Canadian Chemistry by
S. J. C O O Κ
Plastics technology conference notes educationa and research advances . . . Canadian chemist to confer in Quebec . . . National council is created for quick action on scientific problems. EDUCATIONAL institutions in Canada have kept abreast of developments in plastics. Universities, technical schools, and craft schools now provide facilities for training in this subject. The Univer sity of British Columbia, University of Toronto, and McGill University offer special courses to students, and Macdonald College is teaching plastics handicraft. T h e Third Annual Conference, Cana dian Section, Society of the Plastics Indus try, held in February a t Montreal, dis cussed educational problems as well as technology. Developments in technique in Canada, follow closely procedures used in the United States, and this coordina tion of industrial and research programs is highly advantageous. United States tech nologists and Canadian research scientists find common ground for the exchange of views and research results. T h e work of the plywood structures sec tion of the National Research Labora tories was described to the conference by R. D . Hiscocks, who traced the progress of research leading to the present widespread use of low-temperature urea resins in the aircraft industry. Low-temperature phe nols, he said, display a greater resistance to hot water and are preferred for structures which may encounter warm, moist condi tions. Current Canadian specifications list some 35 acceptable varieties of wood for use in plywood, and the Forest Prod ucts Laboratories have prepared system atic strength data on 60 species. Encouraging results have been obtained with various materials in the rubber bag method. Butyl rubber has withstood 300 cures averaging 20 minutes each at 240° to 280° F., and neoprene rubber has proved fairly satisfactory. On a cost basis, one attractive material is a light fabric coated on both sides with vinyl butyral, and suc cessful cookings have been obtained with cellophane bags used only once. Wartime applications have been largely in aircraft construction. A recent applica tion of curved laminated members has been in the manufacture of stems and keels for 60-foot motor torpedo boats. Canadian Chemical Conference T h e Chemical Institute of Canada has announced that the annual Conference of Canadian Chemists will be held this year in Quebec, June 4 to 6. Adequate hotel 566
accommodation is assured. The institute hopes that, as usual, substantial numbers of United States chemists will attend. National Council Formed A Canadian Council of Professional En gineers and Scientists has been formed to serve especially those needs that call for prompt action on national levels. Mem bership is restricted tο the presidents of national organizations their nominees. Those now p a r t i c i p a t e are: Chemical Institute of Canada, Canadian District of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Canadian Council of the In stitute of Radio Engineers, Canadian In stitute of Mining and Metallurgy, Cana dian Society of Forest Engineers, Canadian Institute of Surveying, Dominion Council of Professional Engineers, and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. Other organizations have the question of par ticipation under consideration. It is understood also that a majority of the Provincial Associations of Professional Engineers are agreeable to representation through such a council. T h e first meeting was held in Ottawa in January 1945. Professional Men under Labour Code Hon. Humphrey Mitchell, Federal Minister of Labour, announced on Febru ary 13 that, "Professional workers will be placed under a special section of the Fed eral Labour Code for a period of at least six months, after which their position will be reviewed by the National Labour Rela tions Board." The professional groups, on their last appearance before the board, proposed the creation of an entirely separate code and organization of a labor relations board to deal with professional workers. Research Reports Active Year Since 1939 the actual physical facilities of the National Research Council of Can ada have been extended greatly. Staffs of the laboratories have increased four fold; the peacetime budget of under a million dollars has grown to nearly six millions and the council indirectly controls expenditures of the same magnitude. In recent public addresses, President C. J. Mackenzie has stressed the importance to Canada of maintaining, in peacetime, research activities on a scale comparable C H E M I C A L
to the levels attained in war, and even at that, he points out that Canada's per capita expenditures still will be lower than in other leading industrial countries. Progress is being made, however. Es tablishment in Canada of branch plants by large United States and British indus trial concerns tends to keep Canada on the importing side in respect to research, since most of these organizations maintain large and well-equipped laboratories in connection with their parent plants. By the same token, there is a tendency for Canadian-trained workers to migrate to centers where opportunities are more nu merous and remunerative than at home. The council's Division of Chemistry continues to be largely concerned with supply problems submitted by the Depart ment of National Defense. This work has involved considerable research in adapting substitute materials to wartime require ments and in developing new methods for producing strategic chemicals that are in short supply from the usual sources. Work is organized in six sections: textiles, or ganic chemistry, paints, rubber, colloids and plastics, and physical chemistry. Army .clothing and equipment, such as shroud lines, tarpaulins, tentings, and blankets, has been tested on a large scale. Rotproofing, flameproofing, and water repellancy have become of particular im portance. Synthesis of new compounds is part of the program of the Directorate of Chemical Warfare and Smoke. Alkaloids from Canadian wild plants have been given continued attention. New protective coat ings have been developed. Evaluation of rubber compounded from milkweed has been done on a considerable scale. Work has been done on electrically conducting rubber for use in propeller de-icing trials. Synthetic rubber research has kept pace with developments. Cor rosion and scaling are being investigated. In physical chemistry the action of light in the decomposition of certain chemicals is being studied. Work has been done on the photosensitized polymerization and hydrogénation of butadiene. The council works through some 20 associate committees and 50 subcommittees, each dealing with organization of research in a specific field. The council operates a liaison office in London, and has direct access to all scientific information in England. The same is true in a slightly different way in Washington, and the council has sent hundreds of scientists to England, the United States, Australia, China, and the Soviet Union. A N D
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