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E D U C A T I O N
Chemistry Teachers Visit Industry Pilot institute program explores ways of using industrial experience to aid science teachers
Seventeen high school chemistry teachers from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania met at Rutgers University late last month to test the feasibility of using the experience and facilities of industry in the classroom.
The teachers went through a three-day program of lectures and plant trips related to inorganic, organic, and polymer chemistry. This was specifically designed to emphasize modern chemical technology as an illustration of more classical chemistry subjects.
The inorganic section of the program centered around National Lead's titanium dioxide plant in Sayreville, N.J.; the organic sessions were detailed at American Cyanamid's di-phenylamine plant in Bound Brook, N.J.; and Union Carbide's plastics plant, also in Bound Brook, developed the polymer part of the program.
The lectures and demonstrations held at Rutgers spelled out the basic
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY INSTITUTE. A group of the high school teachers attending the sessions watches a lab demonstration by Rutgers University professor of chemistry Dr. Rolfe H. Herber. Left to right are P. L. Lovett-Janison, Taft School, Watertown, Conn., Dr. Herber, Lewis Marderness, Reading (Pa.), Senior High School, and Sister Frances Eileen, St. Aloysius High School, Jersey City, N.J.
DIPHENYLAMINE PRODUCTION. Institute teachers learn how industry produces organic chemicals during a visit to American Cyanamid's intermediates department at Bound Brook, N.J. Here, Dr. Allen G. Potter, Cyanamid chemist and tour guide (right), explains the DPA process controls
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. Teachers inspect a sulfuric acid-producing unit at the titanium pigment plant of National Lead, Sayreville, N.J.
J U L Y 9, 1962 C & E N 43
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chemical principles of industrial processes. They covered such things as catalysts and equilibrium and how these variables can be manipulated to boost yields and ultimately improve the economics of a process. Later, industrial officials developed the ideas behind the large-scale technology involved in the processes. For example, a Cyanamid official explained how the production of diphenylamine had progressed from an autoclave process to a vapor phase technique.
These classroom-style meetings were then followed by plant visits to see the actual equipment used in various processes.
After the tours, plant managers discussed economic considerations of the processes. They covered raw material costs, plant depreciation, and profit margins. Methods of distributing products, effects of technological advances on cost, human relations, and social implications of the plants were also talked about.
When the formal institute program was completed, teachers and company officials evaluated the three-day session.
In general the group felt that the program was well worth the effort. The teachers said it gave them a chance to see fundamental principles of chemistry in use and a better understanding of the economics of the chemical industry.
Some of the teachers were surprised at the low profit ratios of the industry and the extent of overcapacity. They said that they had not been exposed to this important phase of the industry until this time. Also, in meeting industry scientists face-to-face, they had gained a knowledge of the varied activities in chemistry to help them in career guidance.
One teacher found it difficult to pinpoint the benefits he had derived from the program, but he concluded that teachers could hardly attend the sessions without gaining an insight into the chemical industry that would be reflected in their classrooms in the future.
The pilot institute was sponsored by the New York Chemical Industry Council in cooperation with Rutgers University. Dr. Harvey R. Russell, manager of education services at American Cyanamid and director of the institute, hopes that this year's program will inspire other colleges and universities to try similar programs with the industries in their areas.
Cornell's Materials Science Center Adds Analytical Labs A new facility that will emphasize ultratrace analysis of high purity materials has just been completed at the Materials Science Center (MSC) of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
The MSC labs will establish a leading research center devoted to trace analysis, says its director Dr. George H. Morrison. Not only does it have full-time chemists who are providing specialized analyses for MSC projects, it also has graduate students and postdoctoral fellows working on research in trace methods of analysis.
Among the many ultratrace techniques now used at the labs are activation analyses, made in conjunction with Cornell's TRIGA reactor, spark source mass spectroscopy, emission spectroscopy, flame photometry, x-ray fluorescence, and various wet chemical methods. Thus, Dr. Morrison points out, students at the center gain experience in all areas of trace analysis. They also benefit from their contacts with scientists from the university departments that are doing research on materials.
A unique feature of the new labs is a solids mass spectrograph. This instrument has many novel refinements to make it more applicable for analyzing high purity solids. It will provide electrical as well as photographic detection.
MSC Activities. Cornell's Materials Science Center is an interdisciplinary laboratory set up to promote research and training in all phases of the science of materials. Its programs are supported by funds from the Advanced Research Projects Agency as well as the funds granted by other agencies and institutions for MSC research. Currently, the departments of chemistry, engineering physics, materials science, and physics are engaged in these projects. Some individual members of the geology and electrical engineering staffs are also participating.
Present research emphasis at the center is on solid state physics, with roughly 507c of the present staff working in this field. The primary effort is on physical processes rather than on specific detailed systems. MSC expects to develop its programs, exploiting advances in solid state physics, chemistry, and mathematics for understanding and improving materials.
MSC's broad objectives are:
44 C & E N J U L Y 9, 1962
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