a •.~.< "."..• Vol. 6 No. 2 JANUARY 1953 j' ::r-",,_, .,'#, , How .two inches of steel-made a y~rdsticl( is one of the busiest machines in our reo Typical of what this has meant to steel users is H ERE search laboratories. It is a constant-pressure our development of MX Free-machining Bar Stock. test lathe that quickly provides an indication of Bar stock is used in producing the millions of how fast a steel can be machined. machine parts that are made on screw machines- This unique testing device consists of a standard those high-speed automatic machines that can lathe fitted with special control equipment by simultaneously perform many operations such as which the horizontal pressure on the cutting tool drilling, forming, threading, chamfering and tap- is kept constant during the machining operation. ping at a rate of 1000 or more parts per hour. Here, machinability is of first importance, and By actually machining a test bar on this lathe and measuring the number of revolutions necessary to often spells the difference between profit and loss. advance the cutting tool exactly two inches, we ob- So when we set out to give the screw machine tain-in a matter of minutes-a precise record of industry steels that would have the utmost in ma- the steel's machinability. chinability, we called on the constant-pressure test lathe to speed up this research. With its help, Before this development, the normal way to test hundreds of compositions were quickly and ac- machinability was to machine a sample of steel curately screened. The result was MX-the fastest- until the cutting tool failed. This sometimes took cutting Bessemer screw stock yet developed, one days and often required more steel than was avail- that has enabled many screw machine operators able. Now, with the constant-pressure lathe, many not only to increase production and reduce tool steel compositions can be accurately checked in wear but to cut their costs as well. that time. The constant-pressure test is a good example of the many research projects sponsored by United States Steel. In the field and in the laboratory, U. S. Steel metallurgists are constantly at work on problems pertaining to the manufacture and the use of steel. United States Steel Corporation, Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania. Their formula for success will work for you LEE: A. KILGORE, Assistant Manager "Find out early what your talents are, what you want to do, "-estingbouse Generator Engineering and set your sights accordingly." That, essentially, is the success A graduate of tbe University of Nebraska, he enrolled in tbe Westingbouse Graduate Student formula practiced by these Westinghouse executives. Training Course in 1927. He bas contributed But how do you put this formula to work? How can you be mucb to tbe design and development of large generators, motors and rectifiers and bas au- sure of choosing the right career? At Westinghouse, you'll find thored many tecbnical articles On tbese subjects. the answer in the Graduate Student Training Program, , . the same program that launched these men on their careers. This program gives you a clear understanding of the company and its products ... lets you tryout many types of work through planned work assignments ... and offers the benefit of personal counsel in selecting the right field for your career. Your Opportunities at Westinghouse Westinghouse offers you a double-barreled opportunity for building a successful future: the Graduate Student Training Program which gets you off to a sure start ... and the Graduate Study Program which enables you to continue your education '\ toward M.S. and Ph.D. degrees while on the job. When you t', ;:t ~~ join the Westinghouse team, you get the training you need to iW}~ forge ahead in the field of your choice. WLiTI For information on opportunities at Westinghouse in engineer- W. II. DICKtNSON, Director .Westinghouse Headquarters Manufacturing ing, research, manufacturing, sales and business administra- Engineering tion, send for our 34-page hook," Finding Your Place in Ind ustry" . Enrolled in Westingbouse Graduate Student G-I0251 Training Course after graduation from Texas A & M in 1930. He came up tbrougb a variety of manufacturing positions in the company and EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT was appointed to his present post in 1951. YOU CAN BE SURE .•. IF ITS "l f't I.-i " r, " I ~stinghouse 1--------------------- I To obtain copy of "Finding Your Place in I Industry", consult Placement Officer of I your University. or mail tbis coupon to: I Mr. R. A. Warren I District Educational Co..ordinator I Westinghouse Electric Corporation ~~ Ji I 306 Fourth A venue Pittsburgh 30, Pennsylvania I CLARK C. FRAME, Director I Nam,"t'- ---------------------- Westingbouse Labor Relations I Scbool- Year _ Enrolled in the Westinghouse Graduate Student I I Slree'Lt _ Training Course after graduation from Penn State in 1930. Prior to appointmeut to bis pres- I City ~Zone___5tate _ en t post, be was Maua"er of Industrial Relations for Westinghouse Easf Pittsburgb divisions. , I January, 1953 ~ Ii '1"<\~ ' ..... ---~.- ... >~'.:. '-.,. ~:~~: ''''v:::l ~",".~,," 1 , ,~,,*,,..... 't..r-}i~~'''''' .,~+._,~~~ t'I'-..._ ... ~ 'I I To a Young Man who wants "Room to Grow" That's one of the attractions of the oil busi- Company is producing, refining and marketing ness as a career: big and substantial though it fuels and lubricants. Yet Phillips is one of the is today, prospects are that it has a long way most widely diversified oil companies, and we yet to grow. offer opportunities for the technical graduate The discovery of new sources of petroleum in many other fields: development of chemical and new uses for petroleum has gone ahead derivatives from petroleum, ammonia and sul- faster during the past five years than in any fur compounds, rubber synthesis, atomic re- other comparable period. Phillips Petroleum searcl" geophysics and analytical techniques. Company gross income increased from '$222 If you're looking for a "career with a future" million in 194:6to $611 million in 1951. And we invite you to write to our Employee Rela- 8,300 new job opportunities were created. tions Department for further information The primary business of Phillips Petroleum about opportunities with our company. PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY, Bartlesville, Oklahoma 2 Spartan Engineer Oh say can you see- "That's Jonesey-putting out his flag again. "He hasn't missed one Sunday in the eight years we've been neighbors. I used to kid him about it a lot. Asked him why didn't he buy a cannon to shoot off with it. He took it good-natured-like. But we got to talking last week about war in general. That was the first time I even knew he had a son. "His boy, Joe, enlisted right after Pearl Harbor and got overseas fast. When young Joe came back, Jonesey met him at the railroad station, stayed up with him all night and rode out with him to the cemetery on the hill. After it was all over, the sergeant gave Jonesey the flag that had covered Joe. That's it over there. I don't kid ]onesey any more. "Instead, I've been listening respectfully when he talks about the flag ... only when he says it, it's Flag. With a capital F. Same capital F he puts on Freedom, which is what he really means. Jonesey sure made me think about Freedom a lot. For instance .•. "When I vote, nobody knows where I put 'my X's. Nobody puts me in jail for picking out my own church. And no teachers tell my kids to spy on me and turn me in because I squawk about taxes or high prices. And when I told my boss I was quitting to open a little grocery with the dough I'd saved in war bonds, he wished me luck and said he'd have his missus buy their groceries from me. "That's what Jonesey meant when he said our Freedom is right under our noses. Can't feel it or see it. But it's there just the same, wrapped up in every star and stripe in that Flag across the street. "And, if you'll excuse me, I'm going out- side and hoist my own Flag, too ... just bought it last night. 'Oh say can you see?' I sure can ... now /" REPUBLIC STEEL Republic Building, Cleveland 1,Ohio ~ Republic BECAME strong in a strong and tree America. Republic can REMAIN strong only in an America that remains strong and tree ... an America who owes much of her prosperity to her many huge industries tbat provide her people with the world's finest living. Through these many indus- tries, IUpublic serves all America. A typical ex- ample can be found in the Petroleum Industry whose products furnish much of the nation's power, hear and Jight. In chis production, tOO, steel plays a vital role ••• carbon, alloy and stainless .•• much of which comes from the many mills of Republic. * * * ( For" Jull color reprilfl oj this tIIlvmisement,) [ write D,pt. H, Re/1Nblic Steel, CletltlmulI, Obio. January, 1953 3 to the ELECTRICAL ENGINEER or PHYSICIST with an interest in RADAR Hughes Research and Development Laboratories, one of the nation's or leading electronics organizations, are now creating a number of new openings in an important phase of ELECTRONICS their operation. Here is what one of these positions offers you: THE COMPANY THE TRAINING ment is being installed, or ~~) be the Hughes Research and Development Hughes representative at a mIl!tary base On joining our organization, you will in this country-or overseas (smgle men Laboratories, located in Southern Cali- work in the Laboratories for several fornia, are presently engaged in the only). Compensation is made for months to become thoroughly familiar traveling and moving househ~ld eff~c,ts, development and production of ad- with the equipment which you will later vanced radar systems, electronic and married men keep their familIes help users to understand and properly with them at all times. computers and guided missiles. employ. If you have already had radar or electronics experience, you will find YOUR FUTURE THE NEW OPENINGS this knowledge helpful in your new work with us. In one of these positions you will gain The positions are for men who will all-around experience that will increas,e serve as technical advisors to govern- your value to our organization as It WHERE YOU WORK further expands in the field of elec~ron- ment agencies and companies purchasing Hughes equipment-also as ics. The next few years are certam to After your period of training-at full see large-scale commercial empl,orme~t technical consultants with engineers of pay-you may (1) remain with the other companies working on associated of electronic systems. Your trammg 10 Laboratories in Southern California in and familiarity with the most advanc.ed equipment. Your specific job would be an instructive or administrative capac- essentially to help insure successful op- electronic techniques now will qualIfy ity, (2) become the Hughes represen- you for even more important future eration of Hughes equipment in the field. tative at a company where our equip- positions. How to apply: ,"I,,, ,, , " " ,, ,," ,,, HUGHES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT See your Placement Office for LABORATORIES appointment with members of our Engineering Staff who will visit Engineering Personnel Department your campus. Or address your Culver City, Los Angeles County, California resume to the Laboratories. • Spartan Engineer SpartaN ENGINEER EDITORIAL STAFF: Table of Contents EDITOR Robert G. Kitchen • articles ASSOCIATE EDITORS FREEDOM FROM-OR TO- .. 0000 00 ... 8 Lee Mah GIRL ENGINEERS AT MSC __..... .__. __._.._ 9 Phil Sanford FEATURE EDITOR THE ENGINEER AND THE PHYSICIST 10 Jack Harper MORE AROMATICS BY COAL HYDRO- PICTURE EDITOR GEN ATI ON ..._... ...... . 00 ... _00_ 00 ... _12 John Thoma WHAT DOES MECHANICAL ENGINEER- PHOTOGRAPHER ING MEAN AT MSC? __... 00_ .... _ ..... .. __ • __ 14 Ray Steinbach THE FOUNDRY SOCIETY AT THE CAREER CARNIVAL ...... ._16 BUSINESS STAFF: 00. __ .. .00. THE TURBO-ENCABULA TOR .. ..._17 BUSINESS MANAGER Jim Gusack THE ENGINEER-HIS GROWTH __.... .... 00 ._18 ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER TAU BETA PI PRIZE-WINNING ESSAY 00 __ 20 Tom Clark THE FUTURE OF OUR PETROLEUM ADVERTISING MANAGER RESERVES .__.. .. .__.. ..__.. . 22 Leo Jedynak YOUR ENGINEERING COUNCIL ........ 26 CIRCULATION MANAGER Dick McClaughry IS THE HUMAN BRAIN OBSOLETE? 29 PROMOTION MANAGER JUNIOR ENGINEERING TRAINING FOR John Loerch SCHOOLS .__.. .. . 30 ATHLETICS AND ENGINEERING .. 38 STAFF: Josephine Fantauzzo • Features Harlow Nelson NEW DEVELOPMENTS . 28 Tom Ayres Larry Hamerman CLUBS AND SOCIETIES h ~ .. _u. __32 Larry Jackson SIDETRA CKED ... -- -----... .. 56 James Otis Ralph Powell John Rood Zigurd Levensteins Published four times yearly by the students of the SCHOOL OF EN- GINEERING, MICHIGAN STATE COllEGE, East lansing, Michigan. FACULTY ADVISORS: The office is on the third floor of the Union Building, Phone ED 2-1511, Extension 251. Entered as second class matter at the Post Office in GENERAL lansing, Michigan, under the act of March 3, 1879. W. E. Libby Address Mail to: P. O. Box ~, East lansing, Michigan. EDITORIAL and CIRCULATION Publishers representative D. D. McGrady Littell-Murray-Barnhill, Inc. FINANCIAL and ADVERTISING 101 Park Avenue, New York. Paul G. Gray 605 W_ Michigan Avenue, Chicago PHYSICAL FACILITIES and Subscription rate by mail $1.00 per year. PRODUCTION Single copies 25 cents. Theodore J. Brevik 5 January, 19S3 DOW ADDS NEW EXPORT COMPANIES Dow has recently formed two subsidiary export companies to serve foreign industry's increasing demands for high-quality chemicals. In the Western Hemisphere, Dow Chemical facilities, increased production, new prod- Inter-American Limited with sales offices in ucts developed ... an over-all growth and Montevideo, Uruguay will supply chemicals expansion that requires a steady influx of to Mexico and to many countries in Central men of varying talents, as well as providing and South America. excellent opportunities for those within the Industries in other continents-Europe, Dow organization. Asia, Africa, and Australia-will be served by Dow Chemical International Limited. Its first sales officewill be in Zurich, Switzerland. Dow's Booklet, "Opportunities with The Dow Chemical Company," especially written for those about to These two new export companies are only enter the chemical profession, is one example of the continued growth taking available /ree, upon request. Write place at Dow. Each year finds new Dow plant to The Dow Chemical Company, Technical Employment, Midland, Michigan. You can depend on DOW CHEMICALS Splrtln EnSine.r NeveJ before in the history 0 the aircr t industry has there een r pportunity and-gr ter de fo the young engineer ith Security restrictions prevent a thorough .. rnLcreative ab ity. full discussion of the guided mis- At Chance Vought In an n I- sile projects at Chance Vought, neering staff in one of the largest pants hut growing requirements in all designed for the manufacture of military aircraft. phases of development and pro- Centered in the second largest aircraft production area in duction are creating new demands the U. S., this modern air conditioned plant is especially for all types of engineers and scientists. designed and equipped with adequate facilities for air- These missiles are in production for inten- craft research, development and integrated production. sive experimental uses and presently are being flight tested with excellent results. For thirty.five years Chance Vought's position in the aircraft industry has been one of pioneering and leadership. One of the latest achievements is the tailless swept wing F7U-3 "Cutlass" now in full scale production. This twin jet fighter. in the "more than 650 miles per hour category," is designed to operate from both :./ land bases and aircraft carriers. For further information about Chance Vought and its diversified opportunities in engineering, consult a copy of our publication titled "T ornor- row's Engineering" now on' file in your college placement library. If you are receiving a degree in Engineering, Mathematics or Physics, contact your Placement Director for an appointment with the Chance Vought Aircraft representative who will visit your campus soon. CHANCE VOUGHT AIRCRAFT ~ W?J ~~~~~I Dallas, Texas CORPORATION DIVISION o F 'U NIT E D A IRe R AfT January, 1953 7 THE DEAN'S PAGE FREEDOM FROM- OR10- Our nation was founded upon the principle of freedom, they get it-is called a profit." Years ago Adam Smith, and freedom according to Webster is "exemption from the great economist, opined that "It is not from the restraint." In recent years we have heard much about benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker freedom from want, from fear, from religious restraint that we expect our dinner but from their regard of and from censorship of our speech. We have fought a their own interest." J. S. Mill states that only "the war to guarantee to our citizens freedom from slavery. prospect of bettering their own condition" would conquer We have passed laws intended to insure us immunity the natural sloth of most men. Our conclusion is that from the many ills incident to a society of ambitious with an abundance of work, with pressing need for its people. Much of our success in attainment of the highest accomplishment and a natural aversion by man to exer- "standard of living" the world has ever known is due tion, some type of incentive must be in evidence. to this principle of freedom with which our founding When a young engineer accepts a position with a firm fathers were so imbued. doing the type of work in which he is interested and in A greater privilege is implied in our understanding of which he feels he has talent, he is usually satisfied with freedom. Not only are we protected from unscrupulous, his status in the organization. He has confidence in the unprincipled, unthinking people and careless or vicious personnel policies of the company. He is proud to be acts, we are free to act and perform in such a manner classified with the type of men with whom he will be that the welfare of our neighbors and associates as well associated. He is anxious to begin to have a part in the as our own is promoted. We are free to vote, to invest, product. The incentive to work is great. Sometimes, to research, to assemble and to promote. This implica_ however after a few months some one is promoted tion of our freedom to perform acts which fit our past hi~, another gets an increase in salary above his, abilities is the greatest of the blessings given us by the and still another is made head of his project. At the founding fathers. same time the project seems to make no progress and But the freedom to perform is not without its obliga- the work becomes repetitive and tiresome: The incentive tions. Edwin Markham in "The Man with the Hoe" has to work is lessening. After a few years the routine gets given us'a picture of this worker when he says, monotonous. The transportation problem is annoying, "Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans the noises and odors of the plant are nauseating and the Upon his hoe and gazes upon the grQ.und home workshOp or model railway is more attractive. The emptiness of ages in his face The incentive to work, really work, is gone. Assuming And upon his back the burden of the world." that the young engineer was not a "misfit," and usually Not only are we permitted to produce, allowed to he is not, and also assuming the operations of the firm invent, privileged to supply, we are charged with the were for its best interest, and in the majority of times responsibility of seeing that the necessities of life are they are, the fact remains that both the young engineer provided for those who, through no fault of their own, and the firm are losers, heavy losers, and the young are in need. It is a serious charge and the obligations man has the most serious injury. are being only partially discharged. We have serious Herbert Hoover has said, "It has been dinned into us need for greater production per acre, per kilowatt hour that this is the Century of the Common Man. ThuS we and per man hour. are in danger of developing a cult of the Common Man, n is a pertinent fact that there is much work to be which means a cult of mediocrity." Now mediocrity can done and too little time in which to do it. The word be achieved two ways. The untalented by working hard work is mentioned with hesitation. It is not a universally may get there, or the talented by travelling the un- popular subject. Our Biblical forefathers were told charted, uninspired route of "do little" will land there. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," which The obvious path to achievement makes the Job the being freely paraphrased could mean that those who incentive. Plan something, learn something, accomplish are not willing to work should not be privileged to eat. something each day. Accept as blessings the "freedom In a recent address before the George:State Chamber of from" but put your faith in your future in "freedom to." Commerce, Benjamin F. Fairless, President of the United Julian Ralph gave encouragement to most of us when States Steel Corporation, said, "The only reason why he said, "I do not despise genius-indeed, I wish I had people work on this earth is to gain a reward for their a basketfull of it instead of a brain, but yet, after a labor. If they work for other people, that reward is great deal of experience and observation I have become called a wage or salary. If they set up a business of convinced that industry is a better ho;se to ride than their own and work for themselves their reward-whIm genius." Spartan En~ineer GIRL ENGINEERS at MSC By PHIL SANFORD Chemical Engineer '54 Engineers at Michigan State College have two special note being amused at mail from the Institute and other reasons to be proud of their school-for they can boast college functions addressed to her as, "Mr. Alice Jacob- of having among them two coeds. son," Of this, Virginia could report nothing. She did The two girls are Alice Jacobson, a sophomore in say that she had been to one meeting of the American chemical engineering, and Virginia Kueny, in her first Institute of Electrical Engineers-and although she said year of electrical engineering. Both girls call Michigan she couldn't understand what the speaker was talking their home state, Virginia hailing from North Muskegon, about, she probably will join the Institute. and Alice from Lansing, Although both girls have noticed antagonism toward Alike in the respect that they are both "lady en- them from some quarters, neither seems to be particu- gineers," the two girls present a rather surprising simi- larly bothered by it. In fact, both said this attitude larity in background, likes and dislikes, and objectives on the part of a few individuals made them more for the future, determined than ever to become successful engineers. Neither of the two could give specific reasons as to Alice said she was somewhat surprised, though, why she chose to study engineering. Alice said, "I when talking to representatives of a chemical company guess it was because I like chemistry and math," Vir- at the Career Carnival here last November. One man, ginia listed two "maybe" factors: in high school, she apparently a salesman, told her she could probably get VIRGINIA ALICE KUENY JACOBSON From North Alice is a soph- Muskegon, Vir- omore studying ginia is a fresh- chemical en g i- man in electrical neering, says she engineering. Sev- entered this field eral factors en- of study because tered her decision she liked chemis- to study engi- try and mathe- neering, one, the matics. current shortage of engineers. a job with their company as a supervisor: "walking had heard of the demand for engineers, and -also that around in overalls all day, climbing ladders, etc." The Some companies will hire women over men. other man, an engineer, pointed out that his company Both girls have fairly concrete ideas concerning after graduation. Alice said she thinks she would like to go didn't even allow women in their plant ... Turning to their actual schoolwork, both Virginia and into textile manufacturing, and admitted that perhaps Alice could report being especially fond of one or two the location of many textile mills-in New York and subjects, and particularly disliking some. Virginia's New England-had something to do with that decision. favorite subject so far has been "manufacturing pro- Virginia thinks she would like to work on circuit design cesses," which includes work in, among others, the after she is graduated. This could be, she said, in either sheet metal shop, machine shop, forge, and the foundry. a utility or a consulting engineering firm. Virginia also liked her one course in mathematics, and Alice and Virginia each have an interest in their is "looking forward to calculus." Alice, true to her respective societies. Although not in the American preliminary likes, chose chemistry as her favorite sub- Institute of Chemical Engineers, Alice thought she might (Continued on Page 52) become interested in it sometime. She did, however, January, 1953 <1 THE ENGINEER AND THE PHYSICIST By RICHARD SCHLEGEL Asst. Prof. of Physics and Mathematics TrndJUonnlly the enaineer has been a man ot practice most part existed only as a body of rather general ideas, and achievement who has lltlle to learn from the many of them highly speculative and without empirical phy.iclst, who, In turn, has tradlUonally feU his kinships confirmation. Such a period of philosophical inquiry to be wilh the phHosopher and mathematician rather would seem to be necessary in the development of a than with those who buHd and manufacture. new intellectual field, like science, but it was not a The Roman enalneers who constructed roads and period which offered much by way of assistance in the brldaes and circuses that arc still in use today were control of nature. superbly successful, and yet they knew little and prob- With the development of mechanics in the 16th and ably cared less about physics as a theoretical science. 17th centuries as a mathematical science--the science that Further, the Roman society which supported and en- is based essentially on Newton's Laws--there became couraBed them had no conspicuous concern for the available for engineers a body of scientific knowledge study of physical science. The other great ancient that was of major Importance in the handling of physical Mediterranean culture which contributed much to Our matter. That is, the engineer could then learn from the Western clv11l:tlltlon-the Greek-was absorbed In philos- physicist a body of principles, presumably applicable to ophy and science to a degree that Is almost Incredible to matter everywhere and anywhere in the universe; armed us todny, and the llrst complete treatise on physics, with these principles the engineer could attack new Aristotle's Physlca, appeared In that Greek society. And problems that went far beyond the range of previous yet the Creek, were indJIlerent engineers who apparently experience in specific situations. made little contribution to the arts of fabrication. The development of quantitative physical science ot ~'or many centuries the engineer was essentially an course did not stop with mechanics. In the 18th and 19th artisan or technlcJan. This tact does not Imply any centuries there were developed, among others, an exact lI5pcrslon on hJs IntelllBence or capability. The achieve- science of heat and energy (now known as thermody- ments of tho past tel1 us that Jngenuity and even genius namics), of electrical and magnetic phenomena, and ot must often have been a characterJstic of the engineer. chemical change. These growths in our knowledge of But his trolnlng was a learning of specific techniques nature were of fairly obvious value in the control and .from older workers. ThJs must still be training pro- use of nature for man's purposes, and they have given cedure today to a consJderoble extent, but another factor rise to branches of engineering that go altogether beyond 01 major Importance hos been added, namely, the teach- the traditional branches of civil and military engineer- inl of ,eneral princlples In terms of which engineering ing. problems may be investigated and solved. The Roman The engineer's transition from his position as a skilled cnainecr learned many facts about how to carry out this artisan to that of an applied scientist gave his profession and that dc!Jnitc asslBDment, and thick manuscripts of the same quality of continual change and development compUatlon ot these facts were produced, for example, that characterizes science generally. As new scientific Vltruvlus' great work on construction and architecture. knowledge is gained, new domains for application appear. One can hardly, however, conceive that any Roman And in the engineer's own field of application the re- enalneer would have set up a development or research search and devolpment methods of the scientist are project, In which, guided by his knowledge of physical utilized. Basic ideas and principles are given to the scJence, he would attempt to find some new and better engineer by the physicist or chemist, but engineers en- way of achieving an engineering goal. gage in "engineering research" that is altogether com- The change that has occurred in engineering may be parable to "scientific research," with the difference that ~ply character1:ted by saying that engineering, orig- the engineer's research generally has an emphasis on how l1Ially based chietly on a knowledge of techniques, is knowledge may be utilized in useful manufacture or now in large measure dependent upon a knowledge of construction, while the scientist's emphasis is presum- science and how to apply science. The natural philoso- ably on learning more about nature's ways simply for pher, probably once regarded by the engineer as being the sake of the learning. as allen to his activity as a painter or a poet, has become The use of research methods in engineering, coupled tl fellow worker to the engineer. This new relationship is the key topic of thjs paper. with the research results coming from the basic sciences, mean that the engineer is faced with bewildering com- The lack of cooperation between physicist and en- plexity and change in his profession. Obviously, he IJn~ In historic periods was certaJnly not a result of cannot rest at ease with what he learned from the text- the enalncer's overlooklni a useful source of knOWledge. books and manuals of his college years. That is, he Actually, It has been only in the past few centuries that cannot do so if he is to continue to function in any kind physics has been able to oIfer specific, definite Jnforma- of ereative manner in engineering activities that are tion in any field whatsoever to the engineer. PrevJous to, contemporary to him. There are important implications say, the sixteenth century, natural philosophy for the here for the traJnJng of the engineer. College work. 10 Spartan Engineer will give him a good start in understanding, and taking The actual construction and operation of thl! Hanford a part in, the development of engineering in his day if pile was to be carried out by the dUPOllt Cornp:lny. it has stressed the fundamental aspects of science nnd Their vast engineering experience and skllJ was com- the applications of science. A different kind of education bined with th<.' ~dcnce of the phy:dcisb,. chembts, and which stresSes training in the techniques of specifi~ mathematici:ms at the Metallurgical Loboratory, for th<.' engineering activities of the day rather than fundamental purpose ot building. in tiS short tl lime liS possible, :m knowledge, is surely not engineering training at all, but entirely novel kind of industrial plant. rather trade-school training, intended to fit a person One of the writer's a~~ignm<.'nts at tht~ Metnllurgkal only for one given job. Laboratory was to work with a group of physicists and Science of today grows out of what was science in engineers in nn investigation of he:lt trnnster problems in the year before. Hence the engineer who has n good the proposed Hanford pile. Large amounts of heat an' grounding in the science of today has at least made a generated in the carrying on ot tl nuclcnr rhaln re:\rtion, good start in understanding new scientific developments and at Hnntord thIs hent wns to be carried of( by that have implications for engineering. To a physics diverting some of the llow or the ColumbIa river through teacher, it seems that engineers will be soon lost in- the pHe. But how fast must the wah'r flow throullh deed, as engineers, if they have not been given a know- the pile so that the hl'al, forminR at a hlllh lIml' 1":lIl', ledge of the fundamentals of physics. Their training in would be safely carried awny? Tht\ desilln of the wall'I' physics, as in the other physical sciences, should not be passnges was necessarily sOllll:what unusunl; would them merely in the parts of physics which are obviously of be "pockets" where hl'al would not bt1 cnrrll'lI away, specific use in engineering today, but should in at least with the resulting formntlon of stenm, perhaps followed some degree be a .training in all of the fundamentals of by a disastrous l1xplo$ion? Ill-ram,e ot the lIowl situ;, physics-a training that will give insight into what lions Involved, a book J1k~ MrAdnrni'l' neat TrRnllml"i1OIl, physics is and what are its present trends and potentinl- although hC'lpful In pn'$I'llllllg flmcllll,wllf:ll n()lll)n~ III iUes. The engineer's education in physics, among the heat tran~ter, would not glVl' solutions with t1H1IIcI.lIt'llr,)' various pure sciences, does seem to be his most important required. lIenee, tht~ problems werl1 nlt:l('lwd In H'v\'rnl education, for the various engineering specialists, ex- ways. Scale models WI'tll made nnd lI'nW('tlltmc (lI~ttl- cepting perhaps chemical engineers, are essentially bullons measured with hrat prmlut"llelllS Ihnt slmul;lkcl applying the science of physics in their work. the productions ralcuiatecl tor the pl1n. Ml'IIlIll1l'Ilwntti What do these generalizations about science and en- of heat trunsfer t'oefflch'nts Wt'rc curriNI out for thl! gineering mean in the engineer's actual day to day jOb unusual {low conclWons in th~ pIle on(l thll II.mpe'rolutl! distributions In the pill' Wen1 mnthumlltknlly cukulah-c1 activities? The writer has little qualification tor at- tempting an answer to that question. But, for what from expcctl'tl boundary conditlQn~ llnct the fundaml.'ntnl heat. flow (1Qu:ltlon or Fourh'r. little worth it might have, he wiII recount SOme experi- enCes that he had, working with engineers, at the Uni- What was expected ot IIn l.l1l4lnl'('r In thhl work? versity of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory during the Ciearly, In ordl'r to contribute hili /lharc, he mUst hav.: years 1943 to 1945. known sufflcknt physic .. to bo IIblll to gain 1111 under- standing of why, alle\ at whnt plae.es, hent would no This laboratory, which had been purposefully given generated in the plie. HI' must have thoroughly under- the misnomer "Metallurgical," was set up by the Unitt.cl stoexl the mechanisms and l'quatlons of hl'at. transfl'r, States Government for the investigation of questions per- So that this knowledge could bl~ u~('d in studyJng II taining to the construction of nuclear chain reactors. As is well known, the nuclear physicists of this ]abor- hi\Chly novel hl'at transfer liituatiem. Knowlcdlle of hl!:.t transfer cquipml'nt then In US(~was, ObviOUsly, of HUh: atory established the first nuclear chain reaction in a squash court under the university's Stagg tleld tootball Value In solving this en"lnl."I'r1n" probiem. stadium on December 2, 1942. The success of this first Another probh:m that Was raeI'd by tM MI't:"lllur!lknl nuclear reactor, or "pile," as the lattice-work of uran- l..aborlltory englnel'r. nnd sch'ntlllhi wal thnt of prolwrl)' ium and Carbon blocks was called, gave a basis for jaekeUnll the plccl:J of uranium thnt wtm to b(~ v\:Jl'I.t1 planning a much larger reactor. In the pUc. Thcs(! urlinJum lllu". mUlit lx, roolcd by lo~ing their heat to running water, but bt'{';lUM! Qt lht! A site was secured in the semi-desert country of eastern pOliSibl1l corrollion of uranium it wall not t.:aeibln te) Washington, at Hanford, on the Columbia river, and the place the sJugs In dired contact with wat"T. The j:ll'kd- Metallurgical Laboratory was given the assignment of ing of the slugs with, liay, aluminum would not appear making plans for the "Hanford pile." These plans were to be a difficult problem. But a icaking jacket would to include not only the reactor unit, but also methods allow water to come into contact with the uranium, and for extracting the plutonium whiCh is formed trom resulting corrosion and swelling might lead to a water uranium during the chain reaction process. Tbe p]uton- flow stoppage that would result in steam formation with ium was to be delivered to the center which was being ensuing damage. How much leakage might be allowed? established at Los Alamos, New Mexico, for fabrication How large must a tiny hole be, to permit a disastrous into a bomb. leak? What are the various jacketing pos.~JbjJJties and It seems rather hard to believe, but at the Metal- which gives the most promise ot being "leak-proof"? iurgical Laboratory, in both oral and written commun- These problems challenged, to the full, engineers' and ications, various significant geographic locations were scientists' understanding of how matter behaves. Prob- always referred to by names like "Site X" or "Site Y", ably no other problem in connection with the Hanford and key materials like uranium and plutonium were also pile was so troublesome, and indeed it was suggested by given pseUdonyms. There was something of the quality of some, apparently in aU seriousness, that the entire pro- a boy's "spy and counter-spy" game among adult men and ject would have to be abandoned because of the difficulty women about the laboratory. The writer has a delightful of the jacketing problem. recollection of a distinguished chemist who periodically The writer has mentJoned only two ot the many kinds had to make a trip to a southern laboratory; in his zeal of problems that faced designers of the first large reactor for security, he invariably went to the railroad station pile. There was a special urgency and drama about the loaded with skis, heavy clothing, and other parapher- nalia that would indicate his traveling to the north. (Continued on Page 46) January, 1953 1\ MORE AROMATICS BY COAL HYDROGENATION By TOM CLARK Chemical Engineer 154 Coal hydrogenation is now a reality! A process now portance. Except for a few limited fractions of petrol- being developed by the Carbide and Carbon Chemicals eum, which yield benzene, toluene and cresylic acids, Company will make it possible to produce greater the coke ovens are the only source of the aromatics. amounts of aromatic chemicals for the whole chemical To visualize the workings of coal hydrogenation, pic- industry. ture the carbon in coal as bonded in a multiple hexagon "Coal hydrogenation" is a term that has been tossed pattern to form a giant molecule or polymer. Each piece around so much that by now the uninformed layman of coal might then be considered as a big, fat lump of might suppose that it has been a long accomplished feat. complex hexagon molecules. Drawn out, the structure Actually, until now it hasn't been economically success- of one molecule of coal looks like a chicken coop fence ful. or a tile bathroom floor. From this idea, chemists have taken 'to calling the study of coal derivatives, In the early history of coal hydrogenation, the process "chicken_wire chemistry." In the hydrogenation of coal was used to produce fuels. The production of fuels by then, the hydrogen acts as the wire cutter that cuts down the destructive hydrogenation of coal was developed first the giant coal molecule into the aromatics, aliphatic in Germany during World War I by the noted German hydrocarbons and synthetic fuels. chemist Dr. Friedrick Bergius. Later, Hitler built 12 coal hydrogenation plants which produced over 24 million barrels of synthetic oil for fuel thirsty Germany. In other nations the production of synthetic fuels could CARBIDE'S PROCESS not compete economically with petroleum fuels. The outstanding feature of the Carbide and Carbon Aromatic chemicals are part of the intermediate pro- Chemical Company's coal hydrogenation process is that duct in the production of synthetic fuels. The word it will produce no recognizable fraction of synthetic fuels aromatic was coined by the old-time chemists because and only insignificant amounts of aliphatics. It is some of the compounds in this class of chemicals had possibly the world's first high-pressure coal hydrogen- a pleasant odor, but this doesn't hold true for all of them. ation process designed to produce chemicals as the Aromatic chemicals are organic chemicals in which the primary products. carbon atoms of their molecules are arranged in hexagon The process developed by Carbide is now being carried fashion. They are important in industries producing out in a pilot plant at Institute, W. Va., which cost $11 plastics, rubber, dyestuffs, perfume, paint and synthetic million and 4% years to build and design. The plant detergents, to name a few. For several years these which has now been in operation less than a year pro- industries have been hampered by the limited supply of cesses 300. tons of coal daily. The Carbide people have coal chemicals and the demand for these chemicals has gotten over their first hurdle by having a foundation of increased sharply since World War II. New uses for research with Which to start a workable process. Their the aromatics have increased the demand 25 to 36 per second hurdle--this plant-wiU provide coal chemicals cent per year. The increase in the present supply of these chemicals at the same time has only been three for sales development work; operating and engineering to five per cent per year. experience for future plants with improved designs; commercial amounts of raw materials for new chemical At present the aromatics are produced as a by-product products. The whole project is in a sense a 10ng-terJIl of the coke ovens. In this process, bituminous coal is calculated risk on the part of the Carbide people. heated to a temperature far too high for optimum yield of coal tar, the chemical-containing fraction. The steel A hydrogenation process is basically the same whether industry is interested only in the coke since it is a much you are producing synthetic fuels or chemicals. The better reducing agent for its furnaces than the original basic steps involved are these: grind up the coal, make a coal and the production of coal tar is of secondary im- paste of it with oil, contact this paste with hydrogen at a high temperature and pressure, and separate out 12 Spartan Engineer the complex chemical fractions formed. It is the experimentation with the process itself at Institute. The Carbide kind of engineering ingenuity that makes the production department will work to find out what difference. compounds can be produced in significant quantities by the plant and the effect of varying conditions on relative Here is what the Carbide people do to coal: Coal is yields. The research department will then try to find crushed to about the size of wheat grains, ground, dried out how these products can be isolated and refined and, and then mixed with oil to make a paste. Actually, the more important, how they can be used. And the coal pretty much dissolves to form a mixture of coal- sales department will try to find out how much of any in-oil. The gritty mixture is then pumped into the product can be sold at what price. hydrogenator. Gaseous hydrogen is introduced. The temperature is raised to 840-1000°F and 4000 to 6000 psi. The production department knows now that their The coal and hydrogen react to form a liquid under these process will turn out such widely used chemicals as conditions in the presence of only about 0.5 per cent benzene, phenol and toluene in very large quantities catalyst. This is the "chemical manufacturing" step. in addition to a considerable amount of higher aromatics. From here on, the job is one of separating the products For example, Carbide expects to get 5 to 8 times the of the reaction. To do this, the reaction mixture goes quantity of naphthalene produced from a ton of coal by to the "hot separator" to take out the unreacted oil the coke ovens, 100 to 200 times as much of the higher and solids. The distilled products are then condensed phenolics and 300 to 500 times the amount of quinoline. in the "cold separator;" this removes the gases from the What is more, it will produce some chemicals, such as liquid stream. aniline, which are almost completely destroyed in the 1100 Centigrade operating temperatures of the coke 0 There are then three streams of products coming ovens. Carbide's process is so flexible by varying the from the hydrogenator. They are: the stream containing conditions of the reaction they can vary the relative the heavy ends, the gaseous and the liquid chemical amounts of the primary products and thus produce only stream. The unused oil is separated from the first stream the products that are in demand. and is recycled. The heavy ends that remain may be coked to produce a product comparable to petroleum The most important job of the research department coke for use in graphite electrodes. The gaseous stream is the job of finding more uses for this new supply of contains largely the unused hydrogen along with vary- chemicals. They have to create new markets for such ing amounts of methane, ethane, propane, butane and chemicals as methylnaphthalene, indan and acenaphthene smaller amounts of ammonia and HaS. The methane-to- for which there are very few uses. The product engineer butane gases are the raw materials for most aliphatics. at Carbide must then be able to take a brand new It is possible then that someday Carbide could bank on chemical and find some practical use for it whether it be coal as a basic source for any chemical, aliphatic or in the field of medicine, plastics or solvents. This re- aromatic. The third stream from the hydrogenator search is being done at Mellon Institute at Pittsburgh. contains the important aromatic chemicals. The light Actually most of the new uses for chemicals have been oil from this stream is in turn broken down into an acid developed by getting the chemicals into the various fraction (phenolics), a basic fraction (nitrogen com- research laboratories of the chemical industry. pounds) and a neutral oil (hydrocarbons). The sales department at Carbide under the title of The aromatic hydrocarbons are separated by distilla- Technical Sales Development has begun a sales program tion into various products. One of these-naphthalene- similar to that Carbide used when it first began to sell is purified by crystallization. aliphatics. Under this program small amounts of new The phenolic portion is separated by continuous dis- chemicals are worked up, publicized, and broadcast in tillation into two fractions; one contains the high_boiling small samples to industries, with technical salesmen phenols while the other is made up of phenal, cresols, following up to explain properties, techniques, and xylenols and cresylic acid. Each portion is then frac- possible uses. Currently Carbide is beginning to ship tionated and refined into individual chemicals. two coal-hydrogenation chemicals, a cut of high-boiling Crude hydrocarbon fractions can be refined into high- phenols and a mixture of aromatic solvents. More grade aromatic solvents and other products. The nitro- finely separated chemicals will be available in sample quantities within the next few months. Larger produc- gen compounds portion is separated by batch distilation tion of scarce chemicals such as quinoline will mean to yield aniline, tolidine, xylidine and other nitrogen that we will have more nicotinic acid, an integral part products. of vitamin B complex. Some other interesting products Most of these chemicals from coal now have scores of of the aromatics are: a new rot-resistant textile chemical; important uses in industry. As soon as this process is gamma picoline, base for the spectacular new TB drug; put into large scale production, our chemical consuming and a possible whole new range of phenolic plastics industries can be assured of a dependable supply of coal from higher phenols. If the aromatics ever become chemicals independent of any other industry's need for available in large quantities, they will enter the fields coke. Already, Carbide has identified more than 100 ranging from agricultural chemicals to dyes to drugs to products in the hydrogenation stream which they think explosives to textiles and to new fields unforseeable at can be produced in commercially significant quantities. this time. These products will fit into the whole spectrum of It would be a stretch of our wildest imaginations to organic chemical products, from explosives to paints guess what the aromatics hold for our future. We can and finishes, many in an entirely different way, creating say, however, that once the aromatics are in full scale new markets. production that they will, in one way or another, def- initely effect our future. The first result will be the creation of new industries for the use of aromatics. THE FUTURE FOR AROMATICS Secondly, new fields and new jobs will be created by the expansion of the chemical industry. And finally, new From here on in the development of coal hydrogena- and better things made with aromatics will in turn tion at Carbide will be an integration of research in the help to build a greater tomorrow for all of us. laboratories, market analysis by the sales staff and 13 January;' 1953 WHAT DOES MECHANICAL ENGINEERING MEAN AT M S C By LOUIS L. OTTO Acting Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering The military commanders of the armies maintained Development of new and important fields of knowledge by the ancient civilizations were dependent upon certain have led to a diversification of the activities of the members of their armies for the construction, main- mechanical engineer, resulting in engineers who are tenance, and operation of devices called "engines of basically mechanical in training but are known by some war" which were used in an assault upon a fortified city. special designation, such as tool engineers, or in an almost The~e picked men, possessed of the ability to visualize complete separation from the original mechanical en- in three dimensions, plus the mechanical aptitude and gineer, such as the electrical engineer and the meta!. courage to make their visions become realities, existed lurgical engineer. in an era when "might is right" was a realistic, if in- The practice of engineering involves the use of man's correct, slogan, and military engineering was their knowledge of the laws and forces of nature to produce primary concern. Today, with 4000 to 5000 years of a result immediate or eventual to mankind. The practice experience separating these early engineers from their of mechanical engineering includes: the generation of modern counterparts, we unfortunately find it still mechanical energy from fuel; the use of mechanical necessary for many of our present-day engineers to energy to drive machines of all kinds, including all direct their efforts toward the planning, construction self-propelled vehicles; the design, development, pro- and utilization of the "engines" of military destruction. duction, operation, and maintenance of machines an,d During periods of comparative peace in the ancient objects of an infinite variety; the production and fabn- civilizations it was possible for the engineers to devote cation of the materials of construction used in nearly all their time to "civil" projects, and there still exist today engineering activity. In these many fields of activ~ty many examples of their skill in planning and building. the mechanical engineer often works every closely wIth The Pyramids and monuments of ancient Egypt, the various types of scientists, or with other engineers such beautiful buildings of ancient Greece, the amphitheatres as the chemical engineer, the civil engineer, the electrical of the days of the Roman Empire, are all monuments to the combined architectural and engineering efforts of engineer, and the metallurgical engineer. Most present these long-forgotten men. day engineering activities have become so complex that Until the middle ages the engineer was concerned no one person can hope to keep himself fully informed in all fields. mainly with static objects and forces. The gradual development of machines for performing many of man's more arduous tasks, and the use of water or animal MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TRAINING power to drive them, introduced motion and the dynamic To be effective in his efforts to become a useful concepts which accompany it, into the field of the en- member of the engineering profession an engineering gineer's activities. The limited amount of power avail- graduate must have had adequate fundamental training able to drive these machines retarded the rapid develop- in the fields of oral and written communication, mathe- ment of this new field of activity, but the development matics, physical and chemical laws and actions, and the of the steam engine removed a large share of this pOWer engineering methods of combining these fields of knoW- limitation, and the number, size, and complexity of machines increased steadily. Those engineers who con- ledge to produce an effective attack on an engineering cerned themselves primarily with the production of problem. Communication skill is needed by the engineer mechanical energy from fuels, and the utilization of that to be able to learn of the activities of his predecessors energy for the production of the needs of mankind were and contemporaries, to record and pass along to others the early mechanical engineers. the results of his efforts in a manner that is clear, These early mechanical engineers were continually concise, and correct, and to convince others of the value annoyed in their efforts to make bigger and better of his plans and methods. However, for the engineer, machines by the limitations imposed upon them by their communication skill must mean more than the ability to materials of construction, and a knowledge of the prop- read, write, and speak the language of the country. The erties of engineering materials, and of metallurgy, be- engineer must be able to understand and to create, two came a necessary part of mechanical engineering. dimensional and three dimensional 'pictures of objects, Similarly, the need for larger and more efficient engines assemblies, and variations of factors. The drawing, of several types led to the need for a more thorough model, and graph are nearly as much a part of the com- and extensive knowledge of the principles of thermo- munication means of an engineer as is language, and dynamics. he should develop skill in the proper use of thest' communication methods. 14 Spartan En~ineef Mathematics is a tool of infinite value to the engineer. options, and to devote approximately half of their senior His entire correlation of physical and mechanical phen- year to these option courses. These option courses are omena is based upon mathematical relations, and a know- intended to give the student training in a certain broad ledge of the laws and operations of mathematics up to area of mechanical engineering activity, and to give him a certain minimum level, and the courage to use this training in the application of his basic engineering knowledge, are a necessity for any aspiring engineer. knowledge to the solution of typical engineering prob- A knowledge of the basic physical and chemical laws are lems drawn from the engineering field selected. also a necessity, since it is upon these that the successful At the present time, senior options are offered in the practice of engineering is based. The effective use of fields of Automotive Engineering, Design Engineering, these knowledge tools is made much easier by the train- Industrial Engineering, and Power Engineering. Starting ing which comes from their coordination and use in the with the class of 1956, there will be two additional many courses of instruction which are peculiar to the options available: Foundry Engineering; and Heating, training of an engineer. Ventilating and Refrigeration Engineering. During his junior year the student will select his senior option. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TRAINING AT MSC During his senior year he will complete all of the courses required in his chosen option, and take as electives The Mechanical Engineering curriculum at Michigan several additional courses from other options, or from state College represents the efforts of the faculty to offer the large number of technical electives available. The to their students the best balance of training in com- option courses will introduce the student to certain types munication skill, mathematics, physics, and chemistry, of engineering problems which he might encounter if and engineering fundamentals which can be comfortably he entered after graduation into the field of mechanical fitted into four school years. During his initial year engineering indicated by the option title. However, it is the emphasis is on communication skills, with three not the intent of the option courses to give the student courses in the field of written and spoken English, and all the training he needs to step into an active and three courses in Engineering Drawing. Training in responsible position in a given field of industry. Instead mathematics is begun immediately, and continues through they utilize the greater interest of the student in a certain the first two years to produce a firm mathematical type of work to improve his comprehension of his foundation upon which the engineering courses of the terminal undergraduate training in engineering methods. junior and senior years can be based. Elementary The product of this training is expected to be an in- Chemistry during the freshman year, and a series of three dividual with sufficient comprehension of mathematical, Physics courses during the sophomore year increase the physical, and engineering fundamentals to absorb, and students knowledge of natural phenomena and broaden profit from, the post-graduate training which he will the foundation upon which his engineering training is get in industry. based. There can be no doubt that the training received by The introduction of the student to engineering during Michigan State College engineers has been effective in his first year is provided by a series of courses in preparing them for a subsequent engineering career. Manufacturing Processes, Elementary Design, and Indus- Michigan industry especially, and to a lesser extent, trial Organization. In these the student is introduced to industry and government in the United States and most the methods used by industry to fabricate its tools and foreign countries, is liberally supplied with MSC En- machinery, the basic design principles of fabricating gineering graduates who have attained positions of tools and equipment, and the organizational patterns responsibility and trust due to their engineering activ- used in industrial enterprises. ities. The number of requests by industry and govern- The balance of the student's curricular activities dur- ment for MSC Engineering graduates has grown year ing his first two years are devoted to collateral courses, by year. During the present nationwide shortage of required of all students at Michigan State College, and engineering school graduates these requests have risen intended to provide all students with a minimum level to nearly the stage characterized by the word "clamor." of liberal education. Included in the curriculum are a Although the present shortage will not always be so series of three courses each in the three fields of Natural acute, developments indicate that the demand for en- Science, Social Science, and Humanities. Also, since gineering school graduates will not be nearly satisfied Michigan State College is a Land-Grant College, all male within the forseeable future. students are required to participate in two years of The fields of activity into which the Mechanical En_ training in Physical Education, and in Military Science gineering graduate can go are very numerous. They and Tactics. include the general fields of design, development, pro- By the time the student has reached the final quarter duction, operation, maintenance, supervision, sales and of his sophomore year he has attained a sufficient back- research in the general areas of power generation, trans- ground in communication skills, mathematics, physics, portation, raw material processing, heating, ventilation, and chemistry, to concentrate on basic engineering refrigeration, steel production, automobiles and trucks, training. The junior year and part of the senior year aircraft, engines of all kinds, chemical process equip- are completely occupied in training in the engineering ment, machine tools, etc. fields of: thermodynamics, properties of metals and alloys; engineering statics, dynamics, strength of ma- DEPARTMENT TO COLLEGE RELATION terials, and fluid mechanics; elements of electrical en- gineering; machine theory and design; nuclear energy The Mechanical Engineering Department is only one of theory; principles of power application. the many individual departments which, collectively, Up to this point in their training all mechanical en- make up Michigan State College. The Mechanical En- gineering students have had the same courses. Because gineering student at MSC has every opportunity to obtain of the diversity of aptitudes and interests among the the benefits which accrue to a stUdent at any other great students and the great variety of activities into which university. He can study, live, and play side by side graduat~g students will go, the senior mechanical en- with students from other departments whose interests gineers are given the opportunity to choose one of several (Continued on Page 36) January, 1953 15 THE FOUNDRY SOCIETY AT THE CAREER CARNIVAL By CLARIDON THOMAS, Publicity, A.F.S. Student Chapter and BRUCE HARDING, Corresponding Secretary, A.F.S. Student Chapter The month of November afforded Michigan state school students and their teachers, vocational school College at East Lansing a wonderful opportunity and a instructors, and others just wandering through out of large attendance for its fourth annual "Career CarnivaL" pure curiosity. One of the interesting features of the This all-college event is staged for the purpose of intro- Carnival crowd was that Thursday night was Date Night ducing college students and prospective college students and all girls on campus were allowed late permissions to industry and to help these students direct their edu_ if a Career Carnival program was taken back to the cational programs to a desired end. dormitory. This produced an unusually large attend- The Career Carnival at M.S.C. was originally a brain- ance for that evening. child of the Senior Class of 1949, for the purpose Invitations were extended to 52 colleges in Michigan of introducing the senior students to interested prospect- by Michigan State's President John Hannah two months ive employers. November of that same year, however, prior to the Carnival. Many of the invitations were saw a slight change in this arrangement as others on accepted and representatives were sent to see the Carni- campus became more interested, until today the Career val. The representatives expressed favorable opinions Carnival at M.S.C. is an all student event. and stated that the Carnival was an excellent method of The tabulating of companies for the program made laying groundwork and achieving a goal for all college just before their representatives started arriving totaled students. 88 industries, plus the Armed Forces, social services, The Early last spring the Michigan State College Advisory American Foundrymen's Society and the Foundry Edu- cational Foundation. From these 88 representatives Committee of the Foundry Educational Foundation met students could choose a career of any sort to guide them and decided that the cast metals industry should be during their entire college days. A cross section of these represented at this year's Carnival. Money for this industries showed a representative sample of all fields project was contributed by the four Michigan Chapters requiring college graduated personnel throughout the of the American Foundrymen's Society. Members of this country. Committee were Paul Olson, Chairman, Eaton Manu- facturing Company, Foundry Division, Vassar; Ross ., Schaeffer, Lackey Foundry, Muskegon; Dave Boyd, En- gineering Castings Company, Marshall; Charles Esgar, Staff Assistant F.E.F.; Charles Sigerfoos, Foundry Pro- fessor at M.S.C., and Ernest Frens President of the M.S.C. A.F.S. Student Chapter, wh~ worked with the Committee. Several meetings followed at the M.S.C. campus where the Advisory Committee of F.E.F. and a number of the student chapter members made plans and got display projects started. The booth was designed to depict the carnival spirit and to attract the students, and then to show them the importance, functions, and opportunities of the cast metals industry. High above the display, where it could be seen for the full length of the corridors, was shown an electric sign reading OPPORTUNITY with an arroW pointing to the booth. It was constructed by student It was not until this year's Career Carnival howeve r Jim Ogilvy. Brightly colored flashing lights on a carni- that the cast metals industry was represent~d in an , val wheel was the next thing to hit the eye. Ernie Frens way, and it is of interest to note that it had the on/ built this to show the variety of fields of education with display booth which represented an industry as a WhOl:' which one could win within the foundry industry. Ashley The Career Carnival at Michigan State College was Sinnett prepared a large display in the corner of the held ~n the second f1~or of the Student Union Building. booth which showed, with toy models the areas of Ea~h mdustry was assIgned a certain area or booth with application in which castings play their ;ole and are the ~hlc~ to work. The industry was then able to move in basis for particular industries. This portrayed the idea ItS d~sp~aysshowing the products it manufactured or a ~hat the Cast Metals Industry was fundamentally a basic descrIptIon of the services and opportunities it could offer. mdustry and had stability. Mounted in the base of this disp~ay was a continuous film loop, taken from "This .The Carn.ival lasted for two days and two evenings wIth an estImated ten thousand people attending. These M~vmg World." It was very ably narrated by Edwin C. people were not only colle~e students, but also high Hill, showing in color some of the basic operations of (Continued on Page 44) 16 Spartan Engineer THE TURBO-ENCABULA TOR A BOON TO INDUSTRY? For nearly 20 years the Industrial Bulletin of Arthur dadosfope. (See "Proceedings of the Peruvian Academy D. Little, Inc., has endeavored to interpret scientific of Skatological Sciences" June 1914.) information in terms that the layman could understand. Electrical engineers will appreciate the difficulty of The present contribution is, however, of such basic nubbing together a reguritative purwell and a supra- significance to scientific thought as well as to industrial mitive wennel sprocket. Indeed, this proved to be a progress, that we have thought it best to print without stumbling block to further development until, in 1942, delay for the benefit of those specialists who can fully it was found that the use of anhydrous nangling pins appreciate its precise terminology. Perhaps one of these enabled a krypotonastic boiling shim to be tankered. specialists will later offer a more general interpretation. The early attempts to construct a SUfficiently robust We regret that, despite the relaxation of wartime spiral decommutator failed largely because of a lack of security regulations with their attendant hazards, the appreciation of the large quasi-piestic stresses in the authors of this paper have preferred to remain anony- gremlin studs; the latter were specially designed to hold mous. the roffit bars to the spamshaft. When, however, it was discovered that wending could be prevented by a simple addition to the living sockets, almost perfect running THE TURBO-ENCABULATOR IN INDUSTRY was secured. For a number of years now work has been proceeding The operating point is maintained as near as possible in order to bring perfection to the crudely conceived to the h.f. rem peak by constantly fromaging the bitumo- idea of a machine that would not only supply inverse genous spandrels. This is a distinct advance on the reactive current for use in unilateral phase detractors, standard nivelsheave in that no dram cock oil is required but would also be capable of automatically synchroniz- after the phase detractors have remissed. ing cardinal grammeters. Such a machine is the "Turbo- Undoubtedly, the Turbo_Encabulator has now reached Encabulator." Basically, the only new principle involved a very high level of technical development. It has been is that instead of power being generated by the relative successfully used for operating nofer trunnions. In motion of conductors and fluxes, it is produced by the addition, whenever a barescent skor motion is required, nodial interaction of magneto-reluctance and capacitive it may be employed in conjunction with a drawn re- directance. ciprocating dingle arm to reduce sinusoidal depleneration. The original machine had a base-plate of prefabricated amulite, surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way that the two spurving bearings were in a Bus Driver: "All right back there?" direct line with the pentametric fan. The latter con- Feminine Voice: "No, wait till I get my clothes on." sisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzelvanes, so fitted Then the bus driver led the stampede to the rear to to the ambifacient lunar vane shaft that side fumbling watch a girl get on with a basket of laundry. was effectively prevented. The main winding was of Rose Technic the normal lotus-o-delta type placed in panendermic semi-boloid slots in the stator, every seventh conductor being connected by a non-reversible tremie pipe to the * * Mary had a little skirt* She stood against the light. differential girdles-spring on the "up" end of the Who gives a grammeters. For Mary's lamb Forty-one manestrically spaced grouting brushes were With Mary's calves in sight. arranged to feed into the rotor slip-stream a mixture of high S-value phenylhYdrobenzamine and five per cent reminative tetryliodohexamine. Both of these liquids * * * Then there was the fellow who had a hobby of collecting stones and putting them in his bathroom. have specific pericosities given by P == 2.5C bin 7 where He had rocks in his head. "n" is the diathetical evolute of retrograde temperature Rose Technic phase disposition and "C" is Cholmondeley's annular grillage coefficient. Initially "n" was measured with the aid of a metapolar refractive pilfrometer (for a * * * Two little boys were standing on the corner. A little girl passed by. description of this ingenious instrument, see L. E. Rumpelverstein in "Zeitschrift fiir Elektrotechnistatischs Said one: "Her neck's dirty." Donnerblitze" vol. VII), but up to the present date Said the other: "Her does?" Duke Engineer nothing has been found to equal the transcend tal hopper 17 January, 1953 THE ENGINEER-HISGROWTH By A. C. MONTEITH Vice-President in Charge of Engineering Westinghouse Electric Corporation • EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from a talk given there is a choice of either opportunity or security. As before the Delaware Engineer's Association, Nov. 13, 1952. a matter of fact, security follows opportunity. If you What we are talking about tonight is not how any doubt that statement, think of the automobile at the particular experience group can be expected to grow- turn of the century, and General Motors today or the but rather how we as engineers can promote the growth Chemical Industry and the DuPont organization. of all phases of experience, through individual and corporate effort. So I think it is essential for the young engineer to choose opportunity if he is to make future growth pos- If this is our aim, it seems to me that pertinent subjects sible. By this I mean, a job which is challenging and for discussion would include the character of the engineer stimulating, one which will give him an opportunity to and what he can do to promote his Own growth; what do real engineering. the corporation can do to promote the engineer's growth, and the goals to which this growth can be expected to But, and here comes the paradox, I would caution the lead. young engineer to beware of impatience. And unfor- tunately, the engineer with the greatest potential is I do think that the place to start is to discuss the frequently the most impatient. In all too many cases, individual and his responsibilities in this great under- impatience has blinded the engineer to the very real taking. What are some of the characteristics a young opportunities that are all around him. engineer should have? Well ... He should have his mind fixed on a definite field of Russell Conway's story, "Acres of Diamonds," tells of endeavor, but should allow some flexibility in his an ambitious young man who set out from his native thinking. Persia to look for diamonds. After years of fruitless wanderings all over the face of the earth, he returned He should be loyal to the company for which he works. home, a bitter and disappointed old man. And a little He must realize early in his career that interest in while later, he found his diamond mine-in his own his job is paramount. backyard. In other words, opportunity is often within He must be willing to work. reach simply for the reaching. He should be encouraged to be a team player. So much for the individual. Now what are some of He should have determination. the responsibilities of others in seeing that he develops He must expect that his mistakes will be noted. at a satisfactory pace? He must be encouraged to continually analyze himself Considerable attention in recent years has been directed on all matters but especially to be sure he understands to this problem by the Engineers' Council for Profes- his objectives. sional Development. This group has attempted to de- He should be encouraged to accept responsibility. velop a program for the individual. Although through committees the Council does much work on subjects He should be encouraged to be a businessman. closely allied to our topic, I think we are most interested These points of course, do not Cover all the desirable in the Committee on Professional Training which is traits but are sufficient to suggest that in general, pro- formUlating a program to bridge the first five years gress will be made if a reasonable degree of common after graduation. The Committee firmly believes that if sense is mixed with initiative. healthy attitudes are established during this period, from But, before we complete this reference to the responsi- then on the young engineer can put greater effort into bilities of the individual in achieving growth, there is his Own development. one other point I would like to make. I have set it To achieve this healthy development, the Committee aside from the other, not only because it is seemingly recommended a number of actions. paradoxical, but because it is a question which everyone must face at some time in his life. And, in my opinion In the first place, they found it essential that engineers at least, while one answer will not necessarily assure be given the opportunity to do engineering. Now this growth, the other will certainly limit it. may seem facetious, but detailed studies show that much The question is "opportunity" or "security," and in of the work now being done by trained engineers in this form it has received a good deal of consideration industry today can be done by supporting personnel. and a fair amount of discussion in the political field. The Committee points out that this waste of engineering Generalizations have a way of being misleading, and I talent in a time of engineering shortage is not the great- think that this is no exception when we imply that est loss a company can expect unless it rectifies this situation. We must consider also that non-engineering 18 Spartan Engineer assignments handled protestingly by older engineers courses, because of increaSing specialization. Another adversely affect the young engineer because the attitude group advocates more of the so-called academic courses of the older man is important to his youthful counterpart. on the grounds that the engineer must handle business Further, non-engineering assignments for the young en- as well as engineering problems. Unfortunately both gineer can directly discourage him, and even worse, can sides are right to a degree. But the compromise offered impair his development by failing to offer the continued -a five year engineering course-seems to me to place challenges essential to growth. an additional drain on already overtaxed educational facilities, a further deterrent to young men who must The second step, the Committee reported, in assuring carefully weigh the cost in time and money of even a that a man grows at the maximum rate is a good train- four year college course. ing program. The transition from directed development in college to self-development in industry is not easy, Now thus far, our discussion has been limited to pro- and such transition becomes more difficult with every fessional growth of the young engineer. Equally, or passing day. This is true because industry is becoming possibly more important, is personal growth as a re- increasingly technical and complex. While the craftsman sponsible and congenial member of the community. of former years grew up with the business, the college During the first few years with the Company, the graduate of today steps into a strange organization at a young engineer is finding his place in the organization, relatively high level. He has had no opportunity to attempting to understand himself, and shaping his pro- understand, through long association, the methods and fessional attitude, setting his sights on a goal. Fre- operations of the concern. Industry therefore has a dual quently, he is establishing his family and generally his responsibility in orienting him first into the business salary is modest. Closing the gap between his experience world itself and secondly in giving the guidance and on the campus and realities of earning a living is not training so that he can start building on the foundation an easy task. It is further complicated by the fact that provided by his formal education. the majority of engineers must build up a new social The training courSe brings the engineer into contact life at the same time, since there just aren't enough with the best men available for training work. Such job opportunities in either home town or college towns. association provides an enduring beneficial influence on It seems to me that right here is an excellent place his behavior. He unconsciously builds fences against for the local engineering councils to take a hand and influences that can reduce his professional status and welcome the newcomer to the community as well as to his individuality. the profession. I have attended enough local meetings Then too, by proper training, an industry that was new to realize the excellent jobs these societies do in furth- to a young man a short time before employment, becomes ering technical knowledge, but it has always seemed a dynamic entity, and he feels a part of it. Consider to me that social events are very limited. The compati- that the young graduate has been carefully selected as bility of professional interest of the engineering societies potentially a key man. He reports to work determined forms a good nucleus for advancing a social program. to really wade in and build a reputation. These hopes are increased when he finds that his company is devoting • • • • In this era of mass production, the engineer is taking the time and effort necessary to acquaint him with its an ever-increasing position in the executive field. policies, objectives, and procedures. He realizes that During the last decade engineers have begun crowding meanwhile, he is, at best, only semi-productive but the the bankers and lawyers in the contest for high-level company sees fit to pay him a salary during the training administrative posts. So successful have been their period. Certainly this company must have plans for him, efforts that an independent survey shows that one-third and he must get himself ready for the opportunities that of the largest corporations in America-50 out of 150- will open to him. are headed by graduate engineers. The records also The sincere employer considers high-quality training show that 40 percent of those taking an engineering of the young engineer to be an obligation, and his pro- education end up in management positions. These fessional growth a challenge. It is certainly one way figures become even more significant when one recalls to help our young engineers "do more, quicker," and that there are ten liberal arts and teachers colleges in to that extent, have the effect of increasing our numbers, the country for every engineering school. thus offsetting our present shortage. So in conclusion we see that the schools, corporations, In addition to a good program of training, another communities, and societies have one objective: to do immediate measure employers can adopt to develop the everything possible to help the young man rapidly individual is to urge younger men to continue their attain full professional stature, provided, of course, the young man realizes that he first must accept the program education. Good learning habits encourage efficient with enthusiasm and devote time to it. He will get out performance. Morale is kept high if the employer en- in proportion to what he puts into the program. courages and assists the young engineer in supplement- ing his college training by evening classes or guided The degree of success attained by a young man depends self-study. The maturing and broadening effect is on many factors, but there is little chance of success obvious. unless the man is enthusiastic about his job. The Now, of course, it is recognized that physical location "Parable of the Stonemasons" illustrates this point and and other factors may not permit all organizations to also poses the challenging question, "What kind of sponsor educational programs. However, encouragement engineer are you?" and guidance from supervision will start many graduates It runs: "Once upon a time a man stood watching in groUps of their own in self-improvement programs. the construction of a large edifice. Scaffolding reached The Engineers' Council for Professional Development high and the ground was littered with huge blocks of program is aimed at expanding this opportunity for en- stone. Workers were engaged in many tasks, but the gineers in areas where it does not now exist. most interesting of them all were three stonemasons. But continuing education has another very real ad- "The man watched them at work and then approached vantage for engineering as a whole. Right now the each of the three in turn. engineering schools are under pressure from one group (Continued on Page 42) which wishes to increase the number of engineering 19 January, 1953 The Prize Winning Tau Beta Pi Initiation Essay By WALTER HUSS Chemical Engineer '53 The terms used to define the fiery apparitions that Meteorites vary greatly in size. About ten billion the appear in the sky have often been misrepresented. As size of a marble or golf ball enter the earth's atmosphere used in this article a meteor is the fireball as it appears every day but are redu~ed to mere meteoric dust by the in the sky and a meteorite is the solid heart of the time they fall on earth. However, a considerable number meteor that is left after it strikes the earth. Further- of a more appreciative size have fallen. more, a comet shall be considered as a very large meteor, The earth has been more fortunate than our nearest some of which, if the tail is added, have exceeded the neighbor, the moon. Unlike the earth, the moon has no sun in dimension. tough resilliant atmosphere. The atmosphere surround- There have been misconceptions concerning these fiery ing the earth is equal in mass to fifty-two inches of the objects since man first existed. Until fairly recent toughest steel armor plate but affords more protection times, and to a degree even today, they have been than that due to its composition. When a metallic revered as an agent of God sent to earth as a reminder meteorite reaches the earth intact it is scarred and of His omnipotence. An outstanding example of this is fluted by temperatures calculated to exceed three the Black stone in the heart of the holy Koaba of Mecca. thousand degrees Centigrade; a temperature generated Because it fell from heaven it is the most sacred of all by the friction between meteorite and air molecules. In the reliques of the Mohammedans. addition to the heat caused by air resistance, a great pressure is exerted on the meteorite. One the size of a Meteorites are not a rarity, even though comparatively medium sized hand, moving twenty seven miles per little is heard about them. The great showers that fall second at a height of twelve miles sustains a pressure come in definite cycles and seasons and from this has of a half million pounds. It is this pressure which often arisen the theory that they travel in orbits, just as the earth, sun and other planets do. causes them to blow up and disintegrate. If a person chances upon one of these stones from While traveling in their orbits they sometimes attain heaven he quite often values it, thinking it may be a the speed of 175,000 miles per hour. This high velocity valuable object and perhaps composed of a material is possible because of the lack of friction which the non-existant on earth. Actually he would have a atmosphere surrounding earth would present. Meteors meteorite of little innate value, since there have never in earth's region of space move approximately 95,000 been discovered any elements in meteorites which didn't miles per hour and enter the first thin layer of earth's exist on earth, and usually in abundance. atmosphere at a distance of about seven hundred miles. Meteorites fall mainly into three groups. The siderites, They dash against this atmosphere at a speed of 7.7 to or metallic type, the aerolites, or stony type that is 44.7 miles per second, depending on whether they travel composed of the same rock substances that are common with or against the direction of rotation of the earth. to most areas on earth, and mixtures of the two types, It is estimated that about one million meteorites the siderolites. Ten to fifteen percent of the meteorites size of the end of a thumb fall on earth every hour, but recovered are virtually solid chunks of metal and an since this equals only about one to every two hundred equal number are rocks alone. Although more metallic square miles of the earth's surface it does not seem quite and mixed meteorites are found, more stony meteorites so strange that they are seldom found. This rate of fall fall to earth but are not found because they look much adds twenty pounds to one ton of mass to the earth like ordinary stones and are smaller than metallic meteors. every day and about one-half inch to the earth's radius, dating from its estimated birth. Of the three greatest catastrophes that have been accepted as arising from the action of meteorites, the 20 Spartan Engineer This essay, part of the required pledge activities of all Tau Beta Pi aspirants, was chosen the best of the Fall term initiation class. The winning essay has been sent to the national Tau Beta Pi Board for competition on a nation-wide level. most publicized one is represented by Barringer Crater, like matchsticks. Over Kentucky, Tennessee, and the located a few miles from Winslow, Arizona. This fire- Great Smokies it came, melting rocks of the mountains. ball came from the north over the Idaho mountains. "It almost missed the continent, but struck the south- "Its glowing heart was a mass of nickel-iron, probably eastern coastal plain in the area between Virginia and five hundred feet thick and weighing more than one mid-Georgia." Nothing much remained alive in North million tons." It drilled through 2,400 feet of solid Carolina, Georgia, and eastern Tennessee and severe rock, ground millions of tons of rock into flour and results were probably felt as far north as Quebec and raised a rim around the crater that rises 125-160 feet west to Kansas. Fires raged over 100,000 square miles. above the surrounding plain yet today. The crater is "This was a swarm of meteors, thousands of feet thick, 4,100 feet wide and six hundred feet deep; less than roughly spherical in shape and covered an area four one-half its original depth. Evidence of a meteorite fall hundred miles wide. Had it been a solid mass of stone was supported by the work of Dr. D. M. Barringer. He and metal it would be comparable to a cannon ball one found metallic masses at 1,346 feet by drilling under and hundred miles in diameter. Evidence of this blow to beyond the south rim of the crater, indicating that the earth can be seen today. In the Atlantic coastal plain meteor probably came at a low angle from the north, there are thousands of earth scars. They are strangely as had been surmised by earlier studies. regular, rounded to almost a circular shape and up to Science has estimated this event to have occurred ten thousand feet in diameter. The scars exist mainly twenty thousand to fifty thousand years ago and again in a belt eighty miles wide, four hundred miles long, a mystical reverence has arisen from the cataclysm; from Virginia to Georgia, parallel to the coast, but twenty this time by the Hopi Indians of Arizona. to forty miles inland. However, this is only part of the The greatest meteorite fall of modern times took place entire area hit. The whole area covered is believed shortly after the turn of the century and remained com- to have been an ellipse with its long axis running paratively unknown for nineteen years. This act of northwest-southeast; that is, at a right angle to the nature chose June 30, 1908 as its appointment date with present belt of bays. This belt would have extended earth. It fell in the wild, almost uninhabited swamp from a spot well to west of the Appalachian mountains 'lands between the Yenisei and Lena rivers in Siberia. to a point far out into the ocean off the southern Atlantic In 1927 Prof. L. A. Kulik and his expedition cro;sed the coast. The eastern part of this oval would now be ob- tundras to this remote section and found a shallow literated by the seas that formerly extended far inland. depression about two miles wide. "The ground had The western hilly and mountainous part would be been pushed up violently sideways, as a stone dropped effaced by erosion long ago. The craters exist only in in thick mud, so that concentric rings were still visible. the plains where submergence under the ocean appar- Inside this large depression were two hundred craters ently wasn't long enough to destroy outlines of the with diameters ranging from one to fifty yards. Every craters and erosion is very slow. "Magnetometer tests tree in the depression was destroyed and all trees in a prove great masses of metal exist just southeast of radius of twenty to thirty miles Were fallen in a fan-like certain bays." fashion .. Estimates today of this meteoric fall are not too exact- The person closest to the disaster that remained alive ing and place it at anywhere from six thousand to sixty was a farmer fifty miles away. He saw a great light thousand years ago. followed by utter darkness, then a wave of such intense In this present age of atomic energy we are inclined heat he feared his clothes would catch fire. He woke to think that such catastrophes as these could only be up on the ground after several hours of unconsciousness the result of atomic energy release. This is not the case. only to discover that the porch on which he had been These scars on earth are the result of inertia of motion standing had been leveled with his house. A herd of and inertia of rest, compression of matter, and physical fifteen hundred reindeer a few miles closer to the fall and chemical explosions. were entirely. obliterated, except for a few thoroughly From a study of these planetoidal collisions man has been able to learn more about the history of earth and charred .carcasses. At the same time a train on the TranS-Siberian railway four hundred miles away was the universe, expanded his knowledge in most of the scientific fields of endeavor, and has the only direct stopped for fear it would be thrown off the tracks. evidence that other bodies in the universe are composed As tremendous as were those two meteoric falls there of the same elements as earth. What results this almost is yet one that almost pales them into insignificance. newly acquired supply of knowledge has on the Iife- This flaming 'comet came from the northwest; over course of mankind can only be revealed by the passing Alberta, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Over Illinois the compressed air ahead flattened forests of time. 21 January, 1953 The Future of Our Petroleum Reserves By LARRY JACKSON . Geology '53 At the time an oil well is abandoned as much as 80 A typical production record of a well using only percent of the initial quantity of petroleum may yet be primary production methods would show a large quantity underground. This was the case of one of the older of petroleum produced for a short t~me after the well fields. The field had been operated until it became an is opened. The quantity of productlOn then drops off unprofitable venture. Yet a greater quantity of petrol- sharply and starts a gradual decline until water begins eum was left underground than had been extracted. to show. This water presents an added problem. It The first flow from a well is obtained without the must be separated from the petroleum and disposed of aid of "man directed" forces, and is known as "primary by some other means than the local streams. These recovery." This driving force is the result of three disposal techniques are covered later under "water separate pressures on the petroleum. They are: injection" methods. Eventually the cost of lifting the mixture and separating the petroleum from the water 1. Pressure caused by the weight of the overlying becomes greater than the price of the petroleum. T~e rock formations. well is now unprofitable to operate, yet a large quantity 2. Gas pressure upon the petroleum. of petroleum has been bypassed by water. The 3. The hydrostatic pressure of the water below the petroleum is now unrecoverable by primary methods. petroleum which is included in the reservoir. The main key to the problem of low production is the When a well is drilled into a petroleum reservoir, it natural gas found in the reservoir. If it is put back into acts as a vent and the high pressures seeking an outlet the reservoir it will drive more petroleum to the well. move toward the well. The migration of gas and water As long as the pressure is maintained in the reservoir, a portion of the gas will remain in solution with the petroleum. The gas in solution causes the liqui~ to be less viscous, which in turn makes it more easIly re- . .. . covered. The process just outlined is one of the ." ...... " "secondary recovery" methods in use today . "Secondary recovery" is defined as forces directed by man to obtain petroleum from a reservoir. There are many different methods used in "secondary recovery," but the two that have been proved are "gas repressur- ing" and "water injection" methods. The principle of "gas repressuring" was given pre- viously. In the application of this principle, the gas is not allowed to blow off in the form of a gusher when ... a new well is brought in. Instead it is capped; then ' .. petroleum and gas are taken from the well simultane- ' .. '. ously. The gas as it comes from a well contains natural gasoline and other liquid gydrocarbons. Hence the term LJ "wet" gas is used. This "wet" gas is processed in the Figure 1. Cross-section of a typical petroleum reservoir field to extract the liquids. The "dry" gas is then pumped back into the reservoir to add to the pressure which has been on production for a short period. of the reservoir. The use of "water injection" has produced more petroleum to date than "gas repressuring." However, the more recent fields favor "gas repressuring," due to will drive some petroleum ahead of it. However, the greater ease of operation and lower cost. A complete greater portion of petroleum' remains in the reservoir coverage of the reservoir by water input and petroleum because the petroleum is more viscous and has a greater production wells is required when using "water in- force of adhesion to the rock grains than does gas or jection" methods. water. The result of these conditions is a short pro- Although the trend today is toward "gas repressuring," duction life for the reservoir. As the gas is removed there are limits to its adaptability, beyond which "wat~r the pressure drops, which in turn decreases the driving injection" is best. It is true that "water injection" IS force on the petroleum. more efficient in recovering petroleum, but the expenses All this time the water is approaching the well in are also greater when using this method. tongue-like projections from the main body below the Water flOoding is used in reservoirs which are com- petroleum. The tongues of water by-pass a large volume posed of fine grained sands, because the water will of petroleum and will in time cut off the petroleum penetrate smaller pore spaces than can the petroleum. entirelY, as they seek to relieve the pressure. This This means that water will flush every space the condition is best understood by visualizing a bicycle petroleum can occupy and will in turn give a greater wheel turned on its side, with the hub representing the yield. Reservoirs having coarse sands or porous li~e- well, the spokes representing the water, and the air stones are operated more efficiently by the gas drIve spaces representing the by-passed petroleum. method. This is true because capillary forces are 22 Spartan Engineer reduced sufficiently to allow the gas pressure to flush Clay is also removed which will clog the reservoir pores the pore spaces. "Water injection" would give a greater if it is allowed to remain in the water. After these yield, but the larger quantity of petroleum produced operations are completed the water is then pumped would not be sufficient to cover the expense of installing back into an input well to aid in the further flooding this system. of the reservoir. Should a reservoir be fitted for "gas repressuring," only wells near the top of the structure will be con- verted to "injection wells." The gas cap is found at the top of the structure if any is present. The object is to add gas volume directly to the gas cap. Thus, converting a "production well" to gas injection requires only puncturing the well casing near the top of the gas cap. The main reasons why "gas injection" costs less are: fewer injection wells are required. Only one out of five to seven wells are necessary for injection using this method instead of a one to one ratio which is required of "water injection." Also no set pattern of wells or even a complete coverage of the reservoir is required when employing "gas repressuring." .. £./ Figure 2. The same reservoir after a long periOd of pro- duction. Note the gas volume has decreased and the water level has raised sufficiently to cause Well B to produce only water . • • • • • Before a field is put on secondary production, a study of the reservoir must be made to determine which method should be used. If the decision is to use water injection, a pattern covering the entire reservoir with • • • "injection" and "production" wells must be designed, which will return the greatest production with the least number of wells. The spacing of well holes is de- termined by the size of the drainage area around each Figure 3. The "five spot pattern;" squares represent well, which in turn is an indication of the permeability "injection wells" and circles are "production wells." of the reservoir. A few new wells are usually required to complete the pattern of both types of wells. New "injection wells" are likely to be drilled just off the edges of the reservoir to insure that the petroleum will be forced toward the center of the reservoir. Today when a new petroleum reservoir is tapped, The most common configuration in use is the "five "secondary recovery" methods, previously outlined, are spot" pattern, where four injection wells are arranged brought into early use. The production schedule is set in a square with one production well in the center of by reservoir engineers to insure the greatest possible that square, and in turn every injection well is bounded yield on a long term basis. This involves conserving by four production wells. This is a ratio of one injec- the pressure in the reservoir, which is a "secondary" tion well for everyone production well. Figure 3 is an method. In the interest of greater production it is best example of such a pattern. to withdraw the petroleum slowly. A slower flow will The only variation from this pattern is found at the carry fewer loose grains which may lodge in the pore edges of a field, where the pattern is forced to conform spaces and cut the flow. It also aids in maintaining to the shape of the reservoir. Since the water will tend the pressure and gives individual droplets a chance to to push upward, it is best to locate "injection wells" collect in the well rather than being by-passed and lost. down dip of "production wells." Figure 1 will illustrate A typical production record would show a yield similar to primary production, but the decrease in production this technique. is much slower using secondary methods. Old reser- Well "B" contacts the reservoir rock at a greater voirs become rejuvenated when operated by secondary depth than well "A," therefore well "B" is down dip methods. An increase and then a constant or very from well "A." However a large field using the "five slight decrease in production is noted, once the new spot" pattern will have some "production wells" located methods are adopted. down dip of "injection wells." This condition is un- avoidable, but in large fields it is not too serious. However, even the best "secondary methods" leave sufficient petroleum und~rground to warrant an attempt Another expense of this system is the cost of lifting at further recovery. The term "tertiary recovery" is the petroleum-water mixture to the surface and separat- being used in connection with mining, detergents, and ing the petroleum from the water. The water extracted heat techniques. However these methods are unproved from the "production well" is then treated to remove corrosive agents, thus preventing pipe and pump damage. at this time. 23 January, 1953 - - -~- __-~--- _0-_- -------- ---- ~--- a look to the future ••• YOU and DETROIT EDISON BEFORE YOU CHOOSE the place where you'd like to work, look ahead. Carefully consider the character of the company you'd like to join. Ask yourself if it is a progressive concern, led by men of energy and vision. Does it provide a wide variety of jobs that lead to positions of higher trust? Is it a company with a future-one that will reward your loyalty, ability and accomplishments It is an aggressive company keeping co~s~ant p~c~ with well-defined opportunities for advancement? with the productive area it serves-a utilIty WhIC. during the last six years has increased its electnc Detroit Edison is widely recognized as such a generating capability by 50 per cent-and by 1954 company. will have doubled its facilities of a decade ago. It is an independent electric utility-one of the largest in the United States. Detroit Edison is This steady march of progress calls for a cor tinued program of expansion ... it demands ab e owned by 60,000 investors and operated by 11,000 men of many skills to assume new positions of re- employes, who serve 3,500,000 people living through- sponsibility in scores of different jobs. out the key industrial and agricultural section of southeastern Michigan. There is no limit on your initiative at Detroit . The Detroit Edison Company is a forward looking Edison. You may select YOur starting job through enterprise with a half century of progress to mark an orientation Pl"Ogram which also allows you to its present growth. As an example of its fore- observe many of the Company's operations as a sightedness, Detroit Edison engineers are working background to your successful future. And, once with Dow Chemical Company as one of our country's started, you are encouraged to advance as far as four atomic research teams. They are investigating your ability and energy will carry you. the use of nuc1ear heat in thermal electric generat- Here indeed is a firm and satisfying foundation ing plants ... an investigation pointing toward on which to build your own career-Detroit Edison, better ways to provide electric power for the nation. a company that looks ahead for its employes as well as for the customers it serves. [ The Detroit Edison Company J 24 Spartan Engineer Board and room to grow! "Sure. I realize there are opportunities at General variables-most important being the individual's Motors. But how long will I be stuck on a drafting own talents and his ability to develop them. board before I can take advantage of them?" But there is one general answer that can be made. This is a very familiar question to our College And it's a very recent one. At a large gathering of Representatives at their job conferences with engi. General Motors engineers-many of them in top neering seniors. management-others in important divisional posi- tions-this question was asked: And-in the individual case-frankly it's a hard question to answer. For often first jobs for graduates "How many of you started your GM careers on a in certain phases of engineering work are at a drafting board?" The answer: practically everyone drafting board. And the length of time the indi- said" I did!" vidual stays at a drafting board depends on many So perhaps the best reply to your query about the duration of your drafting board experience is to say - "there are drafting boards and drafting boards." And a GM drafting board has this advan- tage-it can lead to a secure and satisfying life work in a company headed, in many cases, by engineers and with a record of supplying engineers with the equipment and the associations and the opportuni- ties they ask to make the most of their particular training. May we suggest you ask any such questions of our College Representative. Your College Placement Office can arrange a meeting with him on his next visit to your campus. Or drop us a line. GM POSITIONS NOW AVAILABLE IN THESE FIELDS: Mechanical Engineering Electrical Engineering Metallurgical Engineering Industrial Engineering Chemical Engineering GENERAL MOTORS Personnel Staff Detroit 2, Michigan 25 January, 1953 EDITORIALLY SPEAKING Your Engineering Council By PHIL SANFORD Associate Editor The Engineering Council ... What is it? What does privileged in having the services of mem~ers of three it represent, and why? of the nation's outstanding firms, in puttmg on these Most likely the majority of you reading this page three features. Dr. Kenneth McFarland, a cons~ltant to do not know the answers to all or any of these questions, General Motors, is the featured speaker, whIle both and possibly do not even care. You should, however General Electric-through Detroit Edison Co., and Bell -both care and know about the functions of this orga- Telephone Laboratories of New Jersey will ~ave sho,":,s nization. For, it is an organization for you-your En- during the Exposition. The General ElectrIC show IS gineering Council. their famous "House of Magic," while Bell Tel~ph~ne Membership in the Council is composed of repre- will present its non-technical show of switching CIrCUIts. sentatives from each engineering organization on the Reigning over all these activities is the Engineering Michigan State campus, and presently numbers about Queen who this year will be chosen by the students of 35 people. Each professional society, such as the Amer- , the engineering school. Her reIgn. a 1so me . Iu des the . ican Institute of Electrical Engineers and the American Holiday Ball, a dance sponsored each fall by the CouncIl. Society of Civil Engineers, is entitled to three repre- Now, you may ask, "Why should this concern ~e. ?" sentatives on the Council; two upperclassmen and a This is what we think is the answer: This funchon- sophomore, elected in his second term; each honorary the Engineering Exposition-offers what is possibly the fraternity-such as Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma- best chance each year for you to meet members of has one member on the Council, as do the interest industry and talk with them about job opportum Tles and societies-such as Phi Lambda Tau. In addition, the a career in engineering; it offers the best chance for y~u Spartan Engineer has two Council members, and there to see what is being done by students and faculty m are several people on it representing organizations in departments of engineering other than your own, and fields closely allied to engineering-the Industrial Arts Society among these. it offers you one of your best chances to meet and work with the engineers in the other departments. Thus far we have considered what the Engineering Council is and what it represents. The Why of the En- With these facts and opinions in mind, think of ~he gineering Council, though, is more important and more opportunities you might have to help the Engineer~g difficult to answer than the two previous questions. Council, and then act. Please--support your Engineermg Council. First of all, the Engineering Council may indireCtly be one of the factors which influenced your decision to • • * • study at Michigan State College. On another page of Last faU the Spartan Engineer ran three articles con- this magazine there is a full description of the activities cerning scholarships and graduate fellowship awards of JETS--Junior Engineering Training for Schools. The available to all undergraduate engineers. Since then, Council helps out in this function~esigned to give we have received no news of any additional such awards. MiChigan high schOol students a view of what a future We have, however, received further information con- in engineering might mean to them. cerning the A. F. Davis Undergraduate Welding Award. In another, even more positive way, the Engineering The report is that there has been a small number of Council attempts to help both high school and COllege entries made for this award. students by sponsoring, in conjunction with the other The first prize in this contest consists of $200 and campus engineering organizations, the annual Engineer- second prize is $150. In addition to the individual ing Exposition. Each year the campus societies and prize, the publications printing the best papers submitted commercial firms from in and around Michigan set up will receive a duplicate award. exhibits of things pertaining to engineering in Olds Hall Deadline for this contest is April 1, 1953. For further and other buildings on campus. For two days, high information about it, see the November issue of the school students, college students, and other interested Spartan Engineer, or contact a member of the magazine'S people are free to walk through all the exhibits, talk editorial staff. to company representatives and engineering students, and even have available to them a free testing, counsel- • • • • ing, and guidance service. Do you have any questions or comments concerning what has been said on this page? About anything in In addition to all this, the Engineering Council pre- this magazine? Or about anything pertaining to en~ sents at the Exposition three special features: a banquet gineering in general? for profeSSional engineers, a speech by an outstanding member of industry, and a show by a commercial com- If You do, the Spartan Engineer would be glad to hear pany which highlights scientific achievements of today from you. Send your contributions c/o Box 468,. East and dreams for tomorrow. This year Michigan State is Lansing, Mich., or bring them to the Spartan Engmeer Office, third floor, Union Building. 26 Spartan Engineer MORE AIRCRAFT ENGINES bear this emblem than any other Wherever you go In the aircraft world, you'll find this emblem-the acknowledged symbol of dependability. It's carried by big bombers, medium bombers, light bombers-by all types of commercial transports-by flashing jet fighters. In a field where only the best is good enough, it stands for outstanding engineering achievement. If you would like to work for the company with a future-in an industry with an unlimited future-set your sights on Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. !!!lll!c!lflf!t!!l!Xd{{li(~H EAST I'fARTFORO 8, CONNECT/CVT V.S.A. 27 January, 1953 New Developments News of Whatts New in Industry TWO NEW PLANES GAS TURBINE The gas turbine, one of the most versatile new sources of power for industry, is now being used successfully to pump natural gas through pipelines. The first of twenty-eight 5000 horsepower General Electric gas turbines for the El Paso gas transmission system between West Texas and California has been placed in operation at Cornudas, Texas. When the remaining units are in operation within the next year, flow of gas through the lines will be increased about 300 million cubic feet per day. The new gas turbine will operate centrifugal pumps to obtain this increase in capacity. The EI Paso system is now using stations with reciprocating pumps at about IOO-mileintervals along the line. The use of these units will continue. The new AJ-2 Savage. An advanced version of the AJ-l Savage, this new plane is the largest carrier-based The gas turbine stations are being inserted at about bomber in the U. S. Navy's arsenal. It weighs 26 tons, 30 mile intervals between existing reciprocating stations is 65 feet long, 21 feet high, and has a wing span of to boost the average pressure and the flow of gas. 75 feet. It is capable of delivering an atomic bomb The operating cost of the new stations is expected to from either carrier or land-based stations. be less than the cost of present reciprocating stations, principally because the new stations will require less manpower for operation and maintenance. '~'j Sites of the new stations are in the desert where I water is a precious commodity. Gas turbines are well suited to such locations because they require little water and few operating personnel. I' I MARINE CORPS BODY ARMOR U.S. Marine Corps body armor-called "shrap jackets" by American fighting men-is now being produced in quantity. In revealing that Westinghouse is making the armoring material for the Marine Corps, Eugene Perry, Micarta Division manager said the "shrap jackets" get their This picture is of the Navy's new FJ-2 Fury and life saving properties from three things: the way they're shows how the plane's wings fold for carrier storage. made, and their two basic ingredients, glass cloth and This plane is a swept wing jet fighter, which carries a synthetic resin. This combination enables the material, four 20 mm. cannons and is capable of a speed of 650 known as Doron, to actually stop deadly mortar and miles per hour. grenade fragments and similar low velocity missiles. When a fragment or a small caliber bullet strikes the material, the layers of impregnated cloth separate as NEW DEVELOPMENT SHORTS the missile attempts to smash its way through. This Passenger car horns manufactured by Delco-Remy di- delamination actually sets up a cushioning effect that vision are tuned to the musical notes E flat and G, instantly reduces the velocity of the fragment to prac- which provide a pleasing tone and carry maximum tically zero. distance. Doron is made by applying heat and pressure to layers of resin-impregnated glass cloth. While the exact details .Spark plugs must operate in 1,500 degree temperature, of manufacture are withheld for security reasons, it can glVrng up to 2,000 sparks per minute and withstanding be revealed that the layers are not pressed together explosive pressures as high as 500 poU~ds per square inch. tightly. If they were, the plates would lose some of their effectiveness against the missiles they are intended to A surfagage, an instrument that detects scratches as stop. small as one millionth of an inch has been developed. It '. , The present model of the armor vest, weighing less IS used In shops and factories to determine the than eight pounds, has been described as the best of its average roughness of highly machined surfaces of such type ever developed. parts as pistons, and cylinder linings which call for precision fits. 28 Spartan Engineer Is the Human Brain Obsolete? By LEE MAH Electrical Engineer '54 Another Prize-Winning Tau Beta Pi Initiation Essay After the presidential election four months ago, Electronic brains are now being used in situations it was disclosed that early in the election tabulations, where the nerve impulses of a human being find it UNIVAC, Remington Rand's analogue computer, a me- impossible to respond with the swiftness that is required. chanical brain, had predicted the outcome of the election. For instance, in the newly developed F-94C high speed, This prediction turned out to be astoundingly accurate. all-weather interceptor, it was found that human reaction UNIVAC predicted that Eisenhower would win 40 states alone was inadequate to operate the aircraft. Therefore, and Stevenson only eight. It also predicted a consider- electronic devises were installed for flying the craft and able lead in popular vote for Eisenhower. The reason for firing its armament. In manufacturing and in why these facts were ignored at the time was that the chemical plants where high speeds and high quality humans operating UNIVAC refused to believe them. production found normal human controls inadequate They altered the information going in UNIVAC to get and inefficient, electronic brains are taking over the job. results which they thought were right. It turned out that At the present, it is believed that therc are two very UNIVAC was right and they were wrong. important shortcomings of the mechanical brain. One Why is it that a machine such as UNIVAC is able to is that the thinking apparatus must be turned on or off outthink the human brain? The reasons are, first, com- by human beings. The second is that problems must be pared to the nerve impulses in a mechanical brain, the created by Man to be fed into the machine. The machine human impulses seem very slow and sluggish. The nerve cannot create problems. As for the first shortcoming, impulses in a mechanical brain can travel at the speed it is conceivable that with the increasing reliability of of light. The human nerve impulses are hopelessly Man on the mechanical brain to solve his problems, he outclassed by this speed. Secondly, the mechanical brain must through necessity leave the machine switched on is able to concentrate with pure logic entirely on one and improve it for continuous operation. The second subject and one subject only. It has no such extraneous defect seems insurmountable. However, one must realize factors as prejudices, party loyalties, or other emotions that when man first came out with the adding machine to distract it. In other words, its conclusions are based little did he know what it might develop into later. completely on cold, cold facts. No human brain is yet Who can predict with certainty what the mechanical capable of accomplishing this. brain may develop into tomorrow? How did it come about that Man who claims himself There is no doubt in the fact that the mechanical to be the master of all mortals is now challenged by brain today can do much quicker and more accurate this mighty thinking machine? There was an old saying calculation and reasoning than the human brain. This to the effect that "It is man's own creative ability that is shown by its increasing use in high-speed aircrafts leads to his destruction." This seems to be true in the and in industries. As such, it is an incalculable aid to case of the mechanical brain. mankind. However, will man who invented this monster Man first began by inventing the adding machine. brain continue to develOp it to such a degree of perfection A harmless little gadget that could add, or substract, that it will eventually replace his own thinking device? 2 and 2 and produce the right answer. Obviously, to compare such a machine to a human brain is ridiculous, for this machine is extremely primitive in comparison. It does not even possess the brains of an idiot. However, as new inventions came about, the machine was able to do all types of arithmetic calculations. And then, finally, it developed into the forerunner of the modern ENGINEERING brain. Such is the evolution of the mechanical brain. The forerunner of the modern brain is "Simple Simon." TODAY and TOMORROW It can handle operations that consist of a relatively small amount of numbers and has a limited memory. But it can perform reasoning operations of indefinite length. It MSC can be said to have the brains of a moron. From this midget of a machine has come the colossal electronic brains of today. The IBM Automatic Sequence- ENGINEERING EXPOSITION Controlled Calculator (Mark III), for instance, takes only 0.004 second for addition and 0.01 second for multi- plication of two 16 digit numbers. It can also memorize May 1,1953 May 2, 1953 60,000 units of information. A new electronic brain has already been developed to design aircrafts and guided missiles conforming to any set of design characteristics. January, 1953 29 Junior Engineering Training for Schools By RALPH l. PAUL Ass't Prof., Engineering Drawing The story of JETS, Junior Engineering Training for Staff members in the School of Engineering aid the Schools, goes back four years to the time when the JETS program as an extra-curricular activity. They current engineering shortage first became apparent. The write projects, make visits, and serve as consulting enrollment in the engineering schools and the prospective engineers. enrollment was not enough to furnish the required The college assists a JETS Club in several ways. In number of new engineers. In order to increase the addition to visits of faculty members, many materials supply, Dean L. G. Miller of the School of Engineering are available. Lists of literature, films, recordings, and conceived the idea of a high school organization to projects are compiled and revised and made available acquaint students with the engineering profession. The to the clubs. These materials in some cases are available purpose is not to sell engineering to high school boys directly from the college and in other cases addresses who are trying to decide upon a vocation, but rather are given where they may be obtained. Starting kits to give them information and experience upon which to are available which consist of the Jet Pilot Handbook, make a decision. It is felt to be as important to have suggestions, projects, and lists of additional materials one boy decide against engineering as a profession as to and aids which will be furnished upon request. Period- have another decide to enter that profession. In other ically, a newsletter called "JETS-a-Gram" is sent to words, the purpose is to help the student make his first the clubs with information of interest to them. decision sound and lasting. Recently, one of the honorary organizations at Mich- Local clubs are formed in high schools where there igan State COllege required each of its initiates to write is interest enough to have at least five or six boys active a project. The results were very satisfying. Probably in the organization. Some high school teacher, such as a one of the reasons is that these men have been out of mathematics, science, or industrial arts teacher, acts as high school for only a few years and can place them- the advisor or Jet Pilot. In each case, it is planned selves at the high school level more easily than an older that a professional engineer serve as consulting engineer. person. These projects will be edited and combined in The officers of the club are Captain, First Officer, Com- cases of similar subjects and be made available to club munications Officer, and Navigator who serve as Presi- members. Other honorary organizations are contemplat- dent, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, respect- ing following the practice for initiation use. ively. It is difficult to evaluate the results of such a pro- As the purpose of the club is one of activities, business gram. The JETS organization has been in operation and organizational matters are kept at a minimum. Ac- long enough so that we now have some former JETS tivities may include projects which may be of individual members in the Engineering School at Michigan State. or group nature. Projects can consist of experiments, One of these recently won a slide rule for the highest investigations, model building, or anything which strikes scholastic average during his first term at college. This the fancy of the individual or group. The idea is to prize is awarded each year by the Michigan State College illustrate the scientific laws or the procedures employed chapter of Tau Beta Pi, all engineering honorary. A by an engineer when carrying out his duties. Other activities are varied. Some of these are visits to enter- student who came to an early Engineering Exposition prises employing engineers and engineering procedures. will, in 1953, serve as Chairman of the Exposition. Those Some may be talks or demonstrations by engineers and connected with the program are happy to see these scientists. Many films and recordings which have interest students succeeding in this manner. for JETS members are available from educational insti- Students now at Michigan State who have not belonged tutions and industrial concerns. to a JETS Club often express their interest in such an At the present time, there are about 20 clubs in the organization realizing that it would have been of state of Michigan and at least one in New York state. immense value and help to them in planning a college Inquiries come from many different areas. General career. Some of these students in their visits to their Electric is encouraging similar clubs in the areas sur- home towns contact a member of the public school rounding some of their large plants. They have also system to interest them in the JETS program. Others been very helpful in supplying material of interest to express interest in being able to assist in this work upon JETS. their graduation and entrance into industry. The JETS program is growing and no one pretends to know how In Michigan, the activities of the year are culminated far it can go. Both high school teachers and students at the Engineering Exposition held at Michigan State express a great deal of interest in the organization and College early in May. At this time, projects may be need more help than is now available to them. The exhibited and prizes, which may include scholarships, program is worthy of whatever assistance any engineers, are awarded for outstanding entries. whether professional or student, may be able to give. 30 Spartan Engineer MEET YOURSELF- 10 YEARS FROM NOW Ever wonder what you'll be like when the class of '53 holds its 10th reunion? If you started to work for one of the Bell System telephone companies after graduation, we ean give you a pretty good idea. POSITION IN THE WORLD: On the way up! A Development Engineer with the Bell Laboratories. Perhaps exploring the application of funda- mental new electronic inventions to telephone communications. A Transmission Engineer, helping to provide the telephone needs of an entire state. A Supervisor in the Traffic Department, responsible for the speed and quality of local and long distance service in several cities and for the personnel relations of a large number of employees. In the tele- phone company, jobs such as these are held by relatively young men and women. FUTURE: Unlimited! The Bell System continually progresses and expands and its personnel grows with it. In the past 25 years, the number of telephones has almost tripled. In the past 5 years, telephone companies have introduced such things as network television transmission, radio- telephone service and dialing of Long Distance calIs. And the best is yet to come. FRAME OF MIND: Confident and proud! You'll be satisfied because you have a rewarding job ... not only in pay and security ... but in service. You'll be proud of your share in helping provide and develop a telephone service vital to the country's social and economic life. Like the picture? For further information see your Placement Officer. He will be glad to give you details regarding the opportunities for employment in the Bell System. @ BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM January, 1953 31 Clubs and Societies EDITOR'S NOTE: The Spartan Engineer. welcomes co~tril~utions Smith, James Stang, John Walker, Rolland Wheaton, and to "Clubs and Societies" from any engIlleering orgam:z:ationon campus This can be an effective way of revIewing past Leslie Wolsey. activities and outlining future plans for all inter~sted ~ersons. Bring contributions to the Spartan Engineer offIce, third fl'?0b:' Union Building; or send them c/o Box 468,East Lansing, MIC . AlEE-IRE At their first joint meeting of the winter term, AlEE- A. S. A. E. IRE members heard a talk on "A Long Range Problem The American Society of Agricultural Engineers fin- For Engineers" by Mr. Frank Sanford, Assistant Chief ished up the fall term with five members attending the Engineer of Commonwealth Associates at Jackson, Mich. winter session of the A. S. A. E. convention at the Edge- The members are now working on projects for the water Beach Hotel in Chicago Dec. 15-17. The program Engineering Exposition. consisted of lectures and the reading of reports on recent research projects. Of special interest to the graduating members was an hour each day set aside for job inter- ETA KAPPA NU views. Eta Kappa Nu, Electrical Engineering Honorary, is The winter term started out with members assisting holding an initiation for new members. Members are the agricultural engineering department as guides during working on projects for the Engineering Exposition in Farmers' Week to those farmers visiting the department. co-operation with AlEE and IRE. At the Agricultural Honors banquet February 11, Carl Granthen received the annual award as the club's out- standing member. The prize is a six-inch slide rule, A. S. C. E. awarded on the basis of club and campus activities. The next meeting of the American Society of Civil On February 15, the student chapter attended a joint Engineers will be open to all engineers on the Michigan meeting with the parent society. Highlight of the trip State College campus and to any interested professional was a tour of the Conners Creek power plant. engineers. Feature of the evening will be a film on the Plans are now being made for the Engineering Exposi- building of the new Wayne County Building in Detroit, tion and the Jolly Trolley. and will be shown by Mr. H. Warren Reise of Harley, Ellington, and Day. Time of the meeting is Thursday, April 9, at 7:30, and will be in Room Ill, Olds Hall. TAU BETA PI Recent activities of the Society have included prep- On November 19, 1952, the Michigan Alpha Chapter aration of its annual report to the parent society, and a of Tau Beta Pi h.eld their annual fall term initiation. trip to Detroit February 19. Included in the trip were Those initiated into the fraternity were seniors Thomas visits to the Detroit Sewage plant, the Wyandotte water Burke, Stanley Dudek, James Gusack, Walter Huss, works, the United States Steel company, and the Portland Louis LeBay, Robert Morton, Clifford Mosher, John Cement Association. Mysing, Lawrence Scholten, and juniors William Cramp_ Work on the Engineering Exposition is proceeding ton, Leo Jedynak, and Lee Mah. rapidly, with probable exhibits to be in surveying, soil Tau Beta Pi's outstanding freshman engineering mechanics, hydraulics, and the concrete lab. Ray student award for 1951-52 was given to John Rood, Filipchuck and Carl Siefert are co-chairmen of exhibits East Lansing sophomore. for the Exposition. The winter term initiation was held on March 4, 1953. At this time, Mr. Jack F. Wolfram, General Manager of the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors, was initiated into the Chapter along with 29 undergraduates. At the banquet held immediately after the ceremonies, Dean Lorin G. Miller was presented with a gift by THE FIFTH ANNUAL Chapter President Elvin E. Tuttle. Mr. E. V. Sayles of the Consumers Power Company was the main speaker of the evening. Dr. R. J. Jeffries of the Electrical ENGINEERING EXPOSITION Engineering Department was toastmaster. The new members who came in at this time Were seniors William Cronkrite, Eliguiz Galesewski, William IS COMING H. Friday, Charles A. Partlow, William R. Rood, and juniors William Busch, Jacquith Butler, Stuart Byam, Clayton Callihan, John Clark, David Cummins, Wayne Erickson, John Giddings, Bruce Harding, Delbert Elliott, William Kannawin, Richard McClaughry, Gerald Massa, MAY I and 2 Fred McFadden, Joseph Meyers, Allan Moore, Howard Newcomb, George Pence, Richard Sedlak, Laurence 32 Spartan Engineer Using an electron tube developed by RCA, automotive engineers have perfected an instrument which automatically controls automobile headlights. Out of the stars - a cure for headlight glare! When ReA scientists developed an yates a system which shifts your headlights to low beam-returns them to high when the CONTINUE YOUR EDUCATION electron tube so sensitive that it could WITH PAY-AT RCA other car has passed. It's simple. It's com- respond to HiCkering starlight, astron- Graduate Electrical Engineers: ReA pletely automatic. And what's most impor- omers promptly put it to work in their Victor-one of the world's foremost manu- tant, it lets you keep your undivided atten- facturers of radjo and electronic products studies of the Universe. -offers you opportunity to gain valuable, tion where it belongs .. , on driving your car. well.rounded training and experience at Called a multiplier phototube, RCA's a good salary with opportunities for ad- Development of the multiplier phototube vancement. Here are only live of the many invention now "takes to the road" in an is another example of how RCA research projects which offer unusual promise: instrument which will add to your safety benents you. RCA research assures you nner • Development and design of radio re- ceivers (including broadcast, short-wave when driving at night. The multiplier performance from any product or service of and FM circuits, television, and phono- phototube is now being used in an auto- RCA and RCA Victor. graph combinations). • Advanced development and design of matic control for automobile headlights. AM and FM broadcast transmitters, R-F * • induction heating, mobile communjcations Here's how it works. RCA's tube, in a new See the latest in radio. television. and electronics at equipment, relay systems. system, sits behind your windshield where RCA Exhibition Hall, 36 West 49th Street, N. Y. • Design of component parts such as it can "see" approaching headlights. A car Admissiml is free. Radio Corporation of America, coils, loudspeakers, capacitors. comes, and the multiplier phototube actio RCA Building, Radio City, New York 20, N }'. • Development and design of new re- cording and producing methods . • Design of receiving, power, cathode ray. gas and photo tubes. \Vrite today to College Relations Divi- sion, RCA Victor, Camden, New Jersey. Also many opportunities for Mechanical and Chemical Engineers and Physicists. January, 1953 33 • Robert F. Karcher, a 1951 Mechanical Engi- will operate to provide maximum performance neering graduate from Purdue University, is and maneuverability with finger-tip control. another Allison engineer who is pioneering in Bob, shown above examining a CD-500 an advanced field of mechanics. He is playing transmission, is involved in developing a new an important role in the Research and Develop- improved system of governing automatic con- ment group of the Transmission Engineering trol systems of many Ordnance and commercial Section. transmissions. This involves basic analysis, de- Allison is the world's largest manufacturer of sign and testing of pilot samples. These hy- torqmatic drives for heavy-duty Ordnance and draulic controls provide proper sequence for commercial vehicles and equipment. These clutch operation to determine speed range, con- transmissions serve a purpose far broader than vertor or lock-up operation. They also provide a unit in the power train. All the steering and steering control for the vehicle when this func- braking of the vehicle also are accomplished in tion is included in the transmission. the transmission. These operations are con- Bob and other Allison engineers are con- trolled by hydraulic circuits which consist of tinually applying their knowledge, experience clutches, pumps, governors and necessary valv- and imagination to find successful answers in ing to make them operate in the proper se- the never-ending search for product improve- quence. The assembly of the valving system is ment. There is a real engineering challenge at often termed the "brain box" of the transmis- Allison and lifetime opportunities for engineers. sion since it determines how the transmission DIVISION, GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION. Indianapolis, Ind. Design, development and production-high power TURBINE ENGINES for modern aircraft ••• heavy duty TRANSMISSIONS for Ordnance and Commercial vehicles ••• DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE PARTS; •• PRECISION BEARINGS for aircraft, Diesel locomotives and special application. 34 Spartan Engineer Can you see our future gh this Wi ow? .;. . This is an aluminum *noe. not ,,,dud. prodvcttot\ 1ft ',cw.rtl~n' o...,,,.d pion" buUt ud __ by Ak<>o d.,'o, W",ldwo, 2 window, one of four million that will go into buildings in 1953. Twenty What can this mean years ago, jt was just an idea in the as a career for you? mind of an Alcoa development engineer. Ten This is a production chart ... shows the millions years ago, only a few thousand were made of pounds of aluminum produced by Alcoa each annually. Now, production is increasing year between 1935 and 1951. Good men did good at the rate of over half a million a year. work to create this record. You can work with these same men, learn from them and qualify yourself This is just one of a torrent of new uses for for continually developing opportunities. And that aluminum which means that Alcoa must production curve-is still rising, we're still expand- continue to expand. Consider the opportunities ing, and opportunities for young men joining us now are almost limitless. for you if you choose to grow with us. Ever-expanding Alcoa needs engineers, metallur- gists, and technically minded "laymen" for produc- tion, research and sales positions. If you graduate soon, if you want to be with a dynamic company that's "going places", get in touch with us. Benefit!! are many, stability is a matter of proud record, opportunities are unlimited. For more facts, consult your Placement Director. The best things in aluminum come first in @ ALCOA ALUMINUM By ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA • PiHsburgh, Pennsylvania January, 1953 35 members to illustrate and augment their classroom in- Mechanical Engineering struction. (Continued from Page 15) It is the aim of the staff of the Mechanical Engineering Department to utilize the time and facilities available to it to offer to students at Michigan State College a will lie in areas distinctly different from his own, and carefully planned and integrated series of courses in- his outlook on life cannot help but be broadened by tended to provide their graduates with the fundamental this contact. The college can offer many opportunities training which will allow them to become better members in entertainment, sports participation, and cultural activ- of society, and to become effective members of an en- ities. Courses in a wide variety of subject fields are gineering profession which will provide them with an given by recognized experts in those fields, and are interesting and rewarding lifetime career. available for all students having the necessary pre- requisites. The Mechanical Engineering Department makes use of the availability of those experts by sending its students to other departments for courses in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Natural Science, Social Science, Humanities, MAKE A DATE Communication Skills, Engineering Drawing, Engineering Mechanics, and Electrical Engineering Fundamentals. In return the Mechanical Engineering Department main- tains extensive laboratory facilities in its own fields, MAY I - MAY 2 and uses these to offer Courses for students from other departments in the College. Well equipped laboratories in the fields of Automotive Engineering, Industrial En- Fifth Annual gineering, Foundry Engineering, Forging and Welding, Heat Treatment, Sheet Metal Fabrication, Pattern Mak- ing and Woodworking, Power Generation, Refrigeration, ENGINEERING EXPOSITION Machine Tools, and Experimental Stress Analysis, are all part of the equipment of the Mechanical Engineering Department, and are used to good advantage by its staff LINDELL Established 1910 DROP FORGE COMPANY Incorporated 1923 Manufacturers of HIGH G RA 0 E 0 R0 P F OR GIN G S 2830 SOUTH LOGAN LANSING 3, MICHIGAN TELEPHONE 4.5403 36 Spartan Engineer • • Let's l~eep the record straight There has been too much loose talk about prices, By the use of more efficient machines, indus- wages, dividends, taxes. Let's see. try has been able to increase wages twice as Compare 1939 (the last normal year before much as prices have risen, and has increased divi- the war) to 1951 (the last year for which there dends to its millions of owners. If you don't are figures). feel that much better off, put the blame where Prices have gone up 86% it belongs ... on taxes. Authorities say 10 billion dollars could be cut out of those taxes Weekly earnings of production workers up 172% without affecting government safety or service up 148% a particle. Dividends of corporations Federal Taxes up 843% Remember the figures. Just for the record. Sources: Tax Foundation; U. S. Department of Labor; Annual Report of the Secretary of the 'freasury and The Budget for the FiscalYear, 1953. YOU UN MACHINE IT lETTER, fASTER, fOR LESS WITH WAINER & SWASfT TURIET UTHES, AUTOMATICS, AND TAPPING MACHINES January, 1953 37 ATHLETICS and ENGINEERING By RICHARD lORD Chemical Engineer '53 One of the best examples of academic work and sports ~, , in harmony is the combination of engineering and I athletics. Engineering is the art of constructing and I designing useful works. Besides receiving a sound '~ training in this essential field the student gains a physical program necessary for mental alertness. In recent years, DICK LORD many athletes of note have graduated from the school of Engineering, among them Jim Davies, boxer; Dick Dick is co-captain of the Michigan State Varsity Rieger, tennis; and Bill Finneran, hockey. hockey squad. Rated as one of Coach Amo Bessone's Going back through Michigan State College's pages of finest and most spirited players, Dick started bis college time one comes across great engineering students who hockey-playing as both a forward and defenseman, excelled in this field: T. Fred Burris who graduated from then at defense only, and now in his final year is strictly Chemical Engineering in 1924, was a member of the a forward. Varsity hockey, track and football teams, and is now a Dick, in addition to being a hockey stalwart for four chief engineer with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway years, bas successfully combined an education in chemical Company; Vincent Vanderburg, a brilliant star on the engineering with his sports activities. football team for three years, and colonel in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, graduated from Chemical En- gineering in 1937 and is now owner of the Vanderburg Construction Company with headquarters in East Lan- sing; Frank Gaines, graduate of Chemical Engineering in 1938, who played football and participated in boxing as well as being a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, is now stationed in Caracas, Venezuela as Chief Engineer for the Creole Petroleum Corporation. These are only a few of the many who proved that engineering and athletics can come to harmony for success. THE WORLD'S MOST COMPLETE LINE OF In engineering, the freshman is given an opportunity to obtain a high standard in both aspects of college life. PURE WATER STILLS Professor Robert Sweet of the Metallurgical Engineering Department is the Adviser to Athletes in Engineering and serves as an intermediatary between the Athletic Department, the student and the Engineering Enrollment Barnstead Laboratory and officers. He is available to help the athlete with extra Industrial Water Stills produce water of unvary- courses or with any personal problem that may arise. ing consistency and un- This is an entirely new venture of the School of En- matched purity. Easy to gineering which was organized by the "never-say-die," operate, easy to clean, Miss Agnes McCann, Assistant to the Dean. they provide pure water at low cost. The proven Dean Miller who played five sports to receive his standard of the scientific letters, firmly believes that an engineering student can and industrial world, Barn- take an active part in athletics without too much loss stead offers over 100 sizes of academic time. He suggests that the student take and models to meet any a lighter schedule and a few more quarters to graduate. pure water requirements. In this way, both phases would receive the attention that they deserve, for both are equally important. In addition to the rigorous training required for effective Write Tot/4y for Literature play, the engineering student must have a good foun- dation in Basics, a deep knowledge of mathematics, and a complete understanding of all phases of mechanics as well as other engineering courses. 4S Lanesville Terrace Beyond a doubt, athletics teach the engineering student Forest Hills a characteristic that will stand him in good stead in his Boston 31, Mass. future profession, the ability to work in harmony with his fellow-man. 38 Spartan Engineer THE WORLD'S FIRST fluid hydroformer went into operation event in the history of civilian and military fuels. It in November at Destrehan, Louisiana - an important produces high-octane aviation gasoline blending stock. A Marriage of Engineering Techniques NGINEERING INGENUITY has been, and will octane aromatics. Has always employed . E be, a key to American industrial progress. catalyst in fixed beds . In the petroleum industry, a specially shining It wasn't easy to combine these two proc- example of such ingenuity is the recent mar- esses, with their widely different histories. But riage of two already successful techniques. eventually petroleum chemists and engineers Issue of this union is a rewarding off-spring perfected fluid hydroforming, a new process -the fluid hydroforming process. with the advantages of both its ancestors. It Fluid hydroforming's genealogy stems from produces large yields of high-octane gasoline. two processes with long-established success Since Standard Oil helped pioneer the two in refinery use: parent techniques, it is fitting that a company FLUID CATALYSis-First applied to subsidiary, the Pan-Am Southern Corpora- catalytic cracking. The uniform bed tem- tion, should be the first to put the combined perature inherent in the fluidized-solids method to commercial use. technique permits selection of just the Fluid hydroforming is another example of right reaction conditions. the many opportunities for the company's re- HYDROFORMING - Used to upgrade search and development staff to apply their virgin naphtha by converting naphthenes technical training-and to gain a sense of real and other low-octane materials into high- accomplishment from their work. Standard Oil Company 910 South Michigan Avenue Chicago 80, Illinois January, 1953 39 Design - one of the best routes to an engineering career! ~I_--- - A recent survey found that 40 per cent of the future is by way of designing. Did you know top jobs in industry are now held by men that the majority of all leading positions in with broad engineering training. In General automobile engineering are held by men Motors, the chairman of the board, presi- who have had experience in designing? dent and 19 vice-presidents are engineers of There's no better route for the young man wide experience and training. who wants a well rounded engineering career Yes, there's a great future in store for young based on opportunity, future advancement engineers with well rounded training in the and liberal General Motors compensation dynamic automobile industry which has and employment benefits. shown continual growth. And while the industry itself has shown this steady growth, Pontiac has grown even more spectacularly. Today Pontiac holds an envi- able position. Its reputation for quality and its public acceptance are unsurpassed. There is, indeed, a future with Pontiac. But Pontiac's huge new engineering building is the industry's even more important to you is the fact that most modern with every conceivable facility for designing one of the most practical ways to this great better and better Pontiacs. PONTIAC MOTOR DIVISION. PONTIAC, MICHIGAN G ENE R A L MOTORS CORPORATION Spartan Engineer You'll find classmates-and a future-at Boeing! Plan now to build your career as a mem- Men from more than 120 top engineer- It provides the finest research facilities ber of Boeing's distinguished Engineering ing schools are building rewarding in the industry. It offers you work on personnel after graduation. Boeing has such exciting projects as guided mis- present and future openings for experi. careers at Boeing. So chances are, enced and junior engineers in aircraft you'd be working with some of your siles and the fastest known bomber in the world: the B-47 six-jet medium • DESIGN • RESEARCH classmates here. And in addition you'd bomber, as well as the still-classified • DEVELOPMENT • PRODUCTION be a member of an Engineering -rOOLING Division renowned for its trail-blazing B-52 eight-jet heavy bomber. also for servo-mechanism and electronics contributions to both military and You can work in Seattle, in the designers and analysts, and for physicists civil aviation. Pacific Northwest, or in Wichita, and mathematicians with advanced degrees. If that's the kind of engineering Kansas. Boeing provides a generous Fa, /urthe, info, motion, prestige you'd like to enjoy, look into moving and travel allowance, gives consult you, Placerr:ent Ollice, or write: Boeing opportunities. This company you special training, and pays a good JOHN C. SANDERS, Stall En,ine~r - Per;onnel salary that grows with you. Boeing Airplane Company. Seattle 1~. Washington Ij LOADS OR ANY COMBINATION * 47 January, 1953 -I NeDTIdeas To Keep AIneriea: 8tI-ong in the Air Aviation progress requires new ideas-and plenty of them. And that's why North American always has career opportunities for young engineers who do fresh thinking. North American is a company that thinks in terms of the future. That's why it has been an industry leader for 24 years, designing and developing the leading planes of World War II, the B-25 Mitchell and F-51 Mustang, and America's present day front-line fighters, the 1<'-86 Sabre Jets. Today, North American is pioneering in many new fields-guided missile, jet, rocket, electronics, atomic energy-thinking ahead to keep America strong in the air. When you are prepared to enter the engineering profession, consider the career opportunities at North American. In the meantime, feel free to write for any infor- mation you might want concerning a career in the aircraft industry. Write D. R. Zook, Employment Director, 5701 W./mperial Highway, Los Angeles NORm lUIEWfAN 1\\TL\TION.IN£. 1 0 5 A N GEL E 5, C A L I FOR N I A • C 0 L U M B U 5, 0 H I 0 North American has built more airplanes than any other company in the worldJ 48 Spartan Engineer William Chelgren, B. S. in M. E., Armour Institute of Technology '38, explains quality control methods to a group of Du Pont pro- duction supervisors. The supervisor's third responsibil- ity is to the higher management. Here, again, quality and cost are important factors. He is expected to prepare forecasts, to justify un- usual expenditures, and to suggest process improvements leading to Scientists who know both people and processes greater yield and better quality at are needed to keep Du Pont's 71 plants humming lower costs. One of the toughest nuts a pro- d uction supervisor has to crack is the scheduling of preventive mainte- nance for minimum interference with production. In some companies where products are turned out in small-unit operations, a program of breakdown maintenance suffices. At Du Pont, however, where large-unit operations are the rule, unscheduled downtime is costly and something to be avoided whenever possible. Since it makes over 1200 products and product lines, Du Pont can offer to men interested in production su- pervision opportunities in many types of operations. In the next issue of the Digest, we will describe a spe- Keeping production rolling in a mod- three important areas of responsi- cific production operation in one of em industrial plant is a job that ap- bility. The first is to the men work- our 71 plants. peals to men trained in many branches ing for him. He must be able to ap- of science and engineering. If you are praise them skillfully and assign looking for opportunities in this field, duties accordingly. He must train 36-PAGE BOOK, "The Du Pont Com- pany and the College Graduate," de- I you won't have to look far at DuPont, them not only in the efficient opera- 9cribesopportunitiesformenand women tion of equipment but in safe work- with many types of scientific training. where nearly half the entire technical For copy, write: 2521 Nemours Build. force is assigned to production su- ing practices as well. ing, Wilmington, Delaware. pervision. A second responsibility is to the To qualify, a man must have the customer. He must get the product ability to understand both the me- out on time and provide uniformly chanical and chemical phases of pro- high quality at the lowest possible duction. In addition, he should be a cost. When demand for a product is BETTER THINGS FOR BETTER LIVING good planner and, above all, have a subject to rapid fluctuations, he must ••• THROUGH CHEMISTRY be prepared to make quick readjust- knack for handling people. listen to "Cavalcade of America," Tuesday Nights on ments in the scheduling of both man- NBC-See It Every Other Wednesday on NBC TV The production supervisor-there power and materials. are several levels at Du Pont-has 49 January, 195~ Reserve Your Future Copies of THE SPARTAN ENGINEER ---------------------\ I SPARTAN ENGINEER I 1 MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE SUBSCRIPTION RATES: P. O. BOX 468 $1.00 per year (4 issues) I 1 EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN I I I SP AR~~IO;~~:~:E~-~~~~~~:--- S::d -;;;~-~~~;~~--;~; -- subscriptions to the I I I I Mr. Mr. 1 1------ L----- ------1 J DISTEL HEATING COMPANY Established 1922 r-...- c' - -- - . ....-- ,,--- ------.--- - -.-. - - ---. ---- ----------."':!""> ";: ,'[ .':. I ;, I .' I '<, ! '}"f' ~ ~ Air Conditioning Power Plants Plumbing Refrigeration Industrial Piping 1120 Sheridan P. O. Box 298 Heating LANSING. MICHIGAN Automatic Sprinklers 50 Spartan En,gineer The Torrington Needle Bearing ... for designs where light weight is important Reducing weight without sacri- ficing performance is one of the INTERNAL COMBUSTION major considerations in many ENGINE modern products. Designs are streamlined to pare off excess weight. New and lighter materi- als are being used. Components which save even a few ounces frequently contribute greatly to product success. Light Weight Needle Bearin~s reduce wei~ht and size while providins hiSh radial load capacity. Plus High Capacity Weight Savings space and weight. The unique design of the Tor- rington Needle Bearing makes it In Related Assemblies These advantages, plus its high radial capacity, have made ideal for a wide variety of prod- In addition to the light weight of the Torrington Needle Bearing uct uses. It consists of two com- the Needle Bearing, its design particularly attractive to the de- ponents - a thin, hardened outer permits sizable reductions in the signers of aircraft, portable shell and a full complement of size and weight of the related power tools, small gasoline en- small diameter rollers. Its many assemblies. Its small outside di- gines and many other products lines of contact give the Needle ameter allows the use of smaller where weight and space are im- Bearing a greater rated radial housings. And, since a press fit portant factors. load capacity than any other in a simple straight housing bore type of anti-friction bearing for is adequate to locate the bearing, In future advertisements of its size and weight. Conversely, no complex shoulders or housing this series, other features of Tor- for a given load capacity, a modifications are required. The rington Needle Bearings will be Needle Bearing is the lightest, hardened shaft usually serves as discussed.The new Needle Bear- most compact bearing available. the inner race, saving additional ingcatalogwill be sent on request. THE TORRINGTON COMPANY Torrington, Conn. South Bend 21, Ind. District Offices and Distributors in Principal Cities of United States and Canada TORRING'Iort NEEDLE }lEARINGS NEEDU. "HERICAI. ROLLIR • TAPIRID ROLLER. STRAIGHT ROLLIR • BALL. NIIDLE ROLI.IRI 5\ January, 1953 Girl Engineers (Continued from Page 9) ject. At least, she said, it is when it's over. And a note to other engineers-the girls don't like the "Basics" either. Here, the similarity between the girls somewhat dis- solves-although both say they are proud of Michigan State athletics. While Alice was graduated in a high school class of 350 seniors, Virginia said this number was about the size of her whole high school. Alice's school was Lansing Eastern, and Virginia's, North Mus- kegon High. Virginia said the transition from such a ,small school to one the size of Michigan State wasn't too hard; she had come to all of the Spartan's home football games in 1951, and had spent two summers here in the annual music clinic. And-sorry to disappoint you engineers- she added, "Then my fell a from high school came here, too." For an extra-curricular activity, Virginia plays the clarinet in the MSC Varsity band. She also plays the piano. Asked why so many engineers seem to like music, she explained that, "If you like math, you like music," and that's probably because "there's lots of math When this automobile clock was designed, in music." Virginia has always lived in Michigan, and now in its manufacturer had in mind the proba- North Muskegon. Her father is an electrical engineer bility of varied instrument panel locations with a motor company in Muskegon. with the resultant need of an adaptable Alice, too, has always been a Michigander, having lived in Battle Creek until she was nine years old, since coupling to the control knob. He chose an then in Lansing. While at Lansing Eastern High School, S.S.White flexible shaft to do the job. As she worked on the school's yearbook staff. the illustration shows, this simple hook-up Alice particularly is proud of Michigan State athletics. She likes all sports, except wrestling and boxing-that permits both the clock and the control is, she said, except when Michigan State' Chuck Davey knob to be located in its most advanta- is the boxer. Then, she said, she's all for boxing. The geous position. same is true in that she likes to see an underdog in any sport break another team's long string of victories-- ... * * * except when Michigan State is the other team . These two girls, Alice Jacobson and Virginia Kueny, Many of the problems yor.lll face in indus- form a team that is embarking on garnering themselves try will involve the application of power an education in what is recognized as one of the hardest drives and remote control with the em- of all courses. This article has been written as a tribute to them, and in the hQpes that perhaps other girls will phasis on low cost. Thafs why it will pay follow their example and help to alleviate the critical you to become familiar with S.S.White shortage of engineers that now confronts the country. flexible shafts, because these "Metal Our hats are off and our hearts go out to you-Alice Jacobson and Virginia Kueny. Muscle~'@ represent the low-cost way to transmit power and remote control. SEND FOR THIS FREE FLEXIBLE SHAFT BOOKLET ••• COMMONWEALTH Bulletin 5008 contains basic flexible shaft data ASSOCIATES. Inc. and facts and shows how to select and apply flexible CONSULTING AND DESIGN shafts. Write for a copy. ENGINEERS Power Generation Steam Heating Electric - Gas - Water Industrial Plans THEJ~INDUSTRIAL DIYISION DENTAL MFG. CO. 252 W. CORTLAND STREET &- Dept. C, 10 East 40th 51. _ , I NEW YORK 16, N. Y. JACKSON. MICHIGAN' - 52 Spartan Engineer -- --- Reynolds new aluminum re- duction plant near Corpus Christi, Texas - capacity 160,000,000 pounds a year. A World of Expanding Opportunity! In a land noted for rapid expansion keting operations promising careers of free industrial enterprise, few exist for graduates in virtually any companies have matched the swift phase of engineering. and continuing growth of the On-the-job training is the Reynolds Metals Company. Nowop- Reynolds policy-after preliminary erating 27 plants in 13 states, and orientation which may include basic Tapping one of huge ballery of still expanding, Reynolds offers the experience in production plants for electrolytic cells ambitious engineering graduate a sales personnel, and sales officework world of opportunity. for technical trainees. Liberal insur- Reynolds operations include baux- ance, hospitalization and retirement ite mining in domestic and foreign programs are maintained. locations ... chemical and electrolytic For important background infor- processing to produce aluminum pig mation on "your future in Alumi- ... sheet rolling ... drawing and ex- num," mail the coupon. If you are trusion of mill and structural shapes definitely interested now, write direct ... foil rolling and printing ... pow- to General Employment Manager, der and paste production ... finished Reynolds Metals Company, 3rd and parts and products fabrication. In Sheet rolling-reverse hot mill In Grace Streets, Richmond 19, Va. operation these and in the allied sales and mar- REYNOLDS ~ ALUMINUM ~------------------------, OfPOU 'T I • II Reynolds Metals Company, Employment Dept. II too , .1 I • .t:-f- I Richmond 19, Virginia Please send me, FREE, your 96-page boaklet, "The ABC's of Aluminum"; I I , T so also the 44-page book, "Reynolds Aluminum .•. and the Company that I L I makes it." II II Name II - :...J IL I I 100 I Add res s 1942 1948 ~ ~ '---- Reynolds •• ponding production - historic chapter in 33 year. of continuing growth. 53 January, 1953 We think engineers are people •• • That may be an odd statement, but you'll find there's a tendency in some companies to treat engineers like engines ... You're so much high-priced machinery, just another highly-polished cog in a big gear. Not to us, though. For nearly 70 years now we've been working with and for engineers, and by this time we feel we know something about them - and you. For example, we know that you're probably looking for a job that will let you and help you learn and grow. You want a chance to prove that you can create, engineering-wise, and that you can handle responsibility. You want security, but not the kind that means a safe, dull rut. H you think we're right in our ideas, you'll find the Harnischfeger Corporation is a good place to work - for a good long time. Write our Training Director today, for a free booklet describing the op- portunities for engineers with Harnischfeger. We want - Engineers ••• elect,rical, mechanical, civil, mining, general or industrial For - Sales, design and industrial engineering positions. We make - Industrial Products: P&H Overhead Cranes, Elec- trical Hoists, Welding Equipment, Welding Electrodes, Truck and Crawler Cranes. Construction Equipment: P&H Power Shovels, Excavators, Truck Cranes, Mining Shovels, Soil Stabilizers. Pre-Fabricated Homes. Diesel Engines. HARNISCHFEGER CORPORATION H~adquarters in Milwaukee, Wis.; 9 plants in 5 states; 18 dis- tnct sales offices plus export offices. Established 1884. Ov~r 4,000 employees. Spartan Engineer THE HYDROSTATIC TIST Nobody can buy a length of cast iron pipe cast iron pipe installed today will live up to or exceed unless it has passed the Hydrostatic Test at the foundry. service records such as that of the l30-year-old pipe Every full length of cast iron pipe is subjected to this shown. test under water pressures considerably higher than Cast iron pipe is the standard material for water rated working pressures. It must pass the test or go and gas mains and is widely used in sewage works to the scrap pile. construction. Send for booklet, "Facts About Cast The Hydrostatic Test is the final one of a series of Iron Pipe." Address Dept. c., Cast Iron Pipe Research routine tests made by pipe manufacturers to assure Association, T. F. Wolfe, Engineer, 122 So. Michigan that the quality of the pipe meets or exceeds the re- Ave., Chicago 3, Illinois. quirements of standard specifications for cast iron pressure pipe. Few engineers realize the extent of the inspections, analyses and tests involved in the quality-concrol of cast iron pipe. Production controls start almost liter- ally from the ground up with the inspection, analysis and checking of raw materials-continue with con- stant control of cupola operation and analysis of the melt-and end with inspections and a series of accept- ance and routine tests of the finished product. Members of the Cast Iron Pipe Research Associa- tion have established and attained scientific standards resulting in a superior product. These standards, as well as the physical and metallurgical controls by Section of 130.year-old cast iron water which they are maintained, provide assurance that main still in service in Philadelphia, Pa. SEBVES I'OB CENTURIES January, 1953 . S5 SIDE TRACKED Bus Driver: "You're only six? When will you be seven?" Bert went into his barn and saw his kid Mert shaking Small Passenger: "As soon as I get off the bus." a rabbit and yelling: "Come on now, how much is five and five?" * * * The nice old lady stopped and dropped a two-dollar Bert: "Mert, what's the idea of shaking the bunny and asking him how much is five and five?" bill in the beggar's cup. Mert: "My teacher told me that rabbits multiply "Lady," he said, "two-dollar bills are bad luck. Ain't rapidly and this dumb bunny can't even add." you got two ones?" Penn State Engineer "My goodness, how did you know it was a two-dollar bill if you're blind?" "I ain't blind. It's my partner that's blind. This is * * * When you put on your cute rayon scanties his day off and he's at the movies. Me, I'm deaf and Do they crackle electrical chanties? Don't worry, my dear. dumb." The reason is clear. * * * His wife lay on her death bed. She pleaded: "John, I want you to promise me that you'll ride in the same car It's just you have amps in your panties. Duke Engineer with my mother at the funeral." He sighed: "O.K., but it's going to ruin my whole day." * * * A couple checked into the hotel and after cleaning up, * * * Sign in a New Orleans optometrist's window: "Eyes forgot to turn off the faucets in the tub. A short time later the guest in the room directly below them opened examined while you wait." his window and stuck out his head, "What's the matter?" Auburn Plainsman he asked. "What is ailing you?" "Stop your cursing," the upper returned. "I've got a * * * He: "I'm going to kiss you when we get to the next lady up here." "And what do you think I have down here-a duck?" corner." Duke Engineer She: "Don't you think that is going too far?" Missouri Ram-Buller * * * Teacher: "How much is seven times six?" * * * Before she was married she played the banjo, but now Boy: "Forty-two." Teacher: "Pretty good." she just picks on her husband. Boy: "Pretty good - it's perfect." Patuxent River Tester * * * * * Man to pilot: "How are we doing?" * An optimist is a man who thinks his wife has stopped smoking cigarettes when he finds cigar ashes around Pilot to man: "We're lost, but we're making good time." the house. Lincoln U. Clarion Rose Technic * * * Husband to wife reading contest rules: "I'll give you * * * A freshman reports that a plane owned by a neighbor a prize myself, if you can finish any sentence in 25 of his stuck in mid-air when its shadow started wallow- words or less." ing in the mire of a country road. J. Monahan in The Saturday Evening Post Tarkio Torch * * * A Columbia professor's appraisal of a high-flying colleague: "Such time as he can spare from the adorn- * * * The naked hills lie wanton to the breeze, The fields are nude, the groves unfrocked, ment ~f his person he devotes to the neglect of his profeSSIOn." Bare are the limbs of the trees No wonder the corn is shocked!' -:~ Donald Clark, quoted by Bennett Cerf in Montana Engineer The Saturday Review of Literature * * * E.E.: "I like mathematics when it isn't over my head." * * * They laughed when I came with shorts on, but when I sat down they split. C.E.: "That's the way I feel about sea gulls." Rose Technic Ptlrdue Engineer * * * .Sunday School Teacher:. "Lot was warned to take his * * * "Well, Sally, what did you learn at Sunday School today?" ~Ife and flee out of the CIty, and she was turned into a pIllar of salt." "Oh, about a cross-eyed bear." "Now, Sally, are you sure that's what the lesson was Little Boy: "Please, teacher, what happened to the about?" flea?" "Yes, and his name was Gladly. We even sang a California Pelican song about him-"Gladly, the Cross I'd Bear." 56 Spartan Engineer ;'TtJfJ ,,{;fu> k.OI',rot:" ~;~1:,~~a~ «'4/!.II£Nf ,. A J ~C-- \ PArT/UN ~ liP i IIA~!~[J.~ -\ \ \ • 1 I\ i , I '1.\ 2. \\ 3 4- \ 5 \ photography • • • the engineer's partner all along the way i f • Photography proves itself an important and valuable ally all I through engineering. Its speed in copying and reproducing data saves valuable Here photographic oscillograph time. Its use in radiography and instrument recording improves traces become an indisputable part of manufacturing processes and finished products. High speed an engineer's notes, recording the effect of a new electronic circuit movies help solve design problems. element on wave form. This record of Applications of photography in science and industry are performance stands ready for new steadily multiplying. This has attracted graduates in the physi- evaluation at any time. cal sciences and engineering to find positions with the Eastman I Kodak Company. If you are interested, write to Business and 'If Technical Personnel Department, Eastman Kodak Company, f \ Rochester 4, N. Y. V ! FUNCTIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY ".,. serves industrial, commercial, and scientific progress OC@cQl@l~ TRADE.MARK MY QUESTION TO THE G-E STUDENT INFORMATION PANEL: rrWhat qualities do I need for a successful care~r with a company like General Electric?" . ,I" ,{~(_lItRRY K. LEADER, Lafayette College, 1954 ........ " .,;. , ""# Two answ'ers to this question, given at a student information meeting h~ld .in ,July, 1952, between G-E personnel and representative college students, are pr,inted below. If you have a question you would like answered, or 'seek ,further information about General Electric, mail your request to Colleg: Editor, Dept. 221-6, General Electric Co., Schenectady, N. Y. G. C. HOUSTON, Manu- E. S. WILLIS, Corporate facturinl{ Serz,iccs Division ... Services Division ... A While this is a rath!'r broad successful career with a question, I am sure it is one company like General Elec- of real importance to any tric is built on the same young man starting out in qualities that contribute to industry and looking forward success in any endeavor. to a position of responsibility However, in G.E., there is in any of our successful in- additional opportunity to de- dustrial en terprises. velop these qualities be- Thr mrrc nsl,ing of tllis question indicates that the in- cause of the wide variety of traini'lg sources and ope.l- dividual has a definite goal or objective. This is important ings which are available.' . since progress can be made only if we attempt to reach a Basic qualities needed for any successful car:e~r.mclude wrJl-defined objective--even though it may be modified an open mind, willingness to accept responSibIlity, per- to some extent in the light of later experience. In G.E. sistence, adaptability, co-operativeness, and com~on we are looking for young men who have not only deter- sense intelligence. Others such as physical well-bemg, mined their objective but who are ready to work for it- ability of expression, and sound inquisitiveness also go who accept responsibility and have ability to get things to make up a truly qualified individual. . done-who work well with others-to be a part of the Most important is the fact that General Electnc .o~~rs team. a wealth of opportunity to deVf~lop special capabllitl~s This calls for other qualities essential to long range and talents. The broad selection of training courses, In success. We look for the enthusiastic individual, one any chosen field, gives you a chance to sharpen ~our not easily discouraged, and who can inspire the confidence basic training and abilities. By decentralizing operatlO.ns of his co-workers. We desire individuals who show im- into about 70 different businesses, there is opportunIty agination and good judgment-particularly the ability to to see-in comprehendable dimensions-the full opera- look ahead and maintain perspective beyond the imme- tion of the business. It means, too, that senior managers diate situation. Finally, we cannot overlook the qualities and young employees are more closely associated-a of loyalty and dependability since these are important in real advantage for the young man on his way up. steering the individual through periods of discouragement Also, our business requires specialists as well as which occur in every career. managers. Thus, there are equal chances for success for When you decide on your business affiliation, make those who concentrate in particular fields such as re- sure you associate yourself with a company that is search, design, accounting, and plann ing. soundly managed, that has a good business future, and So set your cap for a goal. And capitalize on y~ur that is the kind of company you would like to be a part native qualities, which fortunately are different With of for the long pull. each of us. Y= fXZ7t~ ~ em/~ m_ GENERAL. ELECTRIC