A 78-year career still has its challengesA 78-year career still has its challenges

Waynesboro, PA--Milton Garland loves a challenge. And at age 102, he still finds them in his work.

Employed by the Frick Co., a subsidiary of York Int'l Corp (York, PA) that makes products for industrial refrigeration applications, Garland has been with the same company for 78 years, since 1920. Back then he brought home $75 a month. He still works 20 hours a week, coordinating international patents and giving training classes.

Why not retire?

"I'll stay with the company as long as they'll have me," he says. "I love the work; it's interesting and challenging."

Garland was recently honored as America's Oldest Worker by Green Thumb Inc., an organization for the advocacy of older workers. He said at the ceremony, held at the White House Visitors Center in March, "I consider my job a privilege. I never want to stop working, because I'm still learning."

After obtaining his first patent in 1923, Garland went on to receive 41, all in connection with industrial refrigeration applications. He was also involved in the production of synthetic rubber during World War II.

"Due to the war, we lost the ability to get rubber from the Far East," says Garland, who is a World War I veteran. "The government set up five rubber plants for the manufacture of artificial rubber, and we gave them a system to control the temperature to produce the rubber."

He also is an avid Hershey Bears fan, saying he would "never miss a home game." Garland has more than an interest in the team, however. He invented the compressors that make the ice.

Garland got into engineering because he "always liked to tinker with things. I've always wanted to be an engineer." He attended Harrisburg Technical High School in Pennsylvania. He received both his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.

In his work, he says, everything is new all the time. "The cycle has never changed," he adds. "As time goes by, they try to improve everything, but in theory, it's no different. Design workmanship has improved, however."

Asked what advice he would give the engineers of today, Garland falls back on the advice given him.

"I was always told to be professional, do things correctly, and know what you're doing," he says. "I do love a challenge. That's what has kept me going."

A no-solution solution

By Randall R. Geib

We posed the no-problem problem (in issue 17): "How long will it take catsup to flow across Canada?" Reader Randall R. Geib of Manheim, PA submitted the best non-solution, appearing below:

I'll bet you thought nobody would solve this one. It's really a no-brainer! (I don't know why, but I'm good at solving no-brainers.)

The correct answer is: Forever

The key is the word Across. Catsup can never flow Across Canada because Canada runs Downhill!

Proof: have you ever seen a map of Canada with the Atlantic Ocean at the top of the map and the Pacific Ocean at the bottom (or vice versa)? Of course not!

I am including my address so you know where you will not be sending the prize, since there is no prize. If you decide to award a prize, please ignore the address and don't send the prize, since I would have to declare the value on my income tax return and that could move me into a higher tax bracket. (Another no-brainer).

Want to read another reader's answer to the no-answer? Then click here for Catsup--The Canadian Flow Study by K. Foote.

Head Work

Water at 70F flows through a 6-inch pipe with a velocity of 20 fps. In a 100-ft length of this pipe, the pressure drop is 1 psig. If the pipe is perfectly insulated the change in the internal energy of the water, expressed in Btu/lb, is most nearly

A. 0

B. 0.003

C. 0.03

D. 0.3

E. 0.5

--Answer below

Selected from Fundamentals of Engineering Examination, copyright 1986, Eugene L. Boronow, M.E.E., P.E., Simon & Schuster, Inc., NY. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.

ANSWER

B