PUBLISHED by CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE of TECHNOLOGY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Undergoing Test Is a Small Wood Column Being Tested in Compression
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PUBLISHED BY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION undergoing test is a small wood column being tested in compression. limber Engineering Company announces the ial attention to lignin research including ad- opening of its Wood Products Development hesives, synthetic plastics, etc. Shop and Wood Chemistry Laboratory located If you have any problems in respect to the in Washington, D. C. physical, mechanical and chemical properties of The Wood Products Development Shop has a wood, the technical staff of the Timber Engineer- full scale testing rig equipped to handle trusses up ing Company may be of assistance on a moderate to 50' span; auto-claves and other equipment used fee basis. If its OWQ facilities will not solve your in pressure treating; dry kiln and high pressure problem, it will st you in locating sources steam, equipment for impregnating; and other which can. facilities for determining the physical and mech- Consultations at our Washington office may anical properties of wood and wood products. be made by appointment and without obliga- The Wood Chemical Laboratory has modern tion on your part. Write us on your business equipment for investigations in wood chemistry letterhead stating your wood utilization problem. and wood derivatives research. It is giving spec- -- . Monadnock Building, 681 Market Street, San Francisco Telephone Garfield 6296 Monadnock 681 Market St. San Franrisca t E. H %RIMSO&KIM;, JH. Mr. King received his B.S. in civil engilieeriiig in 1913 mid the 131-0- fessioiial degree of Chi1 Eugineer iii 1936, bolh from Purdue. He went to C1iin:t in 1920 to join the staff of the S.ee Sao- t-aeiig School of Ci~ill:~igineeriiig of St. Joliil'* Jt\ ersity, Sli:ingh:ii, aaid retiiriied the Iinited States at the end of 4s. CONTENTS FOR MARCH, 1945 Theodore C. Cole- ma11 -;*- grii12u- fed from C:ili- fornisi Institute of Terlinology in lÈ2 with a B.S. de- pee in engi1ieer- ngand economics. He is %ice-presi- dent am1 a direc- tor of Sorthrolj lircr:ift. Incorno- rated, Ham tlionie, California, snid for the pitst two xears IIZIS served Some A-pecla of Diirieke Engineering . 4 us n diiwtur of the 1.0s tnsteleh Chamber ot Con~~ner~~e,und :is ellair- B) E. Humson King. ]r. miitit of tlieir :i%intiçiwinmittee. Lo? Angeles Bee(& an Airport Program Bj T. C. Coleman ALEX A. KROJtEBERG Mr. Kroneberg mas graduated with :i degree in electrical e~igi- neering from the Vt dt Problems of Electric Ltilitj Engineers California Insti- tute of Teclmolo- Bj Alex A. Kroneberg a? in 19%. He has been employed since tlien by the Southern Cali- fornia Edison Compani, Ltd., L.I.T. hews . and is at wreseiit senior electrical engineer in the opersiting depart- ment at the cornpain. ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY f Edited at California Institute of Technot EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Hugh Calvin, '36, Chairman; Harry K. Farrar, '27: Ernst Maag, '26: George Ldiigi-rier, "31: William HIM, 4ss,ociate Proiebior of Englibh. Editorial Consultant: George R. MacMinn, Associate Professor of English. EDITORIAL STAFF: BUSINESS STAFF: Editor-in-Chief-Donald S. dark, '29 Business Management- Managing Editor-R. C. Coiling The Coiling Publishing Company Associate and News Editor- 124 West Fourth Street Mabel D. Hagernun Los Angeles, California Assistant Editor- Alvipa Koglin Circulation Manager-Victor V. Veysey, '36 MARCH 1945 Page I Concrete, the versatile structural plastic. is concrete - have developed new economies readily molded to any shape or form. Then it which save time and material. becomes rigid, strong and durable, defying When peace returns, these advantages, plus fire, floods and storms - resisting heavy im- the low annual cost and firesafety inherent in pact and abrasion. concrete, will be available for all civilian needs. Then concrete will again build livable, For war* 'OnCrete heavy-duty attractive homes, beautif111 churches, enduring military access warehouses* Wcbuildings, and help extend the munitions plants, hOs~ita'sand hOusing-~ro- system of safe, low-maintenance-cost highways vides economical labor-saving facilities which and civilian airports. Our engineers will gladly help you solve During the war, contractors have made wartime concrete problems or plan postwar great progress in methods of construction with construction projects. PORTLAND ENT ASSOCIATI0 Dept. I 2-14, 816 W. Fifth St.. Los Angeles 13, Calif. A national organization to improve and extend the uses of concrete . through scientific research and engineering field work BUY MORE WAR BONDS Page 2 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY in Focus By HUGH COLVIN est Coast Industrial Leadership But nil1 we see lieaky induttry of the tjpe and impor- tance found in the Pittsburgh. Detroit. Cleveland. NGIPsEERS and scientists differ widely fiom cham- Philadelphia. or Chicago areas? Can the steel mills bers of commerce and other civic and con~mercial at Fontana and Geneva. the aluminum and magnesium organizations in their analyses of the problems and reduction plants. mills. and foundries of southtiii Cali- possibilities of industrial dekelopment in the Far West. fornia and the Pacific northwest continue to operate? Their interest, however. is none the less vital because Can the West support a modern in-plate mill? Cali its progressive. expanding industrial activity will provide ports retain some of the shipbuilding and ship repair more jobs for engineers. more research problems for business that they enjoy today? Can an integrated scientists, and more significance to a background of textile industry be established in California? The technical education in the West. answers to some of these questions seem already obvious The fateful. but as yet unanswerable. question as to and other answers seem to have become political foot- whether the Pacific Coast and Rockj Mountain states balls. can actually maintain and nourish large-scale industry In future articles as it has in the past, Engineering in a period of severe postwar economic competition and Science will endeavor to cover western industrial with other geographic areas was raised again recently and technological developments as thoroiighly as is in an issue of Fortune magazine demoted entirely to consistent with its policy of editorial balaiiee. This this section of the country. month's contents. for example, all bear rather directly on the future of the Pacific Coast. Noting that wartime urgencies plus availability of hydroelectric power and other basic resources has re- sulted in tremendous impetus to Western industry in China and Her Engineers the last six jears. tile magazine repeats the locally The West has always coveted the prospects of the obvious fact that a major portion of such growth in Oriental market as a stimulus to its own industry. The employment. factor) floor space. etc.. has been in air- development of industriallj primitive China. a~isingout craft, shipl~uilding and oilier predominantlj wartime of the agonies of prolonged warfare. is a hopeful but endeavors. Further, even these industries have relied to not jet clearly focused picture. Certain it is that an important degree on '"imported" parts and materials. development of a sufficient quota of Chinese fcngineei's, It is imperative for the present that we devote our scientists. and technical men must precede any major energies to the successful prosecution of the war. But application of American tools and methods; and that even in doing so few indi\iduals and almost no private onlj after modern systems of communication and tians- industry can afford to abstain completelj from postwar portation and trained personnel are available can China planning. It does not require an academic degree to become an industrial customer of the West. E. Harrison foresee widespread economic and social turmoil after King's experiences in China and his close contacts with the cessation of hostilities. and industiial adjustments present developments make his article on Chinese engi- must also be man} and complex. neering interesting and tirneb. It is a matter of The interrelationships within industrj are extremely considerable gratification that many of China's most significant but frequcritlj difficult to evaluate. The West promising j oung men have received their technical train- has; shown that in addition to several laige-scale extrac- ing at the California Institute and that their achievements tive industries based in natural resources. it can support in and for their native land have shown the greatest many small enterprises; producing specialized or locally- degree of capability. needed commodities. Some of these products compete succes:fully in national and international markets. The Los Angeles as an Air Center manufacture of oil-field tools and equipment. pumps. diesel engines. scientific instruments, gab heating equip- If they are to maintain their status- the metropolitan merit, and other items has shown continued growtli. centers of tomorrow must be geared to the transportation Branch plants of Eastern factories have been established and con~municationmedium of the times. For an area to engage in fabrication and assembly of many products. (Continued on Page 10) MARCH 1945 acres of rice field?. Where the mer comes from the mountains (see Fie,. I), it is divided just above the tcwn of Kwan Hlsien into two practicaih equal channels 11) an artificial dike or embankment made of cobblestones and gravel. and protected or faced l)y cobble-filled "sausages," that is. long network tubes of bamboo filled with large rounded stones. The -nestern channel or Outer Rher coiitiniies in its natuial bed until it joins the Yang-tse River. The east- ern channel flows dcwn b> [lie totin to the intake and the spillway. Tlie intake ia a narrow channel cut at an angle ttith the Inner Ri~erby Li Ping through a lock) point to lead the ~iaterto a heries of canals in the plain to the south and east of the town. This chanrel was cut quite deep and is so arranged as to pielent excessive flow into it during flood periods.