Biography Of Roland S. Foster Prepared for Chemical Engineering Class Reunion Saturday, November 9, 2002 Gainesville, Florida
Introduction
Many persons have asked over these years just what is a chemical engineer, what is it that we do. The best answer that I have is that we are boundary spanners; spanning chemistry, mathematics and physical science to help solve problems in many industries. Our experiences are highly varied. My own have been many and varied. At Dow Chemical I participated in the design of fluidized bed hydrochlorination reactors scaled to process 1000 tons/day of a metal oxide ore; while at FAR Research one of our important products was produced at only 20 kgs per day. At PCR we manufactured hexamethyldisilazane in the almost instantaneous reaction between trimethylchlorosilane and anhydrous ammonia. At Syntex we produced Synalar, a fluorinated anti-inflammatory steroid in 20 chemical steps from the extract of a wild root grown in Southern Mexico. This overall process required well over one year to complete. While at Husky Oil, we produced a high-grade activated carbon used world wide to purify Smirnoff Vodka and Cutty Sark Scotch. At Albany International we produced a number of pheromones including those used to attract and destroy male boll weevils and tobacco budworms, two very destructive crop pests. I have worked on rocket fuel projects, produced anticancer drugs and have even prepared kosher hydrogen sulfide. Over these many years I have survived fires, explosions, toxic gas releases and exposure to a number of toxic and corrosive materials such as plutonium, beryllium, elemental fluorine, HF, and oleum. Coming to work in a chemical plant has been an adventure each day. It has been exciting, but it has also been fulfilling in that chemical engineers can and have contributed to the health, safety and economic well-being of our nation. And best of all – it’s fun.
2
Biography of Roland S. Foster BSChE January 1957 My father was chief operating engineer at a large chemical processing and wood treating plant located adjacent to the St. Johns River in Jacksonville during the 1930’s. At various times I had the opportunity of watching the plant chemists testing various materials in their control laboratory. This was fascinating. At age nine I received a chemistry set which was soon expanded into an upstairs laboratory. At age eleven I started reading books about famous chemists including Priestly, Pasteur, Koch, Lavoisier and finally George Washington Carver. Dr. Carver had been granted over 20 patents on useful products derived from the lowly peanut. He became my inspiration. If a former slave could make that many good products from a ground nut and speak before Congress, what could I hope to accomplish? At age 13, I obtained a summer job in a Jacksonville research lab washing glassware, crushing ice, dusting books and building asbestos heating mantles. I worked in the labs each summer doing progressively more complex tasks such as running distillations, setting up reactions and even analyzing some products. The final summer of 1947, I had an opportunity to work with chemical engineers in the resins pilot plant. Wow! This was fun; pushing drums, loading reactors, fitting pipe and producing new products. I could hardly wait to graduate high school and enroll at the University of Florida. But by the fall of 1948, the world had changed. The Cold War was in full bloom and I enlisted in the Air Force. After four years service, I returned to Florida too late to enroll at Gainesville but was able to enter Jacksonville University. There I met classmate Bob Agee. We organized the first fraternity at Jacksonville University with Bob as President and me as V.P. It still exists but is now under a national charter. You, my fellow classmates, may remember many of the days we spent together in classes during the years 1953 – 1957. Dr. Mack Tyner introduced us to a whole new universe of concepts and did it so well that it was actually fun. I still use Hougen and Watson frequently. Dr. Tyner presented complex information so clearly that even I could grasp it. Due to his teaching ability, I developed a lifelong passion for chemical engineering. Dr. Tyner also led us through instrumentation and control, which proved very valuable in industry. Dr. Bennett and Professor Payne provided us with a solid understanding of polymer chemistry, which I put to immediate use in industry. Dr. Schweyer and Frank May kept us busy with Unit Operations in the old hanger building. Some afternoon breaks were spent leaning out of the second floor windows overlooking the parade field, watching Darlene Johnson and her fellow majorettes practicing for the next football game. What an inspiring program! I had completed technical courses by summer 1956 but lacked some required non-technical courses. My advisor, Dr. Herb Schweyer, assigned specific courses that I had to take to graduate. He personally selected psychology as one of these. This turned out to be the best
3
favor that he may have ever done for a student. Herb’s selection has had a profound positive effect on my life ever since. That psychology class was held in Peabody Hall next to President Murphre’s statue and near the Plaza of the Americas. It was in this class that I met Ann Henderson of Fort Myers, Florida and Houston, Texas who later became an important part of my life. I graduated from the University of Florida in January 1957 and reported for work with Dow Chemical in Freeport, Texas. I chose to work in the Chemical Engineering Department along with classmate, Tom Stewart. Dow’s plants A and B were then, when taken together, the world’s largest chemical complex under single ownership. Although Dow was the fourth largest U.S. Chemical Company in 1957, it has now overtaken du Pont to become number one. Ann and I were married in Freeport on Friday evening, March 15, 1957. Three of our class members attended our wedding. These were Joe Morris, Tom Stewart and Bill Wilson. Tom was our best man. Another class member, Jim Smith, MSE 1957, moved to Texas City in July and joined our group on occasion. Between December 15, 1957 and October 12, 1962, we had four boys, all Texans. All four sons later attended and graduated from Gainesville High School and three went on to attend University of Florida. While working for Dow in Freeport I, along with Tom Stewart and many other Chemical engineers, participated in the Texas A&M graduate extension program from 1957 until 1961 when Hurricane Carla devastated Freeport, Lake Jackson and other coastal towns. Our house was nearly destroyed. Once repairs were finally completed in 1963, I requested a transfer to Dow’s facilities at Rocky Flats, Colorado. We lived in Boulder near the University of Colorado campus. Elevation in Lake Jackson, Texas had been 12 feet above sea level. Our house in Boulder was nearly 6000 feet above sea level. Much safer! Ann continued her education at The University of Colorado and graduated in 1966 with a B.A. in English. She began teaching high school in 1966 and will retire in 2003. I left Dow in 1966 to join Syntex Pharmaceutical Company. We relocated to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island in June 1967 where we lived in a new home built to our specifications. We returned to Florida in June 1970. We lived briefly in Jacksonville and then Dunnellon, Florida where we bought a house on the beautiful Rainbow River. We moved to Gainesville in June 1973 after I joined PCR, Inc., which is located near the Gainesville Airport. I was able to gain an ownership position in PCR. After PCR was sold, Ann and I moved to Columbus, Ohio in May 1981 so that we could both attend Ohio State University. I also managed a group of plants in Ohio. I obtained an MBA in 1983. We moved to Melbourne Beach, Florida in the fall of 1983 and began construction of FAR Research, Inc. in Palm Bay. Ann and I along with some skilled people brought down from Ohio, started operations in February 1984. Joe Morris served on our board of directors until we sold the business to Protex, S.A. of Paris, France in October 1994. I stayed on at FAR until retiring in April 1997.
4
I have remained active as a consulting engineer through 2002. This year I have worked on several projects and still find Hougen and Watson very useful but my Perry’s Handbook (3rd edition) has finally fallen apart from years of use. I have difficulty reading the new 5th edition.
Professional Associations
Name AIChE ACS NACE AIME NFPA Location American Institute Chemical Engineers American Chemical Society National Association Corrosion Engineers American Institute Mining and Metallurgical Engineers National Fire Protection Association
I have belonged to these associations at various times and in various places. I have participated in several AlChE sections.
5
Professional Career Time Period 1957 – 1966 1966 – 1970 1970 – 1973 1973 – 1980 1980 – 1983 1983 – 1997 1997 – 2002 Company Dow Chemical Position
Research Engineer – Freeport Sr, Project Engineer – Rocky Flats Syntex Pharmaceutical Production Manger Bahamas Chemical Division Husky Oil Company (Canada) Manager – Ind. Carbon Division Plants in Florida & PA. PCR, Inc. Director of Operations Two plants in Florida, one in Puerto Rico Albany International V.P. and General Manager Chemical Division Three plants in Ohio FAR Research, Inc. President 1983 – 1994 General Manager 1994 – 1995 Consultant 1995 - 1997 Foster Engineering Consulting Engineer – Present Education
Time Period 1952 (Summer) 1952 – 1953 1953 – 1957 1957 – 1961 1981 – 1983
School TCU – Fort Worth, Texas Jacksonville University University of Florida Texas A & M University Ohio State University Other Programs
Program Night program General studies BSChE Graduate Extension Program Executive MBA Program MBA – Finance
1965 1974 1976 1993
P.E. (Professional Engineer) P.E. (Professional Engineer) Private Pilot’s License Structural Fire Fighting
Colorado Florida U.S. Florida
6
Career Highlights Company Dow – Freeport Activity Designed, built and operated a beryllium separation pilot plant and a molybdenum oxychloride pilot plant. Applied for several process patents. Team leader on project to build first computer controlled plutonium recovery plant. Participated in design, construction and operation of world’s largest plant producing bulk birth control agents. Enlarged carbon operations in Jacksonville, Dunnellon and updated facilities in Bradford, PA. Designed, built and operated plants to produce hexamethyldisilazane, uracil, 5-fluororuracil. Got one new plant operating at a profit, sold one plant and then with three Gainesville investors, purchased a plant in Cleveland and moved it to Gainesville. Built a small (36,000 sq. ft.) plant on four acres in Palm Bay, Florida – FAR produced new pharmaceutical intermediates and reagents as well as new catalysts, photo and electronic chemicals. Major products were ethyl bromodifluoroacetate, tris (trimethylsiloxy) ethylene. At full staff, FAR employed 40 people including 4 PhD as well as several M.S. and B.S. level chemists and engineers. Obtained a patent on process for continuous production of hexamethyldisilazane.
Dow –Rocky Flats Syntex Husky Oil PCR Albany
FAR Research
7
The Foster Boys Tim Ben Died in flying accident at Crescent Beach in 1977 while a sophomore at University of Florida. Graduated University of Florida – BS Geology - Worked many years in Tampa as an environmental consultant. Currently General Manager of a medical diagnostic company in Ashville, N.C. Died 1998 while on assignment with the U.S. Army Special Forces – Delta. Sam attended University of Florida before his 18-year army career. Received BSChE and B.A. English from Carnagie-Mellon University – Pittsburgh. MSChE and PhD from University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Bill currently is a Sr. Scientist in the Biotechnology Department with a major pharmaceutical company. Location We live in the golf community of Suntree about 20 miles north of Melbourne. Suntree is 20 miles south of the Kennedy Space Center and 5 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. Travel I have visited far less than half of our beautiful planet. I have traveled east to Moscow on business, south to Durban, South Africa on safari, west to Honolulu on business and north to Iceland and Alaska on vacations. I have flown from London to New York in a Concorde and have floated down the Zambezi River amongst hippos to Victoria Falls. Ann and I have feasted on whale steak in Reykjavik, Iceland, poi in Honolulu, on fufu and warthog in Africa, fresh caught salmon in Ketchikan, Alaska and succulent white pineapple in Costa Rica. This has been a pleasant and exciting period of time – 1952 to 2002. These 50 years passed very quickly. Now for the next…. Go Gators! - Please Go Gators ---
Sam
-
Bill
-
8
A Special Tribute To Several Special People No Longer With Us Today Dr. Herb Schweyer: As my advisor, Dr. Schweyer had a profound positive influence on my life. Please see comments in my biography. Herb was an ardent basketball fan and we had nearby seats at the games. Dr. T.M. “Tim” Reed: Dr. Reed salvaged my engineering career by pulling me through thermodynamics 2 after a disastrous thermo 1 with the infamous instructor from Louisville, KY., Richard Harvin. Years later, while working at PCR, I had the privilege of teaming up with Dr. Reed on a liquid-liquid extraction process to separate halothane from its toxic isomer isohalothane. Unfortunately, Dr. Reed did not live to complete that consulting project. Dr. John Biery: For those class members who may not have known John, he was the very active Department Chairman from 1971 until his untimely death in 1981. John and I had similar backgrounds. We both had worked for Dow, both worked in the nuclear weapons programs (John at Los Alamos while I was at Rocky Flats). We both loved the wide open space of the Western United States, we both started flying during the 1970’s at Sopwith Camel and both of us were active in AIChE. John was of great help in guiding our son, Bill, to an outstanding education. Bill had grown up in Gainesville and preferred to attend college out of state. John recommended that Bill consider Carnegie-Mellon University where Dr. W.A. Westerberg, formerly of University of Florida, was then Department Chairman. John Biery was a devoted family man, engineer, educator, athlete, flyer, adventurer and friend. John is sadly missed by all who knew him. Bill Wilson BChE (1956): Bill is a well remembered classmate. Bill along with Joe Morris, worked at Shell Chemical in Deer Park during the late 1950’s. Joe departed for service in the U.S. Navy and Bill moved west to California where he worked many years for Aerojet at various locations. Bill returned to Palm Beach to take over his family’s tax consulting business. At the 1981 Class Reunion, Bill kept us all laughing with stories about Dr. Tyner and Frank May.
9
James M. (Jim) Smith MSE (1957) (1934 – 1999): Jim was research assistant to Dr. Bennett in 1956 working on an Air Force styrene polymerization project. Dr. Bennett hired me to help Jim conduct experiments in a large cold room located in the basement of the old Physics building. After graduation, Jim worked for Amoco in Texas City and later spent many years with Carbide in West Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. Jim’s son, Evan, is an astrophysicist at Goddard Space Flight Center. He is one of the scientists directing the Chandra Orbiting X-ray Observatory Project which currently is surveying Pulsars from its position in space.
And A Very Special Thanks To – Dr. Mack Tyner for sharing time with us once more. Also, to Dr. Seymour Block for writing his very well received book on the Chemical Engineering Department, its people, its history and direction. Following in Sam Proctor’s footsteps is a big job. And to Dr. John O’Connell for his help during the 1981 reunion and to Dr. Tim Anderson for hosting our 2002 reunion. Thanks to each………….
10
Roland Foster – Ann Henderson Gainesville, December 1956
11
Mexico March 1957
Front – Bill Wilson – Roland Foster Back – Joe Morris – Tom Stewart
12
Jim Smith – Roland Foster – Joe Morris about 1980
13
Reactor Installation 1984
FAR Research, Inc. Palm Bay Florida 1993
Loading 20% Oleum – 1987
Ann Foster – FAR Research, Inc. 1985
Chemical Trade Show in New Orleans 1992 Roland with chemists 15