Sigma Tau Articles

Whenever possible, small natural valleys are used as an outlet. The drain is first seeded to a sod-forming grass and then allowed to form a sod. After the sod is formed the land is terraced and the water allowed to flow in a thin sheet over this sod. The area is usually large enough to afford some hay for feed.

The concrete, rock, steel or half-tile flume is more ex­pensive in first cost but requires less maintenance. These flumes are hard to design because hydraulic jump and non-streaming flow are prevalent especially when trash flows in the flume.

Strip cropping, which consists of narrow strips of close grow­ing crops ten to fifty feet wide placed on the contour or parallel with the terraces, is practiced, thereby breaking up the concen­trated flow of water.

Complete crop rotation, including as much legumes and small grain as possible, is used, and the farmer is aided in getting good stands by practical demonstrations and even by improved seed and by lime.

Project demonstrations such as these are too expensive to use on all the lands in the country; hence, they were used for awakening the country to the peril of erosion and to the fact that it can be prevented.

The awakening created a demand for the work outside of the areas. This has brought about formation of Erosion Control Associations which are a form of corporation which buys and mans the necessary terracing equipment. The farmer then pays an hourly rate for the use of the tractor and crew (usually $2.50-$3.00). This rate is to be enough to pay for the tractor and its operation. The farmer has the advantage of the efficiency of power machinery which lie could not afford to own.

The new E.C.W. organization can work out an agreement with the farmer similar to the one in the demonstrational projects. The main difference between the project and the camp, the farmer must pay for the terracing and furnish about half the material outside of the terracing in the E.C.W. Program. The E.C.W. can build terrace outlets, control gullies, move fences, help with certain types of seeding and tree planting, etc.

Thus, the farmers over most sections of the United States can obtain for a reasonable cost this valuable work, which ensures that his term as “keeper of the land'' will be successful and leave it (to his children) as good as when it was entrusted to his care.

Thus, land is a heritage which God granted us to use, live by and pass on—a heritage not to be destroyed.

We have been at a national crisis. Millions of people have been unemployed. No income, ragged, gaunt, hollow-eyed urchins living from hand to mouth or stealing in order to live. These boys have never had the chance to become self-reliant and have an income. The E.C.W. or C.C.C. gave the boys from the needy families, between eighteen and twenty-five, an oppor­tunity to learn to work and to earn a little money to send home to the parents. Thousands have flocked to these camps to live and to learn.

The camps are out in the open. The boys work in the health-giving sun and wind, becoming sun- and wind-tanned, strong and full of vim and vigor. At first the life did not seem as wild and woolly as the men had pictured it. They found comfortable tents or bunk houses, clean beds, uniforms and abundant food. They found camp commanders and superin­tendents who could and did mete discipline and work. Work was limited to forty hours a week, leaving much time for study, recreation and sports.

At the present writing the Federal Government has asked that the Soil Conservation Service use a portion of those on direct relief during the coming year of 1935-36. These men will be put to work on health-giving outdoor jobs. Many will come from the mill and the factory to see the farm and learn of its trials and rewards.

What better time to make use of this excess labor than now when it is necessary to take care of it? Put it to use so that our present national resources of soil may be conserved as far as possible.

It seems scarcely necessary to add that whatever our inclina­tions, wherever our thoughts, conclusions or round table dis­cussions may lead us, here is a material physical job that must be attended to if the nation is to avoid an early inconceivably bad land situation. The Union of South Africa has come to that conclusion and is now busily engaged in protecting itself, employing a plan somewhat as has been outlined.

We are only “pikers” compared to Italy which is engaged in an enormous land reclamation and conservation program (the Bonificia Integrale), the cost of which has been estimated at $500,000,000.

China is an example of free exploitation of land (her great floods killing up to one million people in one flood and equally great famines), while Japan is the antithesis—Japan, who at an expense of many times the value of the land, repairs small washes and breaks in the sod.

We, the United States, are depleting our farm and grazing lands at a rate probably exceeding that taking place anywhere else on the globe. This is the challenge to us.

On September 2, 1945, for the first time in more than a decade the nations of the world were at peace. Now begins the slow process of demobilization and the still slower readjustment to peaceful pursuits. The veteran comes home. To what does he return? How does the world of today compare with that when Japan invaded Manchuria? In many ways it is a changed world to all of us: 

Our economic status has changed. Much of the world is impoverished to the point of destitution. Even in this country, much more fortunate than most, the dollar has a decreased purchasing power. There is a huge national debt. Taxes are at an all-time high.

Our natural resources have been seriously depleted. Scientific discoveries and engineering applications will have to be depended upon to make up for many of these losses. 

Social concepts and usages have changed, some of them in directions that would have been labeled “socialistic” not many years ago. Individual incomes have been leveled off—very large ones are no longer possible; great estates may no longer pass from generation to generation; earnings of many skilled workmen have passed those of the “white collar" group, including especially schoolteachers, ministers, and many members of college faculties.

Evidence of class consciousness begin to appear and at the moment, there are indications of serious industrial disputes and labor troubles.

Our educational system remains substantially unchanged amid changed conditions around it, except for depletion of faculties and serous financial losses.

For the past four years, there has been almost a complete cessation of the production of young men and women for service in science and technology, and this condition threatens to continue for two or three years longer. This “lost generation” of engineers and scientists is one of the most harmful of all the effects of the war. Unfortunately, the return of the veteran to academic training cannot remedy it promptly enough.

In many ways, however, and in spite, of some of the conditions just recited, our nation has achieved a new and better social consciousness.

We have a vastly expanded industrial system capable of producing almost everything in sufficient quantity to supply the needs of the whole world if only it is administered wisely, our economic system remains sound, and methods of distribution can be worked out as adequate as those of production.

We have at our command many new and very significant develop­ments of science and engineering that, if properly developed and directed to useful purposes, may go a long way toward repairing the economic and physical losses produced by the war.

And, of greatest significance, we have at hand the fundamental method of approach to still further and more valuable achievements in science and engineering for use in the interests of mankind.

On the whole, then, in spite of calamities of the past and difficulties of the present, the future holds great promise for us if we can only deal wisely with human frailties and marshal our resources for the common good. To so much in his favor, the veteran returns.

He returns also to a nation that appreciates fully what he has done to defend it and that is ready to translate its appreciation into tangible form worth far more to him than the bonus after World War I. Among these benefits and of chief immediate significance to us in the colleges is the opportunity, by means of Federal support, to complete his educa­tion. How well, we ought to ask ourselves, is our part of the educational system likely to fit his needs? Is it adapted as well as it should be to the altered world we face? Many people, in all branches of education in­cluding engineering, are considering this problem with a great deal of seriousness. Education is proverbially slow to adapt itself to changing conditions; and perhaps it is well, generally speaking, that it is, lest it go off on tangents or into blind alleys. But the past few years have been revolutionary in a good many ways, and especially in science and engi­neering. What are some of these changes? How may engineering edu­cation serve them without sacrificing its fundamental merits? This broad problem is too extensive for discussion in all its aspects here, but there are one or two to which attention may be directed.

Two great changes, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say accelerations of trends, have become clearly apparent during the war:

One of these is the tremendous increase of scientific discoveries and their application. New devices involving scientific principles and engi­neering applications have produced results of a type undreamed of a few years ago. Work at the upper levels of scientific principles has come to need a type of training far beyond the conventional four-year curricu­lum. As a result, a good many scientists, especially physicists and chemists have been doing development work that would ordinarily be called engineering. This is said on the testimony of directors, including engi­neers, of research laboratories and production industries.

Another trend is the vastly increased use of scientific principles and engineering methods in manufacturing processes. Plants making one type of product have been converted almost overnight to something quite dif­ferent and have turned it out in tremendous quantities. Technical de­velopments of a very high order have been required in devising and perfecting the process of making such new products, developments quite as difficult to plan and fully as technical in their operation as those-involved in designing the product itself. The adaptation of rational design to production methods as well as to functional usage is, in fact, one of the great achievements of the war. On it, to a major extent, has depended the outcome of the war. It is perfectly plain that in future this-phase of industrial need must be met in engineering education in the same way. that the needs of product design have been met.

It seems clear, therefore, that the programs of engineering education must be adapted to the satisfaction of three basic requirements, all at college level:

1. The training of a large group of men qualified to fill the bulk of positions at the middle levels of engineering responsibilities in design and construction, for which the traditional type of four-year under­graduate curriculum, has in the past been found on the whole to be adequate.

2. The training of a group prepared, as well as is possible in a college environment, to enter the production side of industry, for which our present type of curriculum seems not to be as well adapted as it might be. In our own institution, the curriculum in industrial engineer­ing, is well situated to this need. But we are one of comparatively few institutions that offer such a curriculum on a genuine engineering foun­dation. Furthermore, there appears to be need for a fairly large fraction of other engineering students, such as mechanical and electrical engineers, to substitute some courses in principles and methods of production for courses preparatory to design work.

3. There is need for another and perhaps somewhat smaller group, yet of significant numbers and certainly much more numerous than in the past, who are well equipped both in basic science and the techniques of its advanced applications to enter the higher realms of creative achievement.

Thus, it seems that our engineering schools must fulfill a three-fold purpose involving the training of men for functions that may be called, respectively: design and construction; production; and research and development. Can this be done without sacrificing the great assets of thoroughness, accuracy, knowledge of fundamentals, and introduction, to the arts of practice that engineering education has possessed in the past? Can it be accomplished through a substantially common type of pro­gram?

A good many engineering educators are beginning to feel that some important modifications of curricula are needed to adapt them to these changed requirements. What form may such modifications take? One suggestion is that a common program in a given branch, such as mechanical engineering, be provided for the first three years, devoted chiefly to basic science and technology, but providing some basis for an understanding of social and economic problems of concern to engineers, and followed by a fourth year of differentiation into three branches, respectively; a terminal technological program; a program terminal for some but leading to more advanced work for others in the production aspects of industry; and a program (with some courses in common with students from other branches) more strictly preparatory in content and method of work—especially the latter—to more advanced scientific and technological work of additional years leading to advanced degrees.

Is such a proposal feasible of accomplishment? Will students divide themselves or can they be divided among the three divisions in accord with their qualifications and needs? These are very important questions. Great care will be required to answer them correctly, and they must be answered correctly lest harm be done to a system of education that has proved itself sound and adequate to meet many industrial and professional needs.

A good many people are addressing themselves to the devising of programs designed to solve this problem. One solution, that is being proposed, and in a few instances adopted, is lengthening the curriculum to five years, thus continuing the common program for all by combining elements of general education, science, technology, and production practice into a required program regardless of the needs and capacities of students or the requirements of occupations they are to follow. In com­mon with many others, I doubt whether this is the best solution, all factors considered.

Others are considering the feasibility of differentiating programs in the fourth and subsequent years as above outlined. This, it seems to me, is a line of exploration that should be followed. Let us hope that it may be studied, and a solution found in time to adapt it to the needs of the great influx of students that is now beginning, including the veterans we are welcoming back to our campus.

It is not surprising that young men now attending college and those who have recently graduated are filled with forebodings as to what the future may have in store for them. This feeling prevails among young engineers and engineering students just as much or possibly more than it does among students in other fields. And it is certainly understandable in view of the conditions which obtain in our world today. The international news is all disturbing; each day brings a new crisis which our leaders apparently are ill-prepared to meet, On the national scene, confusion reigns in every phase of the national government and this feeling of indecision, uncertainty, and inability to find the right answer has filtered down and is permeating every phase of our activity, both political and economical.

So, in spite of the well-known injunction to '‘take no thought of the morrow”, it is natural and proper to consider the conditions that exist around us and to attempt to ascertain what the future may have in store for us. I am not, however, attempting to make any prognostica­tions on the political outcome of the present emergency. It is enough, I think, to point out that every generation in the past has had its pet emergency, and many times in the course of history, leaders have sat down in despair and asserted that the outlook was entirely hopeless. So, if we can believe that history repeats itself, we can comfort ourselves by the assurance that the emergency which now confronts us is no more grave than many of the others which have confronted the na­tions of the so-called civilized world during the past thousand years. We should be able to find comfort in the thought that these ancient emergencies all passed by and were eventually solved in some way or other and human life continued to go on to a better existence than had been enjoyed before.

But I want to talk about engineering in particular rather than the political situation and try to find out if there is any ray of hope for the engineering profession in the gloomy outlook which the future presents to us. Let us look backward for a minute and consider the growth and gains of the engineering profession in the past. We may say that engineering, as we know it now, was born in the industrial revolution of England which took place, or rather had its inception, in the period between 1760 and 1790. It was during these years, which you will note is the span of one average lifetime as of that period, that machinery began to take the place of handwork and mass production as a means of increasing the productivity of laborers was first introduced to our civilization. Of course, even at that time nobody called them engineers, but the changes which took place, the moving of industry from the homes to the factory, the substitution of machines for individual labor, all helped to the development of present-day engineering.

The period to which I refer was one of world-wide unrest. It was a period of colonization, and development beyond what had been seen previously. It is interesting to note that during this period the Spaniards were colonizing Northern Mexico, California and the great Southwest. The American colonies won their independence from Britian and established the United States. In France, the old government gave way before the violent French Revolution. And while unrest was universal, the “Industrial Revolution” was largely confined to England.

The first half of the next century saw the same sort of development and change on this side of the Atlantic. It was a period of expansion, and all sorts of citizens of the newest republic were pushing ever westward for more room and more wealth and more honor. The beginning of the period saw the Louisiana Purchase and the close of the period saw the armies of the United States push clear to the Pacific Ocean. On top of this expansion and colonization, and in addition to the industrial development, which was destined to revolutionize our way of living, the United States indulged in two wars, the war of 1812 with Great Britian and the war with Mexico in 1846. The first resulted in the burning and sacking of Washington, but ultimately brought about the freedom of the seas. The latter resulted in the annexation of California and the great Southwest.

This period, that is, the first half of the 19th Century, with its industrial revolution and its emphasis on manufacturing, with the importance which came to be attached to technological brains and technological skill, paved the way for the development of the engineering profession in America, But the next half of the century was the time of increasing recognition of engineers and an increased feeling on the part of the engineers themselves of the importance of their work and the contribution which they were making or would ultimately make toward the economic well-being of the nation.

The growing consciousness of engineers and their belief in the profession led to the organization of technical societies. This began with the formation of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1852. The next one to be formed was the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers in 1871. In 1880, the Mechanical Engineers organized the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and four years later saw the birth of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. The year 1893 saw the founding of the American Society for Engineering Education, which was a little different from the four preceding Societies, but which indicated the growth of engineering schools and the consciousness of the importance which they were destined to play in the United States. The order in which these Societies were formed gives a good idea of the chronology of the development of the various branches of engineering. Thus, it was not until 1908 that the American Institute of Chemical Engineers was formed, illustrating the fact that it was only in the last years of the 19th Century' that the possibilities of chemical engineering began to be understood and a definite field for chemical engineers was recognized.

These Societies were first and foremost technical societies, inter­ested primarily in the technological development of their members and in producing reference libraries which would be of assistance to all engineers operating in the respective fields. As time went on, of course, the social and economic aspects of the lives of the members were recognized as having importance. Various efforts were made by each society to bring to the front the importance of the social and economic well-being of their members. The limitations of these societies, due to their being interested primarily in one single phase of engineering, made it difficult for them to study or to assist in the overall picture of the economic advancement of engineers. Then, too, the divisions of the profession into individual branches tended to emphasize the difference between the branches of engineering and to increase the difficulty for getting united action. During the 20's these Societies made an attempt to form an organization to deal with problems of mutual interest, but due to the unwieldiness of it, it was not successful and did not survive. Later, the Engineering Joint Council was formed along similar lines and is still operating with varying degrees of success. Its principal handicaps are its lack of authority and the inherent difficulty in deciding upon a course of action which is simultaneously acceptable to all the member societies, and the absence of any direct contact between the Council and the individual engineer.

In 1934 the National Society of Professional Engineers was organized. dedicated solely to the interest of the professional engineer along economic, social and professional lines. It represented the first attempt to define professional engineering, to recognize the legal status of engineers as defined by the various license laws in the several states, and to coordinate engineers of all branches in a single organization. The society was slow in getting started, but since the close of the war its growth has been healthy and now, with a membership considerably in excess of 25,000, it begins to rank among the larger of the engineering societies. It appears that the idea is taking hold more and more among engineers and that in another decade it may very probably be the voice which represents the engineers on subjects which affect them as a whole.

As each new section of the country has developed, the first member of the engineering profession to show up has been the civil or the mining because, except in a few places where mining was the original attraction, the first man who attains prominence in a community is the man who can make land surveys and give advice as to the construction of roads, bridges and similar facilities. Later, with the construction of power plants, and heating plants, the mechanical engineer is wanted and as the generation and use of electricity develops, the electrical engineer comes into prominence. And it is only after certain specialized types of industry move into a vicinity that the need arise for the most modern division of the profession, namely the chemical engineer.

The growth of engineering in the United States is well illustrated by the development over the last 40 years. In 1910, the estimated number of engineers who might be classed as professional engineers, was 85,000. In 1947, the number had grown to 320,000, and as of 1950, probably had reached 350,000. Thus, we see that in the 40-year period between 1910 and 1950 the population of our nation grew 65%, while during the same period the number of professional engineers increased 300%. In 1910 there was less than one engineer per 1,000 population, while in 1950 there were 2.3 engineers per 1,000 population. The development of any region industrially can now be fairly well estimated by the number of engineers employed in that community. For example, in Kansas, which has relatively less industry than the average of the nation, there is at present one engineer for each thousand inhabitants as compared to the 2.3 per thousand as the national average, 73% of all the engineers in the United States live East of the Mississippi River.

It appears evident that engineers are justified in taking a fair share of the credit for the development of mass production in the United States and making possible the application of mass production methods to all phases of manufacturing and production and without doubt these methods have made possible the standard of living now enjoyed by the average citizen in the United States. It is, of course, to be deplored that it has been found necessary to keep so many scientists and engineers working for the past ten years in perfecting machines of war, machines designed for the destruction of our fellow man. The engineers have devoted their abilities to this problem with the same diligence and the same success as they have to the peace time pursuits. It is to be fervently hoped that world conditions will soon make it possible for these men to turn their attentions to matters which will directly benefit the human race rather than to those things which might ultimately destroy it.

World War II ushered in what we might well call a golden age of engineering. The war brought the engineer into the limelight as never before, and during that period more people learned of the work, the accomplishments and the overall value of engineering services than ever before.

This situation, coupled with a scarcity of engineers, resulted in relatively better pay, better working conditions and better recognition than had ever before been accorded the engineering profession. We are again starting on a period of intense preparedness which it is hoped will not develop into another period of general shooting war. If the trouble is headed off by the preparations, even this will again serve to emphasize the value and need of engineering services and the mere fact of the dislocation of men of college age will again add to the scarcity of engineers.

All this adds up to what appears to be a continuance of the rather favorable conditions that have surrounded the engineering profession through the last decade. The direction in which the development takes place is a matter which the engineers themselves, and particularly the young members of the profession, will have to decide. It is a time when engineers will have to decide whether or not they will become really professional men. The alternative, of course, is to slip into a niche in the skilled trades and throw in our lot with the trade unions. It is conceivable that such a move might result in better financial remuneration, temporarily, at least, but in the opinion of this writer, it would be the death knell of the real usefulness of engineers to our civilization.

But each young engineer, as he goes into the practice of the pro­fession, must make up his mind whether he wants to be a professional man or a tradesman. Professionalism is essentially a state of mind; it is evidenced by the attitudes which one has toward one’s work. It is the opposite of the clock-watcher; it is the opposite of the man who always asks first, how much money is there in it, or do I have assurance that I will be paid. It is rather the attitude that the work itself is the matter of first importance and is evidenced by a devotion to the principle of a man devoting himself and his brain the best that he knows how to the problems which come his way to be solved.

To be a good engineer, a man must be, first, a good citizen with all the characteristics which that term may imply. A tradesman does his job because he is getting $2.00 an hour, with time and a half for over-time and double time for Sunday. The professional man is interested

primarily in his job and if he undertakes to carry out an assignment, will do that job equally well whether his reward runs into large figures financially or whether in the end he finds that he has to do it for nothing. There can be no gains in this world without corresponding sacrifice and if the engineers wish to be ranked among the great professions of our civilization, they will have to develop a professional viewpoint and the professional outlook toward their work and toward their fellow human beings which in the past too many engineers have not possessed.

It seems to me that the possibilities lying ahead for the young engineer are practically unlimited, and any young man who wants to devote himself wholeheartedly to the job of being an engineer will find ample reward for tackling the job on a really professional basis.

After the “let-down" in armament production following the last war, it was time itself that we had to buy back when the rearmament program began. This had its effect on both engineering and production. We found ourselves pressed for an accelerated production program that was to be effected concurrently with the development of the article being manufactured. This did not always permit the orderly incorporation or sequencing of complicated engineering changes as development pro­gressed. These engineering changes nevertheless had to be made. They are still being made and they always will be made because of the dynamic nature of aviation. Changes, both in manufacturing and engineering, do, however, become less in number and magnitude as production and development programs stabilize, so ultimately they can be handled in a more orderly fashion.

A third factor to be reckoned with in considering the growing technical complexity of American industry in general and the avia­tion industry in particular is the engineering manpower problem. A survey of engineering schools shows that the composite graduating class for this year—the sum total of all engineering graduates from all en­gineering schools in the nation—will total about 22,000. There will be openings for an estimated 50,000 engineers according to current in­dications. The survey further indicates that the engineering graduate total-will drop to 19,000 in 1954, increase to 20,000 in 1955 and then start a gradual upswing. It is perfectly apparent that the shortage of engineers is at this time critical, and for some time will be substantial.

In the case of our own company, when the Korean hostilities began, Boeing employed nearly as many engineers as at the peak of World War II, although its total factory manpower was only one-third as great. To express the same idea in a different way, there were 1,700,000 engineering manhours required for the first production model of the B-29 of World War II. For the B-47, the airplane we are now building at Wichita, the requirement was 3,446,000 manhours for the first pro­duction plane. And the B-47 manhour figure is being added to at the rate of 290,000 per month.

This trend is not peculiar to the B-47 alone. Every major aircraft company is concerned about it, particularly when its activties are as diversified as those of Boeing. In addition to the B-47 Stratojet, our company is building the KC-97 Stratofreighter tanker-transport, the new B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber, and is at work on a jet transport prototype. The plans are to have this new jet transport in the air by the summer or early fall of 1954.

Other Boeing projects, all of which engage the talents of many engineers, include Bomarc, the F-99 pilotless interceptor; lightweight gas turbine engines, an aerial refueling system, and an engineering study for the Air Force of the application of nuclear power plants to aircraft.

Another interesting problem with which the 20th century engineer is faced concerns the materials needed for all high-performance products. In aviation, the materials that sufficed for planes flying at the low altitudes and comparatively slow speeds of yesterday simply will not do the job as we progress into the transonic and supersonic speeds of tomorrow.

The details are so extensive that they can only be briefly outlined here. Most engineers in our industry realize that the major search at the moment is for metals with stability at high temperatures—metals that will give structural strength without bulk. The airplane designers must continuously work for maximum strength with minimum weight and bulk. They therefore find themselves from day to day dealing with and researching the application of new alloys and new methods of pro­cedures in handling those alloys.

Consider temperature variation as an example; possibly most readers know that a jet-powered plane must get to altitude quickly since jet engines operate more economically there and are most unecon­omical near the ground. Meeting temperature differentials from the ground to high altitude—any from 80 degrees plus at take-off to 65 degrees minus at altitude presents many problems in design and con­struction- problems that in themselves would be the subject of not one but many such articles as this.

From the factors just enumerated, and there are undoubtedly many others in other branches of industry, it is clear that the current char­acter of American design and production is making new demands on its engineers and its management. How can these demands be met in an intelligent, resourceful way?

To formulate a successful and practical answer one consideration is basic. There must be continued emphasis on a carefully charted research and development program. In the technical age with which we are confronted we must be ever alert to the need for developing acceptable products that are practical and usable in spite of their complexity. This then emphasizes the need for long-term planning and research so as to eliminate, as far as practicable, compromised answers to engineering and research problems.

An example of one of Boeing's advanced or long-range planning projects is the F-99 Pilotless Interceptor about which cur President William H. Allen recently said, "We are dealing with . . . we are devising . . techniques never tried before . . . the horizons are virtually unlimited." This is a striking illustration of the need to look far ahead and plan on an organized basis. The interceptor is only one of a series of advanced projects being undertaken by my company.

Here is another example of how a company looks to the future and plans to keep in step with rapid technological development. Boeing owns and operates its own high-speed wind tunnel. It is located at our Seattle Division. The tunnel has been recently modified and modernized at a cost of $1,600,000 so it is now capable of testing models up to and beyond the speed of sound. The improved tunnel is the only privately owned one in the United States in which the effects of transonic speeds on research airplane models can be studied. Thus Boeing prepares itself for development work on the "faster" part of the “higher, faster, farther" requirements for aircraft for the future—long-term planning for research and development of aircraft products.

With all the complexities of engineering and manufacturing, and the new materials that must be utilized, the matter of costs becomes of vital concern. For all their amazing performance characteristics, air­planes to the extent possible must remain competitive in the bid for business in our enterprise system. We are working fervently at the problem. On this score, President Eisenhower has said: “Effectiveness with economy must be made the watch word of the defense effort—To protect our economy, maximum effectiveness at minimum cost is essential".

Another essential for an effective manufacturing operation today is the need for keeping tools and facilities promptly and fully abreast of the times. Management must ever be alert to this need. In our busi­ness, it should be perfectly clear that advanced aircraft cannot be fabricated without advanced machinery. Boeing, for example, in the years 1950, '51 and '52 authorized expenditures in an amount exceed­ing 22 million dollars for capital assets applicable to manufacturing needs and progress. It requires aggressive effort on the part of a manu­facturer to stay competitive. He must continually improve the instru­ments and, facilities for production. In addition, large Air Force invest­ments have been made for machinery and improvements at government-owned facilities; all to the end that the modern high-performance airplane can be built as accurately, as quickly and as economically as possible, all factors considered.

To illustrate the type of specialized equipment installed at Wichita for production of the B-47, one or two examples should be of interest. We have a Bertsch pincher-type bending roll on which both taper-milled and flat wing skin panels are formed to airfoil contour. This roll is normally used by shipbuilders in contouring steel plates for the sides of ships. It weighs 154 tons and the cost was $94,500 installed. There are three giant rollers on the unit—each 25 in. in diameter-which will handle wing skin panels up to 30 ft. long.

The 75S-T6 aluminum alloy used for wing panels on the B-47 has roll forming characteristics similar to spring steel. The wing skin is 5/8 in. thick at the wing root and tapers to a thickness of 3/16 in. at the wing tip. Since no other airplane had ever approached the wing skin characteristics of the Stratojet, the giant pincher-roller was a necessary addition before B-47 production could begin. There are many other similar instances covering hundreds of machines and tools adapted or designed entirely by our own engineers. It was necessary to design and build over 60,000 jigs and tools for assembly and fabrication. There are 68,000 parts in each B-47; by comparison there are approximately 9,500 in a 1953 Cadillac automobile. It is readily seen that a big difference exists between automobile production and aircraft produc­tion—-both as to quantities produced and units to produce those quantities.

In the midst of all this spectacular material progress, a reminder of “the human element” should not be amiss.

We must not lose sight of the fact that real wealth is the result of nothing else than human energy properly expended. In other words, real wealth results from personal effort.

The greatest need then is to understand people and to learn and know better how to work with people. Whatever is wrong with this world; that wrong is basically bound up with people. Management must therefore, in its effort to keep pace with material progress, also be ever alert to those human elements without the proper evaluation and consideration of which progress cannot be maintained on that broad human front so necessary to our combined well-being.

for those who have just received engineering degrees, a word of caution might be added on another aspect of the human or personal attitudes important to individual success in industry. Young engineers should be content to start with basic assignments; there is positively no substitute for practical experience in the field, in the shop or on the drafting board. Beginning technicians should be willing to start there and work up—putting the fundamentals of the craft into practical application for an appropriate period. After gaining on-the-job knowledge and experience young engineers are then in position to develop their specialty and build on a solid foundation. Youthful impatience with elemental, drafting-board assignments may be understandable, but is also to be discouraged. The urge to start at the top may indicate personal drive and enterprise, but it discounts the supreme importance of knowledge to be gained in no other way except by starting at the bottom, and working side by side with others who likewise seek their way to the top in a free competitive economy.

The initiation of the first woman by Alpha Beta Chapter at SMU received nearly a quar­ter page write-up in the March 1 issue of the Dallas Morning News. Mary Brinkerhoff, staff writer on the News, in her col­umn, “The Woman’s Angle,’’ had this to say about Alpha Beta's first woman initiate:

“Miss Ruth Patterson will be honored Friday for throwing light on problems where more than routine illumination is required. An engineering society will give this candle-power expert what lo­cal members think is the first alumnae key awarded a woman.

“Sigma Tau honorary didn’t accept women when Miss Patter­son was working toward her electrical engineering degree at SMU. But Alpha Beta chapter plans to set the record straight.

“During a campus initiation, scheduled to precede a dinner in the Engineers Club, she and a select group of undergraduates will get their keys from C. A. Tatum, Upsilon chapter, Dallas Power and Light Company president and Miss Patterson’s boss.

“Unofficially, the whole affair sounds rather like a party in her honor. And well it might be. Although she insists, she has done nothing spectacular. Miss Patterson knows of only one other woman lighting specialist who is also a graduate engineer. Besides a degree, she holds the certificate of a registered professional engineer, which means she has survived a trial period comparable to a doctor's internship.

“Healthy Supply of Common Sense

“It also demands a smattering of psychology and a healthy supply of common sense. If the customer prefers dark, light-absorbing colors or shiny, light-reflecting finishes, she must allow for these in planning illumination. If he doesn’t know how to handle the light that comes in from outside, he must be helped over this hurdle, too.

“Miss Patterson reports that after the initial shock wears off, customers and colleagues never boggle at working with a woman. Nor does she know why any qualified woman shouldn't become an engineer—provided she’s willing to do the work.

“Doubtless it helps to inherit mechanical talent. Miss Patterson’s father, Stanley Patterson, directs SMU’s physical plant and has been there since the school opened. The young lighting expert lives with her parents at 3050 Dyer.

"She has found time and skill for oil painting, China painting, ceramics, woodworking, silversmithing, bowling and church work. She’s an active Gamma Phi Beta alumnus and Zonta’s program chairman. Last Christmas season, she built and lighted a 30-foot red plywood train for a roof decoration.

“Her Job Far From Monotonous

“The unassuming veteran of four years’ work with Prof. David C. Pfeiffer, Upsilon advisor, and consulting engineer; nearly five years on her present job and considerable activity in several engineering societies.

“She has had a big share in planning inside and outside illumina­tion for the Republic National Bank Building and exterior lighting for the Pace-Setter House in Fair Park, cosponsored by the State Fair and House Beautiful magazine. Right now. she is pondering a lighted garden plot for the Dallas Garden Center Flower Show next month.

“The variety fascinates her. 'I seldom do the same thing twice; it’s far from monotonous.’

“Miss Patterson and her cohorts in Dallas Power & Light’s light­ing division work mostly on commercial and industrial projects, but they sometimes help out a private citizen with a tricky illumination 

problem.

“Light meter and slide rule are only a part of her equipment. The job requires an eye for esthetic values, which adds to its appeal for Miss Patterson."

The Peace Corps estimates that more than 400 Engineers will be required during 1964 to meet the requests coming to it from the 48 countries throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia where it now has projects.

At least one half of these Engineers would serve as operating personnel on various engineering projects where the types of engineering skills requested are in the following order: Civil, Agricultural, Mechanical, Electrical, Sanitary, Radio, and Industrial. The other half of the Engineers requested would fill reaching posts in various colleges, universities, and technical schools.

These requests come from many countries, but chiefly from the follow­ing: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Malaya, Pakistan, Peru, Sierra Leone and Thailand.

Engineers who can take a temporary leave of absence from their present employment, as well as those planning early retirement, are invited to apply for one of these interesting overseas posts. Full details and an application form may be secured by writing to the Division of Recruitment, Peace Corps, Washington, D. C. 20525. Letters should indicate whether interest is making an application on a temporary leave basis or as a retiree.

Make each school year one in which the Chapter has contributed memorably to Engineering Education.

Your National Headquarters has now been back “home” for a little over a year on the campus where it was founded some 65 years ago. As all members know, Sigma Tau came into being on February 22, 1904 when twelve upperclassmen in the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska organized the Fraternity and thus became Alpha Chapter. National Headquarters were maintained in Lincoln until March of 1958 when, following the death of our National Secretary-Treasurer, Professor C.A. Sjogren, the headquarters were moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Headquarters remained in Tulsa for ten years with the late Clarel B. Mapes serving as Secretary-Treasurer. In September of 1968, National Headquarters moved back to Lincoln and on to the campus where hopefully will remain in perpetuity.

On pages 22 to 28 of the Constitution and By-Laws of the Sigma Tau Fraternity - 1967 Conclave Edition is an article "Sigma Tau” written by Morris Henry Cook (Theta '21). This article, which outlines the history, purposes and ideals of Sigma Tau better than any article we have seen in a long lime, should be read by every initiate; and perhaps of more importance should be re-read by every Sigma Tau at least once every year.Brother Cook served on the National Council for a period ofsome twenty-six years during which time he served as both National Vice President and National President. During a professionally busy and active life, Sigma Tau has been one of his abiding interests, and his contributions to the Fraternity have been invaluable. Brother Cook has recently retired from the American Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey, but will never retire from his love for Sigma Tau.

Although in his younger years he worked as an engineer for the Burlington Railroad Verne Hedge often referred to himself as a "Backsliding Engineer” partly because his life’s business was the ownership and operation of his title abstract office. This humorous self-deprecation was misleading. He might more properly have been labeled as a '‘Human Emgineer”. A great part of his time and energy were devoted to Community Service and to the social and political side of life. He was a fluent and persuasive speaker with a marvelous stage presence. He had an excellent command of the language, both written and spoken. He was the author of the Sigma Tau Key Presentation Ceremony, which he conducted so many times. He was the Master of Ceremonies at the first Sigma Tau Banquet. He was a Masonic Grand Lecturer and a lifetime member of that order in which he held a number of the highest office. He was Mayor of the City of Lincoln. His participation in the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, the Christian Church, Community Chests, the University of Nebraska Alumni Association and many other organizations and activities shows the breadth and the depth of his talents and interests, His entire life was unusually successful as a business leader, a community builder, a public servant and a distinguished citizen.

Beginning with his undergraduate days he was a moving force in many campus organizations, in the social and honorary  fraternities and the Engineering Societies. After graduation, he served on the National Councils of Sigma Tau and Kappa Sigma, his social Fraternity. He served as National President of both these organizations; in Sigma Tau from 1932 to 1938. To all of these assignments he brought the same order of excellent administration that characterized his many lifetime tasks. Throughout his long and distinguished career, he set an outstanding example of the quality of Sociability in the highest degree.Sigma Tau has indeed been fortunate in having had J. Brownlee Davidson, John C. Stevens and Verne Hedge as founders, lifetime participants and National Presidents. By their careers, each in his own way, they have practiced and exemplified the three basic principles of Sigma Tau, Scholarship, Practicability and Sociability.

M.H. Cook, Theta 1921