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Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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Page 1: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

* im »

* . j > * — - _ . . . — J i

PORTMAN: "Sftaper OfCityscapes Also Insitle

Tribute to Bobby Dodd Engineers on Engineering Questions of Ethics The Software Solutions

Page 2: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988
Page 3: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

(P3KGIATECH VOL. 64 NO. i Alumni Magazine Summer 1988

S1AFF John C. Dunn Editor

Gary Goettling Associate Editor

Gary Meek Margaret Barrett Photography

Everett Hullum Design

PUBLICATIONS COMMHTEE

10

Page 4

14

18

George A. Stewart Jr. '69, chairman

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine is published quarterly for Roll Call contributors by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Send corres­pondence and changes of address to: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Alumni Faculty House 225 North Avenue NW Atlanta, GA 30332-0175 © Georgia Tech Alumni Association

The offical sponsors of the G e o r g i a T e c h A l u m n i M a g a z i n e

Ball Stalker Boomershine Autos BusinessLand C&S Bank The Coca-Cola Company Delta Air Lines First Atlanta Lanier Plaza and Conference Center Perry Communications Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead Technology Park/Atlanta Wyndham Hotel

Page 42

CONTENTS

Dodd Bobby Dodd dies at age 79, leaving a legacy of integrity, quality and respect. Written by Gary Goettling

Ethics in the Marketplace "One message we hope to convey is that being successful doesn't mean being unethical." Written by Gary Goettling

Portman: Shaper of Cityscapes Tech's John Portman has built an international empire by being people-centered and daring. Written by John Dunn Photographed by Margaret Barrett & Gary Meek

2 0 Engineers on Engineering Challenge and creativity, more than salary, spell success for engineers in the workplace. Written by Lura S. Harrison

T)EPARTMENTS

4 Technote s Promotion, resignation and coffee tasting.

3 4 C o m p u t i n g Finding answers to software questions.

3 7 Research Solar-powered ceramics and fibers.

4 2 Profile Technology's Champion: Melvin Kranzberg

On the Cover John Portman stands beside his new venture, a 60-story office toiuer. Molded by Atlanta, architect Portman noiv molds the city. For a view of the man and the man's view of architecture, see story begin­ning on page 18. Photo by Margaret Barrett

Page 4: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

Dressed For Success.

Page 5: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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For your business needs, C&S has 11 Commercial Banking Centers located throughout the Metro Atlanta area. And for the entrepreneur, our Enterprise Banking department is available to help you set up and finance your new business.

Get a whole new perspective on bank­ing... stop by C&S today.

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Page 6: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

TEJCHNOTES

Stelson Named Tech's First Executive VP Dr. Thomas E. Stelson, vice president for re­search at Georgia Tech since 1974, has been named Tech's first execu­tive vice president by President John Patrick Crecine.

The post is the equiva­lent of the institute's chief operating officer.

The new executive vice president began his duties in July following the retirement of Dr. Henry C. Bourne Jr. as vice president for aca­demic affairs.

Dr. Albert P. Shepherd, associate vice president for research, will serve as acting vice president for research.

c^telson's selection fol­lowed a lengthy search by a special committee com­posed of alumni, stu­dents, faculty and admin-

Thomas Stelson: Help­ing transform Tech

istrative officials chaired by Dr. James Stevenson, executive assistant to the president. His appoint­ment was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in June.

Stelson declined an offer to become president of the Pacific International Center for High Technol­ogy Research in Honolulu, Hawaii, when he accepted

TWICE AS GOOD Alumni Publications set new frequency [f this edition of the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine seems to have arrived a few months early, its because the magazine is now being published quarterly, in October, January, April and July.

As before, it Is mailed exclusively to Roll Call contributors, Georgia 'lech stall and faculty.

The frequency of Tech Topics has also changed, from six times per year to a quarterly basis. Tech Topics, which is mailed to all alumni, staff, faculty and friends, is now published in September, December, March and June.

the new position, which consolidates many of the duties of the vice presi­dent for academic affairs and the vice president for research.

A civil engineering graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Stelson came to Georgia Tech in 1971 as dean of engineer­ing. He became the vice president for research when the position was created in 1974 and is credited with being the principal architect of Tech becoming one of the

country's major research institutions.

During his tenure, re­search expenditures grew from about $8 million annually to more than $120 million last year.

Stelson took a leave of absence from Tech in 1980 to serve in the administration of Presi­dent Jimmy Carter as assistant secretaiy for conservation and solar energy in the U.S. Depart­ment of Energy; he presided over a $1.7 billion program during the energy crisis.

PHOTO BY GARY MEEK

Out-Aping the Primates The first primates to explore the new African Rain Forest at Zoo Atlanta were not apes, but members of Outdoor Recreation Georgia Tech (ORGT), the university's rock-climbing club.

To test the habitat's design and make sure it was escape proof, the zoo

invited the ORGT group to try to climb out of the open-air, landscaped exhibit.

The Tech climbers were well-suited for the task, because they regularly ascend buildings and retaining walls, and are familiar with the "feel" of concrete, which

GEORGIA TECH • Summer '88

Page 7: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

PHOTOS BY MARGARET BARRETT

was used to simulate the rain forest topography.

Nine climbers spent more than four hours trying to scale the imita­tion rock walls and boulders of the habitat. And while "it was hard to get out." according to Penny Jordan, a few of her teammates did locate toeholds and handholds which might be attractive to travel-minded gorillas.

Those problems were corrected, and the exper­iment pronounced a suc­cess when the team was unable to escape from the habitat, Jordan said.

The Georgia Tech rock climbers will be able to put their experience to work again in a few months, when they will be asked to try to escape from Zoo Atlanta's new orangutan habitat.

Heemann Accepts Post At University of Chicago Warren Heemann, Georgia Tech's vice president for communications and development since 1979, has accepted a position as vice president for develop­ment and alumni relations at the University of Chicago, effective September 1.

Heemann directed Tech's Centennial Campaign which, on a per-capital basis, is believed to be the most productive fund-raising effort ever for a public university in the United States. The five-year cam­paign, which ended in June, raised about $195 million, nearly double its original goal.

He also served as vice president of the Alumni Association and co-chairman of the centennial

celebration planning com­mittee.

President John Patrick Crecine said that Heemann "has served Georgia Tech well and will be difficult to replace.

"We owe him a tremen­dous debt for identifying and helping mobilize the remarkable private support, Georgia Tech currently enjoys."

COFFEE DRINKERS AGREE Pam Rountree (left) and Anne Willcox, two of our experts, taste-test the age-old question: "Is coffee better if the cream is added first — or last?"

Good to the Last (Creamy) Drop... The secretary was matter-of-fact and unswerving in her statement:

"If you put cream in the cup before you add coffee, it tastes better than if you pour the coffee first then add cream."

She made that com­ment to a five-cups-a-day coffee drinker who has always added cream after pouring the coffee, and it sounded dubious. What difference could it make?

Dr. Ronald F. Fox, associate director and professor of physics, had a scientific explanation, but he, too, was dubious about tasting differences.

Assuming the cream is cold, Fox said, introduc­tion of the cold liquid to

Warren Heemann: "Difficult to replace.

hot coffee or vice versa might "make a difference in the state of the milk proteins and sugars in the cream and perhaps their relationship to each other and the way in which they affect the taste buds. It's plausible that it makes a difference," Fox con­cluded. "Whether it tastes better or not is surely subjective."

r o x suggested prepar­ing coffee both ways and conducting a taste test, hazarding a guess that the results would be 50-50.

Because researchers at Tech are occupied with such concerns as super­conductivity, microelec­tronics and bioengineer-ing, this area of research

seemed in line for the coffee-drinking staff of

the GEORGIA TECH Alumni Magazine. Any coffee drinker would do for the test, but we went after some of the more criti­cally opinionated coffee drinkers—secretaries,

Continued next page

GEORGIA TECH • Technotes 5

Page 8: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

From Previous Page

Scientifically Speaking, It's Cream Before Coffee accountants, news reporters, photographers and desk-bound directors.

ARA services provided the coffee and half-and-half.

1 he coffee was carefully prepared both ways, but the participants did not know which was which. They were simply asked to try and determine if one cup of coffee tasted better than the other. If the participant really could not tell a difference, there was a category for "no difference." Although there were a number of "I can hardly tell a differ­ence" comments, every participant did make a choice.

A pattern developed early. Our persnickety coffee drinkers were not

splitting their decisions. Two-thirds agreed with the secretary: The coffee in which the cream had been added first did taste better.

After making their crucial decisions, partici­pants found themselves with two cups of coffee (their reward for acting as guinea pigs), but com­plained, "What, no donuts?"

A l a s , the alumni maga­zine, even in the pursuit of refined creature com­forts and adding to the pool of scientific know­ledge, is saddled with a tight research budget that prevents unnecessary frills and requires a hard-nosed approach to science.

There were no donuts for the coffee tasters. •

Thankyou to the official

sponsors ofthe

AI i mini Magazine

Ball Stalker Boomcrshine Atlanta Busiiu ssland C&S Bank The Coca-Cola Company Delta Air Lines First Atlanta Lanier Plaza Hotel and

Conference Center Perry Communications Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead Technology Park/Atlanta Wyndham Hotel

Georgia Tech Alumni Association Officers B. Joe Anderson '50

president Lawton M. Nease III '65

past president Oliver H. Sale Jr. '56

president-elect/treasurer Shirley C. Mewborh '56

vice president-activities John C. Staton Jr. '60

vice president-communications H. Hammond Stith Jr. '58

vice president-Roll Call JohnB. Carter Jr. '69

vice president/executive director Warren Heemann

vice president

Trustees Thomas A. Barrow Jr. '48 Brian S. Brown '50 Hugh A.Carter Jr. '64 Stanley L. Daniels '60 Eugene Cox Dunwody Sr. H. Allen Acker '57 '58 Edwin C. Eckles '52 Jack J. Faussemagne '65 Hal W. Field '51 Frank B. Fortson '71 Samuel O. Franklin III '65 L. Thomas Gay Jr. '66 Robert G. Hill '58

. Brian D. Hogg '61 , James R. Jolly '64 'G William Knight '62 '68

'55 '56

James R. Lientz Jr. '65 Frank H. Maier Jr. '60 Ronald L. Martin '68 Robert E. Mason '60 Jean J. Millkey '83 Wade T. Mitchell '57 Daniel E. Pittard 71 James Richard Roberts III '69 V. Hawley Smith '58 Francis M. Spears 73 '80 William J. Stanley III 72 George A. Stewart '69 H. Milton Stewart Jr. '61 D. Richard Worsham '68

6 GEORGIA TECH • Summer '88

Page 9: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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Page 10: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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Page 11: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

Putting People

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Page 12: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

1908-1988 t l lOTO BY GARY MEFK

The stadium flag flys at half mast for Tech's most

distinguished Coach.

Written by Gary Goettling Illustrated by Tim Williams

X he framed parchment on the wall reads, in part: "The Dodd legend not only embraces some of the greatest Yellow Jacket football teams, but defines the level of greatness to which all future teams aspire. • That legacy of integrity, of quality, of mutual respect, is Coach Bobby Dodd's greatest contribution to Georgia Tech — a legacy that represents the very best of the Geor­gia Tech family, as students, as athletes and as human beings."

Continued on page 12 1 0 GEORGIA TECH • Summer '8

Page 13: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

/ V

Hi ¥ I

B 0

Page 14: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

DODD INSPIRED THOUSANDS OF YOUNGSTERS AND HELPED

Coach Bobby Dodd's Alumni Dis­tinguished Service Award hangs on the wall of the small museum that was his office at the Alumni/Faculty House. Memorabilia of an extraor­dinary life and career crowd the walls and spill out onto every avail­able surface.

His desk is a montage of papers and books, scribbled notes and phone calls to make, letters re­ceived and mail he never saw. It is the desk of a busy man, and up until the last three weeks of his life, Coach still came to that office—less frequently, certainly—because he had work to do.

Trophies, plaques, souvenirs, family pictures—lots of family pictures—and framed tributes from a host of individuals and organiza­tions chronicle his 57 years with Georgia Tech.

Part of Coach Dodd's story can be told with numbers: a 165-64-8 record over 21 seasons as head

football coach, 13 post-season bowl games with nine wins, a 31-game winning streak during 1951-53, and 21 first-team All-America players.

J5ut Coach Dodd will be remem­bered most for the person he was. That aspect of the coach is best represented by the Big Heart Award which hangs in his office. He was its first recipient, in 1978, in recognition of more than three decades of work on behalf of retarded children.

That award says more about Coach than the numbers of a won-lost record. His former players know that's true. In fact, just about everyone who ever came into, con­tact with Coach Dodd was touched by how down-to-earth—how real— he was. He carried an awesome reputation with grace and style. He reconciled his tactical brilliance at the brutal game of football with the art of being a gentleman.

And it worked. He was funny, a marvelous sto­

ryteller who knew how to work a Tech audience like few others. His tales of "Ole Bar" Bryant or the "Georgee" Bulldogs rocked many club meetings with yells and laughter and applause.

Coach Dodd had a knack for being able to move easily among many different groups, but without using a false front. His honesty could be startling, but he was always himself. He was respected for his character and admired for his consistency.

Those qualities are also part of the Dodd legacy. By his example, Coach inspired thousands of young people, and also helped shape the focus of Georgia Tech athletics which to this day remains a model for other universities.

On Tuesday, June 21, at 5:45 p.m., the life which belonged, in large part, to Georgia Tech for

Highlights from the Career of Tech's Legendary Coach

In 1986, when he received Georgia Tech's Distin­guished Service Award, Bobby Dodd — who never graduated from college — donned the cap and gown for one of the few times in his life. Senator Sam Nunn spoke at the ceremonies.

1908 1928 1930 1931 1933 1945

1949

1950

1952

1957 1966 1967 1976

1982 1988

- Born in Galax, Va., Nov. 11, - Enters the University of Tennessee. - Named to All-America team as a quarterback. -Hired as assistant football coach at Tech. - Marries Alice Davis on Dec. 6. - Succeeds William Alexander as head

football coach. -Tech beats Georgia 7-6, the first of eight

consecutive wins over the Bulldogs. - Named athletic director after

Alexander's death. -Jackets claim national championship

after 12-0 season; Dodd picked as Coach of the Year by New York Daily News.

- Named honorary alumnus. • Retires as head coach. - Inducted into Georgia lech Hall of Fame. - Retires as athletic director; Bobby Dodd

Coach of the Year Award created. - Named director of athletics emeritus. Grant Field renamed Bobby Dodd Stadium 'Grant Field,

1 2 GEORGIA TECH • Summer '8

Page 15: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

• M O L D T E C H A T H L E T I C S I N T O A M O D E L P R O G R A M F O R A L L

Tributes to Coach J o h n Patrick Crecine, president of Georgia Tech: "Bobby Dodd lived a long, productive life filled with fun—a great example for all of us! Much of what is great about Georgia Tech—a work-hard, play-hard attitude coupled with personal integrity and loyalty." Vince Dooley, head football coach and athletic director at Georgia: "He was not only a great football coach, he was also a great human being. He represented the highest standards of both Georgia Tech and college football." Paul Duke, consensus All-America and captain of Dodd's first Tech team in 1946: "Coach Dodd changed my life. He had a way of communicating with young men like no one else could." Bobby Ross, Georgia Tech head football coach: "He had that knack to relate to people and make them feel welcome and special." Bill Curry, Alabama head football coach and former Tech head coach: "The lessons he taught were more than just about football—a tre­mendous responsibility to the community, to be active in church, and to handle ourselves with the dignity hefitthig our families and faith."

almost six decades was finally lost to lung cancer at age 79- Coach Dodd. a non-smoker, died peace­fully and without pain. Wife Alice,

daughter Linda and son Bobby Jr. were at his bedside.

Funeral services were held June 24 at Alexander Memorial Coli­

seum. The mahogany casket was blanketed with yellow roses and chrysanthemums. Attendees included Dean of Students Emeritus George C. Griffin, Georgia football coach Vince Dooley and Mayor Andrew Young. The group of 20 pallbearers included former Tech football players George Morris; Kim King; Larry Morris; Bill Curry, now head coach at Alabama; and Frank Broyles, Arkansas athletic director.

1 he 45-minute ceremony ended with former Tech basketball player Josh Powell honoring a request of Coach Dodd's with a powerful singing of "How Great Thou Art." A private burial followed at Kenne-saw Memorial Cemetary.

In an interview, Coach Dodd ex­plained his legendary "luck": "I've always had good people around me and a good family to help me. So I've really been blessed."

So have we, Coach. •

In their long, productive ten­ures, George C. Griffin, 92-year-old dean of students emeritus, and Dodd shaped Tech values and directions. The 1949 win over Georgia (right) didn't hur t in building Tech tradition either.

GEORGIA TECH • A Tribute to Bobby Dodd 1 3

Page 16: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

WIDE WORLD PHOTOS

14 GEORGIA TECH • Summer

Page 17: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

Ethics In the Marketplace Written by Gary Goettling

At Georgia Techs new Center for Ethics, "one of the messages we hope to convey is that being successful does not mean you have to be unethical'

Oscar Wilde defined a cynic as someone who knows the price of everything, but the value of noth­ing. His observation would also fit a current stereotype: the materialis­tic, unscrupulous, self-centered, anything-for-a-buck yuppie. Tele­vision, itself a major-league investor in stereotypes, indulges that generalization with such characters as Alex P. Keaton and J.R. Ewing.

Yet many people are concerned that the yuppie stereotype is to some degree rooted in a growing reality of American life; that ethics have taken a back seat to expedi­ence; that moral values have become expendable in a bottom-line mentality. And events, from insider stock-trading on Wall Street to influence pedaling by national politicians, have raised concerns about ethics to disturbing levels.

^ j K / h a t President Jimmy Car-• • t e r called a national "mal­

aise" is an ancient, complex philo­sophical issue demanding renewed public attention. While individual value systems differ, most people agree that some broad ethical standard needs to be affirmed.

A growing number of colleges and universities are responding to the public concern by addressing the study of ethics.

At Georgia Tech, Dr. Gerald R. Noonan directs the College of Man­agement's new Center for Ethics.

"One of the messages we hope to convey is that being successful does not mean that you have to be unethical," Noonan says. "On the contrary', being ethical, building

trust, building a reputation for being honest and providing a good product or a quality service, caring about one's employees—those are elements that will, in fact, bring success."

The Center for Ethics sponsors programs and seminars designed to provide exposure to thoughts and ideas that will help people to analyze and clarify their own values and apply those values in day-to­day situations. It does not teach or advocate any particular sectarian value system.

Business leaders support Noonan's assertion, according to a survey conducted by Touche Ross. In a poll of top executives, business school deans and members of Congress, 63 percent said they believe that maintaining high ethical standards strengthens a company's competitive position. Only 14 percent said that high standards weaken a company, while 23 percent felt that high standards had no effect. Ninety-four percent of the respondents said that business currently faces significant ethical problems.

Although ethical problems are fairly easy to recognize, a mutually-agreeable definition of "ethics" is more elusive.

"Ethics is the visible expression of one's value system," Noonan says. And the purpose of ethics study, he adds, "is to assist indi­viduals in reflecting upon their value system, testing it and making it a conscious component in their decision-making process—personal and professional."

Continued on next page

Recent events such as insider stock-trading scandals have fueled concerns about business ethics. Yet the question of ethics is by no means limited to Wall Street (left). Politicians such as Attorney General Ed Meese (top), televangelists such as Jim­my Swaggart, sports agents, law enforcement officers and others have helped spread discussions of ethics to all levels of society.

GEORGIA TECH • Marketplace Ethics 1 5

Page 18: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

"To be successful means to be content with one's self, and to buitd a realistic, secure self-image'

Harvard President Derek Bok, writing in Harvard Magazine, goes further and identifies several "basic ethical norms" including "honesty, nonviolence, promise-keeping [and] respect for property."

While Noonan, Bok and other administrators agree that universi­ties can and should play a larger role in the development of stu­dents' ethical values, approaches vary from school to school. Harvard offers courses in applied ethics. Emory University provides ethics training for its faculty in addition to new curriculum offerings.

At Georgia Tech, the Center for L Ethics functions more as a

campus- and community-wide resource available to a wide range of people, in addition to offering an Executives-in-Residence Program whose courses incorporate the ethical dimensions of management.

"We ask questions and stimulate discussion of how a value system affects ethical behavior in profes­sional life, primarily, but in per­sonal life as well, and the impor­tance of its role in the decision­making process," Noonan says.

"We will analyze social, political and economic value systems and how they interact in a professional atmosphere—even in an interna­tional setting, where cultural systems are different.

"You can understand people much better if you understand the value system under which they are working—or even if you under­stand that they are not working under a value system," he adds.

In the advancement of ethics, universities must skirt some danger­ous territory. While few could disagree with Derek Bok's "basic ethical norms," the deeper compo­nents of a value system are charged

with political, cultural and religious implications. These elements, university officials agree, should be an individual's private affair.

"We're not here to make theo­logical or philosophical judgments or to promote one particular set of denominational values over an­other," Noonan says. "What's important is that people thought­fully develop and practice their own individual value system."

Noonan also hopes the center's consciousness-raising efforts are not perceived as merely the latest get-rich, get-successful fashion.

"Ultimately, to be successful means to be content with one's self, and to build a realistic, secure self-image which drives more pro­ductivity in actualizing potential.

"Some people measure success only in material terms. And ethical behavior is not incompatible with material rewards. But there are many measures of success.

"An individual who is not CEO of the corporation can be success­ful—can be content and can look in the mirror in the morning without guilt because he or she is living according to a value system that has been tested and reflected upon and is part of that person's decision-making process on a regular basis."

The personal benefits of ethical behavior also extend to the corpo­ration, Noonan says.

"If an employer conveys trust to his employees and a feeling of con­fidence is built into the operation, along with a recognition of one's faults or shortcomings or potential for making a mistake, then that atmosphere is much more healthy and much more productive,

i "Long-term, that corporation is .going to be much more successful because the employees will have a

Tech's Noonan: "Ethical behav­ior is not the quick-fix way to success. It is a long-term invest­ment, which may he difficult for individuals accustomed to short-term thinking to accept."

better spirit; they will take more of an interest in the job that they do."

The employer-employee rela­tionship is critical, Noonan says, because it sets the tone for every­thing else the company does. "And it shouldn't be a parent-child relationship. It needs to be adult people working together with mutual trust," he says, but cautions that "there needs to be accountabil­ity as well. You can't be so open-minded that everything falls out."

Despite the many scandals that have brought ethics to

the foreground, Noonan believes "society is firmly grounded in value systems."

He adds that the majority of corporations "have a code of ethics that they strive to operate by, and have built reputations for being those kinds of corporations. Many small companies are run almost like a family, where there is minimal turnover of employees, good morale, and where there is mutual trust in working together.

The allegations involving Ivan Boesky, Jim Bakker, Michael Deaver, Gary Hart, E.F. Hutton et al. were newsworthy "because they were not the norm," Noonan says, "and that is encouraging." •

1 6 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 88

Page 19: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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Page 20: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

The Shaper of Qtyscapes Architect John Portman, molded by and molding Atlanta, has carved a successful career and built an international empire by being innovative, people-centered and daring

Written by J o h n Dunn Photographed by Margaret! Barrett and Gary Meek

xV rproaching the city in the early morning as the sun shimmers against glass-and-granite towers, Atlanta resembles a dazzling, modern-day Camelot. It is the prosperous, proud city of a new South.

Its principal architect is John Portman. When John Portman speaks about Atlanta, it is with

passion. Atlanta is the city which reflects his vision, touting a skyline that undeniably bears his signature. But it is also the city of his youth, and its impressions have been stamped upon him as dramatically as his own impressions have been stamped upon the city.

"I often wonder," Portman muses, "if I had been born in Birmingham or somewhere else, would the story be the same?"

In his office on Peachtree Street, Portman gestures as he speaks, occasionally molding the air with his hands as if to give visible shape to his words, as he describes the influence Atlanta has had on his work.

"The whole spirit of the city, which I've experienced all my life, is this optimistic, determined, can-do attitude. Let's find out what the problems are and we'll solve them.

"That's the history of this city, and I think it's the kind of spirit that really molds a city. From that spirit you start moving into the physical form of a city.

"There is also another part of this city. It has always been a city of gentility and charm and friendliness. It has that warm, human quality.

"Perhaps that combination of things has led me as an architect to concentrate on the human aspects, and also to believe, and have this undying, faith, that if I can think of it, I can find a solution. And it all comes, I

think, from the base roots of this city." The human aspect is a dominant concern for

Portman, not surprising for a man influenced by the poetry of Walt Whitman and the philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

"I always approach things from the human aspect," he says. "In architecture, there have been too many cases where people have focused only on the thing— the proportion of the thing, the size of the thing, the materials of the thing — the thing, thing, thing. They gave very little thought to human interaction."

During a visit to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen in the early 1960s, Portman first sensed the dynamics that involve personal interaction with human creations.

"Suddenly it occurred to me that everyone was pleasant, everyone was smiling," Portman recalls. "It was a very happy place. Tivoli Gardens is supposed to be that way; you go there for amusement.

"But it was more than that. There was something about the place that made one feel light-hearted: landscaping, flow ers. all forms of water, lakes, moun-

Continual on peine 22

The first of Portman's trend-setting skyscrapers was the 1967 Hyatt Regency (right), whose 22-story atrium, by defying conventions that such open space was "wasted," sparked revitalization of downtown Atlanta. Portman's style, its seedbed in his past work and its development for future expression, can be seen in the interior of the new Marriott Marquis, another downtown Atlanta hotel completed in 1987 (following spread).

1 8 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 88

Page 21: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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Page 22: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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Page 23: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988
Page 24: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

Continued from page 18

tains, lighting—incredible lighting effects—plus the activities going on and how the different activi­ties relate to each other. The whole thing is kind of a wonder­ful happening.

"And from that, I began to think in terms of what we can do to create, while not amusement parks, to capture those ingredi­ents that people seem to respond to favorably. We, in effect, build that in and give it back to them. It is always trying to understand the human condition in any set of circumstances."

The excitement of a city, its strength, its personality, its character, comes from its people, Portman says. "I think this city has had a tradition of being very pro­gressive, of being able to deal with hardship. It's the only city in this country that has ever been destroyed by war. Out of those roots come a strength and character that has become part and parcel of the tradition of this city.

"I start from the human base and move to other things, but you have to understand a city from its human base.

"And if you analyze it, this is a city of ideas. Great things have come from this city—the whole civil rights movement, of course, was born in this city, which is perhaps the most profound thing to happen in this century anywhere in the world."

"The greatest treasure we have in Atlanta is the whole feeling that conies from the people"

P .ortman, 64, has lived most of his life in Atlanta.

He attended the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the Navy during World War II. He returned to Atlanta, attended Georgia Tech and received his degree in architecture in 1950.

"The whole Georgia Tech experience has certainly had an effect on the way I work and the way I think," Portman says. "Georgia Tech really taught me disci­pline more than anything else. And being able to analyze problems, understand what it1 takes to get a project done and that time is an important factor."

Portman spent a three-year apprenticeship with

22 GEORGIA TECH • Summer '88

Stevens & Wilkinson before opening his own firm in 1953-Three years later, he went into a partnership with H. Griffith Edwards to form Edwards & Portman Architects. After Ed­wards retired in 1968, the firm became known as John Portman & Associates.

From its Atlanta headquarters, John Portman & Associates now serves as the flagship for an or­ganization of 10 companies with more than 800 employees.

Portman's projects are world-wide and include Marina Square in Singapore, Shanghai Centre in Shanghai and Embarcadero Center in San Francisco.

It was in the late 1950s when Portman had an idea that became the cornerstone for the revitalization of a dying downtown Atlanta. It started with the renovation of a downtown parking garage.

Portman saw the potential of an exhibition hall which would allow wholesalers in the fast-growing furniture industry to display merchandise to retailers. Reasoning that Atlanta was the ideal location for such a facility, he leased 400,000 square feet of the Belle Isle Parking Garage, now the location of the Georgia-Pacific Center, and opened the Merchandise Mart in January 1957.

Its success began the rejuvenation of a downtown which had been experiencing the flight of offices and businesses to the suburbs.

"We grew from the old building to a new building of a million square feet," Portman recalls. The Mer­chandise Mart had also expanded to include furniture, carpets, apparel and gifts.

Within five years, it doubled in size. In 1967, Portman's Hyatt Regency Atlanta Hotel

introduced a whole new concept in hotel design. The blue-domed Hyatt Regency had a 22-story atrium, bubble-glass elevators, and a surprisingly inviting inte­rior. It brought excitement to downtown Atlanta, attracting other hotels and office buildings. Two of those hotels were Portman projects, the 73-story Westin Peachtree Plaza, which opened in 1976, and the 50-story Atlanta Marriott Marquis (1985).

Continued on page 24

Page 25: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

yiEWdPaiivf

Post-Modernism And the Future Of Architecture Architecture is currently in a "state of confusion" and lacks "a clear, concise sense of direction," accord­ing to John Portman, one of the most celebrated and controversial architects of the past 30 years.

"Modern architecture has turned its back on history," Portman states. "Post-modern architecture has turned its back on the future."

In the aftermath of World War II, Portman says, the goal of modern architecture was "to build the most for the least and do it quickly." Modern architecture, he adds, reflectes a minimal style, embracing the philosophy "less is more."

JL he modern style was shaken by the social criticism of the '60s, he says, and emerging post-modern architecture was influenced by the insecurities of the time and a "fear of the future."

"Out of this came what I call post-modernism, what to me is a pessimistic architecture," Portman says. "It is negative architecture because it is nostalgia; it's looking over one's shoulder to past periods when things were different, life­styles were different, things were calmer. It's sort of grafting that onto our society."

Atlanta's most prominent ex­ample of post-modern architecture is the IBM Tower, an 825-foot, 50-story granite-sheathed structure located in Midtown. The tower, designed by the New York firm of John Burgee Architects in concert with Philip Johnson, is crowned with a copper pyramid and 24-karat gold-leaf cupola.

"This whole business of nostal­gia and bringing historical forms

Portman's model Atlanta: "You can't reject the past — or the future."

back, and building sandcastles with sunny tops, relates to this fear of the future," Portman says.

"We have to say: 'Look, reality is that here we are living in the latter stages of the 20th century.'

"You can't turn your back on the past. You can't reject the present. And you can't reject the future. It's a melding of these things that we have to now do and come forward with a new philosophy and a new approach and a strong sense of direction for architecture."

l o r t m a n has announced plans to build a 60-story office building in downtown Atlanta, which at 842 feet would be the tallest in the Southeast (see cover). A gray glass and granite structure, it will have a crown of gray glass cubes which would be lighted from within, creating a glow at night. Portman calls its style "post-post-modern."

"What does it mean?" Portman asks rhetorically. "It means we have taken some things from the past in recognition of how the tower is built." The Portman tower will have a base, a mid-section, and termi­

nate with a top, all of which are based on historical precedents.

"When you think about it, every­thing has to have a beginning, a middle and an end," Portman says, noting that one of the complaints about modern architecture is that it can resemble a "piece of salami that was sliced off' with only a middle, no beginning or end.

"I think each section of the building has to relate to its func­tion," Portman says.

ML unction is vital and should be pragmatic, not a "tour-de-force that doesn't work." Portman is unwilling to "throw function out for the sake of some preconceptual form."

Portman agrees that criticism of modern buildings being chopped-off without a "termination" has some validity. "The top of an object should somehow say, 'This is the end.' Like a good sentence, you have a period."

Architecture should recognize "the past, present and the future," Portman concludes. "I hope it is a future that adds to greater human enrichment." •

GEORGIA TECH • Portman: Atlanta's Architect 2 3

Page 26: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

Continued from page 22

Atlanta Apparel Mart opened in 1979- The Merchandise Mart and Apparel Mart are part of Portman's Atlanta Market Center, which includes the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center and Inforum, a nine-story technology marketing and convention center to open in September 1989 (see story, opposite).

Portman's newest project announced is a $300-million, 60-story office tower, which at 842 feet will be the tallest building in the Southeast. Water at its granite base will create the impression that the build­ing is surrounded by a moat. Pavilion entranceways will cross waterways; retail shops will open to the sidewalk.

Construction of Portman's tower is scheduled to begin early in 1989 for completion within 30 months.

When announcing the building in May, Portman told the media, "This building is a culmination, but not an end, a pivotal point because the central city for the next 10 years is going to be where the action occurs— the only place where the infrastructure is in place."

"A good architect tries to understand the

human condition in any set of

circumstances"

XJLtlar

JLhe le Atlanta skyline is changing, displaying the influence and vitality of other dynamic architects. But Portman's contributions are an integral part of the city and his influence continues to be a strong force.

Time is important to Portman. He is a man who walks down escalators and seizes moments waiting on elevators to tend business.

But he also makes time. He enjoys working at the drafting table, something he tries to do every day. Although chairman and CEO of an international archi­tectural, development and engineering empire, Port-man still finds the most pleasure in the "creative" process: "That is what makes it all worthwhile."

Portman says he did not have early ambitions to build a world-wide company: "It just evolved. I don't try to preordain anything.

"I just keep on keeping on." •

nta Market Center is not so much a tribute to John Portman the architect and devel­oper as it is to John Portman the businessman.

Inforum, a marketing and con­vention center for the technology industry, will almost certainly add to the luster of Portman's acumen as a businessman. It could also make Atlanta the nation's market center for high technology.

A $150-million, nine-story facility scheduled to open in September 1989, Inforum is a

joint venture between the Portman Companies and Equitable Real Estate Investment Management Inc.,and is being developed as part of the Atlanta Market Center. Unlike the other mart facilities, which are open only to trade clientele, Inforum will be open to the business public.

Inforum will have 1.5 million square feet, including 600,000 square feet of permanent showroom space where companies in the information industry will market their products, and more than 166,000 square feet of exhibition and meeting space.

"We have approached this from the standpoint of marketing, and not real estate," explains Portman. "That is the key to our success in the market industry. We are first a marketing company; real estate happens to be the tool we use."

Inforum will follow the success tract Portman has already paved, but with innovations.

Inforum has already formed a unique alliance with Georgia Tech that Tech President John Patrick Crecine calls "a prime example of the cooperation that exists between the public and private sectors in Atlanta." Tech will provide symposiums and continuing educa­tion programs at Inforum.

"We have discovered in this industry that there are a tremendous number of businesses that could use products, but they are skeptical," says Portman. Infor­mation technology is "a big mystery" to many firms under the misconception that to use it "you've got to be an engineer."

"There is a huge untapped market," Portman

2 4 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 88

Page 27: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

Inforum A new partnership with Tech adds luster and promise to Portman's market for the technology industry

believes. "Inforum will provide the bridge that breaks down those barriers. We plan to have all kinds of educational programs."

Tech's alliance with Inforum will be mutu­ally beneficial, Crecine adds.

"Through symposiums and continuing educational programs that will be held at Info­rum, Georgia Tech's educational experience and expertise will be visible to thousands of business people who look for technology solutions,' Crecine says.

"I'm confident this will result in an expan­sion of our continuing education programs within the business community.

"Inforum will benefit by being able to provide its visitors with unbiased technology education, and its showroom owners with access to yet another group of highly qualified prospects, Crecine says.

T •he alliance is exploring plans for creating a computer network that will link In­forum showrooms and meeting and conven­tion facilities with Georgia Tech's advanced data connection network. "For Georgia Tech, this is a tremendous opportunity to make additional contacts with information and telecommuni­cations manufacturers and vendors that could result in research contracts and enhance our visibility within the industry"." Crecine explains.

This fall Georgia Tech will begin a quarterly sympo­sium series, "Technologies that Shape Our World." The series is designed for professionals in business, govern­ment and education, according to Dr. Clifford Bragdon, associate vice president for academic affairs and director of the educational extension program.

While some market centers providing similar services in other regions have had difficulties getting established. Portman is confident that "the time is right" for Inforum.

"'We have studied the industry and we believe in the mart concept," Portman says. "We've been very successful in all of the other industries and we think we know how to make that bridge from manufacturer

When completed in 1989, Inforum will have the potential to make Atlanta a center for the high-tech industry.

to retailer. We think we can do it in the most efficient and most economical way."

The Atlanta Market Center serves 40 million people, Portman says. He pauses. "You know, 40 million people is twice the population of Canada."

The technology industry is the "industry of the future," Portman says. Atlanta is becoming a high technology market center, and Inforum can "become the marketing center for the Southeast, and perhaps even the country."

Inforum will have a substantial impact on Atlanta's economy, according to an economic study by Dr. William Schaffer, professor of economics at Tech. It is expected to generate 750 jobs and $160 million in income and attract 285,000 visitors a year.

"We don't wait for things to happen," Portman says. "We make things happen. It's that whole attitude that really is the foundation of our success." •

GEORGIA TECH • Portman's Inforum 2 5

Page 28: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

Engineers on Engineering Written by Lura S. Harr ison Photographed by Gary Meek Graphics by Rod Russell

EDITOR'S NOTE: In 1987, Experienced Engineer magazine polled its 70,000 readers on the elements of job satisfaction: job attributes, characteristics of the ideal employer and sources of information on the engieering market. Results of the survey are reprinted with permission o/Experienced Engineer.

Engineers speak forcefully about their hunger for challenge and creativity in the workplace. They see themselves as creative people in search of employers with imagination and

willingness to support them. Coupled with that illuminating and consistent

finding is the fact that most engineers are generally satisfied with their jobs. Of the 1,262 who responded to the questionnaire in Experienced Engineer maga­zine, 70 percent describe themselves as satisfied and 39 percent as very or extremely satisfied. Overwhelm­ingly, they see the quality of their work as the key to happiness in the workplace.

Asked to rank 16 factors in degree of importance to finding job satisfaction, respondents cited challenge,

INCOME 60

50 J Job changers

J Non-changers

<S20.000 $20,000- $30,000- $40,000- $50,000- $60,000- $70,i $29,999 $39,999 $49,999 $59,999 $69,999 $79.

2 6 GEORGIA TECH • Summer

advancement opportunities, independence and nature of the work as the top four priorities. The same attitude is reflected in descriptions of the ideal em­ployer whose most important characteristic, according to respondents, is encouraging creativity in employees. Fittingly, the main reason most left the last job was to accept more challenging work with a new employer.

Both those engineers who are "extremely satisfied" with their jobs and those who are "not satisfied" with their jobs tend to cite similar factors about what makes their jobs satisfying. Many from both groups agree on the qualities that characterize an ideal employer. There are, however, subtle differences in values between those who have changed jobs at least once and engineers who have held the same job since graduation (18.5 percent of all respondents). Sixty-four percent of the latter group have been with the same company four years or more.

Who Participated The extent of interdisciplinary participation in this survey is noteworthy. Engineers describe their special­

ties as: electrical (48 percent), other (22 percent), mechanical (14 percent), civil (9 percent), chemical (4 percent), industrial (2.5 percent) and manufactur­ing (.5 percent). Most who checked the "other" box further identify their fields as computer science or aerospace.

Men are 80 percent of participants and women, a surprisingly large 20 percent. (See accompanying article, "Women Ready For A Change.") The 25 to 34 age group of all survey participants is the most heavily represented at a little under two-thirds; followed by 35-44 (19 per­cent); 18-24 (7 percent); 45-54 (6.7 percent); 55-64 (3 percent) and over 65 (.3 percent). Engineers who have never changed jobs and women are more heavily concentrated in the 18 to 24 age group.

Married participants outnumber singles by nearly two to one, 62 percent to 38 percent. Respondents who have

Continued on page 28

ooo-,999

$80,000 +

Page 29: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

4 4 My job satisfaction is derived

from meeting the rigorous standards demanded by my

company and the government It is knowing I'm building

a quality product.** Arthur Evans, EE '83 Quality Assurance Engineer

Hayes Microcomputer Products

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Page 30: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

l o engineers, quality and variety of work are more important than salary or benefits.

never changed jobs are more likely to be single than married.

Nearly 97 percent of all respondents hold degrees. The most prevalent is the B.S., earned by 54 percent. Of the respondents with master's degrees, 29 percent have a M.S. while a surprisingly low three percent hold the M.E.E. Ph.D.s accounted for 4.5 percent. Nearly five percent of those surveyed earned the M.B.A. degree.

Income of the survey participants is most frequently distributed between $30,000-$59,999 with 79 percent earning wages in this bracket—64 percent of those be­tween $30,000 and $49,999. Engineers who have

never changed jobs—who tend to be younger than other respondents—most frequently earn between $20,000 and $39,999. Job changers begin to signifi­cantly outearn non-changers in the $50,000-$59,999 range. (See "Income" chan.)

Geographically, respondents are concentrated in the West (35 percent) and Northeast (28 percent), in both cases slightly higher than the national percentage of engineers in the region, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The South and Southwest were slightly underrepresented in the survey.

MOST IMPORTANT JOB SATISFACTION FACTORS Ranking

i 1 Percentile

Overall Job

changers Non-

changers

f f l Challenge 1 1 1 9 0 %

Advancement opportunit ies

Independence

Nature ot work

Salary

Recognition

Respect

Location

Decision making authori ty

Benefits

Co-workers

Technical reputation ot company

Reputat ion as employer

Cont inuing education

Flexible hours

Profit sharing

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

3

2

4

5

6

7

9

8

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

2

4

3

6

5

7

8

11

9

10

12

13

14

15

16

8 0 %

8 0 %

7 0 %

7 0 %

7 0 %

7 0 %

6 0 %

6 0 %

6 0 %

5 0 %

4 0 %

4 0 %

4 0 %

4 0 %

2 0 %

Quality of Work When asked to rate the factors which give them job satisfaction, engineers emphasize substance, or quality of work over image or reputation. (See "Job Satisfaction" chart.) Salary, often regarded as the main interest of engineers, ranked fifth. Benefits and other compensation factors received unexpectedly low rankings.

According to Mosetta Blackmon, manager of employment and employee Siervices at Mitre-Wash­ington Center, a not-for-profit or­ganization that does research for the government, this is not surpris­ing. "Challenge and variety are very important to engineers. We support numerous clients in the government, with different needs and different projects. Our struc­ture allows an engineer to change jobs without changing companies."

To those who have never changed jobs advancement oppor­tunity is significantly more impor­tant; 89 percent rated it "very" or "extremely important," compared with 81 percent of those who have changed jobs.

Decision-making authority is much more important to job

2 8 GEORGIA TECH • Summer '88

Page 31: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IDEAL EMPLOYER

100

90

80

70 changers (68 percent) than non-changers (6l percent). 'Extremely satisfied" workers were most likely to rate decision-making au­thority, the value of co­workers and technical reputation as "ex­tremely important." Similarly, workers least satisfied were most likely to rate respect and recognition as "ex­tremely important."

Technical reputation and the reputation of the company as an employer received low ratings as a reason for job satisfaction.

Still, bell Aerospace Textron is one com­pany that attracts top engineers largely based on its reputation. Employment Manager Dave Pearl says, "Bell is a small company but we work for many larger companies in the industry and engineers know us through these associations. They're attracted by the state-of-the-art work that we do. Once we attract them, we don't lose them. Engineers find job satisfaction here because they're not locked into programs with no end in sight. Bell has stayed lean which means that engi­neers get moved around by necessity, working on new contracts, new programs and new challenges."

Engineers that have not changed jobs place more emphasis on reputation; technical reputation is rated "very" or "extremely important" by a little over half of non-changers, compared with a little under half of job changers and employer reputation 51 percent to 45 percent.

60

50

40

30

20

10

Creativity Job stability

Complete project

involvement

High visibility

Diverse projects

Fast pace

Managed by engineers

Exacting standards

Clear cut authority

Large size

Employer Attributes The ideal employer, say survey participants, encour­ages creativity, project involvement from start to finish

and high visibility via small workgroups. (See "What Makes The Ideal Employer?" chart.) Mosetta Blackmon believes Mitre meets these criteria.

"Engineers are attracted to Mitre by the opportunity to test their theories. Whether they're new graduates or engineers who have gotten hands-on experience at other firms, they have formed opinions about how things work. Here they get the opportunity to put them to the test."

Responding to the rating of large size as an ideal attribute by only five percent, she adds, "In smaller companies information flow is . vertical; you can talk to anybody, not just

your peers, but your peers' bosses." The most surprising finding is that being managed

by engineers is rated "very important" by less than half of respondents. Paul Jensen, however, views the engi­neering-driven environment of MPC as essential. "This is a very hands-on environment. Our engineers are product-oriented; they want to design it, build it,

Continued on next page

GEORGIA TECH • Engineers on Engineering 2 9

Page 32: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

1 he "ideal employer" encourages creativity, involvement and visibility.

debug it and experiment with it to see if it will work. Their managers began here as engineers, so they know their bosses will relate to what they enjoy doing."

Of all the participants, close to three quarters ranked job stability as the second ideal employer char­acteristic. But to the non-job changer (81.5 percent) it is more highly rated than with those who change jobs (71 percent). Interestingly, the second most common reason for the last job change made by respondents was layoffs. Complete project involvement is the most highly valued attribute by those most satisfied, rigid lines of authority, the least. As the degree of job satis­faction rises for respondents, so, does the importance of a fast pace.

Reasons for Change Whether an engineer has made one or three job changes in his or her career, the single most common reason for the last job change was to accept more challenging work. (See "Reasons For Leaving" chart.)

Paul Jensen says, "Engineers generally change jobs for one of two reasons; they feel a need to get more involved with the product technology or they want to move into management. Companies need a structure in place that provides the flexibility to support their

progress. Frustration results when they are blocked. If they can't find satisfaction internally, engineers look elsewhere."

The high (fourth place) ranking of non-work-related issues was unpredicted. Among those who have made one job change, challenging work was the leading reason (27 percent), followed by salary increase (15.5 percent) and non-work-related reasons (11.5 percent). Those with two changes left for more challenging work (32 percent), due to layoffs (12 percent) and for educational opportunity (9 percent).

Among those who had made three changes, reasons for the last were challenging work (26 percent), layoffs (15 percent) and promotions (10 percent).

Job changes have been made by 81.5 percent of the survey respondents but sparingly—42 percent have made one change, 22 percent two and 17 percent three. Layoffs were the reason 11.5 percent made their last change. Twenty-four percent of job

changers stayed with their first employer after gradu­ation four to seven years, and 26 percent have been with their present employers four to seven years. Conversely, 54 percent of job changers have been with their current employers three years or less, and 64 percent stayed in their first job three years or less.

Continued on page 32

REASONS FOR LEAVING LAST JOB

Page 33: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

j

44 7/it' ideal employer provides

workers with challenging job opportunities. My

company's ideal because it treats employees

as well as it treats customers. 5 J

Mary Kathleen Murphy, CE '83 Sales Representative

U.S.Gypsum

GEORGIA TECH • Engineers on Engineering 3 1

Page 34: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

Southeastern engineers are among the most willing to move "for a better job.

Willingness to Relocate Results from the question, "How willing are you to relocate out of state for a better job offer?" showed that willingness to move is greatest at the beginning of one's career, least during the middle (45-54) and rises again for the over-55 worker. Western and Northeast­ern residents are among the least willing, Southeast and Mid-west the most willing. Within engineering dis­ciplines, industrial engineers are most willing with 53 percent, followed by civil (39 percent) and chemical engineers (30 percent).

Information Sources Who are engineers most likely to turn to for informa­tion on the job market?

Whether they are actively searching or simply keeping abreast of changes, the most valued sources are trade journals, friends and colleagues. About one-fourth of the respondents read technical publications at least five times per week—27 percent by job changers and 20.5 percent by non-changers. Another 70 percent read journals at least twice per week.

Fifty-six percent read the newspaper at least five times per week. Seven percent never read a newspa­per, compared with the 1.7 percent who never listen to the radio or the 3.4 percent who never watch televi­sion. Sixty-seven percent listen to radio every day; 84 percent watch television at least three times per week.

Communicating Needs Respondents demonstrate clearly that they know what they value in their work. Human resource managers indicate a strong appreciation for the talent and dedi­cation that engineers bring to their work and a desire to deepen their own understanding of engineers' moti­vations and needs. Dave Pearl concludes, "As a non­technical recruiter of technical people, I feel a need to better understand both the technology and what it means to engineers. I think they have great under­standing of what they enjoy in their work, but they can't always communicate it in laymen's terms." •

Ms. Harrison is a graduate student of the University of Michigan, with a BA in Communications and a MBA. She worked for Digital Equipment computer as one of its first female computer technicians.

Women Ready For A Change "WWrTTomei i figured promi

^ m / ueiiih 20 percent of till • • respondents—yielding an

unusual opportunity to look at this group. Generally, women are younger than their male counter­parts, more likely to be single, underrepresented In the higher < income brackets and more willing to relocate for the right work opportunity.

Nearly hall of all female respon­dents are single compared with 35.5 percent of males. As with their counterparts, most fall within the 25 to 34 age bracket—67 percent to 64 percent

However, they outnumber males

by two to one in the 18 to 24 group, 14 percent to 5.5 percent.

This supports the expected dra­matic growth In the percentage of women engineers by 1990.

Women now comprise an estimated 15 to 25 percent of fresh­men In engineering classes, with their overall representation in the marketplace expected to reach nearly 20 percent in the next decade, Currently, they constitute seven percent of the market.

The underrepresentatlon of women in higher income brackets can be partially explained by their similar status in tile 35 to 44 age group. Typically, income rises with

age and experience. Only a little-over a tenth ol women arc- be­tween 35 and 44, the figure for men is 21 percent.

Women's earnings arc concen­trated in the $30,00()-$39,9(>9 group, men's in the $40,000-$49,000. Sixty-one percent of all women cam under $40,000, while-only 41 percent of men do; 85 percent of women and 71 percent of men cam less than $50,000.

As a group, women are slightly more willing than men to relocate, with nearly half of the single-women, a quarter of the married ones, ready to move lor job improvement. •

3 2 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 88

Page 35: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

We've created a place for thinking that makes

/ . j

Technology Park/Atlanta

It's a beautiful idea devoted to bright ideas. A vast, natural area—within Peach-tree Corners here in Gwinnett—created exclusively for corporations oriented toward research and technological activities. #jfcL^. engineer, an analyst or a consul- j^ tant can wander through the woods, sit by a lake or under a tree—and just think.

Were pleased to be the home of such fine companies and organ­izations as Scientific-Atlanta, Electromagnetic Sciences, Havens and Emerson, Sangamo Weston, Beckman Instruments, Ebasco Services, Intelligent Systems, Wegener Communica­tions, General Electric, NCR, Data Supplies, etal.

Who knows what new ideas may come out of the woods?

<.

rECHNC LOG/ BARK I AJ\ANIA 40 Technology Park, Norcross, GA 30092, (404) 448-7280

Page 36: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

(T>MPUI1NG

Supporting Software Wtittenby DanDaity

In today's market of high-perform­ance personal computer software, support services have become a hot issue. Gone are the days of sketchy documentation and half-hearted telephone assistance lines. As the number of personal computer users has mushroomed, so has the de­mand for more dedicated support. Software support now involves sophisticated telephone queue systems, structured payment plans, large numbers of employees devoted to helping end-users, and it also plays an important role in the shaping of the personal com­puter industry.

This demand for personal computer support has created a market within the high-tech indus­try whose importance has begun to snowball. What began with software vendors offering tele­phone help has developed into a race among vendors, computer resellers and third-party support companies to provide millions of end-users with answers

And they have found that there is money to be made if you can provide the answers quickly and accurately.

Cvompanies that have invested millions of dollars in personal computer hardware and software are realizing that these primary purchases are just the tip of the PC iceberg. A 1987 research study by Nolan, Norton & Co. found that hardware and software costs amount to less than 30 percent of a company's total investment in personal computers, while more than 50 percent of the costs are spent providing users with support.

Are support services necessary to run software packages? Most com­panies say yes. Large user groups are now realizing that to efficiently utilize their systems, they will need support — and chances are they are going to have to pay for it.

X oday, almost all vendors offer some form of support and more than half of the top soft-ware vendors often pay support plans.

Support for their software

Consumer assistance offers opportunities for

growth in the personal computer

industry

packages is becoming big business for software vendors. WordPerfect Corp., one of the few top software vendors to provide free support, staffs 270 representatives, one-third of its employees, to answer calls for support services.

In the early days of personal computing, large software vendors such as Ashton-Tate and Lotus Development bundled their support services with the cost of their software and thereby created an expectation among users that help was going to be available at no charge. In December 1985, how­ever, Ashton-Tate, manufacturer of the dBase software packages, began a trend among the large vendors when it restructured its support program to offer a limited 90-day warranty support plan and

included three pay support plan options. The reason was simple — support costs were too high.

"It costs Ashton-Tate $13 every time a support technician picks up the phone," says Roy Moore, acting director of product support. "At 1,400 calls a day, that's very costly.

"Today, support of a package is paramount to that product's suc­cess," explains Moore. "Whereas purchasing decisions used to be based on a package's features and capabilities, today buys are based more on the vendor's ability to adequately support the product."

Ashton-Tate offers three annual plans ranging from $65 for 10 calls to $185 for 20 calls. Included with the $185 option is a subscription to Tech Notes magazine and other services. System experts answer calls, which average 10 minutes.

Moore admits that support calls decreased after introduction of the pay plans, but attributed earlier volume to users who were not willing to take the time to look through the software manuals.

1 he pay support plans have enabled Ashton-Tate to better train its 75 support technicians to support its more than one million end-users.

Support representatives receive instruction that is three-fourths tech­nical and one-fourth communication skills. However, Moore believes that even with payment plans offsetting some high costs of support, other means will need to be developed.

Perhaps the first problem to be solved would be the difficulty many users have getting through to a software company's product techni­cian. Often, companies' support lines

3 4 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 88

Page 37: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

ILLUSTRATION BY RANDY SPEAR

In trying to receive answers to software questions, many computer operators report what seems like incredibly long waiting periods.

are unable to accommodate the number calls they receive.

Users ' growing dependence on software vendors' support lines and often their inability to get through the busy signals has created the opportunity for outside support or third-party support companies. These companies, such as Com­puter Hand Holding in San Fran­cisco and Micro Support Resources Corp. (MSR) in Atlanta, do not produce software of their own. Rather, they provide support for a variety of the most popular soft­ware packages on the market.

Arthur Silverman, vice president of Computer Hand Holding, believes the need for PC support has always been present. "Compa­nies that buy personal computers to increase their productivity do not anticipate difficulty involved. Computers can solve problems, but they can create problems, too, and managers have to realize you must pay to get these problems solved."

Computer Hand Holding em­ploys a number of software experts. Annual contracts are based on 50 or 100 call blocks.

Micro Support Resources, based in Atlanta, uses a different ap­proach to solve end-users' prob­lems. Instead of relying on human expertise, MSR uses an IBM system 36 database from which support representatives access answers to over 16,000 pre-researched soft­ware-related problems. This enables MSR to answer 90 percent of its calls in five minutes or less.

These external sources of support can offer companies an alternative to reduce costs. Compa­nies that rely on a staff expert to call when there is a hardware or software problem quickly realize the staff experts can end up spending the majority of their time solving PC problems.

I n another development in the support industry, computer reseller chains are entering the market. Businessland Inc. and Computer-land-operated stores both have begun offering software support on a nationwide basis.

California-based Computerland offers its clients a kind of insurance policy for all system components. The Computerland System Protec­

tion Plan provides users with hard­ware and software support on an on-site or telephone basis.

"Support services have always been a strategic element of Computerland's overall business," says Len Fernandes, company spokesman. "Our surveys have in­dicated that how service will be provided is the purchaser's highest consideration. Companies with large numbers of users cannot cost-effectively provide the services they will need."

Recognizing this limitation, Com­puterland has decided to expand the availability of the Computerland System Protection Plan on an international basis. Companies that purchase systems in the United States will soon be able to receive support services in other countries.

"We recognize that support service is a multi-million dollar aspect of the personal computer industry," Fernandes states. "And it is growing rapidly."

A s the number of personal com­puter users continues to skyrocket, it is clear that better means of supporting them will have to be developed. Perhaps with the intro­duction of third-party support companies and resellers into the arena, new strategies will become available.

Until that time, the importance of software support programs, both as marketing tools and as a means of generating millions of dollars in revenues, will continue to affect the development of the personal computer industry. •

Dan Darby is a writer based in Atlanta.

GEORGIA TECH • Computing: Software 3 5

Page 38: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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Page 39: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

RESEARCH

A Place in the Sun: Creating Solar-Baked Ceramics As interest in alternative fuels has waned, researchers have looked for new ways to exploit the sun.

At Georgia Tech, engineers are using solar thermal processes to make high-quality carbon fibers and ceramics.

Project director Dan O'Neil says that for some time researchers have wondered if concentrated solar rays could work effectively as an energy source in creating materials with unusual and valuable properties.

I n conventional processes, the energy source is heat. But with a solar concentrator, the engineer can use both thermal and light energy. Photons can bring on chemical transitions in a material that mere heating can't. The question is: Can engineers use intense sunlight to create materials with uniquely valu­able properties?

"We believe we have done it," O'Neil says.

Specifically, O'Neil and other engineers in Tech's Energy and Materials Sciences Labortatory have made a new family of carbon fibers that he says varies in several key respects from conventionally-made products. O'Neil says:

They are more oxidation-resis­tant than conventional fibers. This characteristic allows the carbon fiber t< > perform reliably at the higher temperatures needed for aerospace applications.

The fiber is more homogeneous. Conventional processing yields fibers with two zones: an outer skin and a central core. This creates problems in mechanical behavior and high-temperature resistance.

The fiber is stiffer. This charac-

A bank of solar collectors helps Tech scientists exploit the sunshine

teristic, known as the modulus, is a key feature in creating a reinforcing fiber for composite materials.

A new family of ceramic com­pounds is also under development. Using concentrated sunlight and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques, Tech engineers are pro­ducing samples of the compound that are distinctly different from those obtained through conven­tional CVD.

"We thought it would take a while for us to make much head­way with the solar CVD process," O'Neil says. "We were going to begin trying to make powders with good geometric characteristics so that when they were placed in a composite, they could make stronger materials than those pre­pared by other methods. In fact, we jumped beyond the powders in our first series of experiments. We pro­duced whiskers in single crystals of a pure compound right away."

Whiskers, O'Neil says, have a much stronger structure than powders. "You can think of pow­der a's being relatively easily formed and deposited out of a gas phase," he says. "But to think that you can produce a perfect crystal from a gas-phase reaction—that stretches the imagination a bit."

v-l'Neil believes the process is patentable. Because of the impor­tance of ceramics in defense and aerospace applications, he hopes that Tech can attract a manufacturer to continue the development of this technology.

If these solar-unique materials are commercialized, it will not be because of price considerations. Sophisticated processing will dictate that they are relatively expensive. However, O'Neil thinks their extraordinary value will give them a place in the industrial market.

— By Mark Hodges Continued on next page

GEORGIA TECH • Research 3 7

Page 40: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

PHOTO BY GARY MEEK

3PAITERNSOF The shopper scans hundreds of designs and patterns called up on a computer screen in the department store. Selecting a cartoon character pattern, the shopper touches buttons to indicate the items desired, then heads for the check­out counter.

In a back room, electrostatic printing machines similar to the familiar office copier whir into action. By the time the purchase is recorded at the checkout, the . machine has delivered a custom-printed set of cartoon character sheets, pillowcases and matching curtains.

1 hat scenario sounds far­fetched perhaps to all but research­

ers at Georgia Tech's School of Textile Engineering

During the past four years, they have been quietly adapting existing hardware, including office copiers, to challenges in the textile industry.

Their work could launch a revo­lution in the U.S. textile industry.

1 ech researchers have already printed patterns onto fabric experi­mentally using modified copying machines. They believe that with additional equipment modifications and improvements in toner materi­als, the xerography process could replace current fabric printing

Dr. Matthew Sikorski and other Tech textile researchers are designing new fabric printers.

techniques. Existing printing processes rely

on metal roller screens to apply the colors. The screens must be produced by hand, creating long lead times between the design and production of patterns.

Xerography could significantly shorten that lead time, allowing designers to produce new fashion patterns on computer work stations one day, and begin manufacturing the next. •

Generic Expert System Tool Helps Experts Build Expert Systems An expert system tool has been developed at Georgia Tech that can put expert systems within reach of more potential users by eliminating much of that program­ming. The Generic Expert System Tool (GEST) pro­vides a system shell into which users can place their own specific applications.

Under development for four years, the system now has 20 users in a range of industrial applications, says research scientist Stefan Roth.

Expert systems based on GEST are used for applica­tions too time-consuming for human operators, such as testing electronic circuitry.

1 he scheduling of manufacturing tasks is another application produced through GEST. Resources such as machinery and personnel must be used in a specific order to complete each job, yet the shop must effi­ciently use available resources to work on a number of jobs simultaneously. "The company specifies the types of tasks that have to be done and what kinds of re­

sources each one uses in terms of equipment and man-hours," Roth says. "The application based on GEST optimizes the schedule."

I n some circumstances, the work could not be completed within the allotted time with the given re­sources. Handling that complication demanded some human-like flexibility in changing the rules governing how resources could be used.

GEST uses a hierarchical system of data frames to store information. A system describing automobiles, for example, would store data common to all automobiles of a class—such as the number of wheels, type of power or materials used—in a parent frame. A frame describing an individual car would "inherit" that infor­mation, meaning it would not have to be repeated.

"This frame-based system allows you to store infor­mation in a hierarchy and save a lot of space because you don't have to duplicate a lot of unnecessary infor­mation," says Roth. — By John Toon

3 8 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 88

Page 41: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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Along with names that are good for business (Apple, Gimpaq, and IBM are all under one roof).

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But most importantly you'll find that the people who work at Businessland are experienced computer professionals. Who make it their business to know business systems.

And to make sure they give you the right system, we give them the most comprehensive training program in the industry. At our Businessland Training Center.

For all the above reasons, more and more business people are doing business with Businessland.

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Page 42: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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Page 44: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

PROFILE

Technology's Chanipion "While some humanists decry technology as being opposed to the human spirit, the historical facts indicate that technology is perhaps the earliest and most basic of human cultural charac­teristics. " — Melvin Kranzberg

Thirty years ago Melvin Kranzberg became techno­logy's chief spokesman,

championing the often misunder­stood and sometimes maligned role of technology and its relationship with society. Kranzberg, one of the principal founders of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), was the first editor of its journal, Technology and Culture.

Misconceptions and fuzzy images surrounding the word "technology" have haunted Kranz­berg since 1957, the year he and others founded SHOT after the History of Science Society rebuffed overtures to expand its purview to include the history of technology in its journal. Editorially, Kranzberg began boldly defining and defend­ing technology's role in society, and early on engaged what he

called a "contextural" approach to technology.

John M. Staudenmaier's Techno­logy's Storytellers provides a quote of Kranzberg's representative of SHOT'S early leadership:

"The technologist cannot be isolated from the rest of society in his work, which is utilized by society: at the same time, the internal workings of the technology have a very definite effect upon its actual applications, usages, conse­quences and the like."

Kranzberg is still addressing mis­conceptions and clarifying the historical relationship between technology and society.

In an early April address at the inauguration of Tech's ninth president, Dr. John Patrick Crecine, Kranzberg said, "The significance of technology lies in its use by human beings, what it does. While we can point to many wonderful things that technology has brought to society, many sensitive individuals fear that this very activity — tech­nology — has grown so large and has presented mankind with such awful by-products that it threatens

The Kranzberg File • 1938: PA, Amherst College. • 1939: MA in European history, Harvard. • 1942: PhD in modern French history, Harvard. • World War II: Sent by Army sent him to learn electrical engineer­ing at Johns Hopkins. • 1946-1952: Teaches at Harvard, Stevens Institute of Technology and Amherst. • 1952: Joins faculty of Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland., es­tablishing nation's first graduate program in the history of technology. • 1972: Comes to Georgia Tech as the Fuller E. Callaway professor of the history of technology.

Written by John Dunn

to engulf mankind. The fact is that technology is but a reflection of mankind itself.

"We are not helpless victims of our technology," Kranzberg added. "We state that ours is a man-made world: and it is that, because man­kind with the aid of technology has shaped the contours of our society.

"Recognition of the social charac­ter of engineering and of the role of economic, cultural and political factors in determining technical applications has added to the agenda for training scientists and engineers."

The son of Jewish immigrants, Kranzberg grew up in St. Louis. An honor student, he received his PhD in modern French history from Harvard in 1942.

During World War II, the Army sent him to Johns Hopkins to learn electrical engineering.

In the early 1950s, as a member of the faculty of the Case 1 nstitute of Technology in Cleveland,

Kranzberg was distressed that his science and engineering students were "profoundly disinterested" in his Western civilization classes "because there were no figurative dollar signs in front of the course numbers."

Kranzberg remembered a dictum of tum-of-the-century educator John Dewey: "To get a student interested in something, you start him out in something he's already interested in."

"I just changed the basic ques­tions we asked to: 'How have science and technology affected the development of Western civilization?' and "How has Western civilization affected the development of science

4 2 GEORGIA TECH • Summer

Page 45: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

Tech's Kranzberg: By asking new questions, he changed boredom to fascination for hundreds of students.

and technology?' The students became very interested."

At the same time, Kranzberg dis­covered that little scholarship had been devoted to the history of tech­nology. Consequently, he became "more and more involved," starting the nation's first graduate program in the history of technology.

In 1972, Kranzberg came to Georgia Tech as the Fuller E. Callaway professor of the history of technology. Since, his influence has spread far beyond the classroom. In addition to serving on professional boards and organizations, he is widely published and in demand as a speaker. He is the only historian to serve as national president of Sigma Xi. the honorary scientific

research society. In 1983, Cultural Technique, a major journal of the French government, dedicated an issue to Kranzberg's efforts and published a series of his articles.

On June 30, 1988, Kranzberg retired from Georgia Tech, the same month the Board

of Regents of the University System of Georgia created in his honor the Melvin Kranzberg Professorship of the History of Technology (Dr. Bruce Sinclair, a professor of his­tory and sociology at the University of Toronto, Canada, has been named to the chair and will join the faculty in September 1989.)

Yet Kranzberg's voice as spokes­man for technology will hardly

become silent. He will continue to have an office on campus, where he will write articles and speeches and continue to promote the ad­vancement of technology. He will, however, no longer teach classes, something he regrets because "I enjoy teaching, even though the students are scared to death of me."

Kranzberg's voluminous files have been accepted by the Smith­sonian Institution. Last fall, mem­bers of the National Museum of American History of the Smith­sonian inventoried his papers on the his-tory of technology. The files were claimed in July, ensuring that Kranzberg's role as a modern cham­pion of technology will always have an honored place in history. •

GEORGIA TECH • Profile: Kranzberg 4 3

Page 46: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 64, No. 01 1988

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