Industrial Research 



71 



operation, would be in a position to oncourap;e the use 

 of research as a means of industrial progress. His will 

 established a self-perpetuating board of trustees to 

 formulate general policies and (o administer the 

 endowments. A director, responsible to the board, 

 was to be in immediate charge of the institute's 

 activities. 



The nucleus of a technical staff was assembled, and 

 the first building was ready for occupancy in the sum- 

 mer of 1929. The staff grew as the volume of work 

 increased, until at the end of 1939 it numbered over 

 200 persons of whom 125 were technically trained. 

 Office and laboratory space has expanded correspond- 

 ingly, and in 1937 a new building made it possible to 

 establish a complete experimental foundry. 



This growth has been in accord with the policy by 

 which the services of the organization have been made 

 available to industry. Endowment income has been 

 utilized to provide phj'sical plant and capital equipment, 

 to finance a considerable body of fundamental research, 

 to publish the resulting knowledge, and to engage in 

 a program of research education. The large and grow- 

 ing bulk of research, however, has been done under 

 a sponsorship plan by which the out-of-pocket cost 

 has been bonie bj^ industry, including single companies 

 or groups of companies, associations, and individuals. 

 All residts of such work have become the property of 

 the sponsor, including data and patents on new or 

 improved processes and products. In some cases such 

 work may be held in confidence, while in others the 

 results become available for publication. 



Because of the desire to maintain a permanent and 

 closely integrated research staff, it has been the policy 

 of the institute to confine its efforts to certain defuied 

 fields of research. These are metallurgy, chemistry, 

 fuels, ceramics, applied physics, and electrochemistry. 

 The greater part of the sponsored work has been done 

 for the metal, ceramic, fuel, and chemical industries, 

 but other industries with problems in the special fields 

 noted have accounted for an important fraction. Each 

 year appointments of research associates are given to 

 qualified graduates of accredited imiversities and col- 

 leges who have demonstrated marked aptitude for 

 scientific research. 



Mellon Institute 



In the early years of this century Dr. Robert Kennedy 

 Duncan was seeking a means by which miiversities and 

 technical schools could be brought into closer coopera- 

 tion with industry. He recognized the need for a 

 greater supply of men trained to do industrial research 

 and for a more widespread and direct application of 

 science on the part of small industries, to the end that 

 the public at large might profit. 



The plan, known as the Industrial Fellowship System, 



apparently crystallized in Duncan's mind in 1906 after 

 he had previously spent much tune inspecting the 

 factories, laboratories, and universities of various 

 European countries, where he had become impressed 

 with the spirit of cooperation which existed between 

 industry and institutions of learning, to the advantage 

 of both. The contrast with American methods at this 

 tune convinced him that some elfort should be made to 

 provide for a greater application of science in this 

 country. 



Duncan returned from Eurojjc to accept the chair of 

 industrial chemistry at the University of Kansas where 

 in January 1907, he established the first Industrial 

 Fellowship. In his words, this plan gave — 



. . . the manufacturer the privilege of founding in tlie Uni- 

 versity a Temporary Industrial Fellowsliip for the investigation 

 of a specific problem, the solution of which would mutually 

 and materially benefit both the manufacturer himself and the 

 public. '2' 



Two years later, quite by chance, Andrew W. Mellon's 

 attention was called indirectly to industrial fellowships 

 through a chemical discovery made in France, which 

 he passed on to the chief chemist of the Gulf Oil Com- 

 pany. The latter reported that the discovery had no 

 practical value and to prove his statement sent Mellon 

 a copy of a book called The Chemistry of Commerce by 

 Robert Kennedy Duncan. In the last chapter of that 

 book Mellon read of the plan for industrial fellowships. 

 Both he and his brother, Richard B. Mellon, felt that 

 an institution based upon Duncan's ideas would be a 

 strong force in the direction of improving the standard 

 of living through discoveries and inventions. '^^ Con- 

 sequently they invited Duncan to come to the Univer- 

 sity of Pittsbiu'gh ami establish the system there. He 

 accepted, and in 1911 the first research fellows began 

 their work in temporary quarters. As the result of a 

 substantial gift from Andrew and Richard Mellon in 

 1915, the system was placed upon a permanent basis 

 as Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. Duncan 

 died in 1914 and was succeeded as Director by Dr. 

 Raymond F. Bacon, the former associate director. He 

 in turn was succeeded by Dr. Edward R. Weidlein, the 

 present director. Although allied cooperatively with 

 the University of Pittsburgh, Mellon Institute has its 

 own building, endowment, and management. It was 

 incorporated in 1927. 



Under the Industrial Fellowship System, an individ- 

 ual or a company with a problem to solve may become 

 the donor of a fellowship by contributing to the institute 

 a definite sum of money for a period of not less than 

 1 year. The funds so donated are used to pay the 

 salary and research expenses of the man or men selected 



'" Duncan, R. K. Temporary Industrial fellowships. North American Review 

 185, 57 (1907). 



'W Mellon, Andrew. Address for the founders. Induttrial and Engineering Chem- 

 istrv (JVewj Ed.), IS, 187 (May 10, 1037). 



