NUCLEAR DIVISION OF FORD INSTRUMENT COMPANY

NUCLEAR DIVISION of FORD INSTRUMENT COMPANY, a division of the Sperry Rand Corporation. 

This blog is intended to record the author's recollections of some of the history of the now defunct Nuclear Development Division of the Ford Instrument Company between the years 1956-1960.

The Ford Instrument Company was founded in 1918 by Hannibal Ford, who had previously been employed as Chief Engineer at the Sperry Gyroscope Company.  It subsequently merged with the Sperry Corporation but continued to operate as a stand-alone division.  In 1956 it was located at 31-10 Thomson Avenue, in Long Island City, New York and had a total employment of approximately 3,000 people. This site was subsequently occupied by the Laguardia Community College after Ford Instrument Company was absorbed into its parent company facilities in Lake Success, New York in the early 1970's.

The Ford Instrument Company was known primarily for the design, development, production and maintenance of naval gunfire control systems, most notably the Mk 87, which was probably the most accurate and reliable naval fire control system used during World War II.  After WWII, the Company continued to produce gunfire control systems and torpedo data computers for the US Navy, as well as fire control systems for aircraft and tanks and guidance systems for missiles.  The Mk 87 remained in production until 1969, when Defense Department budget cuts forced its termination, forcing the layoff of some 900 workers and the absorption of the remainder of the Company into the Sperry Gyroscope Company.

The decision to enter the nuclear industry in the 1950's was a bold one, since it meant trying to compete with several major US corporations already committed to carving out a stake in the industry. These included the Knolls Atomic Power Division of the General Electric Company, the Bettis Division of the Westinghouse Corporation, the Babcock and Wilcox Company, Allis Chalmers Corporation and Atomics International, a division of the North American Aviation Company.

America in the 1950's

Following the defeat of Germany and Japan in WWII, America was returning to a strong peace-time economy, even with the growing threat of the Cold War.  Returning veterans and wartime shortages had created an unprecedented demand for goods and services. The housing needs for returning veterans were being fulfilled by ambitious developments, such as Levittown on Long Island.  The automobile industry had re-tooled and was then offering new car models to take the place of worn out pre-war models and the hastily produced cars of the late 1940's, which had been produced from pre-war tooling.  New products such as washers, dryers, air conditioners, power mowers, microwave ovens and television sets were in high demand.  To say that the mood of America was vibrant and optimistic would have been an understatement.

The Engineering Environment

America had experienced a short recession in the early 1950's, following President Eisenhower's cuts to the defense budget.  Because of this, there had been a shortage of engineering job opportunities and many 1950-1954 engineering graduates opted for the security of jobs as firemen, policemen and postal workers.  This added to the engineering shortage being created by the mid-1950's demands prompted by the growing computer industry.  By 1955, engineers were in very high demand, as demonstrated by the New York Times help-wanted section which was filled with full page ads offering lucrative engineering jobs.  Companies would hold on-campus interviews and make job offers to entire graduating classes, often offering bonuses for quick acceptance.  In this environment, Ford Instrument hired 75 newly graduated engineers to supplement its existing staff of 300 engineers.

The Nuclear Development Division is Born

The Nuclear Division was founded in 1954, after Hannibal Ford, the founder of the Company, assigned Ted Jarvis, a bright young physicist, to the task of organizing and managing this new division.  Jarvis had just returned to the Company after completing a one-year program at the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology (ORSORT), in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  ORSORT had been founded in 1950, at the urging of Admiral Hyman Rickover, the founder of the nuclear submarine, to broaden the country's knowledge base in nuclear technology. The program continued until 1975, graduating a total of 976 engineers during its existence.

The Nuclear Division consisted of two departments, the first being the Nuclear Reactor Design Department, and the second being the Nuclear Control Systems Department.  Except for a secretary, all of its members were graduate engineers or scientists.  The Division utilized the resources of other divisions for any needed support services, such as drafting, model making and machine shop work. Almost all of the Nuclear Division employees were under thirty years of age.

Located in the Northeast corner of the second floor, the Nuclear Division was fairly isolated from the remainder of the Company, with the Navy, Army and Air Force divisions located on the lower floor of the building and the Missile division occupying a neighboring building. It was further buffered from the Company's other operations by a row of executive offices occupied by the Chief Engineer, Charles Rockwell, and by the managers of the other divisions.

The working environment was very much like that of a small company, but without the constant pressure of financial problems, since the Division was backed by Ford Instrument's larger resources and by its commitment to help the Division establish itself.  Any contracts awarded to the Nuclear Division merely reduced the amount of support needed.  At the working level, a strong spirit of cooperation always prevailed, and its engineers were quick to ask for or to offer suggestions and support on each other's projects.

With about a quarter of its staff having graduated from the ORSORT program, the Division had a degree of credibility within the nuclear industry and, more important, within the Atomic Energy Commission. The Nuclear Reactor Design Department was awarded several contracts, most notably study contracts to study the feasibility of aircraft nuclear propulsion (ANP), of a portable nuclear reactor power plant for use by theArmy (APPR) and to evaluate the feasibility of a closed-cycle gas-cooled nuclear reactor. The Nuclear Control Systems Department was awarded contracts by the Westinghouse Corporation to design and manufacture control rod position indicating systems for the Triton nuclear submarine and for the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier.

It was Ted Jarvis' ambition that Ford Instrument Company build a nuclear reactor,but this ambition was never realized.  His Nuclear Reactor Design Department survived on a series of study contracts awarded by the Atomic Energy Commission.  In addition to the feasibility studies mentioned earlier, these included contracts to study fallout patterns from nuclear explosions, simulation of nuclear power plant control systems using analog computers, generation of electricity from thermionic sources, and such.  With the availability of a strong technical staff and with generous financial support from the Ford Instrument Company, this lack of an opportunity to build a nuclear reactor was a disappointment.

During the years between 1956 and 1960, the Nuclear Control Systems Department worked primarily on the design, development and manufacture of control rod position indicator systems.  The prototype for the first of these was installed and evaluated in 1958 at the US Navy Reactor Facility in Arco, Idaho, where a prototype of the first nuclear submarine, the Polaris, had been built.  Production versions of this system were then successfully installed on the USS Triton nuclear submarine in 1959. A second version of this system was later installed on the first nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise.

After 1960, the Nuclear Control System Department worked primarily on in-house projects sponsored by Ford Instrument.  This work resulted in the granting of a number of patents, primarily dealing with magnetic amplifiers and with the transmission of data into and out of sealed containers, such as nuclear reactors.

Organization:

Division Manager   - Theodore (Ted) Jarvis

Ted Jarvis studied at Columbia University before joining the Ford Instrument Company where he began his career as an engineer.  He was sent by the Company to attend a one-year course at the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Training (ORSORT).  Upon his return to the Company after completing the course, the Company formed the Nuclear Development Division and appointed him to manage it.

After leaving Ford Instrument, Ted moved to Massachusetts where was employed by the MITRE Corporation for a number of years.  While at MITRE, he published a number of technical papers, many of them dealing with nuclear radiation fallout pattern prediction and with the effects of nuclear radiation.

Ted Jarvis retired from the MITRE Corporation and was last known to be living in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Department Head  - Michael (Mike) Silverberg, Nuclear Reactor Design Department

Mike Silverberg was sent to attend the ORSORT course after Ted Jarvis's return to the Company. After graduation, he assumed the role of Department Head.

Department Head - William T (Bill) Keating, Nuclear Controls Department

Bill Keating graduated from Manhattan College in 1939 with a degree in electrical engineering. During WWII, he worked on US Navy ships, installing and maintaining the gunfire control systems manufactured by the Ford Instrument Company.

Bill later worked for the Sperry Rand Company after it absorbed the Ford Instrument Company.  He then worked temporarily at Sanders Associates, in Nashua NH, and then at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island NY, where he was responsible for the operation of its nuclear reactor.

Bill married his wife Susan in the mid-1950's.  Unfortunately, she died at an early age, as did he, of a broken heart.
                             
Supervisor   - John William Niestlie Jr.  (1929-1998)

John Niestlie met Mike Silverberg while both were attending ORSORT.  Upon graduation, Mike recruited John to join the Ford Instrument Company. John was a graduate of North Carolina State University (1952), and had published papers on the positioning of control rods in nuclear reactors.

While working at Ford Instrument, John lived in Kew Gardens NY, and drove a black 1956 Triumph TR3 sports car.

In 1993, John was working at the Battelle Institute on the transportation and disposal of nuclear waste. John Niestlie passed away in Westerville, Ohio on June 30, 1998, and is buried in North Carolina.


 Supervisor    - Vincent Ordorica (1921-2008)

Vincent Ordorica, a native of Spain, graduated from NYU in 1950.  He was an electrical engineer and an ORSORTgraduate and supervised all projects undertaken by the Nuclear Controls Department.                              

Supervisor   - Donald Gertz (after 1959)

Don Gertz was an engineer in the Nuclear Division.  He was enrolled in the ORSORT program in 1958, and upon completion, he returned to the Division as a project supervisor.


Engineering Staff - Nuclear Reactor Design   (Roster Incomplete)

Physicist   - Wolf Stenzel

Mechanical Engineer   - Sal Mosca

Engineer -  Lewis L Haring


Engineering Staff - Nuclear Controls  (Roster Incomplete)

Mechanical Engineer -  Albert Richter

Electrical Engineer -  Eugene Lavan, a graduate of Manhattan College (circa 1949)

Electrical Engineer -  Anthony Cassano, a graduate of Manhattan College (circa 1952)

Electrical Engineer -  Michael Cosenza, a graduate of Manhattan College (1955)

Engineers and technicians at the Ford Instrument Company were unionized and represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 417.  Mike Cosenza served as the union representative for the Nuclear Development Division, in addition to his engineering tasks.

Electrical Engineer -  Fred Moritz, a graduate of Stevens Institute (1956)

Fred Moritz worked primarily on the control rod position indicator system for the USS Enterprise during the 1956-1960 period.

Fred lived in Forest Hills, NY

Electrical Engineer -  Lionel E Leavitt, a graduate of NYU  (1956)

Lionel Leavitt worked primarily on the design of magnetic amplifiers during the 1956-1960 period.
He was granted several patents while employed at the Ford Instrument Company.

Lionel Leavitt subsequently (1988) worked for Electronic Systems and Data Communications Corporation in Wayne NJ.  He resides (as of 2014) in Fair Lawn, NJ.

Electrical Engineer -  Milton Lowenstein

Milt Lowenstein was a Senior Engineer and excelled at explaining difficult electronic theories in simple terms.  He was invaluable to the Division's young engineering staff.

Milt lived in Forest Hills, NY.

Electrical Engineer -  Sidney Smilowitz

Sidney Smilowitz was an electrical engineer who joined the Division in about 1958.

Mechanical Engineer -  William Cannon

William Cannon was a mechanical engineer who joined the Division in 1956 after graduation from college.

Electrical Engineer - Roger Trudeau, a graduate of Manhattan College (1956)

Worked at Ford Instrument from 1956 to 1960. Left as Senior Engineer.
Worked as Systems Engineer at ARMA Division, American Bosch Arma Corp. from 1960 to 1963
Worked as Senior Engineer at Sperry Marine Division in 1963.
Worked as Supervisor at ARMA Division, American Bosch ARMA Corp. from 1963 to 1965.
Worked as Test Engineer/Group Leader at Charles Stark Draper Laboratories from 1965 to 1969.
Founded Bedford Control Systems Inc., in 1969, a computer systems design firm specializing in computerized test equipment and in factory automation, in. He served as CEO and Chief Engineer until 1996.
Moved to Sydney Australia in 1996, where he worked as a consultant and in the opal industry.
Retired in 2012.  Currently residing in Paddington, NSW Australia - rogertrudeau34@hotmail.com

Secretary -  Valerie Bradshaw


Patents Granted to Staff of Nuclear Development Division of Ford Instrument Company

1956- US2911828-A   - Device for Determining Liquid Level and Interface Position
                                       Inventors: W Keating, A Richter

1956 - US2878327-A  - High Gain Magnetic Amplifier - Inventors: W Keating, H McKenney

1956 - US2887882-A  - Pressure-Voltage Transducing Element - Inventor: A Richter

1957 - US2898485-A  - Magnetic Clutch - Inventors:  V Ordorica, A Richter, D Gertz

1959 - US2916683-A  - Induction Motor Reverser - Inventor: L Leavitt

1961 - US3174056-A  - Transistor Bi-stable Proximity Sensor - Inventors: V Ordorica, L Leavitt

1961 - US3154946-A  - Digital Remote Position Indicator - V Ordorica, L Leavitt, F Moritz

1962 - US3155849-A  - Thermionic Converter - Inventors: M Silverberg, L Haring

1967 - US3437910-A  - Automatic Resetting Means for Transformer Energized by Asymetrical                                                  Waveforms - Inventors: L Haring, W Oppen

1967 - US3488604-A  - Automatic Pulsed-Signal Amplitude Normalizer - Inventor: S Smilowitz