Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 02 1988

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U.S. Business in Russia The Modular Car The Riddle of MS

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Mobile/Pascagoula Monroe Monterey Montgomery Montreal Munich Muscle Shoals Myrtle Beach Nantucket Naples Nashville Nassau Newark

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Elko El Paso/Juarez Ely Evansvillc Fairbanks Fayetteville, AR Fayettevillc/ Ft Bragg, NC Flagstaff Ft. Lauderdale , Ft. Myers Ft.Smith Ft.Walton Beach Ft.Wayne Frankfurt Fresno Gadsden Gainesville Grand J unction Grand Rapids Great Falls Greensboro/High Point/ Winston-Salem Greenville/Spartanburg Groton/New London

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New Haven New Orleans New York Norfolk/Virginia Beach/ Williamsburg Oakland Oklahoma City Omaha Onurio, Calif.

Orange County Orlando Page/lake Powell Palm Springs Panama City Paris Pasco/ Richland/ Kcnnewick Pensacola Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Pocatello Portland, ME Portland, OR Presque Isle Providence Puerto Vallarta Raleigh/Durham RapiuCity Reno Richmond Roanoke Rock Springs Sacramento St. George St. Louis St Lucic/Ft.Pierce/ Vero Beach/Stuart Salt lake City San Angelo San Antonio San Diego

White Plains Wichita Falls Yuma /ihuatanejo

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GB^GiATECH VOL. 64 NO 2

Alumni

Magazine

Fall 1988

STAFF

CONTENTS

John C. Dunn Editor

12

Gary Goettling Associate Editor

Perestroika

Opportunities are o p e n i n g for U.S. business ventures in the Soviet Union's "untapped market."

Written by John Mclntyre

Gary Meek Margaret Barrett Photography

21

Breaking t h e Barriers Georgia Tech researchers are engineering solutions to medical problems.

Written by John Toon

Everett Hi ilium Design

3 2 Wayne Parker Advertising

The Challenge of

Do a childhood illness, a canine disease and seagulls solve the mystery of MS? Written by Howard S. MacGregor

Page 12

4 l

PTJJBUCATIONS

The Elusive Riddle of MS

The Modular Car

COMMITTEE

Is it the automobile of tomorrow, or just a simple success story that won't b e repeated?

Written by Don Hudson

George A. Stewart Jr. '69, chairman Hugh A. Carter Jr. '64 J o h n B. Hayes 7 0 Frank H. Maier Jr. '60 Jean J. Millkey '83 L. Gordon Sawyer Sr. '46 H. McKinley Conway GE '40

QEPARTMENTS 5

Letters Congratulations and challenge.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine is published quarterly for Roll Call contributois by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Send correspondence and changes of address to.Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Alumni Faculty House 225 North Avenue NW Atlanta. GA 30332-0175 Š 1988 by Georgia Tech Alumni Association

11

50

Technotes An Alumni Association award, a new Tech mace, the Heisman statue and John Salley's graduation.

Profile Ronald Schafer: Spearheading the Digital Revolution.

Page 41

On the Cover The affect of disturbed blood-flow patterns on atherosclerosis is the study of Dr. David Ku. He and Georgia Tech colleagues are using modern technology to examine medical problems previously undetectable.

See story beginning on page 21. Photo by Gary Meek

Mil PI

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TECH TO SELL TOWER? The original? No. A highly detailed work of art, cast in pewter? Yes. To commemorate the 100th birthday of the Georgia Tech Acbiiinistration Building, we have commissioned Michael Ricker, noted American sculptor, to create the official Alumni Association Tech Tower.

Our work is approximately four inches tall, and is cast in heavy, glistening pewter.. .an attractive piece in any setting.

Michael Ricker is recognized around the world as the leading artist in his field. Collectors of his works include Presidents and monarchs, and he has been approached by the Smithsonian to exhibit. Pewter Please accept my order for _ . Georgia Tech Alumni Association Tech Towers @ S 36.50 each = Shipping & Insurance @ $3-50 each = Total enclosed $ Please make check payable to: Alumni Association Tech Tower Georgia Tech Alumni Association Alujiini/Faculty House Atlanta, Georgia 30332

casts of pieces of art from his studio in Colorado have been known to double in value only one year after purchase.

Mr. Ricker studied the Administration Building's tower from every perspective to render this highly detailed work. He has produced a terrific, classy way for all Tech fans to display their allegiance. The Alumni Association Tech Tower has been designed to look great either in your office or home, and is a great gift idea for Christmas or birthdays. And it can be purchased only through the Georgia Tech Alumni Association.

Order immediately.. .delivery will begin on a first come, first serve basis.

You may charge your purchase to â&#x20AC;˘ Master Charge or â&#x20AC;˘ Visa Card No Expiration Date Signature Ship my Alumni Associat ion Tech Tower to: Name Street .Zip. City .State.

If you want Tech Towers shipped to other addresses, please enclose a card with name, address, and quantity to be shipped to each address.

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This is quickly becoming f we use to build our It may not be as sophisticated as a CCD image scanner. But it'll make quantum leaps possible in copier, facsimile and laser products. Because this fall, it will break ground a little north of Lawrenceville in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Where Ricoh will start building another U.S. manufacturing site for office equipment.

We've certainly had practice. In 1976, Ricoh was the first Japanese company to make copier products

nmm

the most important tool office equipment. in America. Our three plants in Southern California make us the largest Japanese employer in Orange County. We hope to have the same positive effect on the economy of this county outside of Atlanta. By employing local people, buying supplies from nearby companies, and helping the community grow.

A commitment you'll be able to see for yourself on the labels of the office products that come out of our new factory. The ones that say Made in America.

Presented by

Acme Business Products An ALCO Office Products Company

Ricoh's largest dealer in the U.S. For a free demonstration contact the Acme office nearest vou.

Albanv, (912)432-2344: Athens, (404) 353-0368; Atlanta, (404) 246-5500: Augusta, (404) 863-2263: Brunswick, (912) 264-6675; Columbus, (404) 327-5114; Gainesville, (404) 531-0593; Macon, (912) 788-7416; Rome, (404) 295-7247: Savannah, (912) 232-6576: Dothan, AL (205) 793-0005: Montgomery, AL (205) 271-1413; Hilton Head, SC (803) 686-2050.

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JETTERS v

Dodd Story Praised Editor: I reallv liked the latest edition of the alumni magazine, particularly the Bobby Dodd story a n d the picture of D o d d a n d George Griffin.

My Tech class is 1937— BS in EE. My years at Tech were probably the most enjoyable of m y life. Friendships m a d e with fellow students ( a n d with Sarah Turner Ryan of Agnes Scott — n o w m y wife of 50-plus years) a n d faculty members have continued to this day, a n d I a m sure will continue for the rest of m y life.

Progress at Tech in every way since 1934 should enable Tech t o continue as o n e of the world's great institutions.

James C. Ryan, EE '37 New Orleans

Challenge Issued To Alumni Publications Editor: The best of several alumni publications I receive prints articles o n a w i d e variety of universityrelated topics. Although some readers m a y get upset over a n occasional controversial article (while other readers write that they love it), t h e magazine is almost always interesting, thoughtprovoking, informative.

The articles aren't d e signed to massage the e g o of the reader for having g o n e to such a wonderful institution. They aren't only o n "safe" topics.

They don't s o u n d as if they w e r e written b y the public relations office.

The magazine isn't adequate, it's exceptional.

Unfortunately, I'm n o t

Magazine of the Year.

Less than half of recent ALUMNI MAGAZINE articles

have b e e n about things going o n at Tech. Otherwise, recent issues printed low-key articles o n semitechnical a n d m a n a g e ment-related topics, some involving Tech professors a n d alumni, s o m e not.

What's missing? Tech has always h a d a strong talking a b o u t t h e GEORGIA commitment to underTECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE o r graduate education. More e v e n Tech Topics. Those articles about m e m b e r s of publications are n o t bad; its excellent student body, they don't make m u c h or b y them, w o u l d help. impression at all. T h e former has bland articles Are they concerned which, for the most part, about Tech's n e w e m p h a don't convey the idea that sis o n research? Would it Tech is o n e of the leading b e heresy to say s o m e of research institutions in t h e t h e m are unhappy? H o w United States (although d o administration a n d recent changes have faculty view the matter? improved it). T h e latter is And what about the full of comforting articles researchers? Georgia Tech o n Georgia Tech heroes, has some outstanding but not much else. faculty m e m b e r s a n d Neither publication is o n e research associates, b u t that I hate to throw away. there are regrettably few Too bad. I a m p r o u d of articles o n their work.

Georgia Tech a n d the Articles about alumni education I received a n d friends shouldn't b e there, a n d I'm sorry that eliminated. What I'm the policy-makers for the really talking about is Alumni Association don't including more "non-safe" think they should conarticles. Your readers tinue the educative w o n ' t b e turned off. Tech function of the school. p e o p l e aren't afraid of being challenged.

My favorite alumni.

Matthew Lybanon publication is Johns Hopkins Magazine— 1988 PHYS '60 recipient of the Newsweek Slidell, Louisiana Robert Sibley Award for

Thankyou to the official sponsors ofthe Gf»RGJA TECH Alumni Magazine

Acme Business Products Apple Computer Ball Stalker Boomershine Autos BusinessLand C&SBank The Coca-Cola Company Delta Air Lines First Atlanta Lanier Plaza Hotel and Conference Center Perry Communications Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead Technology Park/Atlanta Wyndham Hotel

GEORGIA TECH • Letters

5

TECHNOIES Ahimni Association Gets Management Award The Georgia Tech Alumni Association has received the top award for "sustained good management" for nonprofit organizations presented by the Metropolitan Atlanta Community Foundation (MACF).

The 1988 Outstanding Nonprofit Management Award for sustained good management included a $5,000 unrestricted grant from the organization.

"This award is especially significant because we were chosen the bestmanaged nonprofit organization in the entire 19-county metropolitan Atlanta area, not just among alumni associations," said John B. Carter

Jr., Alumni Association vice president and executive director.

The selection was made from a field of more than 800 nonprofit organizations.

"There is no one person responsible for us achieving this award," Carter said. "It was truly a team effort over a threeyear period commencing July 1, 1985. The criteria for the award was extremely detailed and involved every single aspect of our organization from our records, programs and clubs to the overall fiscal management of our resources."

B. J. Anderson, IM '50, president of the Alumni

Seed Capital May Grow New Enterprises in Georgia Voters in Georgia's Nov. 8 general election will be choosing more than political candidates. One constitutional change on the ballot would, if approved, establish seed capital funds for new Georgia companies developing innovative products or services.

The proposed amendment is based on a study of business-financing programs in 22 states conducted by Tech's Advanced Technology Development Center.

The measure would provide for a $10 million fund, comprised initially of a one-time state appropriation of $2.5 million, matched three-to-one with $7.5 million from private investors. The 25 percent state participation would attract private investment since it would dilute the risk for individual investors.

ATDC researcher C. Michael Cassidy was prompted to study financing alternatives after identifying a gap in funding available to Georgia firms seeking assistance through the ATDC's business incubator program.

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Summer

88

Association, and Lawton M. "Mac" Nease III, IM '65, and Ben J. Dyer, IE '70, two past presidents, accepted the award at the MACF ceremony Aug. 11.

"It made Mac Nease, Ben Dyer and me very proud and we're really pleased with the achievements of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association," Anderson said.

Alicia Philipp, executive director of the MACF, said the organization "believes that the non-

Tec Parti

profit sector is an integral part of the community, and we are committed to strengthening the management and effectiveness of those organizations serving metropolitan Atlanta.

"Each year organizations are evaluated by a selection committee comprised of individuals within the community who have extensive experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors," Philipp said.

que Mace Now ic Pageantry Georgia Tech has incorporated a ceremonial mace as part of its pageantry surrounding academic ceremonies.

The Tech mace, first used at the presidential inauguration of John Patrick Crecine, is unique in acidemia, according to Thomas L. Vitale, director of special projects.

Many academic maces are staves hearing the school seal. A symbol of authority in medieval days, the mace became a symbol of office used with academic regalia in colonial America.

Tech's mace,

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TECHNOIES From Page

Tech's Mace A New Twist signed by Cabell Heyward, a research scientist in the College of Architecture, has three brass rods and demonstrates the principle of "tensegrity," a concept of structure combining tension and integrity developed by R. Buckminster Fuller in 1927, Vitale explains.

The integrity, or wholeness, of the mace is maintained by each of the rods being held in place by the tension of a steel wire; the rods do not touch one another at any point.

"There is a lot of Tech symbolism involved," Vitale says.

Tech's colors are represented by the gold color of the brass and the white color of the steel wire.

The three rods symbolize

the three primary components of Georgia Tech's mission: education, research and service. The mace also bears silver metallic reproductions of the seals of the state of Georgia, the old Georgia School of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The coneshaped tip of each rod is the exact angle of the Tech Tower and is topped with a pearl.

The mace will be carried in academic ceremonies by the recipient of the Distinguished Professor Award given annually each spring. It was made possible by a gift from the Georgia Tech Student Foundation and the class of 1934. which endowed the Distinguished Professor Award.

Heisman Statue Presented To Georgia Tech An eight-foot statue of legendary Georgia Tech football coach John Heisman has been placed in front of the Old Gym on Third Street.

A gift from a Cleveland arts foundation, the statue is the work of sculptor William McVey, who played under Heisman at Rice University.

The foundation wanted to locate the statue on

one of the eight campuses where Heisman, a Cleveland native, coached.

Thanks to the lobbying efforts of the late Tech associate athletic director, Jim Luck, the foundation settled on Georgia Tech, where Heisman achieved his greatest professional success, compiling a 10229-7 record from 1904 until 1919.

Technotes continued on page 11

Georgia Tech Alumni Association Officers B. Joe Anderson '50 president Lawton M. Nease III '65 past president Oliver H. Sale Jr. '56 preside n t-elect/treasurer Shirley C. Mewborn '56 vice president-activities John C. Statonjr. '60 vice president-communications H. Hamond Stith Jr. '58 vice president-Roll Call JohnB. Carter Jr. '69 vice pres ident/executive director

Trustees Thomas A. Barrow Jr. '48 Brian S. Brown '50 Hugh A. Carter Jr. '64 Stanley L. Daniels '60 Eugene Cox Dunwody Sr. '55 '56 H. Allen Ecker '57 '58 Edwin C. Eckles '52 Jack J. Faussemagne '65 Hal W. Field '51 Frank B. Fortson '71 Samuel O. Franklin III '65 L. Thomas Gay Jr. '66 Robert G. Hill '58 Brian D. Hogg '61 James R. Jolly '64

G. William Knight '62 '68 James R. Lientz Jr. '65 Frank H. Maierjr. '60 Ronald L. Martin '68 Robert E. Mason '60 Jean J. Millkey '83 Wade T. Mitchell '57 Daniel E. Pittard 71 James Richard Roberts III '69 V. Hawley Smith '68 Francis M. Spears 7 3 '80 William J. Stanley III 72 George A. Stewart '69 H. Milton Stewart Jr. '61 D. Richard Worsham '68

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Technotes

9

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And our Seasons — The Steak Club Restaurant features a unique variety of charcoal broiled prime beef, fresh seafood and poultry, served with style. Its distinctive atmosphere is characterized by split levels, fresh plantings, leaded crystal windows and other fine accoutrements.

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Passing Grades Salley Receives Degree; Jersey John Salley, a two-year veteran of the Detroit Pistons and former Tech Ail-American basketball player, returned to Alexander Memorial Coliseum on Sept. 2 to take care of some unfinished business.

Salley's return to the "Thriller Dome" was considerably different from his previous experiences — his business was graduation. Salley received his bachelor of science degree in management.

"I didn't want to start something and not finish it," Salley says. "My main objective was not just to become a pro athlete. I wanted to graduate. You know the saying — the few, the proud Georgia Tech alumni."

Salley ranks receiving

Retired

his degree with such events as signing a letter of intent to play at Tech, signing his pro contract and playing in the National Basketball Association finals.

Salley was preparing for the NBA championship game against the LA Lakers, perhaps the biggest game of his career, when Cremins called "to tell me he's got school set up," Salley remembers.

"Coach Cremins wanted me to get an education.

He's very proud. He stayed on me to finish."

Salley missed the first few summer classes because the Pistons were playing the Lakers in the NBA finals. As soon as the series was completed, Salley returned to Atlanta

Following graduation, Tech basketball coach Bobby Cremins joins Salley in the Jim Luck Building where Salley's jersey was officially retired. "He played a big, big part in my graduation," Salley said of Cremins.

for his classes in cost accounting and production.

"It was shell-shock," says Salley of leaving the hoopla of the world championship for the rigors of the classroom.

But, he adds, "When I got my grade, I screamed.

I shook my teacher's hand and almost broke it."

Salley is proud to graduate from Tech. "Being Afro-American, it is important that I graduated from

Georgia Tech," he explains. "Not many get that chance, and now I'm part of the group. Being a black player is not enough; it's important to graduate, not just for self-gratification, but for the kids coming behind me to have that positive image. I want them to look up to me not for my athletic ability, but for my academic accomplishments."

•

Tech Tower Huns 100; Sculpture Commissioned The administration building with its appearance. The new copper shingles are a near match. famous "Tech" tower is one The Alumni Association commishundred years old — an anniversary sioned sculptor Michael Richer to which is being celebrated with a create a four-inch-tall pewter rennew copper roof for the tower and dition of the tower in observance of a commemorative sculpture comthe historic occasion, The sculpmissioned by the Georgia Tech tures are available to alumni lot Alumni Association. $36.50. (Order form on page 2.)

The tower's top is the result of a $100,000 gift from Eugene M. Clary The administration building, forBS 32, retired chairman of the merly tin academic building, anil a board of Clary and Associates. shop building were the original two structures on campus when the Old photographs of the tower reveal that the original shingles had Georgia School of Technology a scalloped edge, giving a fish-scale began classes on Oct. 8, 1888.

P1IOTO HY MAKI.AHLI UARRLI"!

GEORGIA TECH • Technotes

11

TheOialleti

QfPerestroi

Confronted by Soviet reforms, Western businesses explore ways to reach an "untapped market of 280 million people." • Written by John R Mclntyre 12

GEORGIA TECH • Fall '

PHOTO BY KELLY MILLS /cOUKIESY CNN

F

rom the reigns of Peter the Great to Lenin, dramatic and periodic rushes toward modernization have been a Russian hallmark. There can be little doubt that Soviet Russia today is ripe for the kind of economic miracle experienced by West Germany and Japan since World War II. Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev has launched a major drive to turn his country from an economic straggler into a frontrunner. A key element of reforms is restruc-

turing or perestroika of the Soviet economy.

To answer questions and challenges posed by the Gorbachev reforms, Georgia Tech took the leadership in organizing a major one-day international conference on East-West trade and investment this past summer. Co-sponsoring the event were the Atlanta and Cobb chambers of commerce, the Advanced Technology Development Center, the Center for East-West Trade Policy and the state of Georgia Department of Industry and Trade.

From Red Square, CNN reports the news. TV networks have been among U.S. companies most active in the U.S.S.R.

Continued next page GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Trade with the Soviets

13

PHOTO BY KELLY MLLS /COVKTESY

14

CNN

GEORGIA TECH • Fall 88

R

eform is urgently needed in the U.S.S.R. The evidence of a failed economy is everywhere. Food shortages in staples such as coffee, fresh fruit, meat and sugar are a daily occurrence. In health care, life expectancy for men has actually been falling.

The problem is fundamentally economic: With the possible exception of the occasional private plot in agriculture and the illegal "underground economy" in the services, the Soviet economy has been completely stateowned and managed by monopolistic ministries. Gorbachev has spoken bluntly about inheriting a "pre-crisis" situation when he acceded to power in 1985.

Soviet economic growth has been slowing down since the early 1970s while population has grown at the rate of one percent a year.

The overall size of the Soviet economy is "guesstimated" at about half the size of the U.S. economy. The Soviet Union spends some 15 percent of its Gross National Product on defense outlays compared to seven percent by the U.S. The Soviet Union may have 1.5 million scientists — a quarter of the world's total — but experts agree that it lags seven to 12 years behind the West in advanced computer-related technologies.

The picture is, of course, not all negative.

The Soviet Union has had major achievements in space technology and exploration. It produces more gas than the U.S., more steel than Japan, more oil than Saudi Arabia. But its past emphasis on heavy industrialization, quantity production and central planning has been at the clear expense of efficiency, consumer responsiveness, and productivity.

Three aspects of the so-called Gorbachev "revolution" need to be stressed.

• First, reforms are not exclusively economic. Gorbachev has chosen to use the glasnost (opening up) component as a weapon against lethargic bureaucracies. The strategy is to expose and replace the heavyhanded centralized management structure.

Glasnost, it is hoped, will also energize and motivate the workforce.

• Second, economic reforms will be incremental and slow. Speed of Soviet reform must take into account what is essentially a conservative country and a reluctant nomenklatura (the Communist party elite leadership). Abel Agenbegyen, Gorbachev's chief economic adviser, estimates that the transfor-

mation will take twenty to thirty years.

• Third, Westerners should not think that perestroika is designed to restore a markettype economy. The Soviet system will remain planned and state-owned. It will, however, seek to marry central control and planning with some local entrepreneurial initiative.

This situation in the Soviet Union has created new trade and investment opportuni- / s ties for U.S. and Western firms. Particularly auspicious was the 1987 legislation giving foreign companies the potential to do business in the Soviet Union — an untapped domestic market of some 280 million people. This potential is to be realized in part by joint ventures between Soviet enterprises, which will have a maximum 51 percent The glory of stake, and Western companies, which will St. Basil's own a maximum 49 percent.

Cathedral (left) has not been matched by the irst among U.S. companies to take Soviet econadvantage of the legislation has been Combustion Engineering Inc. of Stam- omy. Prices are staggering for ford, Conn., which announced in November 1987 a joint venture with the Soviet consumer goods: two Ministry of Oil Refining and Petrochemical days' wages for Industry called Applied Engineering Systems an umbrella at (an integrated company bigger than Exxon GUM, Moscow's and Royal Dutch/Shell Group combined). showcase deThis initial venture, though minimally capipartment store; talized, is the first U.S. industrial stake in the three months' Soviet Union since the 1920s. Other ventures salary for the involve McDonald's, Monsanto, Honeywell, cheapest color Dresser Industries, Cummins Engine and TV. And the Occidental Petroleum, among others. inconvertible The Coca-Cola Co., present in more than ruble threatens 155 countries and in Eastern Europe since trade growth.

1966 and the Soviet Union since 1979, is now strategically positioning itself in the U.S.S.R. for what it views as an attractive and growing market opportunity (See page 16).

Western political and business leaders generally accept the notion that perestroika is good for the West. The question, therefore, is whether the U.S. and West should or can help in the Gorbachev "revolution."

Certainly there is ample room for improvement in U.S.-Soviet trade. The total annual two-way trade between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. for 1987 amounts to $1.6 billion — a

F

Continued on page 17 GEORGIA TECH • Trade with the Soviets

15

Ferestroika Opens AJ/iuToVow to Foreign Trade With Soviets

S PHOTO COURTESY ROBERT J. BROADWATER

In doing business with the Soviets, Coca-Cola officials quickly discovered 'you're not dealing with another company, you're dealing with a country."

16

peaking to more than 200 business leaders who were attending a National Conference for U.S. Business held in Atlanta last June, Donald R. Keough, president and chief operating officer of The CocaCola Co., turned a question on his audience.

"Can you afford to do business in the Soviet Union?

"Or better, can you afford not to?"

Coca-Cola determined its answer to that question in the mid-1960s.

"A market that large, which has such enormotis potential, can't be ignored if you are marketing consumer products like Coca-Cola on an international scale," says Keough, keynote speaker at the conference. But in deference to the first question, it wasn't easy. It was 1974 before Coca-Cola concluded an agreement with the Soviet Union.

"When you do business with the Soviet Union, or any [Eastern] European nation for that matter, you're not dealing with another company—you are dealing with a country," Keough cautions.

"Their first concern is not: Is this a good product? Would consumers buy it? Can we make money with it? The governments of these Eastern European countries have a social agenda. All their decisions first and foremost are political decisions. One must go slowly and one must be patient.

"Doing business in Eastern European countries, you must see things from their point of view, which is essentially a political point of view. And you must know their plans, their goals, their objectives, their

GEORGIA TECH • Fall !

problems, in order to determine how you can cooperate."

An important factor to consider, Keough says, is that the Soviet Union and many Eastern European nations have closed economies.

"Their currencies aren't convertible into dollars or other hard currencies. These nations are reluctant to squander the hard currency that they do have on products which they consider to be low priority.

Therefore, you must demonstrate that your products or services help to achieve some fundamental social goal — or you have to provide something extra, some technology that the country needs. And, finally, in payment, most often you have to be able to take counter-trade goods. Generally speaking, these governments prefer that you take a product that has some added value, not just a raw material."

Accordingly, Coca-Cola accepts beer from Poland, wine and apple juice concentrate from Hungary, jams and pickles from Bulgaria and fruit from Czechoslovakia.

"The Soviets are fair," Keough says. 'They are tough negotiators, but they are very fair.

They have a reputation for adhering strictly to the letter of a contract. So make sure that the details are right. They are unsympathetic to anything that is overlooked. Your first contract is crucial because it will set the tone for all future business. I strongly suggest that you seek out the experienced help of organizations such as the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Trade and Economic Council.

"Obviously, doing business with the Soviets is difficult and very different from most American business experiences. In the Soviet I nion, you are dealing with multiple agencies, lengthy procedures, and very probably lower margins of profit.

"Let me say that things are definitely improving," Keough adds.

Ap/fflDE WORLD PHOTO

"They now understand what a company is.

They understand the need for profit. They are using the term themselves. They are applying the profit concept — not in a capitalistic sense, in a very different philosophical context — to their own factories. Soviet managers are beginning to see the need and desirability of being economically viable."

General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's call for glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) have, says Time Magazine, "become watchwords of a bold attempt to modernize his country's creaky economic machinery and revitalize a society stultified by 70 years of totalitarian rule."

"We watch with anticipation as this mammoth Soviet ship of state slowly, but steadily, turns in a new economic direction," keough says. "It isn't going to be a simple maneuver.

There is resistance to perestroika, but resistance to change is simply part of human nature everywhere. It is inevitable."

The changes affecting Soviet foreign trade, Keough says, open windows of opportunity.

"We wondered some years ago whether it was a good idea to trade with the People's Republic of China. Since 1979, when the open door policy began, trade with the People's Republic of China has grown from $1.7 billion to $10 billion. The composition of trade has shifted from agriculture to machinery and equipment. And we see that the tensions between the U.S. and China have almost disappeared.

"I believe the same thing is true of the U.S.-Soviet relations," Keough adds. "I believe that we will witness an unprecedented period, not merely in the history of the Soviet Union, but in the history of humankind . . . . Let's strive to know each other, let's strive to get closer together and, above all, let's strive to live with our obvious differences as we engage in a peaceful pursuit of a better life."

•

miniscule amount considering that the nations' combined GNP is over $6 trillion.

Oddly enough, as pointed out by Assistant Secretary of Commerce Franklin J. Vargo at the Atlanta conference, the U.S. historically has run a trade surplus with the U.S.S.R., amounting to a modest, yet robust, $1.01 billion for 1987. The lion's share of U.S. exports continues to be agricultural commodities. Vargo considers the U.S.S.R. a tough market, yet "the world's largest unexplored market" for manufactured goods.

Although a tough market to crack, the Soviet Union remains "the world's largest unexplored market" for consumer goods, including such "good old-fashioned American" favorites as pizza.

"^T ^ T JT "T" hat have been the impedi% ^/ I ments to U.S.-Soviet trade? Gov% / V / eminent and business particiT T pants at the Atlanta East-West trade conference identified a number of obstacles: • The ruble, which has an official exchange rate of $1.70, is inconvertible and therefore not an acceptable currency in inter-national business transactions. Without a convertible ruble, ventures with Western companies that go beyond simple hard-currency sales will have no appeal in the West.

• There are inherent risks and burdens that Western investors must face in doing business in the Soviet Union. For example, new Soviet rules for establishing joint ventures require Soviet majority ownership and place strict restrictions on the use of revenues and sourcing of materials.

Continued on page 19 GEORGIA TECH • Trade with the Soviets

17

Soviets Say Obstacles Hobble Trade with UA erestroika, the restructuring of the Soviet Union's economy, i.s creating foreign trade and joint venture opportunities for American firms, but obstacles restrict Soviet involvement in the U.S. market, according to Oleg Kozhevnikov, the Soviet's chief trade representative in the United Slates.

"The main obstacle for developing SovietAmerican trade is still the discriminatory U.S. trade and credit legislation of 1974," Kozhevnikov said at a conference for business, "Doing Business with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe: New Challenges in Changing Environments."

Kozhevnikov is attached to the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. "This legislation artificially links the granting of most-favored-nation treatment and government expon credits with contrived issues which are totally extraneous to trade," Kozhevnikov said.

"Because of many restrictions, our exports to the U.S. are limited to a few commodities: fertilizers, oil, and oil products. As a result, Soviet-American trade is highly unbalanced: our sales being seven to 12 times less than our purchases. The Soviet Union is one of the very few countries which have a negative trade balance with the United States.

"We cannot indefinitely underwrite our purchases of American goods with revenues from our trade with our other partners.

"There are also obstacles to our purchases in the U.S. market. A major one i.s the lack of government-supported credits in the United States. Excessive export controls, another relic of the Cold War, have resulted in limiting our list of purchases to a few com-

P

Coca Cola's Don Keough (left) congratulates Oleg Kozhevnikov after the Soviet trade officer's speech in Atlanta encouraging U.S. business ventures in the U.S.S.R. "The Soviet market is one of the greatest in the world. We have goods we need to buy and goods we need to selL"

18

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall 88

modities. These are mainly agricultural goods: grain, soybeans, almonds, tallow, fertilizers and track-laying tractors. Our purchase of machinery and equipment has been decreasing, and in 1987 totaled only about $90 million. This is the situation and you may judge it tor yourself.

"While in Moscow, President Reagan said, 'Nothing would please my heart more than, in my lifetime, to see American and Soviet diplomats grappling with the problem of trade disputes [rather than military disputes].'

Everyone welcomes this thought. Now that the relations between our two countries are getting better, I hope that we have a chance to get down to real businessâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the business of settling and resolving trade matters and creating better conditions for both countries to access the other's markets.

"New opportunities for more trade are opening up with the restructuring of the Soviet economy. Our policy is to become more open to international cooperation...and to include our industries in world markets. In practical terms, this means that more Soviet organizations, enterprises, cooperatives and ftanks will be dealing with foreign firms.

They will lie buying, and setting up joint ventures on Soviet territory and abioad.

"You are seeing the emergence of a new economic environment in our country. This is an expression of new thinking developing in our country in respect to international economic cooperation. We hope that other countries, including the United Stales, will join us in this new thinking.

"Recently Mr. [Mikhail] Gorbachev said in regard to the development of Soviet-American relations: 'If there are good economic and trade relations, we become more and more dependent upon each other.'

"I think that this dependence will bring us nothing hut better prospects for peace and mutual benefit." â&#x20AC;˘

• The possible diversion of advanced "dual use" (civilian and military) Western technology to the military sector is a legitimate concern.

The recent case in which a Norwegian firm (Kongsberg) and a Japanese company (Toshiba) illegally sold the Soviets the technology to make super-quiet submarine propellers illustrates the national security hazards of trading with the Soviet bloc.

• The issue of Soviet trade and investment financing is paramount. Finding regional U.S. banks willing to finance deals with the U.S.S.R is difficult. This is in sharp contrast to European and Japanese banks.

Perestroika, however, introduces a completely new set of elements in Western bankers' evaluation of Soviet credit worthiness. Until recently, the Soviet Union had a high credit rating because it had severe limits on foreign imports. The reforms introduce new variables and an unknown future model of the Soviet economy.

• U.S. laws such as the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Reform Act of 1974 place restrictions on U.S. credits and the granting of most-favored-nation (MFN) trading status to the U.S.S.R. The amendment allows neither credits nor MFN status unless the president receives assurances from Soviet leaders that there will be substantial movement in the direction of free emigration from the U.S.S.R. Some progress has been achieved, but the Soviets find this U.S. legal stricture immensely distasteful and intrusive.

To overcome some of these impediments, the American Trade Consortium (ATC) was created this year. Under terms of the agreement between ATC and Soviet authorities, members of the consortium—RJR Nabisco, Johnson & Johnson, Archer-Daniels Midland, Eastman Kodak, Ford and Chevron — will be able to operate joint ventures with Soviet enterprises with a special set of rules.

Perhaps the most realistic framework for a coordinated Western approach to economic relations with the U.S.S.R.' and the East was expressed in the Williamsburg Declaration at the end of the 1983 economic summit of key industrialized Western nations. Four principles were laid out: • East-West economic relations must be consistent and synchronized with Western / .,< security interests.

• Steps should be taken to ensure that no one gas producer (the U.S.S.R. is the major world producer) is in a position to exercise monopoly power over industrial countries.

In the glow of • Western governments should not provide glasnost and subsidized export credits to the East. Exports the potential of should take place on commercial terms. perestroika, • East-West trade must be in peaceful secPresident tors. Export control procedures must ensure Reagan and that commercial relations do not contribute Soviet leader directly to Warsaw Pact military strength.

Mikhail GorIt is worthwhile to remember Winston bachev have Churchill's oft-quoted description of the Soviet eased East-West Union as a "riddle wrapped in a mystery tensions, inside an enigma." But that is only half the creating an phrase. The other half also bears noting: atmosphere of "Perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian openness that national [self] interest."

• includes opportunities Dr. John R. Mclntyre, associate professor with joint for expanding appointments in the School of Social Sciences and the College of Management at Georgia Tech, specializes in business into international business policy, technology transfer issues the U.S.S.R. and comparative management.

M

uch hope and enthusiasm is being generated in the business communities of the industrialized West. Yet the East cannot look for a bail-out. Only deep and systemic changes will lead to improved economic performance, thus reforms seem to be in the clear self-interest of the U.S.S.R. Increased East-West trade and investment can accompany economic restructuring, but will follow internal changes, not lead them.

AP/WTOE WORLD PHOTO

GEORGIA TECH • Trade with the Soviets

19

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BREAKING THE BARRIERS Georgia Tech researchers are engineering solutions to medical problems Written by John Toon â&#x20AC;˘ Photographed by Gary Meek

D

r. Norberto Ezquerra touches the keyboard of his Pixar computer, causing a remarkable three-dimensional color image of the human heart to rotate slowly on the computer screen.

For Ezquerra and his colleagues at Emory University, the image represents a better way to visualize disease within the arteries feeding blood to the heart. But the dramatic image also symbolizes a new era for Georgia Tech research: a fruitful marriage of traditional engineering with medicine.

In laboratories scattered across the campus, Tech researchers investigate why blood vessels clog with plaque, develop microscopic electrodes that may help the paralyzed walk again, and study how heat might be used as a weapon against cancer.

At first glance, the connection between such human health pursuits and Tech's deeply-rooted engineering traditions appears obscure. But a closer examination reveals that blood flow in the body obeys the same laws as air flow over the wings of an aircraft. And walking requires sending electrical signals from the brain to leg muscles over a circuit of nerve cells.

"A lot of what we are doing is translating the medical problem into engineering terms," explains Dr. David Ku, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering. "We may use the same techniques as the defense industry, but we use them to understand how blood flows very close to a vessel wall rather than how to detect a Stealth bomber flying over the terrain."

For Dr. Robert Nerem, trained as an aerospace engineer, the transition from aircraft wings to arterial walls was a matter of personal interest.

"Because of my fluid dynamics background, I got

interested in the heart and blood flow," he says. "No one told me when I got my degree that I had to put barriers around my interests."

Just as their interests have not been limited by the bounds of traditional engineering, so have the pursuits of Tech's engineers not been limited to their own campus. Tech researchers have teamed up with colleagues at the University of Chicago, the Texas Health Science Center, the University of California at San Diego, Emory University, Massachusetts General Hospital and other institutions. In January 1987, an agreement with Emory formalized a long-standing collaborative relationship between the schools, creating a jointly funded Biomedical Technology Research Center, which promises to accelerate the pace of research at both institutions.

Collaborative agreements are also under discussion with the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

In all, $3.5 million a year comes to Tech biomedical researchers from such organizations as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Air Force and numerous private institutions and corporations.

The marriage of engineering and medicine also benefits Tech students who can select from more than a dozen graduate and undergraduate courses in biomedical technology. A joint program with Emory allows students to be both engineers and physicians.

Where will these efforts lead? Many Georgia Tech projects already underway demonstrate how the combination of engineering and medicine can help thousands of people live healthier, more productive lives.

Continued next page GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Biomedical Research

21

BREAKING THE BARRIERS

Are "disturbed" blood patterns the cause of clogging of the arteries? Will an understanding of blood flow produce more success with synthetic blood vessel grafts?

A

What Clogs Blood Vessels?

-fherosclerosis, the clogging of critical arteries, causes heart disease, stroke and a host of other problems which account for half of the deaths in the Western world. The disease is associated with smoking and high cholesterol levels, but what actually causes it to begin?

For more than eight years, researchers from Georgia Tech and the University of Chicago have been working together to find an answer to that question.

In Tech's School of Mechanical Engineering, Drs. Don Giddens and David Ku believe the answer will be found in patterns of disturbed "blood flow within certain arteries of the neck, heart and abdomen, where atherosclerosis commonly occurs. If smoking or high cholesterol alone cause the problem, they reasoned, other major arteries should also become clogged.

To test the hypothesis, they built a scaled-up model of the carotid artery. The carotid carries blood through the neck, and often clogs at a point where it branches into smaller arteries serving the brain and face.

Using laser Doppler anemometer technology developed in the aerospace industry, Ku and Giddens studied the circulation of simulated blood in the model carotid. They found areas of relatively stagnant blood, as well as vortices which collected particles just as

A,

Flow Effects on living Cells

.therosclerosis is also the interest of Dr. Robert Nerem, Parker Petit professor for engineering in medicine. With researchers at the Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Nerem studies how blood flow affects the endothelial cells which line blood vessels.

"We know that endothelial cells are elongated, seemingly to reflect the local fluid dynamic environment," he explains. "These cells do actively respond, and they have dramatic changes in shape, structure and function, including their growth characteristics."

Shear stress is the result of friction between the flowing blood and the wall of a blood vessel. Endothelial cells in regions of low shear stress show differences Nerem believes may account for the disease process that occurs in such regions.

22

GEORGIA TECH 'Fall

eddies in a creek collect branches and leaves.

Studying scaled-up models of the abdominal aorta, which carries blood to the legs, similar disturbed blood flow was found in another location that is a common site for atherosclerosis. The regions coincide with places where University of Chicago investigators found localized arterial disease.

Ku theorizes that the disturbed blood flow upsets the endothelial cells lining the arteries, preventing them from fulfilling their mission of protecting arterial walls.

The trapped particles attract phagocytic cells, the body's garbage collectors, which may also play a'role in generating plaque.

Examination of the blood vessels in the human body now requires injection of dye which enables the vessels to show up on X-rays. This angiographic procedure is invasive, costly, and can cause life-threatening allergies in some people.

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging relies on rapidly-changing magnetic fields to look inside the body. Now used for studying tissue changes, NMR produces no known side effects. Ku believes it may offer a non-invasive and less costly alternative to angiograms, and is studying possible refinements of that technology.

In a new National Science Foundation project with Dr. Wayne Alexander and other Emory researchers, Nerem will look at how mechanical stresses affect the growth characteristics of vascular cells.

In a separate study with Dr. Kenneth Bernstein of Emory, the researchers will look at how blood flow affects cellular production of an enzyme which reguContinued on page 24

Cell culture technician Juanester Hunter mixes blood cells in preparation for Dr. Robert Nerem's studies of the ways endothelial cells function under high and low shear stress. Understanding the cells' role in the disease process may lead to development of drugs to control the process.

r

BREAKING THE BARRIERS

Can a severed spinal cord be bypassed, restoring muscle control? Can understanding of blood flow patterns lead to an improved artificial heart valve?

lates blood pressure. They want to know how the cell senses its environment, how it chooses to respond, and whether changes are expressed in the cells' genes.

Nerem's work with endothelial cells may also lead to better success with synthetic grafts used to replace diseased blood vessels. Where possible, surgeons use non-essential vessels taken from elsewhere in the body, but in some cases, use of synthetic grafts would be desirable. Like all artificial materials in the body's circulatory system, the grafts cause blood clotting which can eventually lead to failure of the graft. In this project

P

Bypassing the Injured Spinal Cord

.aralysis due to spinal cord injuries affects an estim araly mated 200,000 persons in the United States. To help them, researchers have dreamed of bypassing the injured spinal cord to restore lost muscular control.

"The muscles are still there, and if you could connect them with the control area of the brain, you could restore some function," says Dr. Philip Kennedy of Tech's Bioengineering Center, Office of Interdisciplinary Programs.

The problem with connecting the control areas has been to consistently receive tiny electrical signals from brain cells. Clusters of cells in the control areas relate to arm or leg movements, but standard electrodes attached to those areas tend to shift slightly within the brain, disrupting their connection.

Using experimental rats, Kennedy believes he has solved the problem through a simple, but innovative new electrode held in place by the brain cells themselves. Beginning with a tiny glass cone, Kennedy

F

GEORGIA TECH 'Fall

inserts a wire just three one-thousandths of an inch in diameter into one end. Into the other end go a few tiny fibers from the rat's sciatic nerve.

Implanted in the brain, neurite fibers from the brain cells grow into the sciatic nerve fibers in the cone.

Within a few weeks, Kennedy can monitor brain electrical signals, which remain consistent over time.

Laboratory trials with monkeys at Yerkes Primate Center have begun with Drs. Roy Bakay and Dan Barrow of Emory's Department of Neurosurgery'. Any clinical use, however, is many years away.

In addition to restoring muscle function for the paralyzed, the system could also give those completely paralyzed by disorders such as Lou Gehrig's disease a means of communicating directly from their brain to the outside world.

The work, which also involves Dr. Steven Sharpe and Neal Hollenbeek of Georgia Tech, is funded by the Emory-Tech Center.

Warning: Microwave Oven in Use

'â&#x20AC;˘ .or years, people who depended on pacemakers to regulate m or vitheir hearts had to worry about stray radiation from microwave ovens. Such electromagnetic energy could confuse their pacemakers and send them into cardiac arrest.

Today, pacemaker wearers have little to fear from the ovens, thanks in part to the work of B.M. Jenkins of the Georgia Tech Research Insitute. Since. 1971, Jenkins 24

the synthetic graft will be seeded with endothelial cells, growing a natural lining inside the man-made material.

If that can be done, blood no longer would contact the artificial material and clotting should end.

Tech's expertise in this area will expand through the work of Dr. Timothy Wick, who recently joined the faculty. Wick is investigating the interaction of blood cells with natural and artificial surfaces under physiological flow conditions. His efforts should give scientists a better understanding of wound healing, thrombogenesis and cancer metastasis.

88

has tested pacemakers in electromagnetic fields, helping manufacturers "considerably improve the shielding characteristics against electromagnetic fields," says Jenkins, who has tested at least a thousand pacemakers.

Pacemakers can now withstand an electromagnetic field of 200 volts per meter; early models were affected by as little as 4 volts per meter.

"The likelihood of getting into a field strong enough

Using a computer designed for the movie "Star Wars," Dr. Noberto Ezquerra studies a digitized image of the human heart. The three-dimensional image rotates, allowing study of different views.

to cause problems," he says, "is very, very small."

Tech tests pacemakers and implantable defibrillators

o

for a dozen manufacturers worldwide, including about half of all U.S. manufacturers.

Unexpected Results of Exercise

ver the last 10 years, Dr. Ajit Yoganathan, professor in the School of Chemical Engineering, has studied blood flow patterns through artificial heart valves. The valves damage fragile blood cells and can lead to development of life-threatening blood clots.

Similar problems plague artificial hearts.

Interaction between the artificial material and blood leads to the clotting problems, but high-pressure jets of blood channeled through the valves seem to cause much of the blood cell damage. Through his study of blood flow patterns for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Yoganathan suggests alternative designs which may cause less damage.

"Each valve design has certain advantages and disadvantages," he says. "That's the dilemma â&#x20AC;&#x201D; there is no perfect design. The surgeon has to compromise."

His early work used laser Doppler anemometry to study the valves in a model circulatory system. But the advent of non-invasive Doppler ultrasound imaging systems allowed Yoganathan and Emory collaborators to study valve operation inside the living body.

To establish parameters of normal blood flow, he studied the hearts of long-distance female runners. But the findings were startling. "One thing we noticed was that a high percentage of the athletes had leaking heart valves compared to sedentary females," he says.

Researchers don't know if the leaking results from overconditioning, and they are unsure whether longterm consequences may result. But the findings, since observed by other researchers, have raised intriguing questions about how much exercise is too much.

Looking at the hearts of apparently healthy people using the same imaging technology, Yoganathan found that approximately 80 percent of those tested had unexpected backflow of blood through the valve in the heart's left ventricle. Like the other results, the implications remain unclear. But for Yoganathan, they pointed up a danger in new technology. "When new technology arrives, you begin to see new things, and because your previous experience said that they didn't exist, your tendency is to classify that as abnormal," he notes.

"You can create a new class of patients."

Continued next page GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Biomedical Research

25

BREAKING THE BARRIERS

Why do some infants suddently stop breathing and die? Do TVs, radios and microwave ovens give off energy that over time is harmful to the human body?

Energy of Life .he world is saturated with electromagnetic energy. Television and radio transmitters, microwave ovens, electrical transmission lines, radars and even the sun create fields of low-level energy which can interact with our bodies.

Some scientists suspect that such energy could initiate or accelerate the growth of cancer, though research so far has been inconclusive. Long-term tests underway in Tech's Bioengineering Center should shed new light on this Issue.

Center co-director Jim Toler this spring began a two-year study that will expose large numbers of mice to constant low-level electromagnetic energy.

Over time, the animaLs will be examined for any biological changes that indicate the growth of cancer cells.

"Over our lifetime, we are exposed to a very low-level ambient electromagnetic environment, and we have very little knowledge of how that affects our functioning â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or even if it does," he explains. "We will look specifically at the possibility that this exposure in some way influences cancer." .An earlier 30-month study showed no increase in blood hormone levels which indicate stress on the body. The new work, supported by the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, will look at 32 different body tissues.

What is Normal? udden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) claims apparently healthy infants who, for reasons unknown, suddenly stop breathing and die.

Researchers believe the problem may be related to the autonomic nervous system, the body's "autopilot" that keeps the heart, lungs and other vital functions going. Using heartbeat and respiration as indicators of the nervous system controlling them, doctors hope to develop some day a screening test to identify infants who may be susceptible to SIDS. But before they can create such a test, they must establish what are normal Continued on pane 2H

. magnification, Dr. Philip Kennedy s c m U e s a tiny electrode attached to a f transmitter. Implanted in laboratory will monitor neural signals as part of , riments to bypass a damaged spinal cord, successful, the process could restore function the limbs of severely paralyzed persons.

Hlnnirrlii ill kr\f(ir< I'

BREAKING THE BARRIERS

Witt the development of "rohotic-assist work stations" offer new hope for severly injured people? Can a computer he programmed to assist in eye surgery?

patterns of heartbeat and respiration for infants.

Georgia Tech's Dr. Don Giddens is working with Dr. Francine Dykes of Emory University to answer that question by monitoring newborn infants, both premature and full-term.

Heartbeat and respiration normally vary with changes in bodily activity. During sleep, both slow down; when exercising, both speed up. But heartbeat also changes on a short-term basis every few seconds.

Giddens and Dykes believe those changes may be important. "There is a lot of variability just in terms of normal behavior," Giddens adds. "The idea behind our research is to understand more about how infants control their heart rate and respiration. We want to learn what is normal, and how to describe what is normal."

P

Improving life for the Disabled

.hil Payne was a promising college football player JLhila P: when diving injury rendered him a quadriplegic. But thanks to a robotic-assist work station built at Tech, Payne has regained a degree of independence.

Built as a joint project of Tech's Center for Rehabilitation Technology and the Robotics and Microcomputer Instrumentation Laboratory, the work station represents both a solution to a practical problem, and a successful research project which may benefit other disabled persons.

"We find the technology most appropriate to the person's feeds, then adapt it to fit their situation," says

R

GEORGIA TECH 'Fall 8

A.J. Bradshaw, research engineer in the center.

The CRT staff splits its time between long-term research and serving individual clients referred by the Georgia Department of Rehabilitation Services. In addition to office work stations, the center builds other adaptive equipment, such as a device allowing a cerebral palsy victim to feed herself.

Bradshaw believes the work is becoming increasingly important as more and more severely injured people survive accidents that would have been fatal a decade ago. And computer technology allows more persons to .perform office work despite disabilities.

Mapping the Cornea

.adial keratotomy is a controversial procedure designed to improve vision for people suffering from myopia. By making radial incisions in the cornea, surgeons change its shape, correcting vision.

"The problem is that the surgical outcome is sometimes variable," explains Dr. Raymond Vito, professor in Tech's Mechanical Engineering department. "It is not always what people expect."

Surgeons rely on their experience to determine the length, depth and number of incisions. Working with Emory eye surgeons Drs. George Waring and Bernard 28

Supported by the Johnson & Johnson Co. and the Foundation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Giddens recently reported findings of 20 apparently healthy infants monitored at Grady Hospital in Atlanta.

Two distinct patterns were observed: one pattern approximating that found in adults, and a second one Giddens characterizes as "immature." With nine of the infants displaying the immature pattern, Giddens hesitates to call them abnormal, but he hopes to follow them to see when the patterns change.

In addition to SIDS, the research may also be helpful in assessing the progress of diabetes, which causes a gradual deterioration of the nervous system. And such analysis may also help determine how well a transplanted heart is adjusting to its new environment.

McCarey, Vito hopes to develop a computer model that will guide surgeons in the delicate procedure.

"We are trying to give a more scientific basis for the surgery by using a mechanical model which incorpoContinued on page 31

Using a machine to measure blood flow, Dr. Ajit Yoganathan has for a decade studied blood flow patterns through artificial heart valves, in an effort to discover ways to avoid the problems of clotting that plague the artificial heart valves.

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BREAKING THE BARRIERS

Do ultrasonic heating devices promise a better way to treat cancer? Can new three-dimensional imaging of the heart provide insight for cardiologists?

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rates both experiment and theory," he says. "In theory, it ought to be possible to make a few measurements on the patient and then simulate the surgery. If the outcome looks good, then you could go ahead and the

R

Heat: A Weapon Against Cancer

"ecause many types of cancerous cells are more susceptible than healthy cells to damage from elevated temperatures, physicians have long experimented with using heat therapy — hyperthermia — to kill cancer cells.

Within the past 15 years, microwave, radio frequency and ultrasonic heating devices have rekindled that interest. Today hyperthermia equipment, available for clinical use, can be particularly effective when used with radiation therapy because the cells resistant to radiation are often most susceptible to heat.

"The efficacy of hyperthermia treatment has been demonstrated," says Dr. Paul Benkeser, assistant professor in Tech's School of Electrical Engineering. "The real problem now lies on the engineering side — delivering

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outcome should be the same as predicted."

A computer model has already been created, and Vito is developing a way to get corneal shape information from patients.

the heat to the tumor itself and not the surrounding normal tissues."

Early physicians immersed patients in hot water baths to raise the temperature of the entire body, but today microwave energy is primarily used to heat diseased tissues. While effective, microwave radiation cannot be precisely focused to heat only the tumor.

With support from the National Institutes of Health and Labthermics Technologies — a manufacturer of hyperthermia equipment — Benkeser and Emory cancer specialists are developing new types of ultrasonic heating devices. Because of its shorter wavelength, ultrasound can be focused and concentrated on an area of only a few square centimeters — a dramatic improvement.

Seeing Inside the Body

uffering the crushing pain of angina, the patient is admitted to a hospital coronary care unit. After threading a catheter through veins to a location near the heart, the physician obtains an image of the coronary blood vessels. With radioactive tracer, he discovers which part of the heart is deprived of oxygen.

Calling upon his experience, the cardiologist attempts to visualize what might be happening inside his patient's chest. He then recommends treatment.

Three-dimensional imaging and artificial intelligence techniques under development at Georgia Tech and Emory will help with that awesome responsibility.

Joint projects of Dr. Norberto Ezquerra at Tech and Dr. Ernie Garcia at Emory — supported by the National Institutes of Health — will yield three-dimensional color images of the heart. Using the experience of other coronary cases, the system will also help interpret that image through artificial intelligence.

"You would be able to look at the heart from any

angle, inside out," Ezquerra explains. "You'd be peeking into the body as non-invasively as possible."

TMJ syndrome is a painful and debilitating condition caused by deterioration of the temporomandibular joint, which connects the jaw to the skull. Because of its complexity, the joint can be easily damaged by accident or even simple wear.

Assessing damage now involves injecting a dye which causes the joint to stand out in X-ray images. But the dye causes inflammation which alters the position of the joint, and can prompt an allergic reaction.

Working with Dr. Charles Widmer of Emory, Ezquerra is attempting to use magnetic resonance imaging to replace the dye technique. The National Institutes of Health has provided a grant to begin the project.

• John Toon is assistant director of research communications at Georgia Tech.

GEORGIA TECH • Biomedical Research

31

THE ELUSIVE

RIDDLE OF flhM^.

By Howard S. MacGregor Photography by Gary Meek

Each week, more than 200 cases of multiple sclerosis are diagnosed, making MS the most common neurological disorder in the United States.

Yet its origins, its causes, elude researchers.

Now, in the following article, Dr. Howard S. MacGregor offers an interesting theory of the epidemiology of MS. Dr. MacGregor attended Tech from 1944 until he joined the Navy a year later.

After 18 months in the military, he returned to Tech for the 1946-47 school year. He also attended Emory University and the Medical College of Georgia, from which he received his medical degree in 1953. Dr. MacGregor, a resident ofKissimmee, Flo., retired as a practicing physician in 1986.

He then began to pursue his longstanding interest in multiple sclerosis. This article is < adapted from Dr. MacGregor's research paper on MS.

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GEORGIA n:CH •Fall '88

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For a quarter of a century, Dr. Robert F. Kibler has treated MS victim Mildred Gerson. An MS specialist at Emory University School of Medicine, Kiblcr has struggled to ease the pain and arrest the disease.

Yet reasons for the apparent stabilization of Gerson's MS are unknown. Can the answer be found in a combination of factors, beginning with a childhood illness and ending in a bird's disease?

ri

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ The RkUllc ofMS

33

MS T

Is it possible a cMdhood disease labels the myelin, necessitating a secondary event that triggers MS?

he origin of multiple sclerosis has proven to be a mystery ever since it was first described more than 120 years ago by the French investigator, Charcot. The disease is characterized by small, randomly scattered cysts or plaques which replace the myelin coating that insulates certain nerve fibers in the central nervous system. The symptoms include distorted vision, speech, motor skills and a loss of bowel and bladder control.

The debilitation caused by MS varies and generally evolves over many years. It may progress slowly or relatively quickly, and is often characterized by periods of remission.

The peak age for the onset of MS is 22-23 years for females and 25 years for males. Females are affected almost twice as often as males.

Generations of researchers have tried to discover the cause of MS, with the hope of being able to cure this terrible disease. Currently, some researchers are looking for a genetic link to MS. Others believe that a very slow virus or retrovirus, perhaps similar to the AIDS virus, is acquired during childhood and later causes the phenomenon of MS. But a study of the demographics of MS tends to discount a genetic connection. And numerous tests have failed to isolate any kind of "MS virus."

I have been very interested in the MS riddle for a number of years, and have spent much time reading the papers that other investigators have written, as well as conducting my own research.

The hypothesis that has emerged from this research describes a primary event and a series of conditions which combine to create a secondary event.

Together, the two events point to what may be an environmental basis, for the origin of MS. Although more research and testing needs to be done, it is hoped that this theory will ultimately point to a successful resolution of the MS mystery.

Basically, myelin in the brain is "labeled" by a particular disease virus in the early years of life. Then a second virus, incubated and protected from the body's immune system by a larger organism or intermediary, finds its way into the human body. When this second 34

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall '88

virus is released from within the protective bacterium, the body's immune system overreacts, mistaking the second vims for the initial labeling disease vims, and produces antibodies which attack the labeling vims embedded in the CNS myelin. In so doing, the myelin itself is also attacked.

In this scenario, MS is somewhat the opposite of AIDS in that it results from an excessive reaction by the immune system, rather than a lack of reaction.

The Primary Event

O

nly one percent to two percent of MS cases develop in children under 14 years of age.

Could one of the childhood diseases acquired before age 15 label the brain with a viral genome that requires a secondary event before MS occurs?

Since it is highly probable that one of the childhood diseases might indeed mark or label the brain myelin, the question is, which one?

Four childhood illnesses usually occur before age 15 and can occasionally invade and involve the brain: measles, mumps, chickenpox and smallpox.

First, smallpox can be eliminated as an MS precursor since there hasn't been a case of smallpox in the world since 1978, and the vims used for smallpox vaccination is a laboratory vims only. Mumps and chickenpox may also be eliminated because of the particular nature and structure of their viruses. And since man is the only known host of those diseases, the probability of a zoonotic-related secondary event which could interact with myelin labeled by mumps or chickenpox is extremely remote.

That leaves measles, one of the most contagious diseases known, which invades the upper respiratory tract through contaminated droplets in the air.

Measles is found all over the world. In most areas it has been endemic, with epidemics occurring every six to seven years. In island populations, however, the epidemiology has been much different in that the

At St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Atlanta, a monthly "day-room" meeting attracts MS victims, w h o find opportunity to talk with others, explore new treatments and procedures and, occasionally, pray (left).

disease has not been endemic. Rather, explosive outbreaks have occurred when the virus was reintroduced many years later.

The severity of measles varies around the world. It is more severe in children in underdeveloped countries and in island populations, where more adults catch the disease. The incidence of MS is also higher on islands such as the Faroes, Orkney, Shetland, Newfoundland, Iceland and Key West, Fla. An example of a possible measles-MS correlation may be found in Mossyrock, a small community of 400 persons in the state of Washington. Between 1937 and 1962, a cluster of seven MS cases developed, with six of the victims having been born before 1924.

While those six victims reported having been afflicted during a 1924 "smallpox" epidemic, none could recall a measles outbreak at that time. But severe measles has often been confused with smallpox symptoms. A search of county death certificates for the period 1923-25 revealed no deaths attributed to smallpox, but 13 deaths of persons ranging in age from six months to 47 years occurred in the first six months of 1924â&#x20AC;&#x201D;from measles.

Mossyrock could be the first reported cluster of MS cases where the primary factor (measles, 1924) was more concentrated in a shorter space-time event than the secondary event, which occurred randomly years later in each individual case.

A Connection with Distemper? ome researchers have hypothesized that the canine distemper virus (CDV) primarily causes or is related to MS. Clusters or increases in the incidence of MS preceded by 3-5 years by CDV outbreaks in the dog population have been documented in

S

Newfoundland; Iceland; Sitka, Alaska; and other places.

For instance, the Faroe Islands, a Danish territory in the Atlantic Ocean about 190 miles northwest of the Shetland Islands, had its first-ever MS cases surface in 1943- That was three years after British occupation forces brought their dogs, and an ensuing distemper epidemic, to the island group.

However, several studies regarding dog ownership have produced negative or inconclusive results. In addition, because CDV has not been found in MS brains, it can probably be eliminated as a primary cause of MS. However, it may play an important role in a secondary event.

CDV would fit nicely as a secondary factor because it is very closely related antigentically to measles. In fact, measles vaccine is used by veterinarians to vaccinate puppies against distemper. CDV is known to cause disease in the dingo, fox, coyote, wolf, raccoon, weasel, mink, skunk and puma. Man, monkeys, rabbits and guinea pigs may be infected with CDV without obvious symptoms.

Key West, Fla., provides an interesting pattern of an unusually high incidence of MS. Between 1972 and 1975 the number of new cases grew steadily, peaking with 10 cases in 1986. Since 1986, however, there has been a sudden, almost dramatic decline in new cases, with only two or three diagnosed.

Still theorizing a primary and a secondary event as prerequisites for MS to occur, it would appear that the Key West epidemic represents a most unusual concentration of a space-time event of the secondary factor.

Close study of the actual locations of the MS cases on north Stock Island (part of the Key West complex) versus the actual locations of the dogs with distemper on south Stock Island, reaffirms that CDV could not have been the primary or sole cause of the MS there.

Continued next page GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ The Riddle of MS

35

Is it possible some other disease, corximon to birds, could assimilate the CDV and promulgate it for years?

MS

More importantly, as in the Faroe Island example, there is a time lag between CDV epidemics in the dog population, and the onset of MS some 3-5 years later.

For CDV to play a part in the chain of circumstances leading to MS, two conditions must be met. First, there must be an animal-to-man transfer—an intermediary host that retains the CDV virus for 3-5 years before transmitting it to its victims.

That such an unusual concentration of cases occurred in such a remote and small island complex as Key West allows dingo, fox, coyote, wolf, weasel, mink, skunk and puma to be eliminated as intermediary CDV hosts because they are practically non-existent there.

Raccoons do live in the Key West area. However, their numbers are few and, being nocturnal creatures with little contact with man, they can probably be safely eliminated on that basis. Discounting the occasional pet, monkeys, rabbits and guinea pigs can also be eliminated as intermediary hosts of CDV. That leaves only man and dog as possibilities. Since man is the target host and there is a negative conjugal MS association, man can be eliminated as a long-term (3-5 years) intermediary host.

While dogs are the primary and target hosts for CDV, and there are plenty of dogs in Key West, the direct transfer from dog to man could not possibly have been the epidemiology of the Key West epidemic; the CDV would have been intercepted by man's measles antibodies and harmlessly defeated and eliminated.

CDV could not invade directly after some sort of insect bite because, again, the measles antibodies would intercept and destroy the virus.

There is another dog factor on Key West that has yet to be addressed—the animal shelter. The animal shelter on Stock Island is located adjacent to the three giant water storage tanks that supply water for the area when the pipeline is closed down for repairs. On the average, 2,700 dogs are picked up and carried tojhe shelter yearly. Of these, 700 are reclaimed or sold to new owners. The remaining 2,000 are put to sleep and taken 36

GEORGIA TECH • Fall '88

to a large landfill a short distance down the road. That averages about 38 dogs per week or 5 dogs each day that must be eliminated. A few of the dogs are recognized as having distemper when initially brought in and are isolated in the back part of the shelter near the water tanks for a few days. Some soon die and are disposed of along with the others.

Is it possible for some of the supposedly healthy unclaimed dogs to have undiagnosed CDV? Almost 75 percent of CDV dog infections are subclinical and pass unrecognized. So it seems there has been a steady stream of dog bodies — with and without CDV — disposed of at the large trash pile.

At the landfill, hordes of birds swoop down for a feast. Scavenger seagulls will eat almost anything, including carrion, no matter how old it might be. It seems highly probable that these birds could become infected with CDV, at least for a few days.

Is there some other disease, bacterial or viral, common to birds that could assimilate the CDV and promulgate it for weeks, months or even years?

Omidiosis

A

commonly used veterinary manual states that birds are vulnerable to many bacterial, viral, funk. gal and parasitic agents, including chlamydia.

Chlamydia are very unusual pathogenic microorganisms, widespread and well adapted for survival. Epidemiologic studies have shown that members of almost all species of birds and mammals may be infected with chlamydia. An estimated 10 percent to 20 percent of the whole human race is infected with chlamydia. Their ability to produce unnoticeable infections in their hosts is without parallel, and hosts may be infected for extremely long periods of time without apparent harm.

These organisms are ubiquitous and rarely kill their hosts. They are generally highly infectious and easily Continued next page

Two years with MS, Joe Crowe of Atlanta lives in a "sitting world." Unable to work, he takes care of three-year-old daughter Amanda during the day.

MS

Is it possible that the peculiar nature of the cWamydia organism enables it to assimilate the deadly CDV, creating a viral Trojan horse?

transmitted to new hosts, and have a remarkable ability to escape normal immune responses.

Psittacosis or ornithosis is a disease caused by the microorganism chlamydia psittaci, which affects many different species of bird, including seagulls. The disease shows a variable pattern and may range from a minor illness with prolonged secretion of the causative agent to a severe illness with high mortality. In the disease, chlamydiae infect most of the organs and are shed in secretions from the eyes and nostrils as well as in the feces of the birds. The organisms can be dispersed into the air for prolonged periods by asymptomatic birds or by birds recovering from the infection.

Ornithosis in humans develops after exposure to discharges from infected birds. In almost all cases, bird formites floating in the air are inhaled into the respiratory tract, where bacterium spreads hematogenously to the reticuloendothelial system. There the organisms multiply and mature, causing the clinical illness to develop. As with birds, its symptoms can range from mild cases, often mistakenly labeled as viral bronchitis, to severe infections with mortality as high as 20 percent.

The Faroe Islands, where live hundreds of seabirds, provides circumstantial evidence that ornithosis plays a role in the sequence of events leading to MS. An outbreak of ornithosis was reported there in 1938, two years before the introduction of the CDV and five years before the islands' first MS case. Thus MS did not occur until two essential ingredients — CDV and ornithosis — were present.

Research has revealed similar circumstances in Iceland, where an outbreak of ornithosis occurred in 1939 among workers who cleaned and processed birds for consumption. In 1940, Allied troops occupied that country, bringing with them CDV-infected dogs. Four years later, the incidence of MS in Iceland showed a dramatic increase. The only difference between the two island outbreaks is that Iceland had MS cases sporadically for several years prior, and the Faroes had none.

Chlamydia in birds definitely appears to be the best bet as the pathogen and intermediary host capable of carrying CDV for years and by chance alone infecting 38

GEORGIA TECH • Fall '88

susceptible human hosts, and occasionally causing MS in people with measles-labeled brains. It also seems highly probable that the CDV could live and survive within the chlamydial cell membranes. Whether or not this theorized combination produces a different sort of chlamydial animal that can survive indefinitely within a human host remains to be determined.

A Deadly Chain of Events

T

he hypothesis is that when birds infected with ornithosis-producing chlamydia eat tissue from the bodies of CDV-infected dogs, a deadly combination is produced. The peculiar nature of the chlamydia organism enables it to assimilate the CDV, creating a viral Trojan horse.

This combination of chlamydia plus CDV may be spread to other birds and subsequently into the air in the form of fine particles.

When a person with a measleslabeled brain inhales the particles, a chronic infection takes place in various organs that stimulates the immune system to erroneously produce antibodies that attack the myelin membranes in the brain. It is further theorized that this unusual combination of chlamydia and CDV can lie dormant in the human body for months and years then, during periods of stress, flare up and produce the relapses common to the MS syndrome.

Preliminary blood tests of known MS victims for chlamydia antibodies have yielded positive results in about 75 percent of the cases. The 25 percent negative results are thought to be from old MS cases in remission. Still, more tests need to be conducted on a nationwide and worldwide basis.

If this hypothesis proves to be correct, new public health measures would be needed to break the MSinducing chain, including — at a minimum — immunization of dogs for CDV and three-foot deep burial or incineration of dead dogs. These measures, it is hoped, can mark the beginning of the end for a terrible affliction, and place MS on the list of extinct diseases.•

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The Modular Car Gerald Hirshberg saw the future in the sketch before him. Not exactly as his designer envisioned it, rather in another dimension.

Yet it was at that point, where the two minds intersected, that the world'sfirstmodular car was bom. â&#x20AC;˘ Written by Don Hudson Continued next

page

*****

â&#x20AC;˘ '"**

GEORGIA TECH -The Modular Car

41

Designs for modular cars have been around the auto industry since the early '70s. But the Pulsar has been the only success.

Hr,irshberg, Nissan vice president and head of its International Design Studio, had skipped Lunch one day In November L963. While soiling through several rough drafts, he spotted a two-tone sketch on the desk of designer Doug Wilson. Wilson himself figured he hail designed nothing unique, just cosmetic changes, and had gone to lunch. I lirshberg, however, saw the limits of automotive

design expand around Wilson's illustration.

"I saw it as a removable hatch right away," I lirshberg recalls, "although he had not

intended it to lx' a modular car. I circled his sketch, wrote Euk reka,' and left

him a note: 'Doug, take the year off.

You've got the new Pulsar.'

Nissan thus became the first automaker to back production of an automobile in which modularity was a significant feature.

w.

1th surprisingly little fanfare,

Wilson's concept materialized, hitting Nissan showrooms in late 1986 as the redesigned Pulsar NX. In the threeyear interim, I lirshberg had sold Japan on his modular visions, persuading Nissan's corporate brass to turn Wilson's two-tone hatchback into a four-wheeled chameleon.

Metaphorically, the Pulsar was a leopard that could change its spots.

"What you have is a sports station wagon," I lirshberg says. "Or you can lake the hatchback off and have a convertible. Or a truck. We wanted it to be useful, a car that could serve a lot of disparate purposes."

While automotive modular techn< il< igy is not new in itself, actual production of such a vehicle is a step ( (inliimiilonfxlgp45

From I laid ib.uk to sedan In moments, die modular car oilers modern flexibility in auto ownership. Maybe the only problem is finding a place to store the pieces.

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Versatility gives modularity appeal

fftmmxm" '

* which may portend automotive tastes and trends in the future.

Modular cars may fill a potentially large and hitherto untapped market, according to Hirshberg.

"We have found that people buy things for that one time a year when they have use for it. That way they can justify it. We think people will buy a car like that," he explains.

"Young people move a lot, always changing apartments, always moving stuff around. This gives you a way to move bigger stuff."

Versatility is modularity's appeal to the industry, as auto designers search for cost-efficient methods to provide buyers more utility, styling and individuality. While Nissan focused on the Pulsar's exterior skin, Mazda and Ford plan other applications of the modular idea.

Mazda's MX-04 concept car, introduced at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, is an even more dramatic departure than the Pulsar.

"The Pulsar idea has been around a long time," says Mazda's Tom Motena. "Not just at Mazda and Nissan, but at other companies as well. Ford looked into it several years back, with the Prima.

"We designed a modular car in 1972, but the only car that has successfully been put into production is Nissan's Pulsar. We have a lot of modular ideas beneath the skins, but the Pulsar is a good example of modularity used on the outside."

X hree lPulsar does not stretch the limits of modularity as much as it guarantees its viability in the marketplace. While Mazda's MX-04 allows an entire face-lift, Nissan

-

•'-

~

Designers at Nissan and elsewhere shape car models of the future.

Among the options available is the modular car: "The technology's there," says General Motors' Mark Colcroft. "It's no big feat to build a modular car." But the question remains: Will the public buy it?

limited itself to the upper-rear quadrant. "If you look at any car," Hirshberg says, "most all the design changes are made right there in that quadrant of the car."

In Dearborn, Mich., Ford is intrigued with several different applications of modular technology, including plastic bodies. Already the American giant has developed a Low Investment Vehicle concept car, an inexpensive two-seater with a plastic shell, similar to the now-obsolete Pontiac Fiero.

In 1980, General Motors predated Pulsar's removable hatch, adding a station wagon option to a base Pontiac Trans-Am. The result was visually pleasing, but never marketed.

"Modularity is a marketing question," says Mark Colcroft of GM. "Do we perceive a market? Will the public buy it? The technology is there. It is no big feat to do it.

"Each of our marketing units — Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Cadillac and Oldsmobile — decided on those plans for itself. It's more something Chevrolet might go after, as Chevrolet is the 'something for every man' division. But I don't believe we have any plans like that in the near future."

As early as the mid-70s, Ford

studied a modular vehicle called the Prima, based on a Ford Fiesta chassis, that could be changed either into a small pickup or convertible derived from its original coupe form. Ford has had other plans as well, including further modular assembly, where major components (engine, chassis, dash, steering) would be shipped to the factory ready for installation. In this Scenario, some 18-27 subassemblies would be "snapped" together into the finished product.

"Personally, my idea of modularity starts at the plant, with the sub-assemblies," says Charles Haddad, Ford's manager of advanced engineering. "But I like the idea of the Pulsar as well as the plastic bodies.

"I commute in a Mustang, and I have often wondered about removing the hatch, then inserting some sort of liner that would preserve the interior, making it into a utility truck for hauling.

"That idea has been around Detroit for a long time. It's just that we Americans must leant to grab ideas when we get them. We spook ourselves out of innovations. We demand so much data from advanced engineering, whereas Japanese are more likely to take an idea and run with it, without a lot of Continued nextpage GEORGIA TECH • The Modular Car

45

At one time Detroit led the auto industry. Period Now it leads only in marketing whileJapan sets the standards for designs.

internal debate. They are innovators."

Chrysler, Detroit's third wheel, has no announced plans for a modular application now, but proved itself an innovative design force with its popular mini-vans.

A

Lt one time Detroit was the undisputed leader in auto design and technology. Now Haddad agrees with Hirshberg that America excels in marketing while Tokyo sets the pace in engineering. Not that the American auto industry has ever been short of ideas, Haddad says, but it has been too timid in adopting them.

Materials are a case in point, as was the Trans-Am concept car.

"Think about what Henry Ford had to work with," Haddad says.

"Iron, steel, leather and wood. If he had had thermoplastics and aluminum available, do you think he would have used steel for his body?

No way. But the psychology of the auto industry is very slow to change.

Detroit won't embrace the plastic car because it is accustomed to steel. Yet tooling and production costs are so much cheaper for plastic.

"You could re-do the whole Pontiac Fiero body for $25 million.

Do you know what we could do to a Taurus for that? Not much. Maybe you could change the grille and taillamp treatments."

Haddad notes that subtle body changes can be made with minimal tooling costs in plastic, allowing designers to perfect subtle problems rather than living with their Edsels, Fieros and related fiascos.

"The Fiero was a good example of what you could do with plastic," he says. "That car probably underwent 46

GEORGIA TECH 'Fall '88

more changes in its limited production time than any other car in the history of the automobile. They changed the skin at least every 18 months and could have done it every year at such an inexpensive cost. I think the car is a knockout. A delight to look at. What sold the car was its appearance. What killed it, as far as I know, was quality."

To date, the competition isn't sure what to make of the Pulsar. Motena views the car's success as more a function of its market niche than its modularity. With standard T-tops and the signature removable hatch, the car lends itself to drop-top fun without rag-top hassles.

"I see it as a utility vehicle," Motena says. "With a different sort of bed, it could be a truck. And really, when you think about it, the camper shell mounted on a pickup is a modular design, although it has never been recognized as such.

"There has never been full modularity yet because of quality control and long-term reliability. At Mazda, we don't have plans to do a fully modular vehicle in the near future."

Despite the Pulsar's sales success, Hirshberg remains somewhat confused by Nissan's lack of corporate support. Due to poor internal cash flow at Nissan in 1987 and 1988, the Pulsar never benefited Continued on frtge 49

Modular Magic A Four-in-One Mazda

A two-passenger runabout drawing from traditional British sports car ancestry, the Mazda MX-04 features removable exterior body panels yielding either a closed coupe, a convertible or a dune buggy-type roadster in its base form. Mazda is also researching modular dashhoard and interior components mounted on removable clusters, allowing buyers further selection and customizing of their new car.

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Nissan produced a unique car, thenfaued to market it Thus Pulsar's future — and modularity's — continues a question.

I$

from a nationwide television advertising campaign. To this day, it remains an anomaly, a victim of timing and anonymity. While it has steadily remained one of Nissan's most profitable sellers, Hirshberg may always wonder whether his team created the next Mustang, only to have it abandoned at birth. Again, what advantage Japan has in technology, it often surrenders to Detroit in marketing savvy. In reality, the Pulsar is a trans-Pacific stepchild, a crossbreed of Japanese pioneering and Hirshberg's vision of the domestic market.

"Japan had been planning all

along on making it that way," says Hirshberg of the standard T-tops.

"They felt they could make a strong T-top car with less iron if they designed it in from inception, rather than cutting two holes as an afterthought. They succeeded. It is a very torsionally tight car, without all the squeaks and rattles most open cars get. I can't think of another car produced today that was designed specifically for a T-top.

a

ur problem is, all of a sudden we handed them back a car that was unique, and they haven't moved to

market it. The car business is very conservative. It's like Hollywood.

The product is very expensive, so they use the sure thing."

Regardless of the Pulsar's immediate impact, its futuristic look and split personality have extended the boundaries of car design. What remains to be seen is which side of the Pacific will take the next pioneering step. As consumers demand more and more versatility from their products, modularity represents a flexible answer in the inflexible auto industry.

• Don Hudson, IMGT 79, is a sports writer with Gannett and lives in Marietta, Ga.

The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is pleased to present... a

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GEORGIA TECH • The Modular Car

49

PROFILE The Digital Revolution ~\~\7"7~ hen Ronald Schafer was \ \ / an MIT graduate student in V V t h e 1960s, digital signal processing was still a promise of things to come. Researchers saw that by translating signals into digital code, they could produce electronic transmissions of greatly improved clarity. However, the sheer volume of data needed to digitize even a small increment of human speech was daunting. To represent signals in anything approximating real time outstripped the processing power of then-existing computers.

Schafer, who had received his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Nebraska, took digital signal processing as a thesis topic at MIT and used one of the first computers available for making digital computations.

"It was just starting to become a research topic then," Schafer explains. "People had started to use digital computers as laboratory tools to simulate continuous-time systems like circuits or filters. Out

of this work came the realization that you could do interesting things to signals if you had computers that were powerful enough."

In the two decades that have followed, the microelectronics revolution has produced computers of greatly enhanced power at affordable costs, and Schafer, 50, has played a key role in shaping a new discipline â&#x20AC;&#x201D; excelling as a researcher, teacher, author and administrator.

After graduation, Schafer joined Bell Telephone Laboratories' internationally-known speech processing research group, where he became a supervisor in the Acoustics Research Department and received several patents for his work in digitally processing human speech signals.

In 1974, only six years after earning his doctorate, Schafer accepted the John O. McCarty/ Audichron chair for electrical engineering at Georgia Tech.

Soon after joining the Tech faculty, Schafer published a book that solidified his position as an

The Schafer Ffle 1961: BS in EE, University of Nebraska.

1962: MS in EE, University of Nebraska.

1968: PhD in EE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

1968-74: Bell .Laboratories, Supervisor.

1974: Joins Georgia Tech as John O. McCarty/Audichron chair in electrical engineering.

1977:Named Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

1979: Named a Regents' professor.

1983: Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Teacher Award.

1985: Becomes first recipient of Georgia Tech's Distinguished Professor Award.

50

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Fall

Written b y Mark Hodges international authority in his field.

Published in 1975 in collaboration with Alan Oppeheim of MIT. Digital Signal Processing became a standard text at the college level. It has been used at more than 70 universities and translated into Russian. Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Polish.

"It had a major impact, not only in educating students, but also in defining the field of digital signal processing itself," says Professor Thomas Gaylord, a colleague of Schafer's in electrical engineering.

Schafer's second book, Digital Processing of Speech Signals, was coauthored by L. R. Rabiner, and published in 1978. It is used as a graduate-level text at many universities.

S

chafer also played a major role in establishing and nurturing a digital signal processing group in the School of Electrical Engineering, which now has eight faculty members and approximately threedozen doctoral students specializing in the field. Their research involves a broad range of topics, such as lowering the amount of data needed to create synthetic representations of speech, enhancing speech for the hearing-impaired, deblurring video and photographic images, dec eloping algorithms for faster digital computation, and building powerful multi-processors that link microchips into computer networks capable of millions of computations per second.

"As leader of the digital processing group, he has created an environment in which people are motivated to work together," says Demetrius Paris, director of the School of Electrical Engineering.

"That's very, very unusual. In fact,

PHOTO BY MARGARET BARRETT

Tech's Schafer: An outstanding

teacher and researcher,

his group has no peers on this campus. He's an outstanding human being as well as an outstanding teacher and researcher."

Schafer has also remained active in teaching. In 1983, he won Eta Kappa Nu's award for outstanding teaching at Georgia Tech. Two years later, he received the Distinguished Professor Award endowed by the class of 1934.

Other awards have come his way as well. Schafer was named IEEE Region III Outstanding Engineer in 1983 and won the IEEE Centennial Medal a year later.

In the last few years, Schafer has found time to update his first book.

The new volume, also written in collaboration with Alan Oppeheim,

his pioneering

is Discrete Time Signal Processing, published in October 1988.

T

oday, integrated circuit technology "is providing the wherewithall to implement digital signal processing systems of a complexity and speed that were only dreamed of when I began my thesis research in 1965," Schafer says. "As a result, there is rapidly growing interest in using digital processing techniques in applications from consumer electronics to military defense.

"In many of these applications, digital techniques are used not only to encode and enhance signals for digital transmission, but increasingly to extract important informa-

text became the college

standard

tion from signals automatically."

Schafer foresees "a big push" in efforts to develop the computeraided design technology necessary for designing practical digital signal processing systems on work stations — and, by the turn of the century, for automating some of the design of these systems.

Creating these design tools will require expertise from a variety of disciplines. Schafer believes this melding of research skills is particularly suited to universities and that Georgia Tech's faculty and students will continue to make major contributions to this important field. • Mark Hodges is editor of Research Horizons, a publication of the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

GEORGIA TECH • Profile: Schafer

51

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When the human spirit is nurtured, corporate achievement has no limits. It's no wonder that companies like G.E., Unisys, NCR, ScientificAtlanta and so many others have let their creativity, productivity and morale take flight.

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The Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Georgia Tech Alumni Association Atlanta, Georgia 30332

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