RES History - April - May 1972

Rochester History

A Sampling from the Archives of the Rochester Engineering Society...1897 - 1972 by Lee M. Loomis

Continuing with the historical sampling of the earlier writings on behalf of the Rochester Engineering Society, the years following "The Great War", into and through the “Great Depression”, continued to be a time of reaching out for the maturing Society, both locally and nationally. The meeting minutes describe a series of technical discussions and presentations intended to broaden the technical horizons of the membership (especially the CE's, ME's and EE's). The RES affiliated itself with a number of National technical societies, adopted local Affiliated Societies, frequently held joint meetings with them and continued taking action on a growing list of public matters. Certain issues of standardization, some crucial to public safety, became the responsibility of the RES and its affiliates. In the pervasive economic downturn of the “Great Depression”, the magazine offered classified advertising for unemployed engineers, technicians and draftsmen and took other steps to try to deal with the crisis. Still, it continued its effort to shape the function, purpose and infrastructure of the City of Rochester, and beyond. World War, again affected the Society, taking away many of its leaders while providing opportunities for others to step forward to fill these vacancies. In an effort to provide even greater perspective on the happenings and concerns of the day, a synopsis, featuring selected items from "The Rochester Engineer" has become an integral part of this series. The Second World War and the Korean Conflict are now history, and the Vietnam War has recently become a focal point. These experiences have changed the face and, no doubt, the future of the community. The Rochester municipal leadership and the industrial community have become immersed in the cold-war, growth economy.

April 5, 1972 (Board Meeting, Bausch & Lomb)

The Board approved applications for eight new Regular Members, one Associate Member, two Junior Members and two Student Members. The Board also approved petitions from the Rochester Conference of Standards Laboratories and the Association for Computing Machinery as the newest RES Affiliates. It was reported that George S. Beinetti, President of Rochester Telephone Corporation, had accepted an invitation to speak at the RES Annual Meeting on June 7 th , at RIT.

“The Rochester Engineer” (April 1972)

George S. Beinetti, was named “1971 Rochester Engineer of the Year,” and presented with the traditional, engraved, hand-wrought silver bowl, at the April 26 th , 1972 Engineers Joint Dinner, at the Downtown Holiday Inn. The featured speaker at this event was Robert W. Decker, Vice President – Manufacturing, General Motors Corporation. His address was entitled, “Advancing Technology.” It was something of a “Homecoming” for Mr. Decker who, earlier his career (1957 – 63), had served as General Manager of the Rochester Products Division of GM. Dr. H. Searl Dunn, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the U of R spoke on a proposed system for low-emission automobile using hydraulic accumulators at the April 12 th RES luncheon. Working with Dr. Paul Wojciechowki, Research Engineer at Alliance Tool & Die, Dr. Searl’s system uses a relatively small engine, only a fraction of the size of a conventional automobile engine, with an “energy accumulator” to provide surges of power, when needed. Editor’s note: This resembles,

in principle, the Ford Escape “Hybrid” SUV’s of the 2000’s, with its four-cylinder gasoline engine-generator, feeding a battery pack (“energy accumulator”), which then drove an electric motor,

connected directly to the front wheels. As a special observance of its 75 th Anniversary, the RES co-sponsored (with the League of Women Voters) a “Transportation Meeting” in which the luncheon speaker, Ann Uccello, former Mayor of Hartford, CT and now US Director of Consumer Affairs, conducted a public hearing in which participants were invited to express their viewpoints. As yet another part of its 75 th Anniversary celebration, the RES co-sponsored, with the Rochester Patent Law Association (Who says Engineers and Lawyers can’t get along?), a luncheon presentation, “The Patent Law Office in a Changing World” by Robert Gottschalk, recently-appointed US Commissioner of Patents. This issue also presented a slate of RES officers for 1972-73 including: President - Edwin L. Anthony, PE, Erdman and Anthony, 1 st Vice President – Mark H. Sluis, PE, General Railway Signal Corporation, 2 nd Vice President, John F. Schickler, Rochester Products Division of General Motors Corporation, Secretary - John D. Cooper, PE, Rochester Telephone Corporation, Treasurer – Howard R. Jaquith, Taylor Instrument Companies, Directors – James A. Richardson, Eastman Kodak Company, Roger W. Kober, RG&E, Dr. Myron Tribus, Xerox Corporation. Continuing as Directors - Dr. Richard A. Kenyon, George G. Landberg and John M. Walsh.

May 3, 1972 (Board Meeting, Bausch & Lomb)

Concerned that the cost of publication of the Operation RESOURCE final report (three volumes) would be burdensome on the Society’s finances, the Board approved a motion to charge $25 per copy to the general public. RES Member, Victor Vinkey had agreed to represent the Society on the City of Rochester’s Commission to revise the current Municipal Zoning Ordinance. Reporting for the Membership Committee, G. Robert Leavitt presented applications for eight new Regular Members, one Associate Member, two Junior Members and one Student Member. In addition, a petition for the Rochester Chapter of the Optical Society of America to become the latest RES Affiliate was presented and approved. RES President, James A. Clark announced that the RG&E Men’s Chorus would be performing at the RES Annual Meeting, at RIT.

May 24, 1972 (Board Meeting, via US Mail)

RES Executive Secretary, Norm Howden reported that he had recently received seven applications for RES Membership from the Admissions Committee, and rather than wait for the next regular Board meeting, he was conducting a “first time, ever” RES Postal Board Meeting. The Board subsequently approved, by mail, three Regular Members (including Lee M. Loomis), one Junior Member and three Student Members.

May 25, 1972 (Special Board Meeting, RES Offices)

The Board approved a 5% salary increase for RES Executive Secretary, Norman Howden, to $14,385 per year, effective June 1, 1972.

Subsequent articles in this series will describe the RES' continuing outreach to other technical societies as it considered its role in this and the larger community, along with more of the activities of the RES as it moved to be of greater service to its membership, especially those suffering from current economic crises, and adopted a greater role in shaping the future of the City and its environs. Noted also, will be the contributions made by RES members in the struggle to meet the challenges coming out of World War II and the Korean Conflict, as well as a hoped-for period of postwar growth and prosperity. These articles will also feature an impressive array of RES activities in support of post-war re-emergence of Rochester area industry, and the ensuing prosperity of the second-half of the 20 th Century.

We welcome your questions and comments on this series.

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| The ROCHESTER ENGINEER AUGUST 2020 res news - history

Technical Corner

For this issue, I’d like to introduce and thank Tami Coghlan for contributing to the Technical Corner!

With this article we will review how to use NEC Chapter 9, Table 8 to resize an equipment grounding conductor after increasing the phase conductors to accommodate for voltage drop.

Consider the following example: You are sizing conductors for a copper feeder circuit to a panel, which requires 100 Amps, 3 phase, 208V. You originally size the conductors at (3) #1 AWG, (1) #1 AWG neutral with a minimum equipment ground size of #8 AWG. These are sized prior to applying any voltage drop calculations.

The feeder length is roughly 400 feet. As a result, voltage drop calculations are performed. It is found that the phase and neutral conductors will need to be increased to accommodate the length of the feeder, due to voltage drop requirements.

Taking into consideration voltage drop requirements for feeders, you increase the (3) #1 AWG and (1) #1 AWG neutral conductors to (3) #1/0 AWG and (1) #1/0 AWG for each ungrounded phase conductor and neutral conductor.

How do you size the Equipment Ground following phase and neutral conductor increases for voltage drop?

First, find the total circular mil value in NEC Table 8, Chapter 9 for your original conductor size:

#1 AWG = 83690 circ mils

Next, find the total circular mil value of your new (adjusted) conductor, using the same method:

#1/0 AWG = 105600 circ mils

Divide the adjusted size by the originally required size to determine the proportionate value of circular mil area adjustment. The result will then be your multiplier you use to size the equipment ground.

105600 ÷ 83690 = 1.26

The minimum size equipment grounding conductor for a 100A feeder is #8 AWG, according to NEC Table 250.122. The circular mil value of a #8 AWG conductor is 16510 as provided in NEC Table 8, Chapter 9.

Multiply the value 16510 circular mils by 1.26 (the multiplier you found in the previous step), to come up with 20802 circular mils.

With this value, once again use NEC Table 8, Chapter 9 and round up to the next higher value in the table. This will tell you the minimum ground size.

In this example, the next higher value rounded up from 20802 circ mils is 26240 circ mils, which results in a #6 AWG adjusted equipment ground size.

Hopefully this article finds you well and can be used as a reference for your project needs. If anyone would like to contribute to the Rochester Engineer magazine and add an article or would like to request information on a specific topic (not limited to Electrical) just email me at beliasz@ bergmannpc.com. As always, any comments are appreciated…! Thank you for reading.

Brett Eliasz, P.E., LEED AP BD+C , Tami Coghlan RES Director

res - technical corner AUGUST 2020 The ROCHESTER ENGINEER | 5