PAGE EIGHT
TIRE MICHIGAN DAILY
FRIDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 1965
PAGE EIGHT THE MiCHIGAN DAILY FRIDAY. 12 FEBRUARY 1965
4 6116
World War Fostered Willow Run Labs
By ROBERT JOHNSTON
The Willow Run Laboratories,
when they- merged with IST in
1960, were a pretty large hunk to
swallow.
The move was designed to bring
these labs and their $8 million re-
search budget into a more Univer-
sity-centered orbit, to make them
relate more to University func-
tions.
But to assess the actual effects,
one must first examine the nature
and work of the Willow Run work,
which presenttquite a different
picture from the other parts of
the IST organization.
The history of the Willow Run
Labs goes back to the post-World
War II years-1946, to be exact-
when the University consolidated
its initial toe-hold as a recipient
of federal money for research.
With memories of the war still
strong, the government was in-
terested in developing an air de-
fense system for the United
States. The University was chosen
to do research in this problem and
'purchased' the Willow Run area
from the federal government as a
location for the work.
Good Deal
The price for the entire Willow
Run airport-one dollar-probab-
ly makes that investment the Uni-
versity's most profitable.
The Michigan Aeronautical Re-
search Center was soon set up
there and began work on Project
Wizard, the first attempt to adapt
ballistic missiles for defense pur-
poses. This work, which went on
until about 1954, was budgeted at
about $1 million per year.
In 1950 the center began work
in- cooperation with Boeing Air-
craft, the prime contractor, on the
development of a missile system
capable of knocking down super-
sonic and sub-sonic bomber air-
craft. The principal objective of
University scientists was to put
together a guidance system and
ground-based equipment for the
missile. ' J
Named After 'U'
The result was the BOMARC
missile--probably the only missile
anywhere named after a univer-
sity: the initials stand for Boeing
and Michigan Aeronautical Re-
search Center. These projects and
related ones comprised most of
the Willow Run work until 1933.
At that time the giant of all
past and present University re-
search, Project Michigan, was
born and is still carried on under
the auspices of the Army. Last
year expenditures for Project
Michigan, directed by Prof. Rob-
ert L. Hess, totaled almost $3.7
million.
In simplified terms, Project
Michigan is devoted to developing
advanced techniques for combat
surveillance and target acquisi-
tion in warfare. Radar, infrared
technology and control and guid-
ance systems are emphasized.
It is around this work, and the
staff and facilities assembled to do
it, that much of the Willow Run
research has developed. Funds for
Project Michigan once made up
about 80 per cent of the Willow
Run budget. Now, while that Proj-
ect's expenditures remain fairly
constant over the years, its
amount as a percentage of to-
tal Willow Run expenditure has
dropped to about 40.
Willow Run and IST
The assimilation by IST of the
Willow Run research effort, diver-
sified as it is yet often very ad-
vanced, has had major effects on
the character and shape of IST.
Conversely, IST has had and is
having important effects on Wil-
low Run.
An analysis of the Willow Run
work is therefore in order, though
the task is much complicated by
the classified nature of many of
the projects. The fact that much
of the current-and therefore most
interesting and exciting-work
cannot be discussed except in gen-
eral terms, must be borne in mind
in assessing the character and im-
portance of Willow Run. (Some
critics have charged that there is
much more concern for secrecy
at Willow Run than there need
be.)
Airborn Labs
. Nine of the sixteen IST labora-
tories are located at the lab area
on the east side of the Willow
Run airport. This area is now
called the University's Willow Run
center. It should be noted, how-
ever, that the laboratory organi-
zation is highly fluid. Changes oc- the ground are collected, stored, A "temperature map" of a wide
cur as labs are moved to North and later processed in such a way strip of terrain can be made from
Campus or are created or deacti- as to give the same results as a an aircraft to provide an image
vated as the support for programs very long antenna extending along 1imilar to an aerial photograph
changes in emphasis and as re- the flight path. but emphasizing and detecting ob-
searchers move into new areas of 'U' Methods jects whose temperature varies
interest and abandon old ones. The fundamental idea for this from their surroundings.
The Willow Run labs are: type of radar did not originate at From the air, factories under-
Acoustics and Seismics, Analog the University, but many of the neath a fog or at night, forest
Computer, Computation, Infrared data processing and storage meth- 'ires underneath smoke or the
Physics, Infrared and Optical Sen- ods which made the system suc- Gulf Stream can be precisely pin-
sor, Radar, Moving Target Indi- cessful were worked out at the pointed.
cation Radar, Optical and Radio University. An interesting aspect Specific programs have includ-
Systems and Radio Science. Work of this high resolution radar is d sea-ice and snow mapping in
on Project Michigan is done in al- that the plane can be flying many Greenland and Canada, water sur-
most all of these laboratories. miles to the side of the area being face temperature detection on the
'Eyes of Army' "photographed" but the "pic- Great Lakes and studies for eval-
The initiation of Project Mich- ture" obtained will show the area gating instruments for detecting
igan can be traced back to an ini- as seen from directly above with biological life on other planets.
tial Army study called "The Eyes no apparent side perspective. Also, New programs are under way for
of the Army," followed by a sum- like other types of radar, it can terrain surveys in Thailand and
mer study held at the University observe the terrain both day and _osta Rica.
in 1953 under the title Project night and through a cloud cover. Also included in these two lab-
Wolverine. One device developed last year aratories are important projects
At these sessions, the need for by this lab may prove of special -oncerned with infrared and opti-
a comprehensive attack on the significance. This instrument can zal technology. The Infrared In-
problem of aiding the human detect and recognize geometric formation and Analysis Center is
senses with man-made instrumen- shapes including alphabetic and concerned with handling the great
tation was fully recognized. This numeric characters without the uantities of technical informa-
"remote sensing" concept forms need for scanning. In other words Jion relating to infrared technol-
the coreidea around which much a computer could read a book, or gy, particularly those develop-
of the research at Willow Run has some other form of printed in- ments' applicable to its military
developed. It is a concept that formation, and record it in its uses.
can be applied in many different memory without the need to type The Ballistic Missiles Radiation
ways and in many different fields; out the entire book on punched center also collects, analyzes, and
hence the many facets of Project cards or some other form of com- disseminates information relative
Michigan and the many labs at puter input. to ballistic missile radiation, a
Willow Run. Ale.. 4a .. v .l ...s.,,ubject important in developing a
'1
Radar Work
High-resolution radar, as devel-
oped by the Radar Laboratory,
directed by Prof. William M.
Brown, meets a need for radar
I ST's Mission
In June, 1959, the Institute
of Science and Technology wasl
established by Regents' Bylaw
31.20. This bylaw outlined five
raisons d'etre for the new or-
ganization:
-"To serve as a center of
science and technology:
--"To provide administrative
arrangements and support . .
whereby outstanding scientists
and engineers can be brought
to the University . . ,. and pro-
vided an environment suitable
for conducting research at the
most advanced levels;
-"To assist the separate de-
partments, schools, colleges and
other University agencies in
conducting research in all fields
of pure and applied science, en-
gineering and technology;
-"To support outstanding,
promising and potential scien-
tists and engineers ... through-
out the State of Michigan, and
-"To encourage, support and
conduct research in all fields of
pure and applied science, engi-
neering and technology which
are potentially important to the
future business and industrial
development of the State of
Michigan and to the security
of the United States."
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Also in the Aadar J.L, work on
a system of three-dimensional,
lensless photography is being car-
ried out by Emmett Leith. Exten-
sions and improvements on the
system are also being worked on
by Prof. George Stroke in the
campus-based Electro-Optical Sci-
ences Laboratory.!
Using apparatus set up at Wil-
low Run, laser light is used to illu-
minate the scene to be photo-
graphed. This light is also reflect-
ed to the film by a prism placed
near the scene, providing a "ref-
erence beam." A camera records
the scene using ordinary film but
without lenses.
A Blur
The film is developed using reg-
ular photographic processes and,
in regular light, shows only a
zlur. But when looked at using
laser-originated light, it shows a
perfectly three-dimensional pic-
cure. Looking through the photo-
graphic plate, the original scene
is visible, apparently located on1
the other side of the plate. Per-
spective is such that the observer
can move his head from side to
side and look "behind" objects in
the scene, and a spot of light re-
flected from a bright surface dis-
appears when looked at from an-j
ather angle.
Target Radar
Moving-target-indication radar
is also under development at IST.
This type of radar operates in
such a manner as to display all
moving targets such as military
vehicles, but to blank out radar
return signals from stationary tar-
gets.
This can be accomplished, for
example, by "subtracting" one
radar picture of an area from a
similar picture made after a slight
time delay. Since only the moving
targets will have changed their
position, they will be the only
ones to appear in the final image.
The Infrared and Optical Sen-
sor Lab, directed by Marvin R.
Holter, and Infrared Physics Lab,
directed by George J. Zissis, are
concerned with the use of infrared
scanning devices to observe objects
such as missiles or terrain by de-
tecting their radiated hear as well'
as infrared radiation reflected
from them.
defense against such missile radi-
atin, a subject important in de-
veloping a defense against such
missiles. In addition to its func-
tions as an information center,
BAMIRAC also does significant
research in this technical area.
Collect Information
These units gather information
by visits to industries, government
agencies and other universities,
from abstract journals and refer-
ances and from personal contact
with investigators. Computer re-
trieval techniques are used to
handle and process the informa-
tion; and bibliographies, reports
and proceedings are published.
The centers also maintain ref-
erence libraries and, in many cas-
es, are able to make actual contri-
butions to the technology by their
analyses of information on a par-
ticular subject. The centers' serv-
ices are available to any group
.with a legitimate need for them.
Researchers throughout the
country are thus brought into
contact, with a minimum of effort
on their part, with information
valuable to them which they may
not have known existed.
Counter-Measures
EQUIPMENT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED which is capable of automatically growing alumina crystals
by the Verneuil method. By means of this automa ted crystal growing system at IST's Willow Run
-Labs, large high-quality single crystals can be produced which have application as laser and maser
materials.
Research on Biophysics, Optic s,
Great Lakes, State'sIndustry
The 1962-63 literary college
budget totaled about $11 million.
So did the expenditures of the
Institute of Science and Tech-
nology.
But the similarities stop there.
For while the literary college is
the principal teaching center of
the University, IST is the largest
research organization on campus,
one characterized by its direc-
tor, Prof. James T. Wilson, as
a "non-teaching unit of the Uni-
versity."
The Institute can be broken
down into several groupings of
laboratories and divisions: the
Willow Run Laboratories, the rela-
Radio Science is mainly con- tively unrelated North Campus and
cerned with "counter-measures" campus labs, the Great Lakes Re-
such as might be used by a mili- search Division and the Indus-
r
L
imagery of battlefield areas hav-.
ing much greater detail than is
available from the type of radar
developed during World War II.
Such high-resolution pictures re-
quire an extremely narrow radar
beam, which in turn requires a
radar antenna far larger than any
airplane could carry.
In the high resolution radar
system developed, the problem is
solved by creating a "synthetic
antenna array." An airplane car-
rying an antenna a few feet in
diameter flies along a straight
path. The radar signals trans-
nitted by the antenna and re-
flected back to the antenna from
tary aircraft to defend itself by
:ionfusing the radar system of an l
attacking missile. Work is also be-
ing done on communication sys-
tems-sending information as cod-
ad pulses and developing a meth-
)d whereby switching centers do
not add so much background noise
that the message becomes unintel-!
tigible.
Optical and Radio Systems is
concerned with the investigation
of air defense, air traffic control,
and communication systems, which
depend for their operation on the
use of radar, radio, and optical
techniques. Current work is con-
centrated on finding ways to im-
prove the future capabilities of air
defense systems to maintain rap-
id and accurate fire against at-
tacking aircraft.
Future Aircraft Problems
Navigation and Control works
with such problems as how to
(Continued on Page 9)
trial Development Division.
Three Categories
Prof. James T. Wilson of the
geology department, the Institute's
director, divides IST functions in-
to three categories: (1) indus-
trial development and liaison, (2)
new or specialized programs and
(3) the applied sciences programs,
which include Willow Run.
In the first category, indus-
trial development and liaison, In-
stitute personnel aid state indus-
trial firms in finding University
consultants for technical advice
that the firms cannot get from
other sources. The program also
serves, to aid industry in finding
places where actual research that
they cannot do themselves can
be carried out. Frequently such
work is channeled to groups out-
side the University that are bet-
ter equipped for such programs.
Applications
The Industrial Development Di-
vision (IDD), directed by Prof.
Hansford W. Farris, also carries
on a program of applying science
and technology to aid certain in-
dustries. For example, Frank R.
Bacon has directed an exhaustive
study program of the machine tool
and electronics industries, import-
ant parts of the Michigan econo-
my.
Conclusions from the study have
been used as guides for institut-
ing programs to aid the machine
tool industry in adopting new
techniques and meeting new chal-
lenges that were previously receiv-
ing only half-hearted attention
within the industry.
The study also pointed to a
need for further university in-
volvement in developing new tech-
niques, disseminating information
about them and training people to
design, use and improve them.
Other IDD reports have dealt
wi.th "The Michigan Electronics
Industry" and "Methods of Stim-
ulating Research and Develop-
ment"; a conference in 1963 stud-
ied "Production Research Abroad."
As Farris said in an article for
"Industrial Research" magazine
last year:
The break from the ivory-
tower tradition comes hard. The
developing cracks, however, are
signs of the future relationships
which universities are recogniz-
ing to be a proper concern in
today's science-based world of
industrial technology.
The two principal examples of'
the new or specialized programs
function of the Institute are the
Biophysics Research Division and
:he Great Lakes Research Division.
Several years ago various Uni-
versity groups recognized the im-
portance of the emerging science
of biophysics, a field in which
rapid strides are being made in the
understanding of life processes.
Put in IST
After some discussion about how
a laboratory in this new area could
best be set up and administered,
the decision to put it in IST was
made.
State funds were provided to get
the lab started, and Prof. J. Law-
rence Oncley came from Harvard
University to direct the division.
It is expected that the operation
will soon be supported principal-
ly from federal research grants.
Similarly, the Electro-Optical
Sciences Laboratory has been set
up by Prof. George W. Stroke,
Much like biophysics, electro-op-
tics attempts to syntthesize work
in two previously unconnected
fields - in this case, electronics
and optics. Such a relationship
comes about, Stroke has said, be-
cause many of the developments
in optics in the past two decades
have been patterned on previous
FEB.
14
or simultaneous developments in
electrical engineering.
Varied Inquiries
Studies are being conducted in
the lab on diffraction gratings,
light propagation, "lensless" pho-
tography and its extensions to X-
ray microscopy, speed of light
measurement, electro-optical com-
munication and optical electronics.
The Great Lakes Research Di-
vision was set up in 1945 "for the
encouragement and integration of
studies of the physical, chemical,
biological and other aspects of
the Great Lakes and related
areas." It became the first division
in April, 1960, when it was trans-
ferred from the graduate school.
The division's research is con-
cerned with collecting and study-
ing many kinds of information
about the lakes having both scien-
tific and practical values: water
flows, outflows, level and storage;
physical, chemical and biological
properties of the water; circula-
tion and waves; phenomena oc-
curring between the air and water
surfaces; regional meteofological'
effects; the structure, formation
and extent of the ice cover; the
history; current erosion and dep-
osition; the nature of the lake
basins; biological productivity, and
biological resources; and engi-
neering and development connect-
ed with the lakes. The division
operates four research ships to
carry out its work.
Two Labs Here.
Two campus-based labs are
more closely associated than these
two divisions with work in other
parts of the Institute, .the Engi-
neering Psychological Lab and the
Industrial Systems Research Lab.
Engineering Psychology is an
outgrowth of the Willow Run work
in developing new and complex
communications and surveillance
systems. Human factors must be
considered in designing all such
systems, and this lab tries to learn
more about the way in which hu-
man beings perform their func-
tions in complex, man-machine
systems. Basic research is done
on human information acquisition
and processing, decision making
and the application of this re-
search to military systems prob-
lems.
Industrial Development
Industrial Systems activities
are somewhat related to the work
of the Industrial Development
Division and cooperates closely
with the industrial engineering de-
partment. The actual technology
involved in machine tool industry-
advances, for example, has to be
studied and reduced to practical
methods that the industry can use.
Studies have included inven-
tory and automation problems,
hospital staffing requirements and
automotive production scheduling.
To assist the technical staff of
the IST laboratories, the Institute
maintains a series of supporting
services. They include facilities
coordination, administrative serv-
ices, publication service, service
facilities, technical documents
service, and an informationoffice.
I
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A gift from
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Registration for candidacy for the
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