Lowell Technological Institute - Pickout Yearbook (Lowell, MA)

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Lowell Textile Institute; and Mr. Martin J. Lydon, President of Lowell Textile Institute. If some agency, mill, or other concern has a problem which it wishes investigated by the Foundation, it brings it to the Executive Committee, as no research work is solicited. If this problem meets the requirements of a project, the agency will be accepted as a sponsor and the research work will be started. A project principal is chosen by the Execu- tive Director, a man capable of han- dling all the technical details required by the project. Once he has agreed to undertake the job, the wheels of the Foundation begin to turn, and the project is outlined and set up with the Foundation handling all the finan- cial arrangements. The project principal will choose assistants to aid him in his work if they are needed. He may approach faculty members or students, graduate or under grad- uate, for this aid. The projects are subdivided into three clas- sifications, testing, development, and research. Testing is a service to a particular sponsor in the imm ediate area to perform required tests with the apparatus available at the Institute but otherwise unavailable in the surrounding area. Development is a service also to a par- ticular sponsor to perform specified opera- tions on machinery available at the Institute but unavailable at the sponsor ' s plant. Re- search is a service for industry in general with one agency acting as the sponsor but the entire industry receiving the benefits of any dis- coveries. Discoveries are usually published in one or more of the various industrial journals. The Foundation has at this time various projects that will be of great importance to the future of the textile industry. One of these projects is a survey to determine the eco- nomic and technological position of the wool scouring industry. The project is subdivided into four sections of study: the evaluation of present practices in scouring, an analysis of by-product recovery operations, an analysis of wool scouring by- products markets, and a new uses study. Professor Stuart Mandell is the project principal and the United States Department of Agriculture is the sponsor. Professor Man- dell has a full time assistant, an analyst, Mr. Robert Raymond. Professor J. B. Masaschi is chemical consultant on the project. Professor George G. Armstrong is the pro- ject principal of a study which will attempt Mr. Basil G. Skalkeas, Director of Research to determine the optimum backing fabric for abrasives. The basic system is evaluating the fabrics by testing means for a correlation between running conditions. In this project the Institute is offering the sponsor its unique facilities, including the entire Foundation staff and the Institute faculty, as well as full scale and pilot plant equipment.

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During the winter and spring of 1950 and 1951, a Board of Directors was appointed by the Board of Trustees of Lowell Textile In- stitute. This Board of Directors met in April of 1951 to organize the Foundation formally. An Executive Committee was selected, and Dr. Harold Webber was appointed Executive Director. The Executive Committee met monthly at first to establish policies and to consider procedures relating to the admini- strative mechanisms for the business of the Foundation. Now that this has been accomplished, the Executive Committee meets when deemed necessary, to review the work of the Founda- tion and to guide the Executive Director in the management of Foundation affairs. The principles of operation set up by the Executive Committee are followed in all re- search projects undertaken by the Founda- tion. Each project must be one that will make a contribution to the educational program of the Institute and must be one that is within the scope of the staff and facilities of the Foundation. Every regular member of the staff must be willing and available to accept responsibil- ity for technical supervision of the research of a project. Each faculty member is limited to sixty hours a month on any project to in- sure against research work interfering with academic work. There are many prominent businessmen on the Board of Directors of the Foundation who are engaged in the textile industry. Among these are, Mr. Kenneth E. Bell, Vice-President and Technical Director of the A. C. Lawrence Leather Company; Mr. Roland E. Derby, Sr. of the Textile Aniline and Chemical Co.; Mr. Kenneth R. Fox, Vice-president of Burl- ington Mills Inc., and former president of Mrs. Lamoureaux using the Tabor abrader Checking the reports Miss Baribeault and the Uster Yarn Evenness Tester

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The method of attack that is being used by Professor Armstrong is to test the fabrics now used, and to test different fabric structures, coarser and finer than those used at this time. In this manner, the different test results when compiled may result in an answer, although a theoretical one, as to the optimum backing fabric. The United States Air Force has a few projects currently under investigation by the Foundation. These include a dyeing project tural fibers in order to obtain better yarns. These projects are sponsored by the Dow Chemical Co., the Bates Manufacturing Co., and the Carborundum Co., all in varying methods and degrees. All testing projects are handled directly by Professor Jacob Frederick and his staff. Tests on uniformity, strength of fibers, and fabrics are all conducted under his supervision with the excellent facilities available in the testing laboratories at the Institute. The Fractionating Column The Instron Tensile Tester under the supervision of Mr. Robert Peirent, a study of shock absorption under the -super- vision of Professor Adolph Katz, and a study of parachute fabrics conducted by Professor Joseph Masaschi. Other projects of interest are research to enable the improvement of synthetic and na- In recognition of the widespread need for a coordinated, detailed training program for research and management personnel of in- dustry related to textiles, the Lowell Textile Institute Research Foundation established the first annual Textile Workshop during the summer of 1951 under the direction of Profes-