Boyce, Earnest, 1892-1986.

Representative of the University of Michigan who helped plan the El Olivar Highway Equipment Training Project in Mexico.

From the description of Earnest Boyce papers, 1953-1959. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34418449

Earnest Boyce, chairman of the Civil Engineering Department at The University of Michigan from 1947-1961, also served as the university's representative for planning the El Olivar Highway Equipment Training Project, a venture initiated by the United States Government's Foreign Operations Administration (FOA). Boyce, working for the FOA, sent many advisors and consultants from the university to Mexico to aid in the establishment of a vocational training center. The purpose of the vocational center was to teach industrial workers, engineers, and farmers to operate and care for highway construction machinery, tractors, farming implements, and other heavy machinery.

The need for such a program was established by members of the Mexican Highway Association who discovered that because of insufficient technical knowledge much of the heavy road building equipment was operating at less than 45% of efficiency and that a large percentage of the equipment failures were due to a lack of proper servicing and maintenance adjustments. Because of this demonstrated need for trained operators and mechanics, technical cooperation in the development program was requested from the United States Government.

As a result of this request the governments of Mexico and the United States formulated and signed an agreement on April 6, 1954, which established the Centro de Adiestramiento de Operadores (CAO). This vocational training school was governed by a board of directors which monitored the activities of the school with the cooperation of the two American technicians.

The first American technician at the site, Almando A. Vezzani, arrived in Mexico to co-operate in the physical planning of the CAO in December 1954, and was followed shortly by Howard Gerrish, who acted as the chief of instructors. The preliminary work was begun promptly with these two technicians working with the director of the CAO, Ing. Luis Rivero del Val. In addition to preparation of the physical plant, it was also necessary to compile lists of tools, obtain equipment, and employ qualified teaching personnel.

Since the CAO was considered an unqualified success the original contract, which expired in 1956, was extended until the beginning of 1959. It was anticipated that by 1959 the CAO would have had enough experience to continue operation independent of outside technical co-operation.

From the guide to the Earnest Boyce ppers, 1953-1959, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)