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RES History - March - April 1975
RES News - Rochester History
A Sampling from the Archives of the Rochester Engineering Society. 1897 - 1975 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 several 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, focus 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, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War are now history. 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.
This issue presents an overview of the University of Rochester’s Laser Fusion Feasibility Project (LFFP), begun in 1972, with a total of $4.2M in funding from U of R, Exxon, General Electric, Northeast Utilities Service Company, and the NY State Atomic and Space Development Authority. As of 1975 it was one of four such programs in the World (USSR, France and USA (2)), the only university-based program, and the only completely unclassified investigation in this field of nuclear research. Editor’s note - (“Science Lesson”): Nuclear fusion is the basic reaction by which the Sun and other stars convert matter into energy. Because of the Sun’s large mass, this fusion reaction occurs at 20 million degrees. On Earth, the smaller size (mass) of the interaction must be compensated for by hotter, denser conditions; 200 million – 1,000 million degrees. At these temperatures, a fourth state of matter, a plasma, is formed. Because of these high temperatures, the reaction cannot currently be “contained” by any known material. The underlying principle of the U of R’s LFFP is the use a high-powered, multi-beam laser to “contain” the plasma, long enough for significant burning to occur. It was the U of R’s Institute of Optics, with its ability to design and build high-powered lasers, and its early (1968) experience with laser plasma interactions that attracted this project to Rochester, according to Project Leader, Dr. Moshe J. Lubin.
The RES Long Range Planning Committee
presented its suggested reorganization plan to advance the art and science of engineering, facilitate growth and development, promote communication and cooperation, develop recommendations on public matters and provide suitable facilities for meetings of engineering groups and societies. The recommended focus would be on public affairs, legislative affairs, professional liaison, educational liaison and internal affairs. Immediate recommended goals (1975 – 80) included: increasing individual membership to 1,000, with active involvement (currently estimated at less than 20%) to at least 50% of the Membership in Society activities, immediate identification of a suitable meeting place, and developing plans for an Engineering Center, to be occupied by 1984, encouragement of engineers’ participation in local planning, zoning and town councils, and increased circulation of The Rochester Engineer to all members of all RES Affiliated Societies.
As Dr. Robert L. Sproull ascended to the office of Chief Executive Officer of the U of R, succeeding Dr. W. Allen Wallis, his inaugural speech outlined his concerns for higher education, including inflation and increased government restrictions. He also discussed the urgency for increased support for liberal education, expanded graduate studies and research.
Finally, this issue of the magazine presented an overview of the national Easter Seal Society, introduced to Rochester in 1955 as the Crippled Children’s Society of Monroe County. A standalone organization, “affiliated” with the United Way, but not a member, it offers no activities programs for the handicapped, instead raising funds in support of existing organizations, including Hearing and Speech center of Rochester and two Rotary-sponsored handicapped children’s camps, the Monroe County Rotary Clubs’ Camp HACCAMO and the Rochester Rotary Club’s Sunshine Camp.
April 23, 1975 (Board Meeting, Chamber of Commerce)
April 23, 1975 (Board Meeting, Chamber of Commerce) The Board approved three applications for Regular Membership. Much of this meeting was taken up by a presentation by James A. Clark and Milton S. Gross of the RES Long RangePlanning Committee as they presented theCommittee’s report (see details in “The RochesterEngineer – March 1975, above). In summary, Mr. Clark pointed out that it was the Committee’sreco mmendation that the RES continue its roleas an “enabling” organization, one that can bringtogether the talents and capabilities of individualmembers, affiliated societies, and participatingcompanies with the need of the community. Mr.Gross also pointed out that, in seeking input forthe Long-Range Plan from the RES Membership,only 33 of 670 questionnaires had been returned,some of them incompletely filled out. Both menexpressed the feeling that, “publicity of RESaccomplishments must be intensified, and RESmembership recruitment must be more persuasiveand vigorous, these two points being vitally linked,indispensable ingredients for the success of theRES.” Lee Loomis, Chair of the Engineers JointDinner Committee, reported that the deficit of$301.20 incurred by this year’s event (out of anoverall cost of $3,765.20) was due to unexpected,increased advertising costs and an insufficient“cushion” in the price of the dinner tickets.
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 post-war 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 20th Century.
We welcome your questions and comments on this series.
Lee M. Loomis
