Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 67, No. 01 1991

Pfete Silas: Executive Also Insiilc

Women iuid Technology The Energy Darkness Rcaj^uioinics Remembered

QBOKGIATE3CH VOL.

67 NO. i A l u m n i M a g a z i n e

SUMMER

1991

CONTEINnS

STAFF

I'.i

John C. Dunn, editor Gary Goettling, associate editor Gary Meek, Margaret Barrett photography Everett Hullum, design Wayne Parker, advertising

PUBIICATIONS COMMITTEE Chairman Louis Gordon Sawyer Sr., NS'46 Chairman, Saivyer-RileyCompton Inc., Atlanta William "Guy" Arledge, IM 71 Manage/Mdvertising, BellSouth Corp., Atlanta McKinley "Mac" Conway Jr., GE'40 President. Conway Data Inc., Norcross, Ga. Hubert L. I [arris Jr., IM '65 President. Investco Services Inc., Atlanta McAllister "Mac" Isaacs III, TEX'60 Executii v Editor, Textile World, Atlanta Perry Pascarella Vice President-Editorial, Penton Publishing, Cleveland. Ohio George A. Stewart Jr., AE '69 Vice President-Marketing, Development, Dittler Brotheis Inc., Atlanta James M. Langley Vice President External Affairs. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta JohnB. Carter Jr., IE'69 Vice President and Executii v Director, Georgia Tech Alumui Association, Atlanta Wayne J. Parker, IM 74 Associate \ Ice President/ Associate Executive Director. Georgia Tech Alumni Association, Atlanta

A High-Energy Executive

11

Phillips Petroleum chairman and CEO Pete Silas talks—with energy—about education, government and U.S. business.

Interview by John Dunn COVER: In 1953, when Pete Silas turned down a pro basketball career to begin work as an engineer at Phillips Petroleum, he started a journey that's taken him to the forefront of U.S. businessmen.

His story and his views begin on page 11.

The Darkness at the End of the Tunnel

19

U.S. energy needs can b e met, but to d o so will take vision from the nation's leaders in the political a n d social arenas.

Written by Glen P. Robinson Jr.

The Economy Takes a Fall

24

Unfortunately, the government is forgetting the lessons of the Reagan revolution. • Written by Paul Craig Roberts

Women and Technology

27

Tech alumni are role models for n e w generations.

Written by Lisa Crowe

DEPARTMENTS Letters Lost opportunities, wrong robots and new demographics.

5

Technotes Golfers take ACC title; Roll Call results; new math degree; parking relief—maybe; Tech's Jeopardy! winner; physics of fun; world's largest bake sale.

6

Innovators Scientist Jim Gallagher of GTRI; Sheryl Prucka, EE '82.

36

Research Measuring molecules; versatile antenna; low-cost circuits; anti-polluting "smokestack sandwiches"; computer chatter.

39

Profile Philip J.W. Roberts: The Science of Water Pollution.

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GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE

is published quarterly for Roll Call contributors 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 • Editorial: (404) 894-4646 Advertising: (404) 894-2391 • Fax: (404) 894-5113 © 1991 Georgia Tech Alumni Association GEORGIA TECH • Contents 3

LETTERS Birth of a Notion Editor: The article o n bar codes ["Bar Codes, Bar None," Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, spring 199H was very interesting. Talk of not seeing the forest for the trees—we used the bar code concept back in the late '60s to annotate linescan image ry from radar sensors. We received a patent on the technology in December 1969, but never appreciated the commercial potential. We were just a brain-wave away from a billion dollars!

Herman I. Pardes Georgia Tech Research Institute Fort Monmouth Office Wall, N.J.

Tofind out what's happening at Georgia 'lech, call the 24-hour Buzz Hotline.

Sorry, Wrong Robot Editor: The sub-headline of the article titled "Real World Robots" {Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, spring 1991] begins, "From Lost in Space's 'Robbie'...."

The problem is that "Robbie the Robot" is indeed a famous robot, as any science fiction fan is perfectly aware, but it w a s not the starring robot in "Lost in Space," as the headline states. That robot was always referred to simply as "the robot."

Robbie, o n the other hand, was originated for and gained fame as the robot in the classic '50s movie "Forbidden Planet," although it did make later guest appearances o n television shows such as "The Twilight Zone."

A school which prides itself on scientific and engineering accuracies should

not make mistakes such as this in its publications, n o matter h o w trivial they be.

To me, it is like writing "manganese" w h e n you meant "magnesium."

Steve Cseplo Georgia Tech Facilities Office Atlanta

Demographic Changes Editor: The student demographics described in "Technotes" ["Changing Times Reflected in NewApplicant Demographics," Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, Spring 1991] certainly illustrate the changes at Tech since m y all-white, almost all-male freshman year, 1952.

These changes have to b e for the good of both Tech a n d the nation if they signal increased interest in science and engineering

among w o m e n , and minorities of both sexes.

But are these n e w students being accepted for enrollment in the science and engineering schools in the same proportion as in the Institute as a whole, or are they gravitating to the n e w schools of humanities and social sciences?

I h o p e that these n e w schools were created to enrich the Institution's curriculum, rather than to enable Tech to achieve certain social quotas.

Frederick J. Miller, IE '56 Knoxville, Tenn.

GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE welcomes

letters

from readers. Send correspondence to Editor, GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE,

Alumni/Faculty

House, 225 North Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30332-0175.

Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Trustees Officers John C. Siaton Jr. IM '60 president Shirley C Mewborn EE '56 past president H. Hammond Stith Jr. CE '58 president elect/treasurer G. William knight IE '62, MS IM '68 vice president/activities Frank H. Maior Jr. IM '60 vice president/communications H. Milton Stewart IE '61 vice president/Roll Call John B. Carter Jr. IE '69 vice president/executive director James M. langley vice president, external affairs

Trustees Kay Elizabeth Adams IM 74 Theodore Arno II TEXT '49 A.F. Beacham Jr. IE '60 William Hagood Bellinger EE '63 James D. Blitch III IE '53 H. Guy Darnell Jr. IM '65 Thomas F. Davenport Jr. IE '56 Joseph T. Dyer IE '69, MS ICS 71 Albert F. Gandy IE '56 Don P. Giddens AE '63, MS AE '65.

PhD AE '67 Thomas B. Gurley BE '59 Janice Carol Harden IE 74 Hubert L. Harris Jr. IM '65 Paul W. Heard Jr. ME '65 P. Owen Herrin Jr. IM 70

David R. Jones IM '59 G. Paul Jones Jr. ME '52 Ivenue Love-Stanley ARCH 77 Govantez L. Lowndes IE '83 Jon Samuel Martin IM '64 Jay M. McDonald IM '68 Thomas H. Mullerjr. IE '63 Michael L. Percy Sr. TEXT '68 Patrise Perkins-Hcx)ker IM '80 Neal Allen Robertson IE '69 Louis Gordon Sawyer Sr. NS '46 Louis Terrell Sovey Jr. IE '52 W. Clayton Sparrow Jr. PHYS '68 Neal D. Stubblefield ME 7 9 Howard T. Tellepsen Jr. CE '66 Harry B. Thompson III IE '60 S.Joseph Ward IM '51

GEORGIA TECH • Letters

5

TECHNOTES Written by Gary Goettling

Golfers Take ACC Title

T

he Georgia Tech Golfin' Jackets won their first Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1985 May 17-19 in Rocky Mount, N.C. Rain shortened the competition to two rounds as the sixth-ranked Jackets beat the North Carolina Tar Heels by only two strokes, 565-567.

The Tech team scored 11 under par for the event, and was led by All-American David Duval. A management major, Duval was tied with N.C. State's Kelly Mitchum at a seven-underpar 137 when he was declared a co-medalist after bad weather cancelled play at the eighth tee in the third round.

GolfTeam Adds to Streak Tech's 1991 ACC golf championship was the ninth league title for the Rambling Wreck since 1985. Tech has won four titles in baseball (1985-8687-88), two in basketball (1985 and 1990), two in golf (1985 and 199D and one in football (1990).

In addition, Tech is the only school in the nation to have its basketball, baseball and golf teams •reach the NCAA Tournament in each of the past seven years.

World-Size Bake Sale It was a bake sale that

Roll Call Sets Record Pace Georgia Tech Alumni Ass< )dation Executive Director John B. Carter Jr., IE '69, left; President Shirley Mewborn, EE '56; and Vice President for Roll Call Frank Maier, IM '60, had reason to smile at the May 27 Presidents' Dinner—the 44th Roll Call was on target in meeting its goal. At press time, Roll Call has surpassed its original goal of $4.4 million by more than $90,000. The annual Roll Call, which closes its books on June 30, is the largest source of unrestricted funds for Georgia Tech.

may make the record book, but to Lauren Gunder, it could mean her life.

On June 7, Alumni Association staffers, students and other members of the Tech community participated in what was billed as "The World's Largest Bake Sale."

The event, which was conducted at several locations in Atlanta simultaneously, raised money for testing potential bone marrow donors for ninemonth-old Lauren. She suffers from osteopetrosis, a rare genetic disorder that causes her bones to close as they grow, displacing the marrow. If not treated quickly with a bone marrow transplant, she has no

chance for survival.

Although a number of potential donors have been located, the testing procedure for finding the right one costs between S175 and $250 per person.

The Georgia Tech venue of the bake sale netted $567 for the Lauren Gunder Fund of the American Red Cross. A city-wide total exceeded $5,000.

Guy Arledge. IM 71, advertising manager for BellSouth Corp. and a former Alumni Assc >ciation trustee, conceived and coordinated the bake sale project. He even c< mtacted the Guinness Book of World Records to learn what conditions the event would have to meet to qualify as the world's largest. He plans to follow up the successful fund-raising effort with another, even larger bake sale in the fall.

The Parking Zone The campus parking situation will be booted out of the Twilight Zone and into an "accessibility zone" this fall.

All parking spaces f( >r students, faculty and staff will be categorized on the basis of their proximity to campus buildings, with the Continued page 8

6

GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1991

TECHNOTES

Asking the Right

Questions

Answer: Scott Gillispie.

Question: Who is the 1991 Jeopardy! College Champion?

A Georgia Tech electrical engineering senior, Gillispie won the popular television show's third annual college tournament in convincing fashion, besting opponents from the University of New Orleans and Northwestern University. Gillispie received a $25,000 cash prize, a trophy, and an invitation to participate in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions in November.

The program, which was broadcast over a twoweek period May 6-17, began with 15 college students and culminated with a two-day competition among the three finalists.

Gillispie says that his prize money will go toward getting a master's degree at Tech.

Continued from previous page

annual parking fee determined by the desirability of the spaces. Spaces on the edge of campus will cost $90 per year, while high-demand spots such as those near the Student Center will cost $140.

Reserved spaces \yill command an extra premium.

Parking applications will be mailed out this summer, with assignments made on a first-come, first-served basis.

Physics of Fun Like many of their con8

GEORGIA TECH • Summer

be held July 22-26 in the North Georgia mountains.

Participants will conduct experiments with soil, plants and water; hike along Panther Creek; visit a fish hatchery and mine gemstones.

Saidents attending the space and science day camp, July 29-Aug. 2 at Walden Middle School, will learn firsthand the "physics of Six Flags," as well as build and launch model rockets. They will also tour Georgia Tech laboratories and travel to Tuskegee University to observe NASA research in progress.

Tech faculty members helped design the education programs at both camps, where Tech students will provide teaching assistance.

New Math Degree

An undergraduate degree program in discrete mathematics has been temporaries, a group of middle-school students will added to the Georgia Tech curriculum beginning in spend an afternoon at Six fall quarter. The new deFlags Over Georgia this summer. But they won't be gree program consists of there just for the stomach- the standard first-year core churning thrills—they'll be curriculum for math students, with special discrete there for the physics. math courses replacing ^"Georgia Tech, along Math 2507 and Math 2508. with the Georgia Tech The program includes Space Grant Consortium, courses in computing and the Atlanta Public Schools systems engineering, and and the Rabun Gapelectrical engineering elecNacoochee School, is tives are encouraged. sponsoring a pair of summer camps for 6th-, 7thApproval of a graduate and 8th-grade students. degree in discrete mathematics is pending before The first, an environmental sciences camp, will the Board of Regents. • 1991

Tharikyou to the official sponsors of the GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI MAGAZINE

• Acme Business Products • C&SBank • The Coca-Cxila Company • Delta Air lines • Diamond Brostrom • Wachovia • Hyatt Regency Ravinia • Lanier Plaza Hotel & Conference Center • Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta • Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead • Technology Park/Atlanta • Trust Company Bank • Wyndham Hotel

AlflghEnergv Executive Interview by John Dunn

T

hirty-eight years ago, C. J. "Pete" Silas, a 6-foot-6, lanky basketball star from Georgia 'lech, turned down the opportunity K > play pro basketball and began his business career as a trainee petroleum engineer with Phillips Petroleum.

In April, Silas became the chief spokesman for American business as chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

During the intervening years at Phillips, Silas climbed the ranks of the multi-billion-dollar Bartlesville, Okla.-based company to become its chairman and chief executive officer.

He is recognized as one of "The Corporate Elite" by Business Weekmagazine, and as one of "Corporate America's Most Powerful People" by Forbes.

The accolades are earned. As president and chief operating officer Continued next

page

Pete Silas (right) and Phillips Petroleum have come a long way together since the Tech graduate joined the company in the 1950s.

Today the billion-dollar oil-andgas giant is among the world's most influential businesses, and Silas has been recognized as one of the nation's "corporate elite."

Phillips Petroleum chairman and CEO Pete Silas talks about education, government and his new role as chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Interview with Pete Silas

11

of Phillips in the mid-1980s, Silas thwarted hostile take-over raids by Mesa Petroleum Co. chairman T. Boone Pickens and New York financier Carl Icahn. A delegator and tough-minded manager, Silas is running a tighter company that has expanded into chemicals and plastics.

He is positioning Phillips to enter competition for the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award before the end of the decade. The award, established by Congress in 1987, recognizes the highest standards of excellence in American businesses.

When he graduated from Tech with a degree in chemical engineering in 1953, Silas was captain of the basketball team, named to the Associated Press All-Southeastern Conference first team, and had been drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers.

He played with the Phillips 66ers before serving in the U.S. Arrny, where he became a member of the U.S. basketball team that won the 1955 Pan-American games.

During his tenure with Phillips, Silas has worked in gas and gas liquids, exploration and production, and chemical sales activities. From 1968 to 1976, he was assigned to Phillips Europe-Africa, where he directed much of the company's Ekofisk operations in the Norwegian North Seas. He received the Norwegian government's Royal Norwegian St. Olav's Order in the degree of commander for his contributions to the development of Norway's energy and allied industries.

In 1978, Silas became senior vice president in charge of petroleum exploration and production, gas and gas liquids, and international affairs and administration. He was named an executive vice president in 1980, responsible for the company's three

major energy resource groups. He was named president in 1982, and became chairman and CEO of Phillips in 1985.

He and his wife, Theo, live in Bartlesville. They have four children.

Silas was awarded the Alumni Exceptional Achievement Award in 1985. He is a member of the Georgia Tech Foundation and a former member and past chairman of the Georgia Tech National Advisory Board.

He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 1959.

In his remarks upon becoming chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., Silas listed five issues that are "critically important" to America—education, energy, environment, elections and ethics.

"We can be proud of ourselves only if we're behaving ethically," Silas told the audience of business leaders. "Unfortunately, some business people don't always do good things, or do just good things. The actions of these few diminish the credibility of all of us—credibility we need now more than ever."

A s chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, you have expressed concern about the quality of education in the U.S. I think the Chamber, at both the national level and the local level, recognizes that we have an education problem in this country, as far as keeping the kids in school and preparing tomorrow's work force. The average dropout rate across the country is about 25 percent. In some areas, it is 50 to 60 percent.

Many of these people end up becoming liabilities to our society instead of becoming assets. We have to work on our education systems in

Business partnerships with schools and volunteers in school "mentor-type" programs will contribute to educational improvements.

12

GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1991

this country. But it won't be done without business leaders being involved in the process.

It is not going to be solved from Washington, D.C. It's got to be solved in the 16,000 school districts across the country through local involvement by industry, by educators, and by parents.

flow can business be involved in education?

By providing leadership. Business leaders know how to get together and work on a consensus and get people involved. I don't think throwMany businesses and schools have formed

ing money at today's system is the way to do it. We already pay more money ft >r education than any other country in the world. But we're not competitive on the end product.

We've got some problems with the system. We've got a lot of overhead. We've got a lot of education that doesn't relate to the workplace.

We've g< )t 30-plus percent of the teacher's time spent on discipline.

We are not focusing on the assets.

I believe there are a lot of volunteers—both parents and employees—who want to help. Some of the most successful schools have a men-

tor relationship. There is no quick-fix solution. "What may work in Baltimore won't necessarily work in Atlanta or Chicago.

As our society becomes more technically oriented, the high dropout rate takes on greater importance.

We already have industry spending money on educating the work force that has already missed being educated from kindergarten through 12th grade. So we've got to not only take care of tomorrow's problem— we've got to retrain, in many instances, today's work force to fit the technical environment.

l / o you think members of Congress always understand how their votes will impact business?

No. There are so many congressmen who have no experience at all in business. We try to help them understand what the impact will be, not only on big corporations, but small companies as well. We think we have a tremendous opportunity to get these chambers involved politically by holding their congressmen accountable on how they vote. We need the business community working together on what is best for business as a whole—businesses create Continued next page

"partnerships," and, as in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., businesspeople volunteer their time to tutor school children.

GEORGIA TECH • Interview with Pete Silas

13

jobs and pay taxes. And "profit" is not a bad word.

Some people seem to think industry is hazardous to your health. You can operate in an environmentally sound manner. We need business; we need jobs. I think it is important that we get more people involved in the process politically—more and more people who vote.

What must American businesses do to be successful in today's world market?

There is no question that you have to change to fit the environ-

ment you work in. The global market certainly is opening up. The chamber has advocated open markets—meaning they can sell in our markets, and we can sell in their markets. We can be competitive. But we have to improve our productivity, we have to stay up-to-date technically, we have to invest money in training people, and we have to invest money in more capital equipment.

One of the concerns we have in remaining competitive around the world is the amount of money we are going to be spending in the envi-

ronmental area during the next 10 years. In many instances, this money is spent to get results, but some of this money is spent for emotional purposes, not really for helping the environment. We need to understand that we got where we are today in our society with technology. We can solve all of these problems with technology. Let's be sure we have all the facts before we start running off trying to have a quick-fix to environmental problems.

Can you give me an example of an emotional issue?

America's "energy strategy" needs to include more non-petroleum-based power sources. "We need more nuclear

14

GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1991

In many instances, we want a risk-free society. We don't want to take any risks, such as with alar on apples out in Oregon, where they shut down the apple industry. Now I see the Environmental Protection Agency has come out and said dioxin is not as hazardous to your health as they thought it was. We can require business to spend billions of dollars, and then three or four or five years later say, well, we didn't need to do it after all. That is a waste of capital. We have enough programs in this country that need capital. We don't need to throw away capital. power. We are short of power generation."

In many instances, our legislators want to mandate programs. Congress couldn't even run the S&Ls, and in many instances, they are trying to design the gasoline, they are trying to design the car. Tell us what you want, and let us look at the risks.

Just because you can measure something doesn't make it hazardous to your health.

A s chairman and CEO of Phillips, do you have any policies that help you to weather economic hard times?

We are in a long-term business.

Our programs are in five- and 10year time frames. One thing I've learned in the oil business—I've been in it 38 years—is that you've got to be flexible. The price of oil and gas goes up and down.

We have been through some tough times. There are a lot of people who are no longer with us in our industry who did not adjust to the tough times or to the environment that we are operating in. We have had the experience in our industry of going through ups and downs. And some other industries haven't had that sort of experience.

Some of your new entrepreneurial industries that are highly leveraged are not making it during this downturn.

Are you a tough manager?

I think I'm a realistic manager. We fought off two takeover attempts. We bought back half our stock and we took on a $9 billion debt. And then we had to do some things in order to survive. We had to sell $2 billion worth of assets; we reduced our workforce by 9,000 people—primarily through early retirement. I'm tough to the extent that I'm realistic concerning what's best for the corpo-

ration. In many instances, you have to make some decisions that are not easy. But you've got to look at the facts; you've got to live in the real world. The alternative is to not survive.

How do you evaluate your management style?

I have had a lot' ©f experience by coming up through the company, in havirig lived in Europe 13 years and having been in all phases of our business. Not many things that come up today aren't similar to some things that I have seen before.

I'm a delegator. I like to get the right people in the right job and then let them run their business. We set operating budgets—capital budgets—and people go out there and work within those budgets. The job is too big for one man to make all the decisions. I'm a firm believer in delegating and getting the most out of your people. And people are happier when they are able to make de-' cisions—not only make decisions, but are held accountable. I'd say I'm more of a leader than a manager. I'm "hands-off' in general, but after we have a sense of direction, we expect to have results.

Did your time abroad affect your management style?

Yes. We dealt with foreign governments, we had to negotiate treaties, certainly try to understand their cultural differences, look back at the country and determine how they look at you. It develops not only your understanding of a worldwide business, but also how different people and different cultures work.

They are different from you, and you have to be flexible in understanding how to get along with them. That Continued next page

The nation needs not so much an energy policy as an energy strategy.

And it must include both conservation and nuclear power.

GEORGIA TECH • Interview with Pete Silas

15

helped me understand that you can't work everything the way you like to work it. You've got to look at the other fellow's position as well.

What's the biggest lesson you have learned?

You've got to manage with change. Some people asked after we had the takeover attempt, "When are we going to go back the way we were before?" I said, "We're never going to go back the way we were."

To survive and be competitive, you have to be able to recognize the changing culture of today's environment outside the company, and also inside the company. We have a different kind of employee today than we had 15 or 20 years ago. The employee today wants to be involved in the process. He doesn't want to be told how to do something. Just tell him what you want done. You can maximize the expertise and competence of the employee, who gets more involved in the process and has more commitment. If employees have more commitment, they're more successful.

What impact did the takeover attempt have on your business philosophy?

Don't get tied up in yesterday's solutions because they may not fit tomorrow's problems. In recognizing that, you're more focused on today's—not tomorrow's—problems.

Surviving the takeover was a great experience. The same philosophy that we used to survive the takeover is still applicable.

What part of your career has given you the most satisfaction?

I'd say the success of the people who are in the cpmpany. In many

instances, you promote people in jobs you think they can handle, but you're not sure until they take it on.

Getting things done through people is certainly the way you can maximize the success of the corporation.

The best asset you have, of course, is the people you have. I guess the most satisfaction is having survived some very difficult times.

What kind of a national energy policy do you favor?

I favor more a strategy than a policy. We don't need to have a policy that mandates to use this here, use this there. We need a strategy saying we want to develop our own natural resources. What we've done since 1980 is import more cheap oil.

We have discouraged development in our country—no nuclear power plants, no coal-fired plants. Over 50 percent of our oil today comes from overseas and we're increasing that every year.

We need more nuclear power. We are short of power generation.

Democracy is a crisis government.

When the lights go out, we've got a problem, but before the lights go out, we don't have a problem. We don't prevent crises because our elected officials have two-year and four-year terms. We've got to develop our own resources.

Conservation is a big key. We can't conserve our way out of the problem, but we need a broaderbased strategy to develop our own resources. We need to work for conservation, and encourage people to understand that energy is a vital part of our economic system.

You can have both energy and the environment. Some people say you can have one or the other.

These are people with other agen-

I got a chemical engineering education at Tech and an opportunity to go to , work, and without that, \ I wouldn't have had my career.

16

GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1991

das. You can have a compatible environment with clean energy.

We need to look at multiple uses for land. Some people want to cut off all the land the government has and make it all a wilderness area that can't be touched for any other use for mankind. You can explore and produce energy in an envin >nmentally sound manner: We seem to feel that in some areas we should have zero risks.

You're not going to be competitve with zero risk. There is risk in life.

We've got to have a balance. I don't think that's understood.

What has Georgia Tech meant to you?

No. 1—education. I was here on a basketball scholarship. My parents could not afford to send me to school. Certainly Tech gave me an education. I had to play basketball to do it, which I enjoyed, of c< >urse. But I got a chemical engineering education and got an opportunity to go to work, and without that, 1 wc aildn't have started my career with the company. I went with the company right after school.

Che lemical engineering is not easy, and basketball takes a lot of time.

It was a great challenge, that's right. It was also a great investment.

Tech certainly gave me the education I needed to go into my life's career.

And I feel just as strongly that I ought to come back and help Tech as well. When we look at our fundraising, you can see that the loyalty of the Tech alumni is quite high for a public institution. I think that is certainly representative not only of me, but of all our alumni. I think many colleges and universities envy the loyalty of Tech's alumni. •

18

i il i >K< .1 \ l l i 11 â&#x20AC;˘ \umnici

I'M

THE DARKNESS AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL Without intelligent management of energy technology, U.S. energy needs will not be met • Written by Glen P. Robinson Jff. ^ K ^ T T * • ' e are sitting on a time • 1 / b o m b . Except for a ^ ^ / ^ y short-lived scare in the • • early 1970s, the United States does not have an energy problem. At least that's what the American public thinks. Why should we be concerned when gasoline, natural gas and electricity are so readily available at modest costs? Especially when compared with food, housing or even a night at the ball game.

Our national energy strategy has been set by free-market forces; that is, use the cheapest, most convenient and readily available fuel. And that, unfortunately, is foreign oil.

In the long term, we are going to run out of our conventional sources of fuels—oil, gas and coal—at some point in time. No one agrees on when this will occur, but we are burning these resources much faster than they are being regenerated. The rate of consumption will be ever increasing as Third World nations become more developed. At the same time, we are seriously warming the earth and polluting the environment.

The short-term problem is the possibility of a chaotic condition which might shut off the world's most abundant sources of fuel from the Middle East. I dread to think of a small group of extremist radicals causing a series of nuclear explo-

Public transportation like Atlanta's rapid rail system (left) offers significant reductions in gasoline use, as does increasing the gasoline efficiency of automobiles. A goal of 40 mpg by 2000 would save more oil than is estimated to exist in Alaskan waters.

sions at Mid-East oil facilities.

Where do we stand today? We are importing more oil now than ever before. The Department of Energy predicts, apparently without concern, that 75 percent of our oil will be imported by the year 2010. Our hope for energy independence by nuclear power has been dashed for now.

The cost of generating electricity will continue to accelerate as we rightfully demand cleaner air. Explorations and recovery of our declining oil and gas reserves will become more costly as we have to drill deeper. The question is: How much oil and gas reserve do we have? A recent "Nova" program predicted that at the present rate of consumption and price levels, we will run out of natural gas in 35 years, and out of oil a little later.

Does anybody really know? Does anybody care?

There appears to be no new source or significant new supply of energy or fuel in the near future.

There is one option, however, that I think is significant, attractive and totally non-polluting, though not very popular. It's conservation.

Conservation is not popular because it connotes sacrifice. But that does not have to be. Many electric utilities, particularly in the Northeast and Northwest, are investing in conservation instead of new generating capacity. Rather than build a new generating plant that may cost $1,000 for each kilowatt of capacity, they subsidize a customer to replace inefficient electrical devices, such as air conditioners, with higher-efficiency units that will save one kW of load for an incremental cost of, say, $500.

This is truly new energy. It pro-

vides the same benefit to the customer and frees up one kW in capacity that can then be sold to another customer, and it does not add to pollution. Mutiply this by a million customers and you effectively have the benefit of a new large nuclear generating plant without having to build it or pay to operate it.

There is a political obstacle to be overcome because rate structures are commonly based on the rate of return on investment. The larger the investment, the larger the profits.

Few utilities have rate structures that provide incentives for conservation.

Energy efficiency can have a significant and beneficial impact on many specific industries, and also further our technological development. Some examples follow.

TRANSPORTATION

T

ransportation accounts for 27 percent of our total energy consumption and two-thirds of our domestic and foreign oil supply. The federal government has taken steps to increase efficiency and decrease pollution from cars. It's not very popular, though, since the American public is hooked on big and fastaccelerating cars, and that habit is hard to break.

Rapid transit systems should have caused a major reduction in gasoline consumption and air pollution, but they have been a great disappointment so far. The more multi-lane expressways we build, the more we are encouraged to use cars. The more taxes we collect on gasoline, the more roads we build. Breaking the cycle is a challenge for our public and social scientists, who must Continued next page

GEORGIA TECH • America's Energy Solutions

19

Problems surrounding cogeneration aren't technical—they're social and political

find some way to make rapid transit more acceptable.

We can reduce oil consumption and air pollution in the transportation sector in a number of ways: • Encourage more use of video teleconferencing and other forms of communication. The facsimile machine has cut my local travel time in half. Where I used to jump in my car to visit my attorney, accountant, or banker to discuss some paper, I now fax them copies and then discuss them by telephone.

• Continue the development of alternative fuels and ways to use these fuels. A number of large companies, particularly gas utilities, are converting their vehicles to run on natural gas. The initial cost is high and it is difficult to store enough gas to get much distance between refills.

Here is a challenge for Tech researchers: Find a way to convert natural gas, which is primarily methane, into a heavier molecule so it can be readily liquefied; or improve solid absorbers so they can store larger

A B O U T

T H E

G

volumes of gas economically.

• Continue the development of electric cars. This is an area of extreme interest for the electric utilities.

There is a great excess of generating capacity at night. Charging batteries at night would be an ideal load for the electric companies. The challenge for engineers and scientists is to develop a low-cost, high-capacity battery. There is no political or social hurdle to overcome here. Widespread use of electric vehicles would dramatically reduce urban air pollution by shifting pollution to the country, where it can be more economically controlled, and would shift the energy load from oil to the more abundant supply of coal.

SOLAR ENERGY

T

here is very little activity in solar energy today, and that is a big disappointment because the sun is the unlimited source of all energy.

The excuse is that fossil fuels are still cheap and available, and solar sys-

A U T H O R

len Robinson, Phys '48, MS Phys '50, is chairman of the Georgia Tech Research Corp., and a trustee and chairman of the Evaluation Committee of the Georgia Tech Foundation.

In 1978, he founded E-Tech, a manufacturer of heat-pump water heaters.*The company merged with Marvair Co. in 1986 to form Crispaire Corp., which Robinson presently serves as chairman.

While a student at Tech, he worked as an associate research physicist at the Engineering Experiment Station, now the Georgia Tech Research Institute. In 1950, he joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory as an associate physicist.

In 1952 he helped found Scientific-Atlanta Inc., and served as president until 1972 and as chairman until 1978.

20

GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1991

tems are so expensive that there is no economic incentive either for the consumer or manufacturer. This is the same reason synthetic fuels from biomass or coal liquification have not yet become successful.

Passive solar systems that don't have any moving parts, circulating fluids, or rotating mirrors have been very successful. Architects have done a good job in designing buildings to take advantage of the sun.

There has been some improvement in the efficiency and cost effectiveness of solar cells, but they are still much too expensive to play any major role in meeting our energy needs except in special applications such as small-power production in remote locations. I feel certain that there will be a day when the cost of solar cells is competitive with the rising cost of conventional fuels, and that solar energy will play an important role in energy production. Unfortunately, the Japanese will be the major players since they are doing the majority of the research in this area today.

COGENERATION

T

'his growing technology offers the greatest benefit immediately available today. It's like getting two units of energy for the price of one.

Unfortunately, it has some difficult political problems that impede its growth.

Only about one-third of the total energy consumed by typical electric generating plants gets to the consumer in the form of electricity. A small amount is lost in the transmission lines, and the majority is wasted to the atmosphere as heat. It makes sense for consumers who use a lot of heat or hot water to generate their

own electricity and7 get heat for free.

Most electric utilities fight this fiercely since it takes away their core business. The gas companies are pushing it since it gives them a very attractive load 12 months of the year. This is truly a political and social problem.

WASTE HEAT RECOVERY

W

Te have only scratched the surface in generating new energy by recovering and recycling waste heat. This is done by simple heat exchangers and heat pipes in situations where a low-temperature heat is needed, or by heat pumps when a higher temperature is required. The heat pump uses a small amount of energy to operate a refrigeration cycle to remove heat from a waste stream of water or air by cooling it, and then upgrades this heat to heat a fresh stream of air or water to a higher temperature.

Our company has supplied thousands of heat-recovery heat pumps to facilities that require large amounts of hot water along with air conditioning or chilled water. These include hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, food processing plants and textile plants. The heat recovered from the cooling process of the heat pump heats domestic hot water competitively with fossil fuel water heaters, but the air conditioning benefit is free. Or conversely, the heat pump provides air conditioning at essentially the same cost as a conventional air conditioner, but the hot Continued next page

Associate Professor Bill Tedder of Tech's chemical engineering school works on a process to convert cellulose into dry ethanoL GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ America's Energy Solutions

21

Conservation offers vital solutions A RESEARCH LAMP FOR THE LONG JOURNEY INTO THE TUNNEL water is free.

Many people think that conservation will only free from five to 10 percent of our energy needs, that it will b e expensive to implement, and that it will provide an inconvenience such as lowering the room temperature in winter or increasing it in summer. Experts maintain that a wellexecuted conservation plan can save from 20 percent to 44 percent in our total energy consumption without any public inconvenience. I lean toward the higher figure. I consider cogeneration and waste heat recovery as conservation methods, and they have proven to reduce energy loads by 50 percent or more.

REFUSE-DERIVED FUEL

R

efuse-derived fuel, i.e., municipal waste, is a two-for-one technology, but, unfortunately, it is highly controversial. It can play a major role by incinerating a large amount of municipal waste while generating significant amounts of heat and/or electricity. It is popular in Europe and has b e e n used successfully in a number of major U.S. cities where there has b e e n strong political leadership. The technology is here. The political and social battles are yet to b e fought.

A successful energy program will require the coordination and management of n e w and existing technologies relating'to the utilization, conversion and conservation of energy; it will require developing n e w technologies for pollution control and waste disposal. Most important, it will require the creative and active involvement of our social and politi-1 cal scientists, particularly in the area of public policy and attitudes. â&#x20AC;˘

22

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 1991

Georgia Tech's many areas of research can play a major role in developing a more energy-efficient society. Some of those areas of expeni.se, broken down by college or school, are as follows: Architecture Urban planning Energy conservation Passive solar systems Aerospace Combustion Engineering technology More efficient fuel use Reduced air pollution Chemical Air pollution control Engineering Flue-gas desulfurization Acid rain Global warming & CO, Replacements for CFCs Synthetic fuels Waste disposal Catalysis research Control of hazardous & toxic waste High-yield pulp science Specialty separation program (useful for water purification and fuel cells) Civil Environmental Engineering engineering Solid waste disposal Water pollution control Transportation Engineering Electrical Electric power Engineering Dispersed power generation High-efficiency, lowCOSl electric devices I ugh temperature superconductors Photovoltaic materials <& devices Telecommunications Industrial Large scale logistics & Systems Vehicle routing Engineering Materials handling

Mechanical Cogenerating Engineering Fuel cells Gas and electric heat pumps Fusion research High performance materials Manufacturing processes Materials Materials needed in the Engineering power industry Biology Biodegradation of materials Chemistry Energy from chemistry& based sources Biochemistry Pollution monitoring New catalysis and synthetic methods Earth & Air pollution Atmospheric Acid rain Sciences Global warming Ivan Allen College

Public policy International affairs Environmental impact analysis Land-USe planning Accounting systems Economic analyses

Nuclear Control & nu mitoring Engineering systems Waste disposal Safety Ga.Tech Research Institute

Environmemal science & technol< >gy Waste management Indoor air quality Toxic substances Pollution prevention High-temperature superconductors Zeolite

The Economy Takes a Fall Despite the lessons of the 1980s, there are signs that government is again on the taxpayer's back Written by Paul Craig Roberts Illustrated by Mac Evans

he 1980s were a watershed in world history. All over the world, socialism and the confidence in government-run economies that characterized the post-World War II era bit the dust. Private property rights were revitalized as tax rates were slashed and individuals once again were made the majority shareholders in their own incomes.

The revolution extended beyond America to the world. The British cut tax rates and privatized their welfare housing along with their nationalized industries. The French also cut tax rates and turned many of their socialized firms back to private ownership.

The Chinese began to withdraw from communism by opening stock markets and privatizing agriculture with long-term leases. In Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, communism utterly collapsed, both economically and politically.

Stock markets boomed everywhere, and wealth was created at a far greater pace than the debt that occupied the media's attention. Financial markets became global, and the market for goods and services moved rapidly in the same direction.

The U.S. enjoyed its Continued page 26 24

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 1991

GEORGIA TECH • Economic Decline

Z3

The demonstration that capitalism remained the engine of economic progress was electrifying.

longest peacetime economic expansion without any rise in the rate of inflation, thus escapingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as supplyside economists predictedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the crippling trade-offs between inflation and economic growth that had produced the stagflation of the 1970s.

This demonstration that capitalism remained the engine of economic progress was electrifying. Even Third World countries began electing politicians who promised to privatize the A B O U T

socialist industries that had been purchased with one trillion dollars in Western aid.

Where do we go from here?

Former communist countries seem determined to become capitalist, but President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher shook up the U.S. and the United Kingdom so much that establishments, feeling threatened, are determined to put the lid back on. Progress is fine as

T H E

long as it doesn't disturb the pecking order. Just as Reagan's tax-cutters and deregulators scared the federal bureaucracy, financial entrepreneurs, corporate takeovers, and intensified competition unsettled the business establishment. Under Reagan's and Thatcher's successors, reaction has set in, and both economies are showing it.

A U T H O R

JLau . aul Craig Roberts, IM '61, holds the William E. Simon chair in political economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., is chairman of the Institute for Political Economy, and is a senior research fellow in the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. A former editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal, he is currently a columnist for Business Week and the Washington Times, and a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. He is nationally syndicated by the Scripps-Howard News Service.

During 1981-82, Roberts served as assistant secretary of the treasury for economic policy. President Reagan credited him with a major role in the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. In 1987, the French government called him "the artisan of the renewal in economic science and policy after half a century of state interventionism," and inducted him into the Legion of Honor.

His latest book is Meltdown: Inside the Soviet Economy, co-authored with Karen LaFollette and published by the Cato Institute, 1990. His book, The Supply-Side Revolution, was published by Harvard University Press in 1984. He is author of Alienation and Ihe Soviet Economy, first published in 1971 and re-published in 1990, and Marx's 'theory of Exchange, Alienation, and Crisis, first published in 1973 and re-published in 1983.

In addition to his degree from Georgia Tech, Roberts received graduate degrees from the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley, and Oxford University! where he was a member of Merton College. \

ingle-issue politics is also taking a toll on the economy. Most everyone favors preserving the environment and equal employment opportunity, but clean-air bills and endless lawsuits alleging discrimination have greatly raised the cost of doing business in America. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers are using vague "wetlands" legislation to assert regulatory powers over 40 percent of the land in the U.S. All of a sudden, farmers are finding that bottomland they have farmed for decades is protected wetlands, and people who have improved their property and filled dry ditches have been carted off to prison. Moreover, this new taking of property by regulation is being done without compensation.

The government is also making the legal system unpredictable and more expensive. Over a wide front, the government is prosecuting citizens on the basis of charges not hitherto known as grounds for legal action. When the government cannot find a crime to assert, it resorts to bringing civil damage suits based on alleged violations spun out of theories thought up by prosecutors. In many instances, the government canConthittcd page 26

26

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 1991

The Reaganants are gone, and President George Bush is in no position to rein in economy-killing measures.

not cite a statute, an articulated civil law standard, or a court decision in support of its case.

This August is the 10th anniversary of the Reagan tax rate reductions that infused the economy with enormous energy. Taking stock a decade later, we find that this energy is being drained and short-circuited by a federal bureaucracy claiming and exercising new powers to regulate and litigate. The Reaganauts are gone, and President George Bush, with his naive belief in the goodness of government and his personal preoccuaption with foreign affairs, is in no position to rein in the economy-killing measures that issue from Washington each day.

28

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 1991

evertheless, we have learned some lessons that give hope for the future. The 1980s taught us that taxation is the main factor in the cost of capital, and that lower interest rates cannot compensate for higher taxes. For example, commercial real estate and savings and loan associations were devastated by the 1986 tax reform, which pulled the rug out from under real estate values by hiking the capital gains rate and curtailing depreciation and the deductibility of expenses. Lower interest rates have done nothing to revive these industries long thought to be " interest-sensitive."

We have also learned that stimulating people with incentives is not

inflationary. Most of the debt bust that has occurred resulted from the mistaken belief that the Reagan tax cuts would lead to higher inflation.

Loans were made and projects were undertaken that relied on rising inflation to make them good. I I< >wever, inflation collapsed and stabilized, despite incessant predictions that budget deficits would reflate the economy.

The 1980s proved what many people always believedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that getting government off our backs and out of our pockets was the needed cure.

Now that former communists are espousing this lesson themselves, it will make it doubly hard for us to forget it. â&#x20AC;˘

II V

LISA

C I O

Women and Technology Tech ah1111 n i are role models for a new generation

I

t's unfair that women are missing out on some of America's most rewarding and lucrative jobs. But it's more than a fairness issue. Unless more women show interest in science and technology, critical jobs will stand empty. KxperLs are predicting a shortage of scientists and engineers by the year 2000, and there won't be anyÂť where to turn except to a labor pool that is half female. There simply won't be enough white males to go around.

Although women are flourishing in law, medicine and some areas of business, only 15 percent of America's scientists and engineers are women, according to the Task Force on Women, Minorities and the Handicapped in Science and Technology, in a national report prepared in 1989.

Tech is trying to do its part. There are now 2,816 women enrolled at Tech, compared to the two women on campus in 1952.

"We have come from nowhere to 23 percent women," says Jerry L. Hitt, Tech's director of admissions. "Women are seeing a technology degree as marketable. The world mns on technology, and that's the way it's always going to be."

Sue Elaine Spade, who received a master's degree from Tech in 1986, believes that a scarcity of role models keeps many young women from pursuing careers in science and technology.

"Some of it is the influence of people they are exposed to as they are growing up," she adds. "There is a lot of math anxiety on the part of elementary school teachers. And for girls, it's just not 'cool' to be interested in science."

Female Tech graduates are providing role mcxlels in ever-increasing numbers, and they are eager for a new generation of women to join their ranks.

"I always seem to be 'the first woman ever,' but there's nothing like the rewards of doing a job you really like," says Susan R. Clemmons, a petroleum engineer who graduated in 1968.

The six alumni on following pages prove that women can thrive in technologically oriented, male-dominated professions, if they love their jobs and don't mind breaking through a few barriers. They are'of different ages, professions and temperaments, but they all share core personality traits.

"Tech women are tenacious and have good discipline," says Shirley C. Mewborn, a 1956 alumnus and past president of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. " 'Focus' is the word that best surris us up." \ Lisa Crowe is a free-lance writer in Atlanta.

30

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 1991

w E

(. E O K (. I A

I E < II

d K A I) V A T E S

Shirley C. Mewborn STATISTICS JOB—Vice president/treasurerfor Southern Engineering Co. DEGREES— US BE, Ga. Tech, '56.

AGE—55 MARITAL—Married to Duke Metvbom, Cls '56, president of Baker Audio.

ACTIVITIES—Past president. (Georgia Tech Alumni Association (first female to hold that title); member, Georgia Tech National and State Adinsory Boards; member, Georgia Tech library Advisory Hoard; president.

Alpha Xi Delta Building Corf).

Enjoys tenuis, fishing and gardening.

HOMETOWN—Rocbetle, (la.

M

ewborn found that being one of Tech's first female students had its advantages: It helped her land a student job at the library. Since her high school trained its girls for futures as secretaries, she was one of the few Tech students w h o could type.

There are always problems when you are "the first," but Mewborn focuses on the positives. "Sometimes there are stereotypes to deal with, but there' are also advantages. It's given me a higher profile, and that's been a real opportunity."

Since starting with Southern Kngineering in 1957, Mewborn has risen through the ranks to become vice president of the Atlanta consulting firm. She's in charge of a 10-member department that develops and markets computer software for utilities.

After the birth of her two daughters, she stayed home long enough to see the girls through ballet and band, but she kept a hand in at Southern Engineering, working parttime, then assuming more responsibility as her daughters grew up.

"I've learned that the way to get through a maze is not to worry about the gate that's closed," Mewborn advises female engineers starting their careers, "but lo kx)k for I he other way out. Look for the opportunity, take it, and go." •

GEORGIA TECH • Women and Technology 3 1

W O M E N

A N I>

T E C II N O I. O G Y

Susan R. Clemmons STATISTICS JOB—Unemployed. Last: senior engineer, Gruy Engineering Corp, Houston.

DEGREES— US m, Ga. Tech, 68.

AGE—44 MARITAL—Singh ACHVniliS—Professional bridge player, enjoys knitting and reading.

HOMETOWN— Houston

C

lemmons is a hired hand—a bridge hand, that is. The '(>« 'lech alumnus travels all over the world as a bridge partner to tournament competitors who are willing to pay her to beef up their

advantage.

Clemmons likes the game and the time out of town, but it's really just a way to pay the bills. What she really wants is a job in petroleum engineering in her home town of Houston. Unfortunately, sinee the Texas oil industry has gone bust, there is link' work lor engineers.

"I'm competing for very few jobs," she admits. "Everything that comes u p has 400 applicants immediately."

It's been two years since Clemmons and most of her colleagues were laid off, but she refuses to give up her job search. She enjoyed the work too much. "It was almost completely creative."

Clemmons has always been persistent. It was a crucial trait for female engineers in the 1960s. "Very few schools at that lime even allowed women to major in engi- \ neering," she says.

32

GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1991

After'lech, Clemmons Spent four years in several frustrating jobs before finding a consulting company willing to give her the same salary and responsibilities that it gave male employees. Although the company was meticulously fair, its clients didn't quite know what to d o with a female engineer.

"I traveled a lot, but people didn't wine and dine me like they did a man; they weren't going to make their wives mad," she recalls. "It got to be a lonely existence."

In rural areas, it was worse.

"There were a lot of places where you never saw women eating alone or having a drink at a bar unless they were prostitutes; decent restaurants would actually ask you to leave.

"I spent a lot of time in hotel rooms getting room service."

In spite of the hard times, Clemmons has few regrets. "Sometimes I wish things could have been a little easier, but I've had great, creative work, and I've loved it." •

Sue Elaine Spade STATISTICS JOB—Manager of architecture & strategic planning for United Telecom i S. Sprint.

DEGREES— BA Math. Qberlin, 14. US Hi:. Dayton College, 79. MSEE, 'lech. 86.

AGE—.-J 7 MARITAL— Single XCnVTTTBS—l'IdttlisI: science education volunteer work president, Kansas City chapter of the Association for Women in Science.

HOMETOWN—Byria, Ohio.

I

n kindergarten, Spade wanted to be a mother when she grew up. In high school, she thought she'd be a teacher. Instead, she's a project manager at United Telecom/

U.S. Sprint's corporate headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. "It's a wonderful job," she says. "It means toying around with ideas and identifying technology that can support whole families of systems that haven't even been thought of yet."

Spade has found her niche, but it took a long time to get there. After five years in government work, she broke away to earn a 13S in electrical engineering. Her first engineering job was with a Louisiana manufacturing plant that brought her in as its first and

i

G E O R (i I A

T E C II

<i R A I) I A T E

*--

Ivenue Love-Stanley STATISTICS JOB—Principal of Stanley!, lot v-Stanley, architectur&planning inferiors/construction management firm.

DEGREES— IIS Math. MiUsaps College, '72. BSTtrcb, Ga. Tecb, 77.

AGE—39 MARITAL—Married to architect William ./. Stanley III. Arch 72.

ACnvitES— Trustee, Georgia Tecb Alumni Association; member, Alumni Advisory Haunt of Tech s Office of Minor ity Education Development) member, American Association of Architects, National Coalition of 100 Mack Women, Junior League ofDeKalb County. Atlanta i rban League Guild and the NAACP; board member, literacy Action Inc. HOMETOWN—Meridian, Miss.

only female manager.

"It was not a good experience," she

recalls, "Because I was the only woman, there was lots of undermining and shuffling

around, it was hard not to lake it personally."

She left "shell-shocked" and landed an

engineering job with a U.S. Sprint operating company in Tyler, Texas.

After the parent corporation sent her to Georgia Tech to earn an advanced degree, she was brought to the company's corporate headquarters and has been tackling projects of increasing responsibility.

In her spare time, Spade works with children, partly as an opportunity to give them the encouragement her parents always gave to her.

"I had parents w h o were vety supportive when I was growing up," she says. "I didn't know there were things that girls couldn't do."

•

m m z TThen Love Stanley and ^ ^ J ^ / I K T sisters were growing • • u p , their parents were de termined thai the girls would make something of themselves. "College was a priority," Love-Stanley says.

"There wasn't much money for frills, but we had our books and we knew what we had to do."

At Tech. she worked 30 hours a week and took a lull course load.

She also became the first black female architect in the Southeast.

"It's what I really wanted, and it's what I loved doing. That's what pulled me through."

After graduation, Love-Stanley and husband William formed their own firm. They now have 16 employees and their projects range from work on a MARTA Station to master planning for the Federal Reserve Hank.

Love-Stanley spends much of her time grappling with nuts-and-bolts issues—negotiating complex contracts and organizing how and when projects will be completed.

"I've learned to speak, speak, speak up, and I'm able to stand toeto-toe and duke it out if I have to," she says. •'Sometimes being a woman gives me an edge—you can take people by surprise." •

GEORGIA TECH • Women and Technology 3 3

VC O M E N

IN

T E C II N C) I. C) G Y

Rhonda K. Sides

N.Jan Davis

STATISTICS JOB—Corporate finance associate for

STATISTICS JOB—NASA astronaut: current assignment: mission specialist on Spacelab-J. DEGREES— liSIUOL, Ga Tech, 75. BS Mli, Auburn University, '77. MS and PhD Mb, tuirersitY of Alabama. Iluntstnlle.

85.

AGE—M MARITAL— Married to Mark lee, NASA astronaut ACnvriTES— bellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, member, Omi cron Delta Kappa. I'i Tan Sigma and Alpha Xi Delta: social volunteer, Junior Girl Scout troop assistant leader.

Enjoys flying, ice skating, aerobics, bicycling, snow skiing.

HOMETOWN—I luntstnlle. Ala.

Hear, Steams & Co. Inc. DEGREES— US IK Ga. Tech, 83, MBA,

i niversity of Pennsylvania, 89.

MARITAL— Marriedft)Allan F. Sides, Mli '83, General Electric customer service manager.

AGE—29 ACllVniES—Volunteer tutor for elementary school students; vice president, Wharton Club of Atlanta.- 1990 Zoo Atlanta fund-raising captain.

Enjoys golf ami sailing.

HOMETOWN—Montgomery, Ala.

S

ides is concerned about the nation's educational deficit, so twice a week she leaves her office in a glitzy Atlanta highrise to spend the lunch hour tutoring children at an elementary school. It's not the ultimate solution to the complex problem, but it's a start.

"If every Rhonda Sides did this, think how much better it would be," she points out.

This kind of active, pragmatic approach to lough challenges has served Sides well. When she graduated from Tech in 1983, she threw herself into her job at Management Science America, sometimes working 70-hour weeks to learn the Atlanta computer company's software. She stalled out as an account manager, four years later was writing business plans and developing budgets as the assistant to the senior vice president of sales.

After earning her MBA, Sides settled back in Atlanta, working in the high-pressure world of investment banking She's now the only woman on a seven-member team that researches and negotiates transactions valued at $50 million to $100 million.

Being in situations where w o m e n are in the minority has been a part of Sides' life since she was a high school math whiz, but it has not diminished her opportunities.

34

GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1991

"I have found that bottom-line performance is usually the issue.

There are things said that throw me through the roof, but I can usually laugh off the occasional off-the-cuff remark," she has discovered.

There was one notable exception, which occurred during Sides' first job. She was Instructing a class of middle-age men in the use of new computer equipment. "They knew nothing, and had to learn about the equipment to keep their jobs," Sides recalls. "I was about to start the first class when a man raised his hand and said, 'Did anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't wear yellow?'"

To her eternal regret, Sides was left Speechless. "The whole threehour drive home I kept saying to myself, I just want to forget this.'"

Her minority status certainly didn't hold her back at Tech. She was elected student body president, only the second woman to hold that post in Tech's history.

"I just don't see how anyone can really care [that you are a womanl if you can d o everything you are supposed to do, smile and have a great attitude," Sides says. •

L

ots of working couples take business trips together. What makes Davis different is that she and Mark will d o their traveling in space. Both are astn mauls training for a 1992 NASA mission. "It helps that Mark is an astronaut," Davis says. "He understands what a timeconsuming job it is."

But she has no complaints. The w< >rk is demanding, but endlessly varied. To train, Davis does everything from flying jets to studying oceanography.

She has logged hours training underwater in weighted suits "I've got to d o the best job in the space program," she says.

Davis never aspired to be an astronaut. When she grew u p in the 1960s, the idea of a woman in space was beyond most people's imaginations. Now she encourages women to try for work that is traditionally "for men only." "Women can hold their own in any field. There are no jobs anymore that are just male." •

INNOVATORS Pioneer Physicist

By Martha Ann Stegar

D

uring a career of I pioneering research that extended for more than 40 years, James J. "Jim" Gallagher earned international recognition as one of the "fathers" of millimeter wave science.

Gallagher, who died of cancer on June 5 at age 68, also was a mentor and friend to many scholars during his 21-year career with the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

Gallagher earned the admiration of his peers.

Physics Professor Frank C. De Lucia of Duke University observes that Gallagher's millimeter wave electric resonance experiment utilized "an extraordinary instrument, years ahead of its time, and it was used to make scientific measurements of unprecedented accuracy."

Vernon E. Derr, director of the Environmental Research Laboratories of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says, "There are many examples of his breakthroughs. One that comes to mind is that he and his colleagues were the first to heterodyne widely separated frequencies in the microwave region with infrared radiation. This experimental method opened up much of the frequency standard development."

Gallagher's experience in the millimeter wave

(MMW) part of the electromagnetic spectrum began when he studied under Nobel laureate Charles Townes at Columbia University in the 1950s. His interest in molecular and solid-state spectroscopy carried over to his studies at Johns Hopkins in the late 1950s, where he worked at the Applied Physics Laboratory.

In 1959, Gallagher went to work for Martin Marietta Aerospace in Orlando, Fla.. continuing his MMW spectroscopy efforts. According to long-time friend and colleague Robert W. McMillan, Gallagher began using some sophisticated techniques, including molecular beams, optical absorption cells, and innovative detection techniques.

He also did some pioneering work in magnetic resonance spectroscopy contributing to the design and construction of a sophisticated superheterodyne paramagnetic resonance spectrometer.

Some of the work he did then, which is of great interest now, is the spectroscopy of ozone in the MIvTW bands. Gallagher contributed to the development of the apparatus for measuring characteristics of the ozone. He also contributed to the development of newer instrumentation and techniques to extend MMW measurements into

the frequency range of several hundred gigahertz.

After coming to Tech in 1970, Gallagher continued his MMW work by winning and working on programs involving miniature CO, lasers, spectroscopy and optically pumped lasers.

Gallagher played a prominent role in establishing GTRI's internal research program in 1987 and served as the first chairman of the Senior Technology Guidance Council, which manages the program.

In 1982, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, named him a fellow "for original and sustained contributions to molecular spectroscopy and frequency control, and for the advancement of millimeter-wave technology." He was also elected a fellow of

MAC EVANS ILI.USTKAT10N

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GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 1991

the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1966, and was a member of the task force on superconducting electronics of the National Academy of Sciences in 1984. In 1989, he was named the first Regents' researcher (a rank c< >mparable to Regents' professor) in the University System of Georgia. He also held the titles of chief scientist and principal research scientist in the Physical Sciences Laboratory at Georgia Tech. Gallagher had more than 200 technical papers to his credit and was coinventor of two patents.

According to long-time associate Gail Tucker, Gallagher often befriended students who had personal or financial problems, and made a special effort to see that they had what they needed to

v I

Charting Broken Hearts pursue their dreams.

"Many < >f them o w e their degrees to the help and inspiration they gained from Jim," she says.

Gallagher, w h o has been described as a "genial giant of a leprechaun," was noted for his sense of humor, and he loved to tell stories on himself. There was the time w h e n some well-meaning senior executive suggested that all GTR1 males should wear a coat and tie to work. Jim was not fond of ties, so at the next notable gathering of the GTRI leadership, Jim arrived wearing a tie, but it was burned off about midway up. "These things are a hazard w h e n you lean over a laser," he explained.

John Cotton, another GTRI colleague, says, "The problem with telling the truth about Jim Gallagher is that it all sounds so exaggerated; n o one person could possibly be at once so strong, so gentle, so inspirational, so authoritative, so kind, so giving, and so damned smart.

"His contributions to humankind are documented in the hearts and minds (>f people all over this country and the world; when lie touched your life, he added to it, made it better, richer, fuller." •

Martha Ann Stegar is editor of The GTRI Connector, a newspaper for the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

By J o h n Dunn J A lumnus Sheryl L^L Sanders Prucka and J L j L . her husband have developed a computer system that charts the beat of broken hearts. They unveiled CardioMapp, a system for mapping arrhythmia—alterations in the rhythm of a heartbeat—at the 1989 American Heart Association Conference, and cardiologists stood in line to see it.

"We were overwhelmed with the response to the system," says Sheryl, EE '82, MS EE '84, vice president of Prucka Engineering, and responsible for software development. Her husband, Matthew, is president of the firm.

CardioMapp is the first and only commercially available 255-channel system. The Pruckas have also developed a 63-channel CardioMapp and a 127channel system. Arrhythmia Research Technology markets the systems, which cost $90,000 to $150,000.

While they both had fulltime jobs, the couple began designing the computerized mapping system, working evenings out of their Houston home. "In order to raise money to start the project, w e both needed to keep our regular full-time jobs," Prucka explains. "We w e r e most interested in avoiding having to take venture capital — a n d never have."

In April 1988, Prucka

Sheryl Prucka: C o m p u t i n g t h e heartbreak.

Engineering was incorporated. Four months later, Charles Morina, a 1974 Georgia Tech electrical engineering graduate, became a partner as vice president for manufacturing. He and Sheryl Prucka had both worked for Schlumberger Well Services in Houston, where h e was the firm's manufacairing engineering manager.

"I had a lot of respect for what h e was doing," Prucka says. "He came to us with extensive manufacturing experience focused o n low-volume, highlycustomized capital equipment. He also brought financial and business expertise to the company."

In developing CardioMapp, the firm worked closely with electrophysiologists—cardiologists w h o specialize in the electrical activation of the heart.

Since January 1990, more than 30 systems have been sold. T w o of the first orders went to China. Installation in Beijing was more difficult than the Pruckas had anticipated.

"The facilities were not adequate, and there was n o source of grounded power," she says. "They did the best they could to make it acceptable. We were able to get clean mapping signals, good data, and make very accurate maps." Three surgeries

GEORGIA TECH • Innovators 3 7

INNOVATORS Continued from previous

page

Discovery in the Tech Tradition were performed in China, with the Pruckas demonstrating the CardioMapp, and in each, arrhythmias were successfully corrected.

At the 1990 American Heart Association Conference, Prucka Engineering introduced a new product—CardioLab, a companion product for CardioMapp that can operate off the same computer-based system.

CardioLab was met with the same enthusiasm at CardioMapp, she says.

"We've had lines of people who just wanted to look at the systems.

"We have focused on

38

GEORGIA TECH • Summer

the detection and correction of various types of arrhythmias," adds Sheryl.

"Computerized mapping of arrhythmias is just beginning to broaden beyond the research phase into the commercial market, and our mapping system is the first commercially available system that supports 255 electrodes, 244 of which may be placed directly on or in the heart."

The daughter of Hal R. Sanders, EE '52, founder and president of an Atlanta consulting firm that investigates industrial losses, Sheryl was raised in the White and Gold tradition.

Her father's brothers are

1991

also alumni: Wylie H. Sanders, IE '58, and Hugh A. "Sandy" Sanders, Math '65, MS Math '69. Her grandfather, Charles Sanders, taught English at Tech in the 1940s and 1950s.

"My dad took me on many investigations," she recalls. "It was very interesting. "What he does is sort of like detective work.

Because of his influence, I became more and more interested in engineering."

As a co-op student at Tech, Sheryl specialized in computer systems architecture and optical electronics. She worked as a research assistant during her master's studies, designing

and developing a computerized system to help quadriplegics become more self-sufficient. The system, developed for use at Emory University, was based on an IBM personal computer that accepted voice commands to control an electric hospital bed, a digital radio and to utilize a robotic arm to perform simple tasks such as picking up a cup.

Prucka Engineering, which now employs eight engineers and seven support staff and technicians, is planning to introduce a new product at the 1992 American Heart Association Conference. •

RESEARCH Measuring Molecules

S

cientists at Georgia problems with background Tech have developed interference, and none a new technique to provides rapid measuremeasure the hydroxyl ments.

(OH) radical. This highly Tech researchers Dr. reactive molecule provides Fred Eisele and David Tanthe single most important ner hit upon the new techmeans of removing a number of greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.

An Improved ability to measure OH would help scientists better understand the complex photochemical reactions which take place in the atmosphere, helping clear up some of the mysteries that surround global warming and ozone depletion issues.

The technique takes advantage of the hydroxyl's highly reactive nature to initiate a chemical reaction with nique by chance, while sulphur dioxide. Sulphur measuring ions under dioxide is added to air high-voltage power lines samples containing OH near Pittsfield, Mass. While until all of the hydroxyl conducting background molecules are convened to measurements, they nosulphuric acid. The acid ticed sharp changes in can then be measured con- sulphuric acid concentratinuously I )y a highly sensi- tions whenever clouds tive mass spectrometer to passed overhead. The sciprovide an indirect meaentists suspected OH as surement < >f how much the cause of the fluctuahydroxyl was present. tions because OH is Three methods for mea- formed by a photochemisuring Ol I were developed cal reaction only in the presence of sunlight. in the 70s, but all suffer

Versatile Antenna

Low-Cost Circuits

A new class of microstrip antenna that combines the broad-band performance typical of spiral and sinuous antennas, with the surfacemount capabilities, efficiency and low cost of microstrip antennas, has been developed by engineers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).

The design can be manufactured

Tech scientists have developed a microelectronic process-and-transfer technique that permits manufacture of lower-cost optical devices directly onto silicon-integrated circuits.

By placing expensive optical components only where needed on the silicon circuit, the new method will aid mass production of integrated optoelectronic circuits.

Optoelectronic circuits for light emission, detection and processing are vital to the next generation of consumer electronics such as videophones, fiberoptic data links and imaging systems for high-definition television. Integrated optoelectronic transmitters and receivers will help connect computers and homes to optical fibers capable of carrying large amounts of data.

using conventional printedcircuit-board technology, which could help lower the cost of manufacturing communications equipment.

In addition to its simplicity of manufacture, the antenna can be "pasted" virtually anywhere. Though developed for military use, the new design could have widespread applications in the commercial communications industry.

While most microstrip antennas offer a bandwidth of only 10 percent, the GTRI design offers bandwidths as high as 500 to 600 percent, enabling one antenna to service several different devices that each use different frequencies.

Smokestack 'Sandwich' Researchers at Tech report significant progress in the development of a new, one-step electrochemical process for removing the sulfur-containing compounds from smokestack gasses that cause acid rain.

The process provides a lower-cost alternative to existing "scrubber" technology, requires no chemical input, and generates a saleable product instead of Continued next page GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Research

39

RESEARCH Continued from previous

page

On the drawing board: A computer that talks back? waste products.

The technology relies on an electrolytic "sandwich" that removes sulfur oxides from flue gasses as they pass through the sandwich. The resulting chemical reaction produces sulfur trioxide, which is commercially valuable as an ingredient of sulfuric acid.

The process could be retrofitted to any existing coal-burning facility, and incorporated into the design of new facilities.

In the 18 months since the new technology was announced, scientists have

40

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Summer

enhanced the longevity of its electrolytic components.

They now hope to make further improvements to boost gas flow through the device.

Computer Chatter Which words come to mind when you hear the word "cell"? You might say "biology" or "jail," or perhaps even "computer" or "soft."

These spontaneous responses, known as word associations, show the thoughts, feelings and

1991

memories evoked in a person's mind when it reacts to the word "cell."

Researchers at Georgia Tech believe such word associations could be used to develop more advanced information-processing systems, including userfriendly human-computer interfaces, more effective information-search tools, or better question-answering and dialogue systems.

The scientists believe that appropriately structured word-association data can be integrated with knowledge and belief bases to create human-

computer interfaces that would cut down on the amount of dialogue and explanation that users must give a computer. This facilitation of communication between humans and machines could be particularly useful in computerized emergency control systems, where an appropriate and instantaneous reaction of the operator is critical.

Currently, Tech researchers are testing the utility of word-association aids for information searches, using 200 undergraduate volunteers. â&#x20AC;˘

PROFILE The Science of Environmentalist!!

By Gary Goettling

D

r. Philip J. W. I Roberts almost uses the term "hysteria," but he picks his words carefully.

"There's been a lot of uninformed comment about what's happening in coastal waters," says Roberts, an associate professor in civil engineering at Georgia Tech. "People say the oceans are polluted and all this, which is really not true."

Roberts emphasizes the distinction between inland waters such as rivers and lakes, and coastal waters.

The latter, which is his primary interest, has polluted areas, but they tend to be "localized problems" rather than an indicator of an ocean-wide situation.

"Organic matter, which is what sewage basically is,

is fairly well recycled by the ocean" after being treated, says the Kingswinford, England, native.

Even industrial wastes can be discharged safely into the ocean, if they are properly treated, he contends.

Roberts is hardly an apologist for municipalities and industries that discharge waste into the nation's waterways. In fact, he is an avid environmentalist, but one who believes that environmental decisions need to be based "on good science rather than misinformation."

Roberts brings the science of environmentalism into the classroom, where he teaches courses in environmental fluid mechanics, which deals with the way pollutants mix in different marine environments such as oceans, lakes, rivers and reservoirs.

The Roberts File 1968: Receives bachelor's degree from University of London, 1970: Receives SM from MIT. 1970: Joins Systems Applications Inc. as staff scientist. < 1971: Research and teaching assistant, CalTech.

1972: Receives MS from CalTech.

1977: Joins QI2M 11 i 11 Inc. as ocean engineer.

1977: Receives PhD from CalTech.

1978: Joins Tech faculty as assistant professor of civil engineering.

1980: Receives Collingwood Prize of ASCE. 1984: Promoted to associate professor.

1990: Elected chair of ASCE Hydrologic Transport and Dispersion Committee,

42

GEORGIA TECH â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 1991

His is a very specialized discipline, he says. "To work in this area, you've got to know sanitary engineering, hydraulics, fluid mechanics, and also oceanography. Its kind of a strange blend of things."

N

ot surprisingly, the increased general interest in ecology has boosted the popularity of his classes, which attract some of the brightest and most talented undergraduates in the country, he says.

Roberts' expertise in fluid mechanics has also made him in demand as a consultant for pollution control work. He has performed studies that have led to the cleanup of coastlines in Rio de Janeiro, Australia, Barbados, Seattle and San Francisco.

His consulting work comes back into his teaching. His students are kept abreast of the status of various projects through slide shows and discussions. And since each situation is different and presents a unique set of problems, teacher and students are able to explore new situations together.

"Mostly I work in the design of ocean outfalls for the discharge of sewage and wastewater in coastal areas," he says.

An outfall is basically a long pipeline extending several miles out into the

ocean and terminating in a diffuser section, which is where the treated sewage is actually released.

The design of diffusers, a specialty within a specialty, commands Roberts' interest.

"Most coastal cities discharge sewage into the ocean, and our job is to make sure it's done efficiently with minimal damage to the marine environment," he explains. "With a diffuser, wastewater is rapidly diluted with seawater and widely dispersed so that contaminant concentrations are reduced to safe levels."

Currently, he is involved in the effort to clean up the Boston Harbor.

C

ivil engineers are used to thinking big, but the Boston I Iarbor outfall project is a majorleague undertaking even by their standards.

The largest public works project underway in the U.S., the $6 billion Boston Harbor project consists of several pipelines leading from the mainland to a waste treatment facility on Deer Island in Massachusetts Bay. An outfall, 24 feet in diameter and buried 300-350 feet below the seabed, will extend from the Deer Island plant to a point nine miles out into the ocean. The facility is set to begin treating and pumping wastewater in

GARY MEEK P H O T O

Tech's Roberts: An environmentalist determined to base decisions "on good science rather than misinformation."

1995, and become fully operational four years later.

Roberts worked with the design of the risers which pre rject upward along the last mile of the outfall—the diffuser—like underwater smokestacks.

Roberts' studies indicated that the number of risers could be reduced to 55 from the original estimate of 80, while maintaining effectiveness. At a cost of $2 million per riser, Roberts' w< >rk represents a

savings of $50 million.

R

oberts is chairman of . the Hydrologic Transport and Dispersion Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and associate editor of the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering.

He is also co-chair of the Marine Waste Disposal Specialty Group of the International Association on Water Pollution Research and Control, headquar-

tered in London, England.

Last year, Roberts received a grant from the National Science Foundation which will enable him to acquire specialized laboratory equipment such as a laser Doppler anemometer for studying the behavior of pollutants in water.

"The grant will enable us to conduct basic research into the fluid mechanics of pollutant mixing and dispersion in various

water bodies," Roberts says.

"This will enable us to predict environmental impacts much better and lead to improved design of waste disposal systems."

"Having this state-of-theart instrumentation will definitely benefit our students and Georgia Tech.

Doing this type of work broadcasts Georgia Tech's name nationally and internationally in civil engineering." •

GEORGIA TECH • Profile: Roberts

43

Ramblin' round the world...

Upcoming Georgia Tech Tours NEW ENGLAND/CANADA CRUISE Aboard the Crystal Harmony September 11-21,1991 SOUTH PACIFIC ADVENTURE Fiji - New Zealand - Australia February 13-28,1992

OTHER DESTINATIONS FOR 1992 INCLUDE The Galapagos Islands Great Capitals of Europe Scandinavia/Russia Alaska Passage Coastal Maine China/Yangtze River

FOR INFORMATION ON THE 1992 SEASON CALL:

Gail White Georgia Tech Alumni Association Alumni/Faculty House Atlanta, GA 30332-0175 (404) 894-2391 The Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Georgia Tech Alumnj Association Atlanta, Georgia 30332

Non-Profit < )rganization I I.S. Postage PAID Atlanta, GA Permit No. 1482