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Hay, Allan S. 1929-. Oral history interview with Allan S. Hay 1986 July 24

Title: Oral history interview with Allan S. Hay 1986 July 24

Allan S. Hay begins the interview with a description of his secondary and undergraduate education in Alberta. After briefly describing his graduate work at the University of Illinois and a summer job at Du Pont, he begins the story of his career at General Electric. There, after only a very short time, he was able to oxidize xylenol to synthesize PPO. Hay focuses on the practical applications as well as the chemical aspects of the progress that occurred in plastics research (including the developments of Noryl and Ultem) during his career as both a research chemist and a manager at G.E. He concludes with a bit of insight into what lies ahead in polymer research and development

ArchivalResource: Sound recordings ; cassettes (180 mins.)Transcript : (65 leaves) ; 29 cm.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/78583439 View

Reed, Charles E. (Charles Eli), 1913-. Oral history interview with Charles E. Reed, 1986 July 11.

Title: Oral history interview with Charles E. Reed, 1986 July 11.

Charles Reed begins the interview with a discussion of his family background and early education. Reed grew up in Findlay, Ohio, and credits his high school teachers with fostering his interest in the sciences. He attended Case School of Applied Science, earning his B.S. in chemistry in 1934. At Case, he was influenced greatly by Professor Carl Prutton, and Reed decided to continue on to graduate school. There, Reed wanted to pursue both chemistry and chemical engineering, and he combined his interests at MIT, where he earned his D.Sc. in chemical engineering in 1937. His thesis focused on colloid chemistry, which led to his later fascination with polymer chemistry. Upon receiving his doctorate, Reed became an assistant professor at MIT. While there, he also began to consult for various companies. In 1942, he accepted a permanent position with General Electric Company, where he spent the rest of his career. His first work involved organosilicon polymers and the scaling up of processes. When G.E. decided to set up a chemical engineering department, Reed was selected as the manager. Through the years, Reed gradually moved up the management ladder, becoming senior vice-president of corporate technology in 1971. During his time at G.E., he helped scale up the silicone processes and worked on phenolic laminates, the commercial development of synthetic diamonds, and the development of both polycarbonates and polyphenylene oxide. Reed concludes the interview with his thoughts on the future of G.E. and his experience as a member of one of its Sector Boards.

ArchivalResource: Sound files ; digital, mp3 fileTranscript : (65 leaves) ; 29 cm.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/712066299 View

Fox, Daniel W. (Daniel Wayne), 1923-. Oral history interview with Daniel W. Fox 1986 August 14

Title: Oral history interview with Daniel W. Fox 1986 August 14

Daniel Fox begins the interview with a discussion of his family background and early education. Fox and his sisters grew up in various parts of Pennsylvania. He credits his high school chemistry teacher with piquing his interest in science. After graduating from high school, he decided to attend Penn State University. He only spent a year there, however, before joining the Air Force and became a navigator during World War II. When he returned from his military service, Fox went to Lebanon Valley College, where he earned his B.S. in chemistry in 1949. He then went directly to graduate school at the University of Illinois, studying under "Speed" Marvel. There he was first introduced to polymer chemistry. Fox was married by this time, and he and his wife had difficulty finding housing in the Urbana area. So he decided to move to the University of Oklahoma. There he worked on nitration studies of diphenols and biphenyls, and received his Ph.D. in 1953. Though the Air Force wanted Fox to serve during the Korean War, he instead did research for the Atomic Energy Commission, synthesizing isocorsitrone. In 1953, Fox accepted a position at General Electric, and spent his entire career there. He worked on various projects, including polycarbonates, PPPO, PBT, and the development of Lexan and Ultem. Fox concludes the interview with his final thoughts on working at General Electric.

ArchivalResource: Sound recordings ; cassettes (240 mins.)Transcript : (68 leaves) ; 29 cm.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/77063188 View

Mott-Smith, Harold Meade, 1897-. Oral history interview with H. M. Mott-Smith, 1977 March 1 and 2.

Title: Oral history interview with H. M. Mott-Smith, 1977 March 1 and 2.

Deals mainly with his career at General Electric Company in Schenectady, NY. Early interest in science leads to first (summer) job at age 15, with Irving Langmuir at G.E.; comments on Langmuir's work. Undergraduate studies at Cornell University interupted by military service, 1918; switches from chemistry to physics at Cornell in 1919. Returns to G.E. in 1921; collaborations with Langmuir on, among other work, mercury arc rectifiers (plasma), space charge equations (leading to a Langmuir patent for the thyratron) hydrogen-welding (R. W. Wood). Comments on Langmuir as a scientist and as a co-worker (Katie Blodgett); ideas far ahead of his time: the linear acelerator, the neutron. Comments on Whitney as head of the Lab and on other members of the staff, such as Coolidge (who succeeded Whitney as Head), John Payne and Dewey Simonds (vacuum tube work). Work atmosphere at G.E.; outside activities. Leaves G.E. for Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zurich, in pursuit of doctoral degree.

ArchivalResource: Notes, 14 pp.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/82998001 View