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CHE Department History - Some Old Grad
Recollections
Frederick M. Perkins, Jr. - BSChE 1950
 I
came to the University fresh from the army in the spring of 1948. I recall the
campus was overflowing with veterans and housing was scarce. Women were few and
far between, but the University was taking steps to become coeducational. My
first dormitory room was quite small and had no desks or heat or
air-conditioning. It was in a Quonset hut and was shared by three other
roommates. This setting was not conducive for study, but most veterans seemed
intent on working hard and getting on with their education, so being cramped and
lacking conveniences didn't seem overly important. It was nothing new, anyway.
I recall that we weren't exposed to chemical engineering courses for the first
year or so. Most aspiring engineers started off taking math, English, American
history, humanities, general chemistry and mechanical drawing. Later, we
advanced into physics and the hierarchy of chemistry and math courses and
ultimately into chemical engineering plus numerous engineering electives. At the
time, I thought taking some of those non-engineering courses, such as humanities
and civics, was a genuine waste of time, but over the years I have come to
appreciate that engineers probably aren't exposed to enough of these concepts
and ideas, and most of us are limited in our ability to express our thoughts in
a clear and concise manner. The inability to communicate effectively has, in my
experience, been the greatest single factor limiting the contribution and
advancement of otherwise knowledgeable engineers. I expect that this has not
improved with time since so many of today's high schools do not demand
excellence in these fundamental areas and universities don't spend the funds
necessary to fill the gap.
Our initial engineering classes were, I believe, in a small building called
Benton Hall located in the heart of campus. There were several pieces of
equipment, specifically those mentioned by Andy Stokes
and perhaps a little more, in the unit operations laboratory—crammed into a
high-ceiling room on the first floor of the building. I recall that my class
(the Class of 1951) spent most of its laboratory time breaking down this
equipment and reinstalling it in the Hangar. We learned a lot about plumbing and
things of that sort, but didn't get around to many unit operations experiments.
We did, nevertheless, learn quite a bit about several unit processes and
attendant report preparations, and I don't think anyone felt slighted.
Our main professors were Beisler,
Duncan, Schweyer, and
Tyner— mostly the latter three since Beisler
was busy with administration. I recall that all, or most all, of our class
developed a good and fairly close relationship with the principal professors.
They were all very dedicated and excellent teachers. Mack Tyner was one of the
nicest and smartest people I ever met, and Duncan was quite inspirational.
Schweyer was a ball of fire and seemed to have unlimited energy. He may or may
not have been the smartest person in the world, but he came across as a
demanding, energetic, and inspirational person and he no doubt exerted
significant long-term influence on his students.
My data (albeit a small sample) indicates that Florida graduates of our vintage
were highly competitive with chemical engineers from all other universities. My
brother-in-law, Charlie Lloyd, and I were both introduced into large peer groups
of high-quality chemical and mechanical engineers from major universities
throughout the country, including all of the then big-name ones, and we felt
quite comfortable working with all of them.
One graduate course, introduced and taught by Schweyer, I believe, had a major
impact on my career. It was called "Micromeritics." It covered various aspects
of small particles and was quite specialized and unusual relative to other
chemical engineering courses that I had been exposed to at the time. Because of
its specialization I doubt that it was taught more than once, but, the science
and engineering applications introduced through it were a big factor in leading
me to accept a position with Humble Oil and Refining Company's Production
Research Division, which conducts research for upstream organizations as opposed
to refining, marketing and chemicals. Up until that time, my interests had been
along the lines of process engineering, and I had my eyes set on a big refinery.
But, with Humble, I started off doing research related to various aspects of
porous media: multiphase fluid flow, interfacial chemistry, electrical double
layer phenomena, and the like. I don't know why Schweyer decided to teach that
particular course, but I must say that I don't recall seeing a similar course in
the curriculum of other chemical engineering departments. I am glad the
Department provided special courses such as this one, and in retrospect, it
suggests a good deal of far sightedness and flexibility on the part of the
Department and its professors.
I should also say that Schweyer's book introducing the study of economics to
practical engineering problems was a genuine ground breaker and a big hit in
industry when it first came out. In the early 1950's, engineers that I knew were
not too familiar with project economics and Herb's effort must certainly have
been one of the pioneering publications covering the application of economic
principles to engineering projects.
I had a great career with the Exxon Corporation and retired at the end of 1993
after 41 years of service with the company. The position I enjoyed most was
serving as Vice President of Exxon Corporation's Production Department in New
York. That position had functional responsibility for worldwide exploration and
production activities. As such, I visited all the garden spots where oil and gas
are found around the world, traveling from the north slopes of Alaska, Canada,
and Norway to the southern frontiers off Tierra del Fuego and throughout North
Africa, the Middle and Far East and Europe. I also worked for two years with
Esso Australia in Sydney during the initial development of the Gippsland Basin
in the Bass Strait.
At the time of my retirement, I was serving as President of Exxon Production
Research Company and of Exxon Upstream Technical Computing Company in Houston.
These organizations do geological, geophysical, and engineering research, carry
out engineering and exploration contract work for affiliates around the world,
and operate a large mainframe and supercomputer center principally for seismic
analysis, offshore structure design, and large reservoir engineering problems.
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