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I joined the engineering faculty very shortly after the appointment of
Robert Vivian who was to start a School of Engineering. My recollection is
that this was the latter part of the summer of 1958. My father, Dean F.M.
Dawson of the College of Engineering at the University of Iowa in Iowa City,
and I paid a social call on Dean Vivian. They had been active in the
American Society for Engineering Education and were long time friends.
My previous involvement in engineering education included undergraduate work
at Grinnell College, Iowa State College and the University of Iowa plus
graduate work at the University of Iowa, Lehigh University, and at Oklahoma
A & M College. Prior teach assignments included 1942 to 1944 at Lafayette
College, 1944 to 1947 at the University of Colorado, 1947 to 1948 at
Pennsylvania State University and 1948 to 1954 at Oklahoma A & M College.
At the time of the "job interview," I was working full time in the Power
Plant Systems Group for North American Aviation in Downey. The work
continued until my retirement from Rockwell in 1980. My classes were on
Saturdays or during one or two evenings per week. Dean Vivian said that he
had just hired Carl Neidengard and had a class starting in two weeks on
Wednesday and Friday nights in statistics. This led to nearly continuous
evening and Saturday assignments for many years.
Some of the things that stand out in my memory regarding the at CSULB as a
part-time instructor are:
1. We had a struggling school with great promise. There were many students
who really wanted to learn. Parking was at a premium.
2. During one of the first classes (I think it was statistics), an older
man was taking night classes. He was currently working in construction and
wanted to change careers. Some of you know him as Willard Reed.
3. I sketched and prepared a hydraulic laboratory in a quonset hut on lower
campus.
4. I remember the classes in hydraulics, fluid mechanics and fluids
laboratory. There were even graduate classes in advanced fluid mechanics
and open channel flow.
5. I was always happy to have a former student come back to visit and
explain to the present class how he had used the information from my class.
One, in particular, had been on a ship that was sinking and was able to hook
up an air compressor that wasn't being used. He had rigged several air lift
pumps with some air hoses and sections of pipe. With these efforts, they
were able to keep the ship afloat.
6. I assisted in the design and equipment acquisition for the hydraulics
laboratory in the new Engineering Laboratory Building. Some of the
interesting and worthwhile experiments for student instruction were:
a. Several small impulse turbines which I helped design for Fitz Water Wheel
Company in 1942. These were originally dropped to the underground during
World War II to provide electricity for radios. These turbines are in the
laboratories of many universities today.
b. I also designed a water hammer and back siphonage demonstration panels
and a manometer/pressure board that is still in the laboratory today. This
board also illustrated a working air lift pump, buoyancy and critical depth.
c. I also was involved in the design of a 30-foot wave tank and an open
channel flow flume. This allowed the demonstration of wave interaction and
reflection, beach breakers, effects on and flow around various boat hulls,
hydraulic jumps, sub and super critical flow and various methods of
measuring flow rates. The Van Karman Vortex trail, Mach-y-stem and Monroe
Shaped Charges were also demonstrated.
d. I used small wind tunnels to measure the aerodynamic properties of
various model aeroplanes and got results within ten percent of the official
NASA and North American test results using jet fighter models made by
Mattel. There were purchased at a local toy store. The tunnels are still
used today.
e. I also arranged trips on the TOVAN and toured the Los Angeles and Long
Beach Harbors to view the different kinds of ships, and their methods of
loading and unloading. The various types of construction and structures in
and around the water along with the marine growth, currents and erosion were
also observed.
7. I remember classes in Ocean Engineering, especially the surprised
expressions during the first meeting of the class when on several occasions,
we opened with a prayer and explained the dress code for our operation. The
class was from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. On the first meeting of
the class, after explaining flow past curved surfaces and the direction of
the forces involved (as a review fluid mechanics), the class was asked if
there were any questions. Hearing none and since we had completed the
theory of sailing, the entire class went to Alamitos Bay to demonstrate
their sailing capabilities in my 24-foot ketch and five eight-foot sabots.
Both the need for prayers and appropriate dress were quickly evident.
8. There was always a sudden rush of very specific questions during the
second meeting of the class when (after a discussion of forces, buoyancy,
pressures, and compression, I pulled out the scuba equipment and asked for
volunteers. This was a practical, hand-on approach to learning.
9. The trips on the auxiliary ketch were always fun, especially when the
red tide was in full bloom. We observed the change in thickness of the
boundary layer, vortex trails, lift and drag, the waves splitting from the
bow, the way a fish swims, the rising moon, practice in nevigation, and
reading the compass. To keep the ketch from becoming top heavy, we needed
half of the twelve students above the deck and the other half below the deck
at any one time. In spite of the inconvenient times of class, few students
dropped the class.
10. My last class was a real challenge. One of the professors had become
ill and could not meet the class. Dean Willard Reed called me on Monday
night to see if I would take the class on Wednesday night. He said that
based on my publications and work with student laboratory reports, he felt
that I could handle it. He told me it was a class in technical
communications, sometimes called English for Engineers. I agreed to take
the class before knowing what the subject was about. I was stuck but
managed to get through it! I took one day to plan the course, and get
started (especially when there was no textbook). Everything turned out even
better than I expected and I received many compliments.
11. An evaluation team came to evaluate the College and provide
accreditation. I shared an office for several years with the Senior
Inspector and was pleased that I could truthfully report that the student
advancement and quality of education was superior at Cal State Long Beach.
Our students have been successful in industry and are ready for new
challenges. Over the years, they have proven to be real assets to the
engineering profession and because they have a hands-on approach, they are
in demand by corporate America.
Some of my greatest thrills or joys have been to hear from former students
and find out how they are progressing. This is true for all people in
education. I urge anyone reading this to contact former professors and let
them know that they did make a difference.
John H. Dawson
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