History Of Mechanical Engineering
Chapter 7

H.R. Jacobs
1984 - 1994

The period of interim department heads (1982-84) was a productive period, since it gave the department faculty time to assess its strengths, weaknesses and to define its interests for future development. A congenial atmosphere sustained the faculty through the stressful period of growth beginning in 1978. Faculty members had always enjoyed each other's company; they knew how to discuss issues, how to disagree yet retain each other's respect so that they could cooperate on other issues in the future. This supportive atmosphere was recognized by everyone, and everyone worked to preserve it. The acrimony and dissent typical of organizations undergoing rapid change were not to be found in the department. Thus, with the arrival of Harold Robert Jacobs, the faculty was a unified body with a tradition of candid discussions and setting goals for the future.

Harold Robert Jacobs became department head in June 1984. He received his baccalaureate degree from the University of Portland and Ph. D. from Ohio State. Prior to coming to Penn State, he had been a teacher and researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah and for a few years associate dean for research. H. R. Jacobs is known nationally in the fields of heat and mass transfer.

As Jacobs begins his tenure as department head, the department statistics are as follows:

faculty — 30
technical, clerical, and administrative staff — 21
juniors and seniors — 649
graduate students — 140
active research projects (administered by the department) — 66
total research expenditures (1984-85) — $2,880,000
department University budget — $1,900,000

In 1983, the south end of the first floor of the Mechanical Engineering Building was walled off for a turbulent combustion research laboratory for D. A. Santavicca. Across the hall in a classroom an optics research laboratory was created for G. L. Settles. Throughout the 1970s, the use of optical phenomena in engineering measurements advanced rapidly. Computer data acquisition, lasers, Doppler techniques, and absorption and emission spectroscopy have become important measuring techniques in mechanical engineering.

Cooperative research project with Standard Pennant Co., Big Run, PA to design and build a computer-driven stitching machine to manufacture chenilled high school award letters.

In 1984, Professors F. W. Schmidt, R. E. Henderson, and C. H. Wolgemuth, published the textbook and problem solutions manual Introduction to Thermal Sciences. Almost all engineering students in the United States are required to take a one-semester course in thermodynamics, and it was believed that a course that integrated heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics could best fill the need. No earlier books had sufficient rigor, and the Penn State text was the first of its kind. The book was well received and is widely used today. In 1984, S. S. Lestz received the SAE Diesel and Gas Engine Power Award.

In collaboration with faculty in industrial engineering, several mechanical engineering faculty members became involved in robotics and computer-aided design and manufacturer (CAD/CAM). The former Dynamics Systems and Controls Laboratory on the east end of the first floor of the building was converted into a new laboratory for microprocessors and computer vision under the direction of H. J. Sommer III.

One of H. R. Jacobs's first decisions was to purchase a VAX 11/750 computer for the department. In doing so, he made available within the department computing capacity equal to the computing capacity of the entire college up to 1980.

Until 1984, most department heads had served on the faculty under their predecessors. Faculty turnover had always occurred within a large body of continuing members. But this continuity ceased abruptly after 1985. The composition of the faculty quickly changed as members retired, left for positions elsewhere, or assumed administrative positions within the University. Between 1984 and 1986, seventeen new faculty joined the staff-the largest turnover in departmental history.

By 1980, enrollments in mechanical engineering exceeded the capacity of the building and by 1985 the situation was far worse. Once again, the department found itself faced with undersized physical facilities. In addition, the arrangement of space in the building was inappropriate to the instructional and research needs of the 1980s, let alone the 1990s. Dean Meier and President Jordan convinced the trustees that renovation and expansion of the Mechanical Engineering Building was of high priority. Following a tour of the building by Governor Thornburgh in 1983, the legislature, with the governor's concurrence, placed renovating the mechanical and electrical engineering buildings high on the list for capital improvements. By late 1985, an architect was selected and plans were under way to add a third floor to the center of the building (the original 1921 building) for instructional and research laboratories, to renovate the departmental office, and to improve faculty offices.

While the mechanical engineering faculty received their undergraduate degrees at different institutions throughout the United States (indeed, the world), there has been an unbroken chain of faculty members who were undergraduate students at Penn State. From the day L. E. Reber became department head until the present, these faculty members have passed on traditions, anecdotes of colorful faculty members, department folklore, etc., from one generation to another. But, while there is continuity of tradition, the overall education experience of students has changed considerably in one hundred years. Changes in student life at Penn State have been far more drastic than the changes in the mechanical engineering curricula. Through World War II, students in mechanical engineering were a group of individuals who shared educational experiences and absorbed the objectives of the institution. In short, the students were a community. Calling roll in class, grading and returning assignments, small classes, etc., enabled students to learn each other's names. Freshman hazing, campus traditions, the wearing of "clinks," field trips, and group laboratory exercises produced common experiences that could be remembered years later. Today the situation is quite different. A university education is less personalized, and today's career-oriented students frequently approach it as consumers. Since classes are large, students know the names and interact with only a few of their classmates. The community has been redefined as a private sphere of friends in a sea of other private spheres of friends. One hundred years ago, student life was governed by a vast number of constraints and there were a limited number of personal choices. Today the situation is reversed: there are few constraints and a vast number of choices. The department intends to meet the challenge of preparing these students to be the engineers of tomorrow.

As we begin our second century, it is correct to look ahead boldly, devise ambitious plans, and proclaim our desire to achieve national prominence. We must seek the financial support and intellectual recognition that reward outstanding efforts. But as we look ahead, we do not turn our backs on the achievements of the past. Men and women of talent have come and gone. Each has left an imprint on the institution, and each was transformed by the institution. The institution is somehow larger than the collective contribution of students, faculty, and administrators. The environment is supportive, it deserves our respect, and should be cherished. If we are fortunate, the department will be as good in the future as it has been in the past. If we contribute to the department's reputation as effectively as those before, then we can count ourselves successful.

The Penn State ethos remains constant. Our predecessors understood it; the alma mater acknowledges it. In the past, the Department of Mechanical Engineering has been of central importance to Penn State-and it will remain so in the future