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

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CIVIL ENGINEERING Civil engineering professors have during the past year been especially active in profesf sional work outside of the classroom, thus serv' ing not only the students but also the communf ity. The advent of water from the Colorado River to this area has given rise to several im' portant problems. Exact knowledge is being substituted for guesswork every day. Professor Franklin Thomas, chairman of the Division of Civil and Mechanical Engineerf ing, is head of a special Water Committee for the Metropolitan Water District, this group must develop a plan for the use and conditions of sale of water on the coastal plain when it bef comes available with the completion of the aquef duct in 1939. Professor R. R. Martel, known for his work on steel structures, is now making an analysis of the stresses and the economic distrif bution of material in the casingsof large pumps. This data is necessary for the design of the pumps to be built for the Aqueduct. The pumps will handle pressure heads up to 440 feet, and Soil Erosion Study 18 CIVIL ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS Pxorisssoizs Frederic W. Hinrichs, Jr., Fred J. Converse, R. R. Martel, Frank- lin Thomas, William W. Michael. volumes of 200 cubic feet per second, driving motors of 12,000 horsepower each will be nec' essary. In the field of earthwork, Professor F. I. Converse is working on the carrying powers of soils for building foundations. He has also been investigating the form of wall and column supf ports best adapted for safe and economical use in foundation structures. Professor Converse represents Tech attthe Soil Mechanics Conferf ence at Harvard in June. Professor W. W. Michael has recently be' come vicefpresident of the Educational Divif sion of the American Road Builders Associaf tion. Under his direction, civil engineering was also applied in assisting the astrophysics depart' ment, last summer four of last year's seniors, Griffiths, Iennison, Meneghelli, and Schwartz, surveyed the entire top of Palomar Mountain to make possible the most satisfactory location of the telescope and accompanying buildings. Working with the Soil Conservation Servf ice of the federal government, the Division is conducting extensive investigations of soil erof sion. A new laboratory is being completed north of the old dorm. Dr. Vito Vanoni is in actual charge, while Professors Knapp and Von Karman direct the project. Investigations include work on stream transportation, material wear, stream cutoffs, detention dam spillways, and other specinc problems. Field study is under way on pilot channels of the Little Colorado River and on artihcially formed arroyos near Gallup, New Mexico.

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XfRay 'Tube RADIATION The Radiation Laboratory, designed by Dr. C. C. Lauritsen, has done much important nuclear research. Using up to one million volts on Xfray tubes, many of the lighter elements have been made radioactive and the energies of the positron, the neutron, and of gamma rays have been measured. Application of Xfrays to the therapeutic research has gone on all year in cooperation with L. A. General Hospital, and other hospitals, many cancer patients being treated regularly under the supervision of Drs. Mudd, Emery, StewartfHarrison, and Levi. High Voltage Discharge ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING As part of the educational activity of the Electrical Engineering department, several val' uable original studies in high voltage and high frequency fields have been undertaken. Among these studies has been the development of the sparlaless sphere gap vpoltmeter for measuring very high voltages. Simon Ramo, aided by Louis Rader and G. B. McCann, has succeeded in bringing this meter to a high degree of per' fection. The experimenters feel that they can offer the results of their studies-soon to be published in L'Electrical Engineering -as a new standard for accurate high voltage measf urement. In other fields, I. W. McRae has been making interesting studies of high frequency eff fects on insulating materials, Raymond Griest has built a high speed oscillograph capable of recording photographically transient phenomf ena occurring in a few millionths of a second, and John Pierce is working on a centralized an' tenna system to provide better radio reception for the student houses. Professors Sorenson, lvlackeown, Maxf stadt, and Lindvall, besides their educational work, have undertaken much outside engineerf ing consultation. Under Professor Sorenson's supervision, tests of insulators and switches for the Metropolitan Water District were made in the High Voltage Laboratory, using the million volt surge generator located there. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING PROFBSSORS Frederick C. Lindvall, Royal W. Sorenson, S. Stuart Mackeowrr, Francis W. Maxstadt. 17

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MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Paorsssons fRea1'2 Ernest E. Sechler, Herman J. Stoeverg KF-rofrttl Donald S. Clark. Robert L. Daugherty, W. Howard Clapp, Robert T. Knapp. Cooperation in industrial and governmenf tal work also enlarges the scope of mechanical engineering study at the Institute. Professors Daugherty, Knapp, and Von Karman have been directing the testing of pump models for the Metropolitan Water District, in the west part of Guggenheim Laboratory. Power for the pumps comes from the motorfgenerator set which was installed for operation of the wind tunnel, the largest such unit on the campus. The findings of this laboratory have improved and simplified dump design, lowering the costs of installation and operation. S700,000 have been saved from present first costs, with that much more saving in ma' chinery ultimately to be installed. Close to flS100,000 per year will be saved in power conf sumption alone.. Weight and length readings have been used -to measure pressures, rates of flow, and torquesg speeds are accurately reguf lated for an electrical dynamometer of 500 horsepower capacity and 5 5 5 5 r.p.m. maximum speed. Hydraulic engineering, a boundary field between civil and mechanical engineering, is represented not only by the work of the Soil Conservation Service, but also by research car' ried on in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. The tide pond allows study of river, harbor, and beach prob' lems, and is provided with a wave machine. For investigation. of rapid turbulent flow on high gradients, analogous to steep stream channels, a long channel platform has been built. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Dr. Donald S. Clark has conducted an elaborate program of metallographici study inf volving the structures of metallic alloys and the effects of heat treatment. Assisted by Dr. Gott' fried Datwyler, he has developed a testing ma' chine for applying instantaneous impact loads on steel samples, dynamite is used as the drivf ing force, and speeds of 250 feet per second have been obtained. lvlicroscopic studies of specimens have assisted in the determination of the crystal structures of metals. Advanced studies are also in progress in the fields of machine design, under Professor W. I-I. Clappg thermodynamics, power plant design and analysis, internal combustion engines, ref frigeration, heating and ventilating, air condif tioning, and steam turbines. Facilities are prof vided in a laboratory just east of the boiler plant for undergraduate work on hydraulic and heat engineering machinery. Industrial inspection trips and investigations are included in the work of several undergraduate courses. Pump Testing Laboratory I 19