INDUSTRIAL
May 20, 1931
AND ENGINEERING
CHEMISTRY
151
Students' Course at Chemical Exposition Highly Successful The Fifth Students' Course of tlie Exposition of Chemical Industries far exceeded any previous course, both in interest and i n attendance. I n fact, the number of students "who attended the various lectures was approximately as great as the sum of all who attended the four courses of former expositions. I t is rather difficult to compare attendance o f this course with those which preceded it, since there were three successive courses of t w o days each, rather than a single course of o n e week's duration. Some students took t w o courses, a f e w all three, and others attended for only a single day. Each student w h o entered the exposition doors was asked t o make out an information card, and practically all did. Xhe data thus secured have been tabulated, and the cards will be filed for future use. There were three ways in which the exposition was used by students. A great number, mainly from, the N e w York district, and of varying degrees of preparation a n d interest, came for a few hours and for the most part without guidance, without credit, and without direct relation to class work. Some such students got something worth while out of the show; others got very little; and a few constituted a liability. T h e second class included students who attended no lectures, b u t who studied the exhibits in charge of instructors as a part of a regular inspection trip. The University of Pennsylvania seniors in chemical engineering, nineteen in number, spent o n e afternoon a t the exposition. Ohio State University w a s represented b y a group of fifty-eight students, who spent three days i n t h e N e w York district visiting plants during the d a y and. putting in three evenings of three hours each a t the exposition. Lehigh University was represented one day by approximately thirty students. The third group was composed of a very considerable number of college classes, in charge of instructors, w h o attended lectures in the mornings and studied what the exposition had t o offer in the afternoons and evenings. Most of these classes were a t the exposition for only one course of two days, but some s t a y e d longer. N e w York University, for example, sent i t s juniors and seniors in chemical engineering t o the first t w o courses, divided the remainder of the time of these students between the exposition and plant trips, and sent about one hundred evening-course mechanical engineers for one three-hour period i n charge of instructors as a part of their class work. Cooper Union students were in the midst of examinations but a good number attended. It i s obviously a necessary policy to refuse admission t o all high-school students unless they a r e in very small groups and in charge of responsible teachers. -A limited number of exceptional high-school students were admitted, the number, including teachers, being around two hundredIn order to take care of those students not in regular classes, an instructor was provided, but relatively few availed themselves of this service. There were twenty-nine lectures announced o n the final program, which was substantially the same as t h a t published in t h e N E W S E D I T I O N of April 10.
T h e lecturers appeared as
announced, and no lecturer had less than one hundred hearers. The classroom seated one hundred and fifty, and a t times every seat w a s taken and some were forced t o stand. T h e lectures were on a great variety of topics, were suited t o the different types of students, and were uniformly of t h e high standard which has always characterized thiese courses. F o u r of the speakers were editors of chemical journals, t w o were directors of research institutes, nine were teachers of chemical engineering, and t h e remainder were connected with, chemical industry in various capacities. After the close of these courses a t noon Saturday, there was a luncheon for teachers a t the Hotel Lexington. This was attended by sixty-four. I n the afternoon Charles H . Herty made a most interesting address o n "The Teaching Values of the Exposition," illustrating his remarks b y quotations from newspapers relative t o events of recent occurrence. H i s theme was largely the romance of research as represented b y its products i n the exposition. A t the close of Doctor Herty's talk several groups were formed in charge of chemical engineers who pointed out t h e high lights of the exposition. As far as the records go, the following institutions were represented b y classes in charge of instructors, the approximate number of students being given: INSTITUTION
S IODBNTS
Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute N e w Jersey State Normal School New York University Pratt Institute Princeton University Brown University Rutgers University Drexel Institute
26 32 19 36 17 11 47 11
INSTITUTION
STUDENTS
Stevens Institute of Technology 12 Syracuse University 11 Trinity College 8 University of Delaware 15 Wesleyan University 28 Yale University 27 Ohio State University 58 University of Pennsylvania 19 Lehigh University 27
Information cards indicate that a number of other institutions required of their students a certain amount of work a t the e x position, but the extent of these requirements has not y e t beer* found out. AJDout forty individuals from industries attended different lectures. I n addition t o the above-mentioned institutions, the following were represented b y students at the exposition: Adelphi College Alba-ny College of Pharmacy Barnard College Bates College Carnegie Institute of Technology College of the City of N e w York Colixmbia University Cooper Union Dr University Forckuam University Hunter College Lafayette College Long Island University Manhattan College
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyNewark College of Engineering New Jersey College for Women Philadelphia College of Pharmacy St. John's College St. Francis' College St. Peter's College Tri-State College Trinity College Union College Upsala College Vassar College University of Virginia Wagner College
Total number of individuals registered for lectures Total number of information cards made out by students.
552 2347
Dow Chemical Co. Plans Experimental Plant for Bromine Extraction from Ocean Water T h e Dow Chemical Co. and Ethyl Gasoline Corp. are undertaking a joint venture for the production of bromine from oceao water. The Dow Chemical Co. manufactures more than a hundred different products in its Midland plant. I t is t h e largest manufacturer of bromides in the world. Ethyl Gasoline Corp. is a subsidiary of General Motors Corp. and Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, and is now the largest user of bromides in "the world. I t manufactures a n antiknock compound f o r gasoline marketed under t h e trade name "Ethyl." Ethylene dibxomide is used in the manufacture of Ethyl fluid and t h e popularity of Ethyl gasoline has greatly increased t h e demand for t>romides. Under an arrangement with Ethyl Gasoline Corp., T h e D o w Chemical Co. has undertaken to construct and equip an experimental plant for t h e extraction of bromine from ocean water-. A strip of land three-fifths of a mile in width and extending from the Atlantic Ocean t o Cape Fear River—about 2 mileïs north of old Fort Fisher—has been acquired for the purpose o f locating the experimental plant. This location is about 1 7 miles south of Wilmington in N e w Hanover County, N. C T h e plan provides for utilization of ocean water and, after extracting the bromine, discharge into Cape Fear River. It i s expected that construction work will begin in the very neax future, with the hope of having the experimental plant in operation during t h e present year. If t h e plan proves feasible, t h e t w o companies intend to organize a subsidiary corporation and construct a plant for commercial production on a large scale-
Mêlions Receive Medal of Institute of Chemists X h e medal of the American Institute of Chemists was presented to Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of t h e Treasury, and Richard B . Mellon, Pittsburgh banker, at a luncheon held in Washington M a y 9. Frederick E . Breithut, president of the institute, made the presentation, and paid a tribute t o the Mellon brothers f o r theûr vision in establishing the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research sixteen years ago. L. V . Redman, oldest Robert Kennedy Duncan fellow, and Arthur B. Davis, chairman of th.e board of the Aluminum Co. of America, also spoke. Secretary Mellon, replying for his brother and himself, said t h a t "the medal symbolizes t o us your approval of what we have h i e d to do for public health and industry and for the great profession which y o u represent." H e paid tribute t o Robert Kennedy Duncan, who, he said, introduced him to t h e limitless possibilities of scientific investigation, and concluded: W e have found the chemist to b e a valuable guide in the world of business. He has shown us that the use of the sciences and of chemistry in particular is essential in maintaining both human and industrial health and strength. W e have all learned t o have confidence in the chemist and his work. Industrial research today is discovering new materials, new processes, and finding new uses for by-products, many of which in the past have been discarded as o f no value. It has opened up new vistas of what t h e future has in store f o r us a future holding infinite promise as we increase our knowledge of tEie elements which compose the earth and of the uses which can be made o f them.
