RES News - Rochester History
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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.
“The Rochester Engineer” (March 1975) 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 8 | The ROCHESTER ENGINEER MARCH 2022
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, res news - history
