Tech-continued quartz crystal resonators attracted so much attention abroad that several foreign scientists in the same field came to Tech during the early sixties to study with him and with the communications research group at Tech. He was also an expert in the use of modern Scanning Electron Microscope and at his death was engaged on a project with Emory researchers in the use of this device to study human hair in an effort to prove a theory that it could be used in the early diagnosis of mental disorders in children. Professor Belser was a member of the American Physical Society, the Association of Physics Teachers, the American Society of Metals, the Georgia Academy of Sciences (for which he did considerable work among the young through the Atlanta Science Congress) and was listed in American Men of Science.
New bioengineering center • ON NOVEMBER 12, the Board of Regents gave Georgia Tech the final approval to establish a Center for Bioengineering on the Atlanta campus. In discussing the formation of the new center, Tech President, Dr. Arthur G. Hansen explained that bioengineering is "that field which deals with interactions between technology and biology and medicine." He added, "Because the program will be directed toward the goal of health maintenance, it should emerge as a clearly visible program in the service of man." The T e c h P r e s i d e n t continued, "Since engineering is really two fields —creative design, with the aid of scientific principles, and analysis of complex mechanisms—bioengineering also divides into two fields: one concerned with the design of devices for medicine and life sciences such as biology; the other involving analysis of complex biological systems by application of engineering science." Hansen said that bioengineering is experiencing a rapid and vigorous developmental phase in many university, government, and industrial laboratories throughout the country—"especially those in the forefront of scientific and engineering teaching and development." He also indicated" that bioengineering will be a major thrust of the Georgia Institute of Technology in months to come, adding that Tech already has over 40 major research projects scattered throughout its various divisions that could be classified under the term bioengineering. These will be coordinated by the new center. A first major development in the total bioengineering program took place in September with the establishment of a Health Systems Research » 34
Center through the cooperative efforts of the Institute and the Medical College of Georgia, according to Hansen. "Valuable knowledge was acquired on the way in which an area of importance at Georgia Tech, namely systems engineering, could be combined with the research and academic skills of the Medical College of Georgia in health delivery. This joint effort, which to date has been highly successful, provides a format for expanding our efforts to plan cooperatively with other units of the University System and Emory University." Hansen said the Bioengineering Center will be run by an executive committee and a director, "charged with the responsibility of promoting and coordinating bioengineering research directed toward the goal of maintaining the health of the populace, and promoting the expansion of health-oriented industries in Georgia." He emphasized, however, "It is not the intent of Georgia Tech to deliver health care but rather to build on technological competence that will aid practitioners and industrial organizations to more effectively engage in health care delivery and in health maintenance." The initial program activities at Tech, he said, will include several areas. In addition to biomedical instrumentation, the Center will establish an information transfer program so that the knowledge gained from bioengineering-oriented research both on and off the campus reaches engineers, medical personnel, and the public at large. The Center will also work on the application of computer sciences to bioengineering and medical problem areas, and is expected to work closely with industry in prototype development of instruments and medicallyoriented devices. Hansen added, "The programs of the Center will be based solidly on the basic sciences and academic programs of the Institute and cooperating institutions. It is felt that no program can succeed without this base. The further involvement of students in research activities having the great social significance of health care and maintenance should provide a significant educational experience." Dr. Edwin J. Scheibner, chief of the physical sciences division of Tech's Engineering Experiment Station, was named interim director of the new center in November. He took over his new duties on December 1.
Award to Professor and graduate student • A
GEORGIA T E C H professor
and
a
former graduate student have received the Louis Gordon Memorial Award for the best written paper published
in 1968 in Talanta, an international journal of analytical chemistry. The award was made to Professor Hermann A. Flaschka and Dr. James B. Garrett by the editorial board for two papers on "Substoichio-metric Masking." A silver imprinted leather bound volume of the journal which contained the prize winning paper was presented to Flaschka and Garrett at a dinner held in Pennsylvania recently. Professor Flaschka is currently Regent's Professor of Chemistry at Georgia Tech, and Dr. Garrett is now employed by the American Oil Company in Whiting, Indiana.
New dual-degree program • A NEW dual degree program between West Georgia College and Georgia Tech has received final approval from the Regents and will go into operation immediately, according to Dr. F. W. Schutz, Jr., coordinator of the program at Tech. Under the dual degree plan, a student would initially attend West Georgia College in Carrollton, taking courses which would lead to a liberal arts degree. Once these were completed, he would transfer to Tech to study engineering. Upon graduation he would receive both an engineering degree from Georgia Tech and an undesignated bachelor of arts degree from West Georgia College. Completion of 255 hours is required to qualify for the two degrees, according to the Tech coordinator. A student could take up to 140 hours at West Georgia College and then transfer to Tech, or he could take 120 hours at Carrollton liberal arts college and complete the remaining 135 hours at the Institute. In terms of length of time spent at each institution, Dr. Schultz, says, "It is possible for a student to transfer to Tech at the end of seven quarters, but more typically he would not transfer until the end of nine." Depending upon the number of quarters spent in Carrollton, he would remain at Tech from six to eight quarters. Similar programs have been in operation for several years between Georgia Tech and other institutions, including the Atlanta University Center (Clark, Morris Brown, Morehouse, and Spelman Colleges), Davidson College in North Carolina, Southwestern University at Memphis, Tenn., the University of Georgia, and the University of the South at Suwanee, Tenn. In explaining the reason for establishing these programs, Dr. Schutz notes, "A liberal arts college and a technological institute represent two entirely different types of educational environments. There has been a great deal of concern in recent years over the gap in communications between members of the respective communiThe Georgia Tech Alumnus