METALLURGY, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, MACHINERY DESIGN, ADVANCED RESEARCH EQUIPMENT

The first step toward realizing a concept for new equipment may be laboratory experimentation; the second, building a prototype unit; the third, using an operating device in a new application. The photographs illustrate recent ADL projects of all three kinds. 1. For this picture, the bell jar cover has been removed from the zone refining equipment used in ADL's metallurgical research laboratory. Inside the heating coil, the tungsten rod shown here is converted (at 337OC) from a polycrystalline wrought form to a single crystal, which will be used in a research program on refractory materials for aerospace applications.

2. For the Apparel Research Foundation, ADL has developed prototype equipment for automating various steps in the manufacture of garments. In the device illustrated here, the position of a piece of limp fabric is determined by pressure sensors; if the fabric is out of line, a difference in pressure activates fluid amplifiers at the right of the machine, and they drive the pistons at the left in such a way as to position the piece correctly.

3. The Laboratory for Nuclear Studies at Cornell University uses an ADL CRYODYNE® Helium Refrigerator, widely used in connection with low-noise electronic equipment, to cool a liquid deuterium target for electron-beam experiments in a high-voltage accelerator. The liquefied gas target contained in the transparent capsule is maintained at 20K (-423F) by the refrigerator coil.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, MARINE TECHNOLOGY, ELECTRONICS, ELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICE DEVELOPMENT, COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN

ADL puts new technology to work on problems ranging from the investigation of natural phenomena to the development of hardware for the consumer.

1. Here, electrical discharges form a prominent part of the activity of the volcano Surtsey, which formed off the coast of Iceland in 1963. Scientists from all over the world have converged on the new island to study its geology, meteorology, volcanology and ecology. ADL's interests have included the role played by electrification in severe storms, aerosol formation, air pollution resulting from volcanic activity, possible economic uses of volcanic rocks, and studies of the causes of volcanos.

2. This apparatus permits scientists in ADL's research and development laboratories to reproduce, and exceed, the temperatures and pressures of the greatest ocean depths. The equipment may be used to study the effect of very high hydrostatic pressure on corrosion rates, the velocity of sound under simulated ocean-floor conditions, and the effects of pressure on electronic equipment.

3. For a West Coast manufacturer, ADL redesigned a tape-operated telephone dialer to satisfy both industrial and consumer markets. The new unit, now leased to consumers by the major telephone companies under the trade name MAGICALL", incorporates a roll of Mylar tape with a magnetic backing; removable cartridges provide space for either 400 or 1000 entries.

4. For the U.S. Navy's Ship Engineering Center, ADL is designing and programming a large computer system for the structural detailing of naval ships. The system performs all of the detail design functions and generates assembly working plans, summary reports, and tapes for the numerically controlled fabrication of steel plates.

URBAN, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, FORMULATING POLICY FOR GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY, THE MANAGEMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

ADL's planning for clients rests both on wide experience and on the application of such contemporary management techniques as input-output analysis and computer-based inventory control. Specific examples illustrate our work on charting future courses of action: The Corps of Engineers commissioned ADL to develop "Projective Economic Studies of New England," forecasting growth to 1980 and beyond, in population and income, the nature of regional industry and business, and other factors. The primary purpose was to learn how human dynamics may affect water demand, but the facts and figures of our results were made available to New England business leaders as aids to their own longrange planning.

For IBM, ADL developed a computer program for inventory control for retail stores; in pilot tests in some stores, 30 percent more sales were realized on about the same total investment in stock when the program was used to signal when and how much stock to order. Additional programs have been developed to cover both fashion and staple control, to govern daily activities and weekly reordering, and to guide retail store management in setting inventory policy to meet changes in their competitive and economic environment.

As a major user of research results, the Department of Defense fosters the kind of research which leads to new and improved defense systems. For the DOD, ADL explored the origins of innovations in weapons systems and analyzed the management environment in which they were produced. Motivation of R & D personnel by personal interest in DOD needs, reliance on informal channels of communication, and leadership based on professional peer group acceptance stood out most strongly.