Columbia University School of Engineering - Yearbook (New York, NY)

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The 1934 COLUMBIA ENGINEER MECHANICAL ENGINEERS AND FACULTY Nicoiai, Razzzz, Pegram, fI6f7f7EIIhGIllIE7', Riicozzda, Goldmmz, Alter, Hz'rke3', FIaf,'z'1L, Sllydlllll, Potter, Illarquard, lflfcisallallflc, HIId8bl'Gl1df, Rosetta, BIIIIIIEVJ, Malzgels, lllozzifolf, Albrecht, Lvbauzzsky, Sclzzzl, Ley, Sznifli, Shriro, Ca.rt1'ga11, Bessie, Fowler, I-Iuels, Petersezz, Geoghegazz, von. PILUITIIIGIIII, LVIISUII, Rosezz, ICIlld67'77lHIl', BCl'kIIOZlf, Hicks, BU1l7Il6'ISfE1', Eridnzcm, Parr, Karelifs, D1'lfCIIEl'. uitanharhigatiun ur jfussiligatiunn T 1-1EoDoRE BlxUME1sTER, IE. NE ESTIMABLE ENGINEER has said. Standardization is the first step toward fossilizationf' The fixing of railroad gaugesg the establishment of accepted screw threads g the specification of wire sizes: the systems of weights and measuresg or even the Arabic tables of numerals have all done much to facilitate progress and to enhance the happiness of life. Great as are the advantages of standardization its institution precludes prog- ress in other respects. Railroad cars are limited in size, weight and carrying capacityg screw threads and wire gauges are limited in latitudeg weights and measures are awkwardg and the systems of counting unduly burdensome. Stand- ardization thus serves to limit the scope of progress. These limitations become apparent with the passage of time and with the natural developments in the art which can know no moratorium on progress. Ultimately, it becomes necessary for the old standards to be altered or for new and better ones to be originated. p Standardization of machine members-or for that matter, mental attitudes and processes-may be expeditious for current problems but without flexibility it constitutes the most certain course toward stagnation, decadence, and fossil- ization. Thirty-sin'

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PROFESSOR THQMAS HENRY HARRINGTON, C.E.,'89 FOR FORTY YEARS GUIDE, COUNSELLOR AND FRIEND TO COLUMEL-X MEN A Presented to The U1'zive1'sity, April, 1934, by the COLUIVIBIA ENGINEERING SCPIOOLS ALUIUNI AS'5OCl:1TIO.V Portrait by Michael DeSantis

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The 1934 COLUMBIA ENGINEER thins CHARLES E. LUCKE DMISSION TO ,ax PROFESSION necessarily imposes obligations, and acceptance of the responsibilities is always implied, though in some cases directly ex- pressed in part, as, for example, when the physician publicly subscribes to the oath of Hippocrates. Be the profession what it may, its practice makes two different types of demands on its representative, common to all in prin- ciple, but appropriately different in detail: that of professional competence, and that of ethical conduct in its application. The engineer in the practice of his profession renders personal service based on special knowledge in one of the fields of useful application of its underlying sciences, and his competence is measured by the breadth and depth of this special knowledge at any one time in his career. This is axiom- atic, and it follows that ambition and individual capacity will combine to produce in some men that mastery which, when acknowledged by his fellow engineers, makes him an authority in his specialty. This is the demand for professional competence imposed by engineering on its people. It is inherent in the practice of enginering, the objective of which is always utility, that the engineer have relations with other men, and that these relations be honorable ones, This is the ethical demand. There are rela- tions with other engineers professionally competing or cooperating, with clients, employers or superiors for whom the service is being rendered directly, with subordinates, assistants, juniors, professional and non-profes- sional, whose contributions are necessary to the service. In addition there is always a relation with the general public, usually indirect, but none the less real, because utility requires that the product of the engineering effort be a public asset. The engineering profession expects but does not require of its recruits a formal expressed acknowledgment of its ideals of professional competence CC01ZfI71,lL6li on page 592 INTERNAL COIWBUSTION ENGINE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING L.4BOR.f1TORY T11 irlg'-sCt'c'1z