California Institute of Technology Cal Tech - Big T Yearbook (Pasadena, CA)

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CIVIL EXGINEERIXG DEPARTMENT To those men who have a desire to 1)uild things, the Civil Engineering course offers a tremendously interesting field of work, for no matter whether it be buildings, bridges, roads or dams, all these works come under the general head of Civil Engineering. For the student who doesn ' t know just exactly what his bent is, the civil course, next to a general course, offers the broadest and most representative group of subjects for his study. In the junior year, the men are given an insight into the type of work required of a sanitary engineer, a highway engineer and a railroad engineer. The senior work, while principally design, gives also some idea of the problems encountered in the water supply for cities, and irrigation i)rojects. The thesis work of the graduating Civils is especially interesting, for the thesis cover a wide range of topics, some of original design and some in the nature of extensive research into a subject of general and vital interest. For in.stance, last year several men did research work on the possibility of using the Colorado River as a water sup]jly for the city of Los Angeles, while others designed ware- houses. ele ators, chimneys and sim.ilar projects of great practical alue. The fact that civil engineering is a ' ery much alive profession is brought home to the men at Tech by the fact that the new Linda ' ista bridge over the Arroyo, built by the city of Pasadena, was designed by Professor R. R. Martel of the Institute. The bridge is not only of interest from a pure technical .standpoint, but is also of interest because it is a very beautiful structure. In the design, beauty was the first requisite and Mr. Martel was called upon to draw up specifi- cations for a bridge that would be sound technically and at the same time embody the particular lines as set down by the artists who were supjjosed to be authorities on the aesthetic properties of such structures. . ' Vnnther reason for the interest of Tech men in the bridge is that se eral old grads have been employed in its construction. The bridge has a central si)an of two hundred and forty feet, with a rise of forty feet and is one of the largest concrete spans in ilu- world. . n allowance was made for earthquake shocks in the design of the expansion joints so that the bridge has one inch of play laterally but will resist any further sideward motion. Since it was designed by a Tech man, and since Tech men ha e worked on its construction, the bridge can well be said to be a fitting reminder to all Ci ils of what they may some day be able to do. t-a ' cnty-jiiur

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PHYSICS DEPARTMENT IN speaking of the Department of Physics, one thinks first of the wonderful Iniilding which houses this branch of the Institute ' s work. The Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics is one of the most complete and best equipped labora- tories in the country, and aiYords an unusual opportunity to those men engaged in research within its precints. The third unit is now completed, and provides num- erous class rooms besides the usual research rooms. Naturally in physics, as in all courses, the student must follow a rather definitely laid out curriculum, but it is the aim of the faculty to so far as ])Ossible surround the undergraduate with an atmosphere of research after the comple- tion of his second year, and to allow him to follow his own inclinations as far as possible in the matter of choosing research subjects. The course known as Physics and Engineering is growing exceedingly popular and an ever increasing number of men are signing up for the combination of pure science and applied engineering subjects, some laying more stress on one side and some on the other. Most of the men working on research problems are doing their work in con- junction with, and under the direct guidance of some prominent ])hysicist, and thus are getting not only a knowledge of the subject in hand and a chance to work out their own ideas, but also an invaluable training in the methods of attack, by observing the processes by which the older and more experienced men handle their [iroblems. This past year there have been several very interesting research problems investigated by undergraduates. One of the most im])c)rtant of these was carried on by William Dent, working on the theory and construction of a sodium x ' oltmeter. Both Emerson Bailey and Joy ' an den . ' Kkkcr did consider- able researcli in the study of flourescence in the extreme ultra-violet, while (ieorge Clapp worked with Wladimir Zaikowsky on the subject of internal combustion engines, studying the whys and wherefores of their eccentricities. W liile it is impossible to give a very complete course in research work to the undergraduate, it is the plan of those designing the curriculum to give the student sufficient work along these lines to enable him to see just what the field is to be after graduation and to find out whether or not he desires to cast his lot with those searching for new discoveries in pure science or whether he wishes to adopt as his life work the more technical side known as engineering. twcnlv-six