The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, January 10, 1962, Image 3

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[HE BATTALION
Wednesday, January 10,1961
College Station, Texas
Page 3
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\&M’s Outstanding Texan Began His Career Here
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The road to success for Robert
L Smith Jr., a short little man
itA&M, has been brief—but per-
a mite bumpy.
Smith recently pocketed the
title of one of five outstanding
hat a
pluses
igated
those
i who
ition.
Wednesday - Thursday - Friday
BY LOVE POSSESSED”
with Lana Turner
Plus
THE MILLIONAIRESS”
with Sophia Loren
Club
PALACE
Bryan Z'SS79
STARTS TODAY
’an. 1.
Day,
an. 2,
ilson,
The Rocket Ship That
Challenged Outer Space)
Pul
i', on
thery,
obles,
an. 8.
Vom-
v, on
THIS
IS
THE
STORY
THAT
STUNS
THE
IMAGINATION!
QUEEN
FIESTA NITE
TONIGHT 6 P. M.
young Texans for 1961, an award
sponsored annually by the Texas
Junior Chamber of Commerce.
The 34-year-old former Neder
land resident has won national
recognition for his development of
a first class Data Processing Cen
ter here, where he also serves as
an associate professor in Indus
trial Engineering.
Smith was cited by the Texas
Jaycees for the establishment of
a mathematical technique for com
puting radiation patterns pro-
STARTS TODAY
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duced by radium needles.
The citation also mentioned
Smith’s creation of computing
methods for forecasting hurricane
storm waves and traffic flow pat
terns, in addition to development
of a Data Processing Center sec
ond to none on a college campus.
Smith has only a bachelor’s de
gree on a campus where doctor
ates are commonly accepted as es
sential, but he has no plans for
advanced formal schooling simply
because no degrees are offered in
his line of work.
Smith collected his bachelor’s
degree in 1952 after he first en
tered A&M as a 16-year-old fresh
man in 1944. He withdrew from
college in 1945 after a nervous
“breakdown.”
His flair for computing ma
chines got its start during a tour
of duty with the U.S. Army, where
he learned to repair computing ma
chines.
So, when he returned to A&M
in 1949 as a student and part-time
worker in the IBM room of Agri
culture Experiment Station,
Smith’s major changed from civil
engineering to electrical engineer
ing.
The day after he graduated,
Smith was employed by A&M as
a statistical supervisor with the
Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station. Five years later, he be
came head of the newly estab
lished computing center, along
with teaching duties in the Busi
ness Administration Division.
CIRCLE
TONIGHT 1st Show 6:45
Rock Hudson
In
“LAWLESS STREET”
&
Robert Preston
In
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OF THE STAIRS”
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When the Data Processing Cen
ter was established in 1958, Smith
was placed in charge. In Septem
ber 1959, he assumed an additional
title as associate professor of In
dustrial Engineering.
Today, the Data Processing Cen
ter, under Smith’s direction, solves
computational problems of re
searchers, students and industry
throughout the south.
The center itself is a modest,
modern $300,000 building with rig
id temperature and humidity con
trols to assure against malfunction
.of the intricate mechanism. The
structure was designed specifically
for a computing facility.
The equipment on the inside,
however, is a complicated collec
tion of gadgets valued at more
than $4 million. Included are IBM
709, 650, and 604 digital computers
and an analog computer.
Just what does one of the ma
chines do?
The 709 can store 32,768 facts
or 10-digit numbers and can recall
the items at the rate of 80,000 per
second, Smith pointed out.
The machines ‘thinks’ at a speed
of 12 microseconds (12 millionths
of a second) and can perform 40,-
000 arithmetic operations per sec
ond.
Computers at A&M, among oth
er assignments, have provided
Houston’s M.D. Anderson Hospital
answers in a matter of hours re
garding the dose of radiation ad
ministered cancer patients.
Without the computers, it would
probably take weeks to get this
information. The treatment proj
ect is a pet project of Smith’s.
Born in Houston and educated
in Nederland, Smith considers the
Data Processing Center unmatched
by any other educational institu
tion.
Smith, however, dispells the
theory that the computers are
“mechanical brains” waiting to re
place the human race.
Computers seem to think, he
said, but actually all they do is
follow instructions. It takes a per
fect question to get a perfect an
swer.
Outstanding Aggie and Texan
Robert L. Smith Jr., associate professor in industrial
engineering - and head of the Data Processing Center, has
been named by the Texas Junior Chamber of Commerce
as one of five outstanding young Texans during 1961. He
was cited by the Jaycees for the establishment of a top
notch computing center, along with research projects.
(Texas A&M Photo)
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Some say we go overboard, the lengths^
we go to in testing Ford-built cars at
^‘Hurricane Road”—-our wind-and-
weather lab in Dearborn, 'Michigan.
‘And for practical purposes—we doJ
^You might call it “testing in depth.”
Ford scientists and engineers' have
'devised a gigantic test tunnel that
creates monsoon rains and tornadic;
winds in a matter of minutes. Super;
sun lamps boost temperatures from 20:
below to 160 above zero. Fog and;
drizzle, snow and sleet—all at the twist
of dials. Huge cylinders beneath test-j
car wheels imitate every kind of road:
from flat, smooth turnpike to rutted,
mountain trail.
1
Out of it all comes knowledge of how tc>
build better cars—cars that are built to
last longer, require less care, and retain,
their value better. This constant aiming,
for perfection is just one more way in
which research and engineering are'
earning for Ford MotQr_CQrpf)a.nyJts\
place of_/eadership»
_ MOTOR COMPANY
’The American Road, Dearborn, Michigan
PRODUCTS FOR THE AMERICAN ROAD *THE FAfttit
^INDUSTRY* AN9 THR A66 QE8f A6^