EDUCATION
Humble's In-Company Courses Reach 100 Lecture program enters 16th year of helping technical employees keep abreast of scientific developments Professor F. A. Matsen and professor R. Pettit of the University of Texas will begin the 100th Humble Lecture in Science and Engineering this week. Their talks on molecular quantum mechanics introduce the 16th year of concentrated, graduate-level courses in chemistry, engineering, and physics that Humble Oil & Refining has provided for the technical personnel of its research center and refinery at Baytown, Tex. The basic objective of the current series of lectures, which will run into July 1962, remains the same as in the past—that of helping Humble technical personnel keep abreast of current scientific developments. The program, however, is not the only thing Humble does to encourage its technical personnel to keep up with new developments. The company's Baytown
research center uses conventional methods of keeping up to date, such as providing extensive library facilities, holding weekly seminars, and employing outside consultants. Humble's lecture program differs in one special way from most company training programs, says Dr. J. L. Franklin, chairman of the lectures committee. It is developed and administered by technical people and limited to technical material. No management or economics courses, for example, are included in the program. The program also differs from most, he adds, in that employees have fulltime assignments to attend courses on company time. Normally, the courses on a single subject last two weeks. During this period, an employee's job either is interrupted or is handled by his associates. Humble once tried
HUMBLE LECTURE. Dr. R. E. Treybal of New York University gave the 99th Humble Lecture in Science and Engineering last June. Dr. Treybal's course on solvent extraction was typical of the Humble programs 50
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part-time lecture courses but found that employees could not get much from the courses while carrying a full work load. Voluntary Program. Attendance at the courses is entirely voluntary. However, not all who volunteer are selected to attend a course when more than 16, the class limit, show interest. And when fewer than nine people are interested in a particular subject, it is dropped as a potential subject for the year. Normally seven or eight Humble lecture courses are given in a year, roughly equal to the academic year. Since the program began in 1946, enrollments have totaled about 1400. During the 15 years that the lecture courses have been running, Humble estimates that its Baytown technical people have averaged one course every two years. This record is considerably better than any that could be achieved by sending people to graduate school for six months to a year, Dr. Franklin says. Since only about five people could be spared at a time for so long, it would take 30 years to reach all members of the staff. The subjects for a year's lectures are chosen from a list of subjects proposed by the lecture committee and suggested by the technical staff. When an employee votes for a subject, he understands that he is expressing a wish to take a course in that subject. Humble management at Baytown selects the class among those who have expressed an interest in it. Because the level of technical training and experience varies widely among Humble personnel, the level of the courses also varies. The subject content of all courses is at least graduate level, but the majority are highly specialized—at advanced graduate or postdoctorate levels. Some courses, usually heavily attended by young chemical engineers, are survey courses in advanced organic and physical chemistry. Class members are expected to de-
CUSTOM PRODUCTIOI •IS our BUSIIESS INFORMAL SESSION. Dr. Treybal (left) relaxes during a coffee break with some of his class at Humble's Baytown, Tex., research center and refinery
vote their full time to the course. However, classes generally do not last eight hours a day. Some instructors lecture six or seven hours a day, others just two or three hours. Instructors assign problems and reading material and consult with class members on individual problems or special areas of interest. Humble asks the instructor to give students an examination or writing assignment at the end of a course. Other examinations are held at the instructor's discretion. Intangible Results. Little direct emphasis is placed on an employee's performance in a course, Dr. Franklin says. The grade on the course examination or comments by the instructor do not affect the employee-student's advancement in the company. But even without direct statistical conclusions, good results from the courses are apparent in many areas. For example, employees find answers
to problems in their research or engineering work that are more meaningful and more useful, explains Dr. Franklin. They have broad knowledge of a field, rather than an extremely narrow outlook that may result from research specialization. Extending viewpoints through the Humble lectures has another advantage, Dr. Franklin says. Many technical employees begin their career with Humble at the Baytown research center and later move to a variety of jobs in production, refining, processing, and marketing. Continued training makes these people more valuable to the company later. As for those who stay in research or engineering, Humble feels that if it is desirable to employ technical people, it is also desirable to help keep them well trained. Instructors the Key. Although student interest in a subject makes for a successful course, it cannot replace the
Humble's Baytown, Tex., technical staff has picked courses from proposals such as: Free Radicals in Solution Course would deal with the various type's of solution reactions involving free radicals ... would consider mechanism and rate of reaction, methods of identifying radicals, free radical polymerization.
... And has been from the inception of our company. As a result, we have successfully customproduced such diverse products as tranquilizing drugs and rubber intermediates. We have also acted as interim plant during change over or expansion for some of the most re.. spectedcompanies in our industry. Plenty of room (90 acres)-few neighbors-not near enough for us to bother them-our own railroad siding-s-good labor•. Combine these advantages with the fact that we are small enough to move quickly, efficiently, and economically, and we are sure that you will find it profitable to discuss your problem with us- in confidence, of course. MANUFACTURED 8Y
gamma chemical corporation GREAT MEADOWS, N. J. •
SOlE SALES AGanS
Spectroscopy Principles relating molecular structure and spectra. red, ultraviolet, and Raman spectra.
Consideration of infra-
Fluid Mechanics Theory and basic principles-dynamic similarity, turbulence, boundary layer problems ... non-Newtonian fluid flow, two-phase gas-liquid phenomena.
fisher
chemical co., inc. 3SS LEXINGTON AVE., NEW YORK 17, N. Y.
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value of an outstanding instructor. Humble solicits the services of eminent scientists and engineers who have done original work in the field in which they are asked to teach. All instructors have been college professors except for Dr. E. W. R. Steacie of the National Research Council of Canada, who taught a course on free radicals and photochemistry. Humble pays instructors honorariums equal to those that consultants would receive for similar services plus travel and living expenses. In addition, instructors are entertained officially by the company and informally by class members. The informal entertainment, such as luncheons with one or two class members, provides time for discussions of individual interest and helps the instructor'know the student and his experience better. Instructors are free to program their own courses, building the content around the most up-to-date material available from the literature and, sometimes, from their own recent research. Review courses are not given. But instructors may review a subject during the first day's lectures to provide a basic level of knowledge for the class. Over the years, the subject matter of the lectures has changed with changing scientific interests. Some courses are repeated, such as one by professor J. A. Gerster of the University of Delaware on extractive and azeotropic distillation, scheduled to begin in March 1962. In the repeated courses, the instructors change the content by updating the material. If an instructor has no prior consulting commitments, he is asked to keep information confidential concerning Humble's research and refining operations. This permits free interchange of ideas between instructor and class members. If an instructor has previous commitments, then the confidence request is omitted, and the exchange of ideas is limited.
BRIEFS The National Science Teachers Association and Scholastic Books have launched
