Regional dissemination for technology utilization by students and industr

Chenery, P. J.

Erickson, E. W.

English

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FIRST QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT 
ON THREE SPECIAL EXPERIMENTAL PROJECTS 
I N  TECHNOLOGY U T I L I Z A T I O N  
A p r i l  1, 1967 -- June 30, 1967 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19670023689 2020-03-12T11:14:35+00:00Z
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F I R S T  Q U A R T E R L Y  P R O G R E S S  R E P O R T  I 
O N  T H R E E  S P E C I A L  E X P E R I M E N T A L  P R O J E C T S  i 
I N  T E C H N O L O G Y  U T I L I Z A T I O N  
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Contract  NSR 34-007-005 
Period Covered: A p r i l  1 ,  1967 - June 30, 1967 
Submitted by 
NORTH CAROLINA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH CENTER 
Post O f f i c e  Box 12235 
Research T r i a n g l e  Park, North Caro l ina  27709 
ABSTRACT 
North Carolina Science and Technology Research Center, Research 
Triangle Park, North Carolina. 
FIRST QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT ON THREE SPECIAL EXPERIMENTAL PROJECTS 
IN TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION, APRIL 1 ,  1967--June 30,  1967. 
Contract NSR 34-007-005 
During th i s  quarter, the Center began preliminary planning t o  
conduct a p i lo t  project measuring the benefits that  may have accrued 
t o  industry cl ients  and the State of North Carolina from the STRC's 
operation of a Regional Dissemination Center for  new technology. 
terviews w i t h  participating firms will begin d u r i n g  the coming quarter. 
In the second project, the Center's applications engineers evaluated 
t i t l e s  of master's theses from N. C .  State University t o  determine 
i f  they contain technology potentially useful for  industry. 
the coming quarter, a committee of consultants will further screen 
the selected t i t l e s  p l u s  others the engineers choose from Duke Uni- 
versity and the University o f  North Carolina a t  Chapel Hill .  The 
consultants also will ascertain i f  the Ph.D. dissertations from the 
three Research Triangle universities have received adequate dissemination. 
In the t h i r d  project, two s t a f f  members carried out pre-testing o f  
plans to furnish economical computer searches t o  qualified students 
undertaking thesis and dissertation research a t  the s t a t e ' s  universi- 
t ies and colleges. 
publicizing the new service will be mailed t o  college departmental heads 
urging attendance by them and students a t  one o f  several regional 
brief i ngs . 
In- 
During 
During the coming quarter, l e t t e r s  with material 
C O N T E N T S  * * * * *  
I. INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - . - - - 1 
11. EVALUATION OF BENEFITS TO INDUSTRY - - - - 2 
111. MASTER'S THESES EVALUATION - - - - - - 3 
1v. GRADUATE STUDENT T H E S I S  SEARCH PROJECT - - 4 
* * * * *  
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NORTH CAROLINA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH CENTER 
FIRST QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT 
I .  INTRODUCTION 
This  i s  the  F i r s t  Q u a r t e r l y  Progress Report t o  be submit ted t o  
t h e  Technology U t i l i z a t i o n  D i v i s i o n  o f  the  Nat iona l  Aeronaut ics and 
Space Admin i s t ra t i on  under Contract  NSR 34-007-005. The con t rac t  
s p e c i f i e s  t h a t  t h e  Nor th Carol  i na Science and Techno1 ogy Research 
Center s h a l l  undertake the  f o l l o w i n g  th ree  spec ia l  p r o j e c t s :  
1. ... Conduct a p i l o t  p r o j e c t  t o  measure t h e  b e n e f i t s  which 
may have accrued t o  i ndus t r y  p a r t i c i p a n t s  and t o  the  S ta te  
o f  Nor th Caro l ina  from the  Con t rac to r ' s  opera t ion  o f  a 
Regional D i  ssemi na t ion  Center. 
2. ... Study and evaluate t h e  p o t e n t i a l  va lue and p o s s i b i l i t y  
o f  expanding i t s  in fo rmat ion  base through a rev iew o f  t h e  
abs t rac ts  o f  theses completed by candidates f o r  the  master 
o f  science degree a t  the t h r e e  Research T r i a n g l e  Un ive rs i -  
t i e s  i n  c e r t a i n  spec i f i ed  f i e l d s .  
3 .  ... Provide in fo rmat ion  serv ices  t o  se lec ted  graduate s tu -  
dents i n  a p r o j e c t  t o  study and analyze t h e  e f fec t i veness  
and cos t  o f  such prov is ion .  
I n  compliance w i t h  the  cont rac t ,  t he  f o l l o w i n g  sec t ions  separa te ly  
t r e a t  each o f  t h e  p r o j e c t s .  
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11. EVALUATION OF BENEFITS TO INDUSTRY 
D r .  Edward W .  Erickson, ass i s tan t  p ro fessor  o f  economics a t  Nor th 
Caro l ina  S ta te  U n i v e r s i t y  a t  Raleigh, has been employed by t h i s  center  
t o  conduct t h e  p i l o t  p r o j e c t  measuring the  b e n e f i t s  t h a t  may have ac- 
crued t o  i n d u s t r y  c l i e n t s  and t o  t h e  S ta te  o f  Nor th Caro l ina  f rom STRC's 
ope ra t i on  o f  a reg iona l  d isseminat ion center  f o r  new technology. 
D r .  Er ickson and STRC D i r e c t o r  P. J. Chenery have d i v i d e d  t h i s  i n -  
v e s t i g a t i o n  i n t o  f o u r  pa r t s .  Stage I i s  a rev iew o f  serv ices  prov ided 
t o  p a r t i c i p a t i n g  companies. Stage I 1  i s  composed o f  two subparts:  A, 
a s e l e c t i o n  o f  a number o f  cases o f  technology t r a n s f e r ,  and B, a s tudy 
i n  depth o f  those se lec ted  cases which su rv i ve  screening f o r  a p p l i c a b i l i t y .  
Stage I11 over laps w i t h  the  second p a r t  o f  Stage I1  and invo lves  
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n  o f  t he  a l t e r n a t i v e  rou tes  which i n fo rma t ion  may f o l l o w  
from research r e p o r t  t o  i n d u s t r i a l  a p p l i c a t i o n .  Stage IV attempts t o  
measure t h e  economic b e n e f i t s  a t t r i b u t a b l e  t o  t h e  use o f  new technology 
and t o  determine whether frequency o f  use o r  magnitude o f  b e n e f i t  i s  
r e l a t e d  t o  t r a n s f e r  rou te .  
Plans f o r  t he  coming quar te r  
Dur ing t h e  quar te r ,  a we l l - s t ruc tu red  i n t e r v i e w  format  w i l l  be dev- 
eloped t o  make bes t  use o f  t he  l i m i t e d  t ime c l i e n t s  can be expected t o  
make a v a i l a b l e  f o r  in te rv iews.  
eloped as Stages I and 11-A a re  completed. 
be completed and ready f o r  use with c l i e n t s  by August 1. 
The schedule o f  quest ions i s  being dev- 
The i n t e r v i e w  format  w i l l  
The r e s u l t s  
o f  t h e  f i r s t  t r i a l s  may suggest necessary changes. 
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111. MASTER'S THESES EVALUATION 
The purpose o f  t h i s  p r o j e c t  i s  t o  determine i f  p o t e n t i a l l y  v a l -  
uable technology i s  contained i n  the  unpubl ished theses completed by 
candidates f o r  M.S.  degrees i n  engineer ing and r e l a t e d  s c i e n t i f i c  and 
techn ica l  f i e l d s .  A d d i t i o n a l l y ,  an e f f o r t  w i l l  be made t o  a s c e r t a i n  
i f  Ph.D. d i s s e r t a t i o n s  have received adequate d isseminat ion.  
Dur ing June, a l i s t  o f  t i t l e s  was compiled o f  a l l  masters theses 
and doc to ra l  d i s s e r t a t i o n s  w r i t t e n  a t  Nor th  Caro l ina  S ta te  U n i v e r s i t y  
f rom 1915 through 1967 i n  f i e l d s  which migh t  con ta in  technology s u i t a b l e  
n ing  approximately 
neers f o r  se lec-  
f o r  commerc ia l izat ion.  Two copies o f  t h i s  l i s t ,  conta 
1,700 t i t l e s ,  have been g i ven  t o  STRC a p p l i c a t i o n s  eng 
t i o n  o f  promis ing t i t l e s .  
Plans f o r  t he  coming q u a r t e r  
Abs t rac ts  o f  t h e  t i t l e s  se lected by t h e  engineers w i  11 be obta ined 
and subjected t o  a f u r t h e r  screening process du r ing  t h i s  quar te r .  The 
c r i t e r i a  which a p p l i c a t i o n s  engineers w i l l  employ i n  rev iewing t i t l e s  
and abs t rac ts  are:  Do the  documents con ta in  new a n a l y t i c a l  procedures, 
o r  s i g n i f i c a n t  research r e s u l t s  f o r  new o r  novel hardware o r  apparatus, 
commerc ia l izat ion.  
P o t e n t i a l l y  s i g n i f i c a n t  techno 
w i l l  be noted and those p o r t i o n s  o f  
be reproduced and assembled f o r  rev 
Simultaneously,  an e f f o r t  w 
determi ne whether the  s i  gn i  f i can 
rece ived adequate d isseminat ion.  
searches by author  o f  t he  NASA f 
ogy found i n  the  se lec ted  abs t rac ts  
t h e  complete documents w i l l  then 
ew by a committee o f  consu l tan ts .  
1 be made du r ing  the  coming quar te r  t o  
r e s u l t s  o f  t h e  Ph.D. d i s s e r t a t i o n s  have 
Manual rev iew o f  Chemical Abs t rac ts  and 
e w i l l  be u t i l i z e d .  I f  t he  doc to ra l  
d i s s e r t a t i o n s  are  found t o  be adequately covered i n  the  l i t e r a t u r e ,  they 
w i l l  be excluded from t h e  consu l tan t ' s  review. If not,  i t  i s  a n t i c i p a t e d  
t h a t  they  w i l l  be reviewed a t  t he  same t ime  as the  master ' s  theses. 
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During J u l y ,  e f f o r t s  w i l l  be made t o  secure t h e  serv ices o f  t he  
group o f  consul tants .  M a t e r i a l s  f o r  t h e i r  rev iew w i l l  be ready about 
September 1. 
A lso  du r ing  Ju l y ,  work w i l l  be completed on secur ing s i m i l a r  l i s t s  
o f  theses and d i s s e r t a t i o n s  from the  U n i v e r s i t y  o f  North Caro l ina  a t  
Chapel H i l l  and Duke U n i v e r s i t y  f o r  i d e n t i c a l  eva lua t i on  and treatment.  
M i s s  Becky Walker, f u l l - t i m e  STRC employee and graduate o f  Meredi th  
Col lege i n  Raleigh, i s  spending about h a l f  her  t ime i n  ga ther ing  the  l i s t  
o f  t i t l e s .  M r .  J e r r y  Durham, a recent  graduate o f  lJNC a t  Chapel H i l l ,  
has been employed temporar i l y  on a f u l l - t i m e  bas is  f o r  t he  same work. 
IV. GRADUATE STUDENT THESIS SEARCH PROJECT 
This  p r o j e c t  aims t o  acquaint  graduate students,  as f u t u r e  bus i -  
ness and i n d u s t r i a l  leaders,  w i t h  t h e  breadth, depth and ease o f  r e t r i e v a l  
o f  t h e  computerized NASA in fo rmat ion  system by p rov id ing  them an inex-  
pensive search o f  i n fo rma t ion  pe r ta in ing  t o  t h e i r  t hes i s  o r  d i s s e r t a t i o n  
research. 
To a s c e r t a i n  the  bes t  manner o f  processing s tudents who a v a i l  them- 
se lves o f  t h e  STRC graduate serv ice,  D r .  F. 0. Smetana, a s s i s t a n t  d i r -  
e c t o r  f o r  operat ions,  and App l ica t ions  Engineer A .  P. Denmark, decided 
t o  p r e - t e s t  t h e i r  p lans w i th  a representa t ive  s tudent .  
They chose M r .  Stan ley E. Dunn, a doc to ra l  s tudent  i n  the  Depart-  
ment o f  Mechanical and Aerospace Engineer ing a t  Nor th  Caro l ina  S ta te  
U n i v e r s i t y .  His  search t o p i c  was "Selected Modern Developments i n  Hy- 
drodynamics," w i t h  emphasis on supercav i ta t ing  h y d r o f o i l s  and drag r e -  
duc t i on  through boundary l a y e r  i n j e c t i o n .  
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El-. S ~ e t a f i ~  sfid MY. D ~ ~ a r k  discovered t t ; r ~ i ; g h  t h e i r  ~ 6 i - k  ~ j t h  Mi-. 
Dunn t h a t  t he  suggest ion students w r i t e  t h e i r  own search programs w t h  
ass is tance from STRC engineers needs t o  be mod i f i ed  t o  have the  eng neers 
w r i t e  the  search programs. 
terms used and the  i n t e r s e c t i o n s  des i red.  
This  a c t i o n  i s  necessary because o f  the  many 
M r .  Dunn's search produced 429 hirts, w i t h  an est imate t h a t  approx i -  
mate ly  300 were d i r e c t l y  pe r t i nen t .  
eva lua t ion .  
ordered; one i s  a v a i l a b l e  as hard copy. 
f i c h e  documents t o  decide which he des i res  reproduced. 
He has se lec ted  48 abs t rac ts  f o r  
Nine o f  those were not a v a i l a b l e  on m i c r o f i c h e  and were 
M r .  Dunn w i l l  rev iew t h e  micro-  
The p r e - t e s t i n g  w i t h  t h i s  student has demonstrated the  need t o  work 
c l o s e l y  w i t h  t h e  degree candidates t o  p rov ide  the  guidance necessary f o r  
favorab le  and e f f i c i e n t  serv ice .  
Plans f o r  t he  coming quar te r  
D r .  Smetana and M r .  Denmark p lan  du r ing  t h i s  q u a r t e r  t o  repeat  t h e  
p r e - t e s t i n g  w i t h  f i v e  o ther  students, most ly  from academic d i s c i p l i n e s  
o the r  than engineer ing,  t o  determine how f a r  i n d i v i d u a l  s tudent  guidance 
must extend t o  p rov ide  s a t i s f a c t o r y  serv ice,  and t o  e l i m i n a t e  any i n e f -  
f i c i e n c e s  i n  record  keeping and data handl ing procedures. 
The s tudents se lec ted  f o r  f u r t h e r  t e s t i n g  w i l l  come from the  th ree  
Research T r i a n g l e  u n i v e r s i t i e s  expected t o  f u r n i s h  the  most p a r t i c i p a n t s :  
two from Duke, two from UNC a t  Chapel H i l l  and one more from N. C. State.  
Several forms have been designed t o  f a c i l i t a t e  record  keeping on 
t h i s  p r o j e c t .  
An announcement o f  the p r o j e c t  s u i t a b l e  f o r  pos t i ng  on u n i v e r s i t y  
b u l l e t i n  boards w i l l  be prepared and p r i n t e d  along w i t h  a cover l e t t e r  
desc r ib ing  the  p r o j e c t  i n  d e t a i l  t o  departmental chairmen and f a c u l t y  
members. 
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The l e t t e r  will suggest t h a t  interested faculty and students attend 
A t  t h i s  ses- one o f  several regional briefings t o  describe the program. 
sion conducted by STRC pqrsonnel, instruction booklets will be d i s t r l -  
buted and the students asked t o  complete a form describing their  re- 
search and requesting an  appointment f o r  planning the search. The gen- 
eral announcements t o  the universities will be mailed about  September 1 ,  
and the f i r s t  of the briefings will be held about September 20. 


Three special experimental projects in technology utilization Quarterly progress report, Apr 1 - Jun. 30, 1967

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