Engineers

Albert C. Reymann, a retired Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory mechanical engineer who led a team that helped create the forerunner of the global navigation and positioning systems in use today, died Monday of heart disease at Gilchrist Center Howard County. The longtime Catonsville resident was 85. Born in Baltimore and raised on Homestead Street near Clifton Park, he was the son of Hildebert Reymann, a Revere Copper and Brass supervisor, and Helen Reymann, a homemaker.

Robert M. Douglass, former chief engineer of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.'s Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant, died Monday of cancer at his home in Port Republic, Calvert County. He was 88. The son of an electrical engineer and a homemaker, Robert Mann Douglass was born in Hartford, Conn., and raised in Wethersfield, Conn., where he graduated in 1942 from Wethersfield High School. He served as a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne in the Pacific and with occupying forces in Japan during World War II. After the war, he enrolled at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., where he earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1950.

Tracy Marcotte scanned a hand-held metal detector across various spots on the base of the Washington Monument as if she were searching for gold. But it was iron she was after. Specifically, she was searching for iron cramps that hold together stones that make up the monument. Marcotte was part of a team from Pennsylvania-based CVM engineers at the monument Saturday assessing the historic structure in preparation for a restoration to begin next spring. The $3 million restoration is the first project in a plan by the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy to make improvements to Mount Vernon Square, which is made up of the monument and four public squares surrounding it. The conservancy was formed to raise money to improve and manage the site.

William J. "Bill" Turcovski, a Northrop Grumman electrical engineer who enjoyed antiquing, died May 7 from pneumonia at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. He was 52. The son of a supervisor and a homemaker, William John Turcovski was born and raised in Altoona, Pa., where he graduated in 1978 from Altoona Area High School. After graduating in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Pennsylvania State University, he began his career at Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s Linthicum plant, which is now Northrop Grumman.

The delicate craft was airborne for just 4.2 seconds, but it was enough to earn engineering students at the University of Maryland's Clark School of Engineering two world records for human-powered helicopter flight. The National Aeronautic Association, which observed the flight, has certified that UM biology student and bicycle racer Judy Wexler pedaled the four-rotor Gamera into the air on May 12 in a gym at the Comcast Center. It was the final attempt in two days of tests. The NAA said the brief flight established the U.S. national duration records for both human-powered helicopter flight, and for human-powered helicopter flight by a female pilot.

Engineers studying the need for a general aviation airport in Howard County said last night they plan to recommend a site in about five months."The site selection process could also include a no-build option," engineer Gary M. Luczak of Timonium told a gathering of about 75 people at the county office building.The type of general aviation facility envisioned for Howard would accommodate recreational pilots and businesses using privately owned single-engine aircraft or light, twin-engine aircraft, the group was told.

A recent editorial stated that "The whole nation was metaphorically holding its breath last week as Hurricane Isaac bore down on New Orleans, almost seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina destroyed large parts of the city" ("We built that," Sept. 3). The fact of the matter is that the flooding of New Orleans was overwhelmingly the fault of the Army Corps of Engineers - who were solely responsible for designing and building the levee system they knew to be flawed - not the hurricane itself.

Mattresses are propped along the walls of the union hall in Little Italy, the bedding piled on chairs, as anxious union members sit inside in a round-the-clock state of siege.Since the shipboard engineers broke away from their parent union Jan. 16 in a fight centered on control of the $1.2 billion pension fund, they have expected the national union squad to arrive and seize possession of the hall and pension office.The parent union has "taken over the halls in Norfolk and Portland," reports Gordon M. Ward, as he listens over the phone to the news of the occupation of division offices in the Virginia and Oregon ports.

Groups of sixth-graders at Linthicum Elementary School pushed and pulled toothpicks and marshmallows yesterday, trying to build a bridge that would support a box of pennies and resist the urge to eat the marshmallows at the same time.They were among students throughout the county getting a glimpse of life as an engineer as part of Discover E program, started in 1990 by the National Society of Professional Engineers to encourage students to pursue careers in engineering.Engineers from Westinghouse have visited six schools in Anne Arundel County this year, showing students videos, conducting hands-on experiments and explaining their jobs.

Whatever becomes of 1,400 surplus acres at Fort George G. Meade, Army engineers say the environment will remain unharmed.Other government agencies, naturalists and the base's Odenton neighbors will havea chance to rebut that assessment tonight.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold a 7 p.m. public hearing at Meade High School on its draft Environmental Impact Statement.The statement outlines the alternatives being considered for the 1,400 acres, which includes the 400-acre Tipton Airfield and a sanitarylandfill.

John R. Hebert, a retired mechanical engineer who was vice president of operations at AAI Corp. in Cockeysville, died April 17 of cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The resident of Phoenix in Baltimore County was 83. John Ray Hebert was born and raised in Port Arthur, Texas, where he graduated from St. Mary's High School. Mr. Hebert earned a bachelor's degree in the early 1950s from Texas A&M University in College Station. He later served in the Army, where he attained the rank of lieutenant.

M. Faysal Thameen, a retired structural engineer who headed the city's role in the 1980s construction of the Fort McHenry Tunnel, died of cancer April 9 at his home in Millbury, Mass. The former Parkville resident was 75. "He was a quiet force in the Interstate Division," said former Maryland Transportation Secretary William K. Hellmann, who was recently appointed to the state's Transportation Authority board. "He was soft-spoken, knew his business and was the key coordinator with the designers of the Fort McHenry Tunnel, which was then the largest single contract in the history of the Interstate Highway System.

Nicholas P. Jones, dean of the Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering, has been named the new executive vice president and provost at Penn State University, the college announced Friday. Jones was selected from a nationwide search, according to a release from the university, and will start his post on July 1. His appointment is scheduled to be approved by Penn State's Board of Trustees on May 3. Penn State's president Rodney Erickson, who recently served in the position, said Jones "brings with him board experience in higher education" and "will be an important voice as we continue our trajectory of top-flight academic achievement and set priorities for the university's future.

Eugene "Gene" F. Kolb, a retired Bendix/Allied Signal mechanical engineer, died at Maryland Shock Trauma Center on April 12 of complications from a head injury related to a fall at his house. The Kingsville resident was 84. He was born in St. Charles, Mo., and was a 1947 graduate of St. Charles High School. He earned a mechanical engineering degree from the Missouri School of Mines. He served in the Army for two years in the early 1950s and moved to Maryland to take a job at the Bendix Joppa Road plant in Towson.

Dennis H. McGinley Jr., a retired electrical engineer and model railroad enthusiast, died Tuesday of heart disease at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He was 73. The son of a Jersey Central Railroad yardmaster and a factory worker, Dennis Hayden McGinley Jr. was born and raised in Allentown, Pa., where he graduated in 1957 from Allentown Central Catholic High School. He served in the Air Force for four years until being discharged in 1961. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1970 in electrical engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, while working for Roeback Co. in Trevos, Pa. He also earned a master's degree in business administration in the 1980s from what is now Loyola University Maryland.

Have you heard about the wacky registry trend? It's true! Brides are going a little wacky with their registries nowadays. Recently NBC's "Today Show" even had a segment about “Registries Gone Wild” where couples asked for things like cars and toilets. Can you imagine? According to the "Today Show" segment, brides and grooms are using “universal” registries to get anything they want from any brand. For example, you could ask for a Dodge Dart! Or let's just say you don't want the whole car from one guest then you can ask gift givers to put money toward a part of the car, like the engine.

Mattresses are propped along the walls of the union hall in Little Italy, the bedding piled on chairs, as anxious union members sit inside in a round-the-clock state of siege.Since the shipboard engineers broke away from their parent union Jan. 16 in a fight centered on control of the $1.2 billion pension fund, they have expected the national union squad to arrive and seize possession of the hall and pension office."The scumbags have taken over the halls in Norfolk and Portland," reports Gordon M. Ward, as he listens to the news over the phone of the occupation of division offices in the Virginia and Oregon ports.

Engineers have some of the most exciting jobs in the world. They were involved in designing the Apollo moon rocket, building the Bay Bridge and developing Nintendo video games.But the vast majority of middle-school students in metropolitan Baltimore have little, if any, awareness of the things engineers do unless one of their parents, a relative or a neighbor is in the profession. If they think about engineers at all, it is usually to classify them as the nerds of the American work force.