Regents Give OK
On January 10, 1941, the Regents authorize instruction in engineering on the Los Angeles campus.

Funding Approved
On June 8, 1943, Governor Earl Warren approves Assembly Bill 1140, appropriating $300,000 (a reduction from the requested $650,000) for "instruction in engineering with emphasis on the major disciplines fundamental to aeronautical science and engineering."

Boelter Named Dean
On Friday afternoon of Sept. 22, 1944, following a meeting of the Regents in San Francisco, University President Robert Gordon Sproul announces the appointment of Llewellyn Michael Kraus Boelter to be Dean of the College of Engineering on the Los Angeles campus. At the time, L.M.K. Boelter is professor of mechanical engineering and associate dean of the College of Engineering on the Berkeley campus. Boelter accepts the position on October 4, and his appointment becomes effective on November 1.

Upper Division Coursework
On July 1, 1945, it is announced the first upper division courses in the College of Engineering would be offered during the summer semester. The upper division work is being inaugurated on behalf of some 25 Naval ROTC men in the campus wartime training program. Courses in electrical circuits and machinery, analytical mechanics, heat transfer and thermodynamics, and strength of materials are offered.

College Opens
In the fall of 1945, the College of Engineering opens with an enrollment of 379 students.

Torpedo Bomber
In August of 1946, a single-engine Japanese Navy torpedo bomber known as a "Jill" is delivered to the College of Engineering for use in instruction. The plane had been taken aboard the USS Lexington in the South Pacific, was stored briefly at Roosevelt Air Station, then offered to Capt. G.G. Crissman, USN, professor of naval science and tactics.

Enrollment Triples
In the fall of 1946, engineering enrollment triples to 1,443 students.

Differential Analyzer
On Nov. 16, 1946, the College of Engineering receives a General Electric Mechanical Differential Analyzer, a "mechanical brain" capable of solving in a few days mathematical problems which would take several years of work by conventional methods. Only the sixth instrument of its kind in the United States, the differential analyzer, with its interconnected system of shafts, motors, and gears employs mechanical elements for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and electro-mechanical elements for more complex functions.

Network Analyzer
On Sept. 30, 1947, the College of Engineering receives an A-C Network Analyzer from General Electric. Somewhat resembling a telephone switchboard with dials, the analyzer initially was developed by GE to study problems associated with power system design and operation. It is the second "mechanical brain" machine to be obtained by the college, the first being the GE differential analyzer, which went into operation a few weeks earlier.

Modern Furniture
In the fall of 1947, furniture designer Charles Eames enlists the cooperation of faculty to develop a chair to be entered in the New York Museum of Modern Art's 1948 International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design. The design wins a shared second prize in competition with 250 entries from the United States and nearly 500 from European countries.

First Woman Graduate
In June of 1948, Barbara Wynn of Cheviot Hills becomes the first woman to graduate from the College of Engineering.

Building I
In December of 1949, ground is broken for construction of Unit B of Engineering Building I. Unit B will adjoin the just completed Unit A to form the V-shaped complex, which will be utilized primarily for aeronautical research.

Tau Beta Pi
In March of 1952, a UCLA chapter of Tau Beta Pi, an honor society for engineering students comparable to Phi Beta Kappa for liberal arts students, is installed and 78 members initiated.

Space Survivable
In July of 1952, Conrad J.K. Buettner and Heinz Haber from the College of Engineering suggest that conquest of space is not far off. Examining the fringes of space, which they name "aeropause," their research determines that men in flight suits, who have already attained this near-space altitude in balloons, could expect little more danger from travel through space.

Electron Orbits
In September of 1952, professor W.D. Hershberger observes the "gyroscopic" path that electrons travel around an atom by using microwave radar to examine samples placed in the field of a 3,500 pound electromagnet.

Cargo Handling
In September of 1952, a team of professors led by Russell R. O'Neill is conducting a wide study of cargo handling to find ways to lower costs of shipping by water and increase the ability to handle greater quantities of goods. The investigation is concerned with cargo, cargo vessels, ship cargo handling gear, port terminals, and work methods.

Frost-Damaged Fruit
In September of 1952, William L. Martin and Richard E. George report development of a device that automatically rejects frost-damaged and granulated citrus fruit from fruit inspection lines. They report that frost-damaged and granulated fruits present a spotty appearance under X-ray fluorescence, and suggest a device with a mechanical or electric eye might be used to detect such spottiness and reject unwanted fruit automatically.

Shear Meter
In September of 1952, it is announced an instrument has been developed that can measure a shear force of 1/100,000th of a pound per square foot. The instrument, a shear meter, was developed by junior engineer John E. Vehrencamp to study the drag effect of air currents on the Earth's surface and its influence on wind velocities and the transfer of heat into the air. The device consists of a round container in which the immediate terrain under study is duplicated. The container is suspended in liquid silicone and drag forces on the duplicated surface are measured by an electronic device underneath the container.

Space Station
In October of 1952, engineering professors Joseph Kaplan and Heinz Haber publish "Across the Space Frontier," a book that is labeled an accurate blueprint for the establishment of a space station 1,075 miles above the Earth.

Air Pollution
The same month, assistant professor Albert Bush begins examination of particles in the atmosphere that contribute to pollution.

Muscle Control
In October of 1952, John Lyman and Donald Skilling embark on a study of kinesthesis, the muscle sense, in a program that will help in the design of controls for jet planes, where sudden forces occurring at high speeds may cause pilots to lose control of the plane. It is also related to artificial limbs research where compensation for loss of muscle sense must be developed.

Pre-Stressed Ceramics
The same month, Francis R. Shanley and William J. Knapp are examining a low-cost construction process using pre-stressed ceramics instead of steel framework for building construction. Ceramic's high-strength properties and availability in inexpensive abundance makes the material attractive for this application.

Fresh Water Aquifer Dikes
In November of 1952, assistant professor Albert Bush seeks to solve problems associated with using man-made freshwater dikes to form barriers to the intrusion of sea water into coastal fresh-water aquifers. At some point, the fresh water will penetrate no deeper to complete the barrier, and Bush is examining use of chemical treatments to remove the flow impediment.

Press-Stressing Metals
In December of 1952, using principles of diffraction, Daniel Rosenthal, George Sines, and Murray Kaufman measure minute spacing of atoms of different materials by means of X-ray. Their research shows that by pre-stressing certain aluminum alloys, their strength can be doubled, which is directly applicable to the design and construction of advanced aircraft.

Metal Fatigue
In March of 1953, research in the College of Engineering is directed at seeking the source of small, unexplained cracks that suddenly appear in metals, often resulting in unexpected failures of aircraft and automobiles. George Sines, Henry Froula and Edwin Bowler report the process is technically known as metal fatigue and surmise it begins by an unbonding of atoms during alternative slippage along certain atomic planes within crystals of the metals.

Early Circuit Analysis
In March 1953, Louis Pines uses mathematical methods developed by 19th Century French astronomer Henri Poincare to predict the performance of compact mineral units known as the transistor and dielectric amplifier, which are destined to revolutionize the electronics field. Pine's studies concern analysis of circuits involving the devices, which must be worked out mathematically before much of the practical development work can be accomplished.

Microcracks In Welds
Also in March of 1953, associate professor Alan.E. Flanigan studies factors that promote the appearance of microcracks in welds, tiny fissures that occur only in the interior of the weld. Research shows that principal factors in appearance of microcracks are the amount of hydrogen content in the weld (derived from the welding arc, which serves as a rich source of hydrogen) and the rate at which the cooling weld approaches atmospheric temperature. Very slow cooling below the temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit induces more hydrogen escape and decreases occurrence of microcracks, Flanigan's research finds.

Reactor Boiling
In June of 1953, volume boiling is under study for the Atomic Energy Commission as a better way of heat transfer in nuclear reactors. In volume boiling, the fissionable material would be distributed more uniformly within the water, rather than to heat a vessel that surrounds the water, during which bubbles are formed on the heating surface, as in a steam boiler.

Doughnut Transistors
In August of 1953, William D. Hershberger is in charge of research to find better materials to form ceramic "doughnuts" (so named because of their shape), no bigger than an aspirin, which are used to replace vacuum tubes in memory units (some computers have as many as 18,000 such tubes). An electronic pulse sent through a wire strung through the hole in the doughnut will magnetize it clockwise; a reverse pulse will magnetize it counterclockwise. In the computer code, clockwise magnetization can stand for one while counterclockwise may represent zero. Various combinations of ones and zeroes then represent any numbers used in the computer.

Better Flight Suits
In August of 1953, Craig Taylor and Vincent Blockley are testing new types of clothing for fighter pilots of the supersonic future who may face cockpit temperatures of 160 degrees or more. Engineers are testing the clothing in heated laboratory cockpits and at the same time examine pilots' resistance to a high-heat environment. Heat meters wired into the suits measure how much heat is entering the suit and whether clothing interferes with temperature regulating mechanisms of the body. The researchers say specially ventilated suits through which a stream of fresh, cool air is pumped may be the answer to the problem.

Mechanical Brains Put To Work
In September of 1953, mechanical brains, whose wire nerves carry electrical impulses at rates up to 186,000 miles per second, are used to solve such knotty and diverse problems as traffic jams, manufacturing bottlenecks, rapid translation of scientific Russian, earthquake effects on buildings and the icing of airplane wings.

Burbing Irrigation Pipes
In November of 1953, Arthur Pillsbury and Edward Taylor look for a cause and solution to the problem of surging in open-pipe type irrigation systems. Surging has been an increasing problem in irrigation systems. The research discovers that vents placed adjacent to overflow stands along the pipes will allow the "burping" of the buildup of air in the pipes, which was found to be the cause of the problem.

Mechanical Brains Networked
In May of 1954, engineers first connect two mechanical brains, the differential analyzer and the network analyzer, to solve the problem of accidental grounding or short circuits in large power lines, which often results in "brown outs" or power failure. The analyzers, located in separate rooms and connected by 100 feet of cable, solve the complex problem in 10 minutes.

Quake And Building
Using a battery of built-in earthquake instruments installed in Engineering Building I and a mechanical brain for analysis, engineers in January of 1954 find that rotation of floors of a building increased slightly the higher the floor, and that rotary motion of the building was about 95 percent of the side-to-side motion.

Fat And Protein From Plants
In March of 1954, associate professor Bruce R. Mead uses a roof-top pilot plant to produce a pound of fat and proteins per day from tiny one-cell marine plants called chlorella that exist in water and need only sunshine and small amounts of chemicals to survive. Mead surmises the process could become a new type of agricultural area, producing cheaply an abundance of vital proteins and fats to augment world food supply.

Halogens As Fire Suppressant
In his other research, Mead suggests that halogen compounds, which are contained in brake fluids, could be effective fire extinguishing agents. The substance, he says, may break a link in the chain reaction of combustion if applied when the flame has just started.

A-Bombs And Forest Fires
In May of 1954, the College of Engineering reports results of a study undertaken for the Department of Agriculture Forest Service on the effect of the blast from an atomic bomb on wooded areas surrounding urban targets. The researchers find that fires started by such a bomb may be extinguished in many cases by winds from the bomb's blast.

Fifth Computer
In May of 1954, the College of Engineering receives its fifth electronic calculator, the BINAC, an electronic high speed digital computer transferred by the Air Force to UCLA from Northrop Aircraft. The computer is designed for problems in aerodynamics, and supplements the college's other devices, the electric analog computer, and the differential, network, and thermal analyzers.

Sea Water Conversion
In May of 1954, it is reported that Gerald Hassler has constructed a device which extracts fresh water from sea water using the selective action of an osmotic oil membrane. Hassler's membrane is an extremely thin oil layer supported by capillary action. It has no holes as such but water molecules can diffuse through it while salt molecules are blocked.

Supersonic Cabin Heat
In June of 1954, Vincent Blockley reports that results of experiments with a heated cockpit and pilots in flight suits determined that pilots can perform effectively for about an hour in air temperatures near the boiling point of water at a cabin altitude of 24,000 feet. Blockley suggests that performance efficiency of pilots be used as a criterion for cabin temperature rather than thermal comfort levels - he notes that large, cockpit air conditioning capacity means added weight and power drain, limiting aircraft performance.

Grounding Outlets And Appliances
In September of 1954, senior electrical engineer Ralph Crump suggests grounding all home appliances and using grounded three wire outlets, which are available but not yet widely used. He announces that a program is under way to equip all campus buildings with 3-wire outlets and to see that all equipment is grounded.