens; the passage of the blood will be blocked or internal The above evidence seems to show that if a per- hemorrhaging will take place. son's cholesterol level was too high, he could remedy the situation by eating only vegetable fats. A solution An overabundance of cholesterol can cause gall is not this simple, however, because the vegetable stones and a diseased fatty liver as well as contribute fats are lacking in sonic of the essential fatty acids. to atherosclerosis. Gall stones can be removed by Therefore it would seriously impair your health if surgery, however, so their formation is not quite as you neglected to eat animal fats; besides, many of serious. the animal fats are the most appealing to the appetite. Other factors besides dietary ones seem to effect Now just what happens when an atherosclerotic the cholesterol level of the blood and coronary con- condition exists and what bearing might cholesterol ditions. Many characteristics of modern-day life are have on such a condition? Atherosclerosis results from potential contributors to an increase in diseases of a thickening of the walls of the arteries thus blocking the heart. the passage of blood from the heart to the cells of the body. Of course, when it completely blocks the Cholesterol has been studied because the fat in- artery, death results. take of the average American has increased greatly in the last twenty years. There is a comparable in- There are several things which could cause a crease in atherosclerosis. It has also been found that thickening of this wall. The exact part that cholesterol the serum-cholesterol level of the blood is higher in plays has not been definitely established, but thus far, people suffering from atherosclerosis than it is in a evidence seems to indicate that hypereholesterolaemia, normal person. an overabundance of cholesterol in the blood seems to coincide with evidences of atherosclerosis. There is a tendency for a greater number of per- sons in high income brackets to have coronary dis- Ordinarily, the cholesterol is slowly absorbed eases; the fat intake is also higher in these groups. through the walls of the larger veins. When more cholesterol has been taken into the body than it can Exercise enters into the picture when it is brought dispose of, either by utilizing it or eleminating it, it to mind that modern mechanization has cut down is no longer able to permeate the walls of the veins. on the physical work exerted by human beings. It It is especially hard for the cholesterol molecules to has been shown that there is a greater degree of penetrate the thicker veins, so it begins to deposit at coronary ailments among those who hold sedentary the sites of these larger veins in the body. jobs than there are among people who are more active regardless of social group. Other particles present in the blood stream begin to become attached to these thick spots along the Almost every day, scientists and researchers are vein. As this progresses, one of two things can happen. finding out something new about cholesterol and Either the vein will eventually be blocked completely, heart disease. They are able to establish more re- or the whole lump may break away from the lining lationships like those listed above. The work is far of the vein causing hemorrhaging to occur. Death from finished at this point, though, and they will be usually results in any case. the first ones to caution you against radically changing your diet until these findings have been definitely Dr. Meyer Texon of the New York University established. Post-Graduate Medical School has offered an explana- tion of why sudden heart attacks occur after exertion One of the prime concerns of doctors, nutritionists or emotional disturbances. Bernoulli's theorem in and scientists is that you realize the importance of physics states that "fluid in motion possesses energy both fat and cholesterol in your diet. Remember that because of its speed and pressure. When the speed you can eat yourself to death by eliminating certain 64 foods from your diet as well as by overdoing it! Karen Paulson, author of "Are You Eating Yourself To Death?" is a graduating senior in Home Economics- Journalism. She is president of the Home Economics Journalism club, and a member of the Home Economics club. She is affiliated with Delta Gamma and is pledging Omicron Nu, the Home Economics Honorary. Small steel tube with a giant memory IBM engineers needed a small analysis of Timken® fine alloy steel tube—a memory unit for a seamless steel tubing. IBM computer—whose whirling sur- found the steel so clean that face would pick up thousands of when properly plated it accu- complicated figures as magnetic rately recorded up to 100,000 impulses, retain and, years later, electro-magnetic impulses. So read them back instantly. This strong it withstood the centrif- called for the cleanest, most uni- ugal forces of 12,000 rpm with- form quality steel that could be out distortion or damage. It's produced. IBM consulted Tim- another example of how Timken ken Company metallurgists, Company metallurgists solved who recommended a certain tough steel problems. 1958-1959 The Ramo-Wooldridge Fellowships for Graduate Study at the California Institute of Technology or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Leading toward the Ph. D. or Sc. D. degree as offered by each institution The Ramo-Wooldridge Fellowships have been estab- ELIGIBILITY The general requirements for eligibil- lished in recognition of the great scarcity of scientists ity are that the candidate be an American citizen who and engineers who have the very special qualifications has completed one or more years of graduate study in required for work in Systems Engineering and Opera- mathematics, engineering or science before July 1958. tions Research, and of the rapidly increasing national The Fellowships will also be open to persons who have need for such individuals. Recipients of these Fellow- already received a Doctor's degree and who wish to ships will have an opportunity to pursue a broad undertake an additional year of study focused specifi- course of graduate study in the fundamental mathe- cally on Systems Engineering or Operations Research. matics, physics, and engineering required for careers A W A R D S The awards for each Fellowship granted in these fields, and will also have an opportunity to will consist of three portions. The first will be an associate and work with experienced engineers educational grant disbursed through the Institute and scientists. attended of not less than $2,000, with possible upward Systems Engineering encompasses difficult advanced adjustment for candidates with family responsibilities. design problems of the type which involve inter- The second portion will be the salary paid to the actions, compromises, and a high degree of optimiza- Fellow for summer and part-time work at The Ramo- tion between portions of complex complete systems. Wooldridge Corporation. The salary will depend upon This includes taking into account the characteristics his age and experience and amount of time worked, of human beings who must operate and otherwise but will normally be approximately $2,000. The third interact with the systems. portion will be a grant of $2,100 to the school to cover Operations Research involves the application of the tuition and research expenses. scientific method of approach to complex manage- ment and operational problems. Important in such ap- plication is the ability to develop mathematical models of operational situations and to apply mathematical tools to the solution of the problems that emerge. The program for each Fellow covers approximately a twelve-month period, part of which is spent at The Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation, and the remainder at the California Institute of Technology or the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology working toward the Doctor's degree, or in post-doctoral study. Fellows in good standing may apply for renewal of the Fellow- ship for a second year. Now you can see why only | Eagle Turquoise leads & pencils give you perfectly SharP drawings YOU ALWAYS GET PROVEN QUALITY FROM TURQUOISE DRAWING LEADS AND PENCILS PROVEN GRADING —17 different formulae make sure you get exactly the line you expect— from every pencil, every time. PROVEN DURABILITY—Because compact lead structure gives off no chunks of useless "dust" to blow away, Turquoise wears down more slowly. PROVEN NEEDLE-POINT STRENGTH—as electron photomicrograph shows, Turquoise lead struc- ture is finer-and therefore stronger. It holds a needle point under drawing pressures for long lines of unchanging width. Going around in circles? Chances are you're wondering what your future holds. At Douglas, long- range projects of tremendous scope assure a constant variety of assignments... and the opportunity to expand your responsibilities. Douglas is headed by engineers who believe that promotion must come from within. They'll stimulate you to build a rewarding future in your field. Radio receivers operate on the principle of select- way to do a given job using standard, commercially- Ing from a wide range of available energy some available parts. specific bit of energy containing desired information. Filtering is a scheme used by designers of radio There are, in general, three types of filters com- communication systems to accomplish this feat. For mercially available. These are: yean, Biters have been used to cut out, or do away 1. LC Filters with, unwanted radio energy so that desired energy can be effectively used. Home radios and television 2. Mechanical Filters, and now receivers have several filters built into them. Military 3. Crystal Filters radios, in general, have even more filters. LC Filters are networks made up of coils and A filter is an electronic network of components condensers; they represent the most conventional which will allow only certain signals to pass through approach to making filters which electronic design- it. Most Biters are Individually designed for the spe- ers have used in the past. Mechanical filters make cific job they have to do. However, there are certain use of vibrating metal structures to filter out unde- places in radio, radar, and television circuits where sirable signals which have been transformed to vibra- the same type of filter often turns out to be necessary. tions. The newest and best type of filter, the crystal Therefore, manufacturers of radio and electronic de- filter, makes use of networks of tiny quartz crystals. vices have standardized certain filter types. Up to High frequency quartz crystal filters are smaller, now, most of these standard filters have been made more reliable, and simpler than their counterparts ol coils and condensers. made of coils and condensers or mechanical struc- Crystal filters do the same basic job as long- tures. The crystal filters also do a better job of standing conventional filters, but crystal filters do filtering. the job much better, especially at high Frequencies. Nature has arranged things such that it is easier In addition, crystal filters make possible the design to turn a sharp corner when there is less resistance of new types of equipment never before possible. to turning. In the case of filters, sharp corners are Single-sideband radio equipment makes particu- the desired end product. Abrupt changes in response larly good use of crystal filters. In single-sideband to signals of different frequencies is what designers transmission, effectively half of each radio signal is try to achieve in a filter. The less resistance an el- filtered out at the transmitter and then later rein- ement has, the easier it is to bring about abrupt serted at the receiver by electronic means. The very changes in response. Quartz, which is an extremely nature of a single-sideband system makes a good stable crystal substance, has the fortunate character- filter the heart of the system. istic of possessing very little resistance to vibration at certain discrete frequencies. The frequency at Crystal filters are desirable for high frequency which any particular piece of quartz crystal will single-sideband systems because a crystal filter has vibrate without much resistance is dependent upon an inherently sharper rejectional ability than other the dimensions of the crystal and mounting tech- types of filters. Use of crystal filters in a radio receiver, niques. In general, a given piece of quartz crystal especially at frequencies above conventional home radio bands, makes possible the design of a simpler will vibrate easily at one specific frequency, but will radio set than is feasible with conventional filters not tend to vibrate at all at any other frequency. made of coils and condensers. This fact is the key to filters made of quartz crystals. For any communication or navigation system Quartz filters make use of several wafers of quartz; usually either two, four, or eight. The wafers, or where it is necessary or desirable to transmit and individual crystals, are arranged in a lattice or bridge receive a narrow band of information, the job can network configuration so that the entire network has be done better using a crystal filter than any other certain desired characteristics. The characteristics de- type of commercially available filter. In many in- sired and achieved in the filters are as follows. stances the use of a crystal filter represents the only Consider an antenna normally connected to a radio 72 Spartan Engineer receiver. This antenna is susceptible to a considerable many schemes have been advanced to make better portion of the radio energy passing by it. However, use of a given finite band width of frequencies. One the radio receiver is only useful to a listener if of the better schemes is single-sideband transmission some intelligible information emanates from it. If all in which half the frequencies are arbitrarily filtered the information contained in all the radio frequencies out and thrown away. This leaves the omitted fre- to which the antenna is sensitive were simultaneously quency band available for other people to use. In presented to the listener, the result would be a gar- order to achieve such clever manipulation of frequen- bled hodge-podge of noise, with essentially no intel- cies, however, extremely good filters are required. ligible information resulting. So the receiver is "tuned" The filters must be able to allow desired frequencies to a narrow range of frequencies which contain only through a system virtually untouched, but at the the information desired at one particular time. same time must suppress immediately adjacent fre- quencies. Hence the sharp corner. The sharper the Unfortunately, speech cannot be transmitted via corner the filter can turn, the higher is its "selectivity" radio on one single frequency. So it is general prac- that is the more nearly can the filter approach the tice to tune a receiver to a specific frequency, the ideal situation of allowing one frequency to pass one read on the dial, and allow the receiver to pick through, but completely blocking the next adjacent up signals close to the dial frequency. Normally, the frequency along the line. Crystal filters approximate signals picked up, or detected, are equally spaced this Utopian situation much more closely than other on both sides of the dial frequency. The resulting existing types of filters. information which comes out of the loudspeaker is therefore a summation of information contained in The ability for a filter to have high "selectivity" a band of frequencies. The center of the band is the is primarily determined by the "Q" of the elements frequency to which the radio receiver is tuned. This used in the filter. Q or "quality factor" is an arbitrary frequency is normally referred to as the center fre- symbol which permits the engineer to determine how quency of a station. The band of frequencies over much energy is dissipated or wasted by the filter which intelligible information is transmitted is called element. The higher the Q, the less the wasted en- just that, a frequency band. (In the case of home ergy, and therefore, the better the filter. In addition, radio receivers, this band is a few thousand cycles the same filter, produced at a higher frequency, will in width.) require a higher Q for the same performance or selectivity. Conventional coils used in L-C filters have An essential part of a radio receiver, therefore, Q's in the order of 200, while the elements employed is a filter which will discriminate against all other in Mechanical filters have Q's of about 2000. On the frequencies exclusive of the frequency band of the other hand, ordinary quartz crystals have Q's which station being received. Crystal filters are designed to range from 20,000 to 200,000. In other words, the make the receivers extremely receptive to the fre- crystal filter can be made a great deal better than quency band desired, and at the same time extremely the L-C or Mechanical filter at low frequencies, and non-receptive to unwanted frequencies, outside the furthermore, can be produced at high frequencies band. where the other filters will not perform. Communication systems more sophisticated than Quartz crystals have been used for years to con- home radios vary the basic theme somewhat. Since trol the frequency of oscillation of oscillators. It has he range of frequencies available in nature is neces- sarily limited, and since more and more people con- tinually want to get on the air with information. Stovepipes that Fly! Ramjets, commonly called flying stovepipes, look together with the burning of a fuel to produce the much like their nickname. If you will picture in your fluid jet for propulsion purposes. mind, a stovepipe you will have an idea of the basic shape of the ramjet. They were invented by Henri Thermal jet engines may be classified into three Lorin, a Frenchman, in 1913. In those early years of main groups; the ramjet; the pulsejet; and the turbo- aviation, his invention created little interest. The jet. Wright Brothers had flown their plane at Kitty Hawk, The ramjet is the simplest form of thermal jet en- North Carolina on August 25, 1902, only eleven years gine. It consists of a suitably shaped duct equipped earlier. Lorin's invention was put aside and attracted with fuel burners. The ramjet has no moving parts. little attention until 1938. Inside the engine is a fuel injection nozzzle and a In 1938, Rene' Leduc, a French engineer, exhibited spark plug. The only moving parts of the engine are his design of the ramjet at the Paris Salon de L'Avia- accessories such as the fuel pump. tion. Leduc's design was never built, and no one They may be linked to the turbojet engines with- knows if it would have flown. Leduc named his design out the compressor and turbine. It is a compressorless the Aero-THermODYnamic-Duct or the ATHODYD. engine only in the sense that it has neither a rotary Some engineers still use this name, but I shall refer compressor nor a piston. Our interest in the ramjet to the engine as the ramjet. as an engine lies chiefly in its simplicity, the high His design was by far in advance of the aircraft speed attainable, and in its low weight. being built in 1938. The needle-nosed planes of today bear some resemblance to his design. The mechanical simplicity of ramjets may lead you to think that their operation is equally simple. The In general, thermal jet engines refer to any jet- apparent simplicity is deceiving, as ramjet combus- propulsion device which uses air from the atmosphere, tion and flow operations are very complex processes. John F. Artman, the student author of "Stovepipes That Fly," is a Senior majoring in Ag Education and is a member of the Ag Education club. He is from West Branch, Michigan and plans to enter the teaching field upon graduation. In the actual engine many problems are far from Since the ramjet is mainly a supersonic power completely solved. Engineers are trying to solve the plant, shock losses at the diffuser opening are of major effect of varying speeds and altitudes on ram com- importance. pression efficiency, and the cause of pulsations in The combustion-chamber design and function is the tube. The temperature, pressure, velocity and spe- one of the major problems in ramjet design confront- cific volume all change at the same time, and con- ing engineers. Large quantities of fuel must be burned tinuously as the gases progress through the ramjet efficiently in a small space without excessive pressure tube. drop. The condition of low pressure drop and high Newton's third law of motion is the principle be- efficiency are almost in direct opposite. A high de- hind the ramjet. His law is that for every action there gree of turbulence is necessary for efficient combus- is an opposite and equal reaction. Those of you who tion in small volumes. Pressure drop in a ramjet en- have fired a rifle know this reaction as the recoil gine is a more serious matter than in a turbojet en- that kicks the butt against your shoulder. A jet plane gine. The engine will not be efficient at low flight similarly recoils from the thrust of its jet. speeds since the compression pressure will be low. The operating principle of a ramjet is to induct air At some point in the chamber, ignition of the fuel into the unit and increase its pressure. Fuel is burned and air mixture must take place. At this point the continuously in this air. Heated gases are produced, speed of the air must be low or continuous burning and these gases are ejected at high speed out the rear of the fuel is impossible. To attain enough "back up" of the engine in the form of a jet. The device is a pressure it is desirable to speed the combustion gases continuous firing duct, operating with a continuous to sonic velocity. If the speed of the air is very fast flow of atmospheric air. Basically this is what is hap- it will blow the flame out the rear of the engine. This pening in any jet plane you see operating. is a "flame out." the fear of all pilots because they may not have enough time to start the engine before Compression is obtained by using the forward they crash. The correct gas flow speed is attained motion of the aircraft to produce a very forceful by use of a "flame holder." Figure II is a drawing Pressure or "ram" in the supersonic diffuser section of a flame holder. of the engine. Because it is necessary to have a high compression pressure, engineers must design the diffuser as effici- ently as possible. The velocity of the air entering the diffuserdecreasesfromthespeed of the plane to about 200 feet per second. In flight slower than the speed of sound (738 miles per hour or less), the design of diffusers having efficiencies up to 95 percent is pos- sible. In flights faster than the speed of sound ( super- sonic) the diffuser design is made difficult by various thermodynamic (heat converted into motive power) and arodynamic (pressures exerted by air) uncer- tainties that are not fully understood by engineers. In a study by Keenan and Kaye, it was found that 85 per- cent efficiency could be obtained in the supersonic diffuser. Electronics Research Engineer Irving Alne records radiation antenna pattern on Lockheed's Radar Range. Twenty-two foot plastic tower in background minimizes ground reflections, approximates free space. Pattern integrator, high gain amplifier, square root amplifier and logarithmic amplifier shown in picture are of Lockheed design. Mechanical Research Engineer W. M. Watkins (left) directs Research Mechanic Earl Rollo in operating Lockheed's new Hailstone Gun during a test on the effect of hailstones on new types of plastic radome "skin." The gun, which was designed by Watkins and Mechanisms Group Engineer G. W. Louthan, fires up to five hailstones spaced 25 feet apart at speeds ranging from 270 to 500 mph. The hailstones, which are made in the gun, can be varied in size from 3/8" in diameter. C. H. Fish, design engineer assigned to Lockheed's Icing Research Research Engineer Russell Lowe measures dynamic Tunnel, measures impingement strain applied by Lockheed's 500,000 lb. limits of ice on C-130 wing section. Force Fatigue Machine on lest specimen of The tunnel has a temperature integrally-stiffened Super Constellation skin. range of —40°F. to +150°F. and The Fatigue Machine gives Structures maximum speed of more than Department engineers a significant advantage 270 mph. It is the only icing in simulating effect of flight loads on a research tunnel in private industry. structure. Among other Lockheed structures facilities are the only shimmy tower in private industry and largest drop test tower in the nation. Fine atomization of the fuel is aided by turbulence STOVEPIPES THAT FLY! producing ducts in the nozzle. (See Figure 4 Page 78.) (Continued from Page 75) A spring loaded valve cuts off the flow when the fuel bustion is present, which reduces the chance for a pressure drops at the end of injection. "flame out." One disadvantage of the flame holder is that it will be a source of pressure loss if the flow Variable fuel openings are difficult to manufacture speed entering the chamber should change. and to match. It is difficult to attain uniform char- acteristics in the different burners of an engine. A Temperatures at the combustion-chamber exit will nozzle developed in the United States by Ex-Cell-O range from 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit to 4,000 degrees Corporation has been quite successful. The nozzle Fahrenheit. Engineers are trying to attain still higher appeares in Figure IV. temperatures. The exhaust nozzle, or the opening at the rear of Other nozzles have been developed and some are the engine also determines the speed of the plane. quite good. One was developed in England by Joseph There are three main types of exhaust nozzles. Figure Lucas and it is used on the Rolls-Royce Nene jet III is a drawing of the exhaust nozzles. engine. Nozzle A is the form suitable for speeds below Fuels for ramjet engines must have these char- that of sound. Nozzle B would be used for speeds acteristics. They must be quick to evaporate, have a above that of sound. Nozzle C would be used when low flash point, and a very low freezing point. They the combustion-chamber temperatures are so high must also be easily handled and have a relatively that the speed of the gases in the combustion-cham- high heat content. ber reaches the speed of sound. With richer mixtures and more efficient conver- sion of energy, the jet speed is increased. High thrust The fuel system of a jet engine is equally im- power is attained by the use of accurately propor- portant as the engine. Power control is accomplished tioned fuel-air ratios. Such mixtures introduce new by varying either the quantity or the quality of the problems in burner design. Nearly all the air must combustion mixture. come in contact with the fuel spray. Little excess Quality control, used in most jet engines is at- air is left for cooling the combustion gases. tained by varying the fuel flow. Proper precautions Fuels now used are gasoline, kerosene, and light must be taken by the pilot, or simple throttling of fuel oils. Each fuel can be tailor-made by chemists the fuel can result in harmful burner operating char- for the type of engine in which it will be used. acteristics. Rapid and complete burning of the fuel The ramjet is a very high-speed engine, and there depends on the fineness of the spray. The quantity seems to be no limit to its speed. The faster a ramjet of fuel will increase as the fuel is divided into smaller goes the more efficient its operation becomes. We are and smaller drops. The rate of evaporation and re- warned by engineers that a ramjet is by no means a action depends on the area of contact of the fuel with perpetual motion engine. The ramjets performance is the surrounding air. Fine atomization (breaking of the best at speeds at which other air inhaling engines are drops into smaller particles) is essential to efficient ineffective. For flight speeds above 1,500 miles per operation. hour, the ramjet is the only logical power plant for Although not all the factors affecting atomization aircraft operation in the earth's atmosphere. are fullyunderstood, you may see some of the more Ramjets weighing only some 50 or 100 pounds are important ones by thinking of a garden hose. The capable of giving power comparable to that of a fineness of the spray may be seen to vary with; the 3,000 pound reciprocating engine. It can develop as shape and size of the nozzzle opening; with variation much as 15 to 25 pounds of thrust for each pound of in Pressure drop across the opening; and with varia- engine weight. tion in the relative speed of the air. The most outstanding drawback of a ramjet is These factors are considered by engineers in the that it can not start itself, nor can it operate while design of a jet engine. In design of'burner and nozzle sitting still. It must be launched by some device such openings,pressure drop is an important variable in (Continued on Page 78) the control of atomization. 77 November, 1957 guided missle. It could also he used to supply a quick STOVEPIPES THAT FLY! burst of speed for airplanes. (Continued from Page 77) To be economical an aircraft power plant must be able to burn a fuel that is cheap and plentiful. It must as a rocket or a Conventional airplane. Once a ramjet be simple for mechanics to maintain between over- readies a speed of about 350 miles per hour it is able hauls, and must operate long enough between over- to Function well enough to fly. hauls to be useful. It must also be reasonably cheap for the government to manufacture. The use of the At s p e e d s below the speed of sound t h e ramjet ramjet engine will most certainly be by the govern- has no real value. At these relatively low speeds the ment. compression pressure is low and the fuel comsumption The ramjet is simple, efficient at high speeds and is high. Any use of the ramjet in this low-speed range altitudes and cheap to manufacture. For these reasons will probably be confined to an auxiliary purpose. engineers believe the ramjet will be a useful power It could be used as an expendable power plant for a plant of the future. announcing ... RAYTHEON GRADUATE PROGRAM FOR STUDY AT CALTECH, HARVARD AND M.I.T. IN 1 9 5 8 - 5 9 The Raytheon Graduate Program has been established to contribute to the technical development of scientists and engineers at Raytheon. It provides the opportunity to selected persons employed by Raytheon, who are accepted as graduate students by Harvard, M.I.T. or California Institute of Technology to pursue, at Raytheon's expense, regular courses of study leading to a master's degree in science or engineering in the institution of their choice. The Program requires, in general, two or three semes- ters of study, depending on circumstances, with the summer months spent in the Company's research, en- gineering, or manufacturing divisions. It includes full tuition, fees, book allowances and a salary while at school. Students also receive health, accident, retire- ment and life insurance benefits, annual vacation and other privileges of full-time Raytheon employees. To be considered for the Program, applicants must have a bachelor's degree in science or engineering, and should have outstanding student records, show technical prom- ise, and possess mature personal characteristics. They must be under 30 years of age on September 15 of the year admitted to the Program. They may apply for admission to the Program in anticipation of becoming employees of Raytheon. YOU ARE INVITED TO ADDRESS YOUR INQUIRY to Dr. Ivan A. Getting, Vice President, Engineering and Research, outlining your technical background, academic record, school preference, and field of interest, prior to December 1, 1957. What Nuclear Energy Means to Plastics One of the most rapid developments in modern THE earliest plastics were introduced as substitute chemical industry has taken place In the production lor naturally OCCuring materials such as ivory, gums, of plastics. Plastics are a variety of synthetic solid and resins. But they now have taken their place as materials which at some stage in their production new materials possessing their own distinctive and exhibit the property of plasticity, or are capable oi valuable properties. For many purposes they an being moulded under pressure, Some of these ma superior and have displaced wood, metal, glass, and terials become plastic when heated and can be wool. moulded and remoulded by application oi heal and pressure*, These are said to be thermoplastic. Other The first synthetic plastics to be introduced were materials are thermosetting. They also can be moulded those derived from cellulose, (trees). In 1865 Alex- by heal and pressure, but. undei action of heat they ander Parkes, of Birmingham, found that if nitrocel- undergo chemical change and pass into a hard material lulose was mixed with alcohol and a certain amount which cannot be softened and remoulded by Further "I camphor a horn-like mass was obtained. This man application of heat. The plastics of practical impor- on wanning could be moulded by pressure. This tance are those In which the final shape can be fixed plastic was introduced in England commercially un- by suitable treatment. The best known of all plastics Is der the name Xylonite. Later in L869 the same pro- rubber, It can be made In various shapes and fixed cess was done by the Hyatt brothers of New Jersey. by vulcanization either with or without complete They called their product celluloid. loss of elasticity or springiness. In 1872 it was observed that when carbolic acid The plactics, no matter to which group it belongs, was mixed with formaldehyde a resinous compound was formed. But not until 1908 was use made of this is a compound with a large molecule, or a compound reaction. In that year L. H. Baekeland, inventor of of high molecular weight. The relative molecular Velox photograpric paper, showed that when this weight of a plastic can van from l,000 to 1,000,000; resin was heated in a soap solution it first softened comparatively, ordinary table salt, sodium chloride, and then after a time became quite hard. This thermo- has ai molecular weight oi 58.5. In some cases the set plastic is known to us today as bakelite. It is used large molecules have been built up by nature and in the production of records, varnishes and enamels exist in the raw material used in the manufacture of and in the electrical industry as an insulator. the plastic, such as cellulose. But in most cases the large molecules are formed during the manufacturing Many advances have been made since in the pro- process. There are two methods of forming the large duction and use of new plastics. In fact the com- molecules. The first is by addition polymerization of mercial plastics industry has far out-stripped the de- the small molecules, that is where a large number of velopment of chemical theory of plastics and poly- small molecules simply latch on to each other when merization. New plastics or synthetic fibers have taken heated or induced In some other means of energy to over the fashion world. You can hardly find a pure form a long chain. In fact, it is similar to a link chain wool suit any more. There are folding plastic boats for where each link is a simple molecule or monomer, you if you are a sportsman, and believe it or not, a and the whole chain the large molecule or the poly- plane with an inflatable fuselage and wings of a mer. The second method is condensation polymeriza- plastic fiber that actually flies. Doctors can now re- tion. This process is similar to the first except that place our arteries or animal arteries with knitted nylon a molecule of water is eliminated with each two pairs tubes. Automobiles are using more and more plastics of monomer that combine. in their construction. New construction plastics have been developed for buildings from footings to rafters 80 and points between on both inside and outside walls, themoset molecule. It is a prospective tool lor the and you can furnish it with plastic furniture, drapes, production of existing plastics and the creation of new and tiles. There just is not a thing that you can plastics. name that has not a plastic substitute. Reference to nuclear energy in the singular is A more recent advance, not in the commercial misleading. Bombardment lor the transformation or products,but in the production of raw material is processing of plastic materials may be done In alpha the development of the use of nuclear energy as the particles, beta particles or electrons, gamma rays and source required to produce a large polymer molecule, X-rays. The latter two sources are similar. The source or to obtain or produce desirable properties in the of radiation may be a nuclear reactor, a shielded existing plastics. Naturally, the concept of creation radioactive isotope or an electron generator. These and adaptation of invisible and silent rays or particles four fundamental particles and rays are all forms of to polymer or plastic chemistry is exciting. A national nuclear energy, These energies have definite effects magazine in the building field stated in September on different plastics since the form of the energies of 1954 that "massive doses of gamma radiation have a r e all different. been harnessed to make an ordinarily soft sheet of The alpha particle is a comparatively slow moving plastic stronger than the same thickness of today's p a r t i c l e a n d b i g in size a n d has little p e n e t r a t i n g structural steel and so heat resistant that it could be power. The beta particle or electron has a tremendous used inn the after burners of jet engines." This is not velocity and relatively deep penetration power. quite true.. Gamma rays travel with the speed ol light, and have The facts are that nuclear energy is today an tremendous penetrating power. X-rays are similar to accepted tool for the transformation of one kind of gamma rays but are weaker. plastic (polyethylene) from a thermoplastic to a Of all these forms of nuclear energy the two forms that are of the greatest interest to the chemistry and industry of plastics are gamma rays and electrons. They are important because they are easily obtained from isotopes or generated by machines. Now it is possible to induce polymerization or the formation of large molecules without the use of high temperatures and pressures, and without the use ol other chemical compounds to initiate, propagate and terminate the reaction. New and better plastics should result since there is no source of contamination in the material to be treated. Gamma radiation can best be obtained from a cobalt 60 isotope which has a half-life of 15.3 years. This means that half of the energy of the cobalt isotope is expended in 15.3 years, then in the next 15.! years half of the remaining energy is expended and so on. The facilities for irradiation by isotopes are (Continued on Page 83) What response do you think we got from these ads in your magazine? Absolutely none—but they did get readership! Our name has been the standard of quality We know that from our readership survey in the industry for all these years. We are not reports. the largest cable manufacturer. Our products Actually, they weren't written to create a may not be the lowest priced. But experienced heavy response. They were designed to acquaint engineers will agree: when quality and long you with our name and to give you thumbnail life are a must, specify Kerite. sketches of historical figures, both real and Meanwhile we would value your reaction mythical, noted for their integrity and durabil- to these ads—particularly constructive criti- ity. Just as Kerite has been noted since 1854. cism. Won't you drop us a line? NUCLEAR ENERGY against radiation, and also of conveyors and other (Continued from Page 81) apparatus. strictly of laboratory or pilot size in scope. For our The electron beam from the generator is a stream present industries to convert to a mass production of atomic particles that are similar to a current in an basis would require a fantastic amount of conveyors electric wire, except that the electrons have been and control apparatus. Mass production plants would liberated from a conductor, and have been accelerated then have to be enormous in size to accommodate all to tremendous speeds. The output of the electrons the equipment. However, experimental work can be can be controlled and modified. However, electron done on the production of plastics and is being done. particles cannot be used to study molecular structures But, there is by no means a conclusive amount of and mechanisms or processes of molecule formation, work. The chemist knows that radiation polymeriza- whereas isotopes can. tion or formation of large molecules can be accom- plished at low temperatures, in the solid state and Plastics have always been known as the wonder without worry of contamination. compounds. But now, when working with nuclear energy, new prospects for future development have Our present experimental evidence indicates that been opened up. There is a promise of new and better in some plastics certain properties may be changed by materials, improved processing methods and better gamma radiation. Sometimes in a way which is de- end products, even when realizing that there are sirable and sometimes not. Too much irradiation can definite limitations to the applications of nuclear destroy the plastic material. energy in the plastics field. The physical properties of a given plastic are dependent upon the molecular weight and on the extent of cross bridging. Cross bridging can be com- pared to a rope ladder. The sides being composed of various lengths of polymer, and the rungs also being composed of various lengths of polymer. The ladder is two dimensional whereas cross bridging occurs in a three dimensional plane. If there is little or no cross bridging in long polymer chains then the polymer becomes plastic at high temperatures and can be moulded. As the amount of cross bridg- ing increases in the polymer it becomes less and less plastic, that is it becomes more rigid. Irradiation of some polymers produces cross bridging with the change in properties indicated above. After a certain amount of irradiation the polymer can no longer be moulded. At the same time that the material is losing its thermoplastic properties it is becoming more brittle; a condition which is not always desirable. Too much irradiation of a polymer will cause it to lose its good characteristics and begin to disintegrate. However a controlled amount of irradiation deter- mined by experimental research can increase the re- sistence to thermal softening which accompanies cross bridging. Since this effect would make it difficult to mould the cross bridged polymer plastic, it would be more satisfactory to induce cross bridging after the plastic has been made into its final form. The high Penetrating power of gamma rays, and the fact that they produce the effect at low temperatures means that upon irradiation cross bridging can occur all thru the material without much change in surface ap- pearanee or distortion of the object. The results . of beta or electron particle irradiation on a Polymer are the same as the effects produced by gamma rays. However, the use of beta particles is three times more efficient than the use of isotopes as the source of radiation. The one great advantage that and electron accelerator has is that it is a machine and can be turned off, whereas an isotope source keeps on producing radiation. There are also tech- nicaldifficultiesin handling large isotope sources such as shipping, storage, maintenance of safe guards CRYSTAL FILTERS (Continued from Page 73) been only within the past two years, however, that any serious work has been undertaken to make com- mercially-available filters containing a network of quartz crystals which will allow a band of frequencies to pass. Lattice filter networks made up of quartz crystals were first proposed by a scientist named Warren Mason of Bell Telephone Laboratories about twenty years ago. However, the mathematical cal- culations necessary to design these networks and the difficulty of producing the necessary crystals at high frequencies caused manufacturers to shy away from crystal filters. It was Dr. David Kosowsky of M.I.T. and now at Hycon Eastern, Inc., Cambridge, Mass., who developed a highly-simplified mathematical tech- nique for designing crystal filters, and devised new methods for producing and testing the required quartz crystals. Kosowsky went further on and designed shop production equipment which makes the manu- facture of crystal filters almost routine. It was this latter step which enabled Hycon Eastern to bring the price to a figure which is competitive with LC and mechanical filters. At frequencies above a few megacycles, crystal filters are virtually unchallenged by their sisters, LC filters and mechanical filters. The older type filters just won't do the job at high frequencies. At lower frequencies, where long-established techniques have brought LC and mechanical filter prices down to low figures, crystal filters excel only in performance. At lower frequencies, crystal filter prices and mechan- ical filter prices are roughly the same. A typical crystal filter currently sells for forty dollars when bought in small quantities, or twenty to twenty-five dollars when purchased in larger lots. As with tran- sistors, which sold for about two hundred dollars when originally developed and now sell for less than two dollars, crystal filters will also come down in price when they are in high production. Although the low frequency crystal filter will play a significant role in single sideband and telephone communication systems, the high-frequency crystal filter may well revolutionize the design of other com- munication and navigation systems. In addition to performance which cannot normally be obtained even at lower frequencies with conventional filters, the high-frequency crystal filter may be made extremely small in size. Models have already been produced which are about half the size of a small match-box. These miniature crystal filters, in conjunction with miniature vacuum tube and transistor circuitry, are currently being employed in the design of several of the most compact communications equipment ever produced. Biggest potential use in the next few years of crystal filters will probably be in mobile communica- tions. With the Federal Communications Commission constantly forcing all radio systems to operate in continuously narrower frequency bands because of crowded conditions at high frequencies, narrow band (Continued on Page 86) 84 The propulsion engineer who was allergic to switches During the Vought Crusader's N.A.A. record- the problem entirely by canny choosing of fuel cell loca- breaking flight across the continent, fuel management tions and fuel line sizings. Absent, too, was an emergency was a vital factor. But it wasn't the constant worry it system — together with the need for it! There was a might have been. Fred Alvis had seen to that, beginning unique air transfer system for moving fuel from the four years ago. Crusader wing tank to the main sump, plus some freshly When the Crusader project was formed, Fred was conceived lesser features. just a few years out of Alabama Poly. His was still a As mockup and flight tests proved, Fred's ideas new face. Mighty new, Fred would have agreed when more than met weight and reliability requirements. And, he was tapped to develop the functional design of the as pilots were shown, all simplification features led Crusader fuel system. directly to the cockpit. There Fred had won his war against switches. Navy specs told Fred his system should be reliable and very lightweight. Pilots, too, gave him a special Only one had survived. request. In the ready room near the flight line they "escribed the constant in-flight attention required by commplex fuel systems. "Can you fix it so we can forget fuel for a minute?" they asked the young designer. "Can you cut down on those switches?" Fred went all-out for simplicity, plunging into a three-month w h i r l o f schematics. He was encouraged by close design group assistance in studies and layouts. Soon he was making procurement selections and writing Functional reports. Then, with the fuel system mockup, Fred unveiled what he'd done. It was a showpiece of simplicity. Absent was the usual complex CG control system. Fred had bypassed CRYSTAL FILTERS (Continued from Page 84) pass filters are becoming more and more significant. At the present state of communications art, LC and mechanical filters are being used to their ultimate capabilities. The advent of crystal filters now enables equipment manufacturers to surge ahead with radio and radar systems using narrower frequency bands than were possible before. An extremely important significance of the arrival of crystal filters on the communications scene is the possibility now of eliminating multiple conversion high frequency receivers. Because it has been hard to filter signals at high frequencies, electronic man- ufacturers have utilized steps of frequency conver- sion to get the frequency down to a usable range. In other words, signals at high frequencies could not be easily filtered using LC or mechanical filters, so the signals have been converted to frequencies where filters will work. Often, multiple conversion receivers have three mixing stages where frequency conversion is accomplished. Each of the mixing stages requires an oscillator. In addition to the higher cost, each oscillator added to a receiver causes unwanted noise possibilities. In short, the manufacture and alignment of multiple conversion receivers is more complicated than for single conversion receivers. Crystal filters make possible the design and manufac- ture of single conversion receivers at high frequencies where this has not been feasible up to now. 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 as big as your ability can make it. But there's another factor of equal importance: Allis-Chalmers Graduate Training Course offers un- Or, if you have decided your field of interest and usual opportunities for the young engineer to: are well qualified, opportunities exist for direct as- signments on our engineering staff. • Find the type of work he likes best • Develop engineering skill In any case—learn more about Allis-Chalmers. • Choose from a wide range of career possibilities Ask the A-C manager in your territory, or write Allis-Chalmers, Graduate Training Section, Mil- Allis-Chalmers graduate training course has been waukee 1, Wisconsin. a model for industry since 1904. You have access Student Responses: The editor of this column points with pride to Freshman: "I don't know." the clean, white spaces between these jokes. Sophomore: "I'm not prepared." o o o Junior: "I cant remember." Senior: "I don't believe that I can add anything to A woman approached the pearly gates and spoke what has already been said. to Saint Peter. o o o "Do you know if my husband is here? His name is Smith." A lot of engineers get half drunk on Saturday "Lady, we have lots of them here, you'll have to night because they run out ol money. be more specific." "Joe Smith." o o o "Lotsa those too, you'll have to have more identifi- And then there was the deaf mute who fell into cation." a well and broke three fingers screaming for help. "Well, when he died he said that if I was ever untrue to him, he'd turn over in his grave." o o o "Oh, you mean 'Pinwheel Smith'." Frosh: "What's Doc talking about?" a * « Engineer: "Integration, you halfwit." Frosh: "Is he for or against it?" Prof. (after the final): "Well, what did you think of the course?" o o o M.E.: "I thought that it was all-inclusive; every- Students are like blotters, they absorb what the thing that wasn't covered during the semester was instructor says, but they get it backwards. on the final exam." o o o o o o Trying to rest after an exceedingly hard day at Engineering is a good deal like golf. Those who the office, poor lather was being bedeviled by a stream are good drivers become managing executives; for of unanswerable questions from little Willie. those whose best shots are brassie, the advertising "What do you do down at the office?" Willie finally profession offers a good opportunity. In case of a asked. good lie, those who approach well find salvation in "Nothing," shouted the annoyed father. salesmanship and those good on the green become After a thoughtful pause, Willie inquired "Pop, cashiers and investment brokers. The duffers remain how do you know when you're through?" engineers. o o o » o e The liner had just sunk and one of the lifeboats Marriage is like a hot bath; once you get used to was filled beyond capacity. The captain gravely an- it, it's not so hot. nounced the fact and jumped overboard himself. Another passenger got up, said "Vive la France," • O O and jumped. A third said "God save the queen," and repeated the deed. At that a burly Texan got slowly to E.E.: "I know all about electricity. A politically his feet, exclaimed "Remember the Alamo," and threw minded ion hears that there is going to be an electron, a Mexican overboard. so he goes to the poles and volts." Photography speaks in every language To tell its story in 75 coun- one. With photography, people tries, Pepsi-Cola puts pictures are real; situations authentic, to work to add meaning to the convincing. This is what makes product's global billing as "the photography such a powerful refreshment of friendship." salesman. To build up an atmosphere of Large businesses and small can friendliness and understanding use this powerful salesmanship— in markets around the world, can also use photography to cut Pepsi-Cola International pub- costs and save time in many other lishes "Panorama"—and gives the ways. It can help with problems brunt of the job to photography. of product design — can watch quality in production. It trains. Photography knows no lan- It cuts office routine. You'll find guage barrier. It is clear to young that it can work for you, too. and old alike—appeals to every- Interview with General Electric's Hubert W. Gouldthorpe Manager — Engineering Personnel Your Salary Although many surveys show that salary O How much is your benefit program median. This is because we provide It not the prim factor contributing to job worth, as an addition to salary? opportunity for the competent man satisfaction, it is of groat importance to A. A great deal. Company benefits to develop rapidly toward the bigger students weighing career opportunities. can be a surprisingly large part of job that fits his interests and makes Here, Mr. Gouldthorpe answers some employee compensation. We figure full use of his capabilities. As a questions frequently asked by college our total benefit program can be natural consequence, more men have engineering studenlt. worth as much as 1 '6 of your reached the higher salaried positions salary, depending on the extent to faster, and they are there because of Q Mr. Gouldthorpe, how do you deter- the high value of their contribution. mine the starting salaries you offer which you participate in the many programs available at G.E. I hope this answers the question graduating engineers? you asked, but I want to emphasize A. Well, we try to evaluate the Q. Participation in the programs, then, again that the salary you will be man's potential worth to General is voluntary? earning depends on the value of Electric. This depends on his quali- A. Oh, yes. The medical and life your contribution. The effect of such fications and our need for those insurance plan, pension plan, and considerations as years of service qualifications. savings and stock bonus plan are all industry median salaries, etc., will be Q. How do you evaluate this potential? operated on a mutual contribution insignificant by comparison. It is basis, and you're not obligated to most important for you to pick a job A. We do it on the basis of demon- join any of them. But they are such that will let you make the most of strated scholarship and extra curric good values that most of our people your capabilities. ular performance work experience, do participate. They're an excellent and personal qualities as appraised way to save and provide personal Q. Do you have one salary plan for by interviewers, faculty, and other and family protection. professional people in engineering and references. a different one for those in managerial Of course, we're not the only com- Q After you've been with a company work? pany looking for highly qualified like G.E. for a few years, who decides when a raise is given and how much it A. No, we don't make such a men. We're alert to competition and distinction between these two im- pay competitive salaries to get the will be? How high up does this decision have to go? portant kinds of work. We have an promising engineers we need. integrated salary structure which; Q. When could I expect my first raise A. We review professional salaries covers both kinds of jobs, all the way at General Electric? at least once a year. Under our up to the President's. It assures pay philosophy of delegating such re- in accordance with actual individual A. Our primary training programs sponsibilities, the decision regarding contribution, whichever avenue a for engineers, the Engineering Pro- your raise will be made by one man man may choose to follow. gram, Manufacturing Program, and -the man you report to; subject to Technical Marketing Program, gen- the approval of only one other man * We have a limited number of copies of erally grant raises after you've been —his manager. the Engineers Joint Council report en- with the Company about a year. titled "Professional Income of Engi- Q. At present, what salaries do engi- Q. Is it an automatic raise? neers with ten years' experience make? neers—1956." If you would like to copy, write to Engineering Personnel. A. It's automatic only in the sense A. According to a 1956 Survey of Bldg. 36, 5th Floor, General Electric that your salary is reviewed at that the Engineers Joint Council*, engi- Company, Schenectady 5, N. Y. time. Its amount, however, is not neers with 10 years in the electrical the same for everyone. This depends machinery manufacturing industry first and foremost on how well you were earning a median salary of have performed your assignments, $8100, with salaries ranging up to but pay changes do reflect trends in and beyond $15,000. At General over-all salary structure brought on Electric more than two thirds of our by changes in the cost of living or 10-year, technical college graduates other factors. are earning above this industry