RES News - Rochester History A Sampling from the Archives of the Rochester Engineering Society. 1897 - 1974 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, 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 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.
Rochester Engineer” (April 1974)
RES President Mark H. Sluis announced the appointment of Edwin F. Stevens, a former medical writer with Bausch & Lomb Corporation, as the new RES Executive Director. Mr. Stevens' experience as an editorial assistant, project administrator, and a scientific and medical writer, would prove to be valuable to the RES. It was announced that the 1973-74 RES Luncheon Series would conclude with “Lasers and Holography” by Kenneth A. Snow, Associate Scientist, Xerox Corporation and “The Energy Crisis – What it Means for the US Economy” by Dr. Harold C. Passer, Asst. Treasurer, Eastman Kodak Company. The RES Nominations and Appointments Committee announced the slate of Officers and Directors for 1974-75, including, President - Dr. Richard A. Kenyon, RIT, First Vice President – John F. Schickler, Rochester Products Division, General Motors Corporation, Second Vice President – M. John (Jack) Corson, RG&E Corporation, Secretary - George G. Landberg, Mixing Equipment Company, Treasurer – Howard R. Jaquith, Taylor Instrument Companies, Director (3 years) – Peter S. DiPasquale, Eastman Kodak Company, James D. Row, Rochester Telephone Corporation. Directors continuing included L. C. Boehringer, Eastman Kodak Company, Roger W. Kober, RG&E Corporation, John M. Robertson, Rochester Telephone Corporation, and Myron Tribus, Xerox Corporation. It was announced that Bernard F. Perry, PE, Regional Director, NY State Departmeny of Transportation (Past RES President and 1965 Engineer of the Year), would be retiring after 46 years of service to New York State. Eastman Kodak Company announced the election of Colby H. Chandler, Director of Special Projects in the US and Canadian Photographic Division (and RES Member), to the position of Executive Vice President and a member of the Board’s Executive Committee.
May 8, 1974 (Board Meeting, Chamber of Commerce) David Whitlock, representing the American Society of Gas Engineers, reported that the Natural Gas Conservation Forum on Space Heating, recently head at RIT, was a significant success. RES Director James Row reported that due to a large number of “no-shows”, the recent Engineers Joint Dinner suffered a deficit of $270. He then recommended that work
6 | The ROCHESTER ENGINEER SEPTEMBER 2021
begin immediately to identify a new chair for next year’s event, and that a principal speaker and more impressive equipment displays be identified. Editor’s note: Subsequent to this meeting, Lee Loomis of RG&E, agreed to chair the 1975 event. RES Treasurer, Howard Jaquith, reported that a Gestetner mimeograph machine had been purchased at $1,275 for use by the RES office staff, and that it would be necessary to increase certain RES dues categories to cover this additional expense. Further, he stated that revenue from these dues increases should be allocated to “The Rochester Engineer”. Henceforth, Regular, Associate and Affiliate Member annual dues would be $30. Non-Resident Member dues would be $12, and Junior Membership dues would be $7. The Board approved five new Regular Member Applications. In his new position as Editor, RES Executive Director Ed Stevens, suggested raising advertising rates by 20% - 25%. RES Second Vice President, Dr. Richard Kenyon, reported that two new offices had been found at RIT facilities at 50 West Main Street, at an annual rental rate of $3,000, and that he and Ed Stevens would be touring these facilities soon.
“The Rochester Engineer” (May 1974)
This issue of The Rochester Engineer was the first for Editor, and RES Executive Director, Edwin Stevens. Eighteen months into the “Energy Crisis”, it featured an “Energy Problems” discussion by Francis E. Drake, Jr., CEO of RG&E and Dr. Myron Tribus of Xerox Corporation. In these two separate addresses, these men took issue with the over-regulation of the US energy industry (Drake) and the lack of a coordinated approach to facing the energy problem (Dr. Tribus). Mr. Drake proposed that Congress act quickly to, “remove the impediments they have generated and provide the incentives for private enterprise to supply energy necessary to fuel the industrial economy of this nation.” Dr. Tribus proposed that a US Energy Commission be formed to develop and administer a comprehensive energy policy that would consider all aspects of the “energy problem” and then proceed to engage the diverse technological and economic resource expertise of our nation to arrive at well-thought-out, sometimes bold, plans for meeting this and future developing energy crises.
June 5, 1974 (RES Annual Meeting, U of R Faculty Club) Attendance – 37
While this year’s Annual Meeting dealt with the Society’s usual change-over issues, it also celebrated the many contributions of its retiring Executive Secretary, Norman Howden. The group also heard an enlightening presentation “Engineering the Stock Market”, by Edwin H. Hall of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith. Mr. Hall reflected on dealing with the currently declining stock market. 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.
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