E. Burnley Powell

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Edwin Burnley Powell (September 23, 1880 – 1963) [1] was an American mechanical and consulting engineer. He was awarded the 1954 ASME Medal [2] [3] for many years of consulting engineer. [4] The ASME had argued, that in these days he was "probably the most widely consulted engineer in the public-utility field." [5]

The ASME Medal, created in 1920, is the highest award of ASME for "eminently distinguished engineering achievement".

Contents

Biography

Youth, education and early career

Powell was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi in 1880 to Edward F. Powell and Hardinia (Burnley) Powell. He attended Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he obtained his BSc in 1904. [6]

Brookhaven, Mississippi City in Mississippi, United States

Brookhaven is a small city in Lincoln County, Mississippi, United States, 60 miles south of the state capital of Jackson. The population was 12,520 at the 2010 U.S. Census. It is the county seat of Lincoln County. It was named after the Town of Brookhaven, New York by founder Samuel Jayne in 1818.

Millsaps College

Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi. Founded in 1890 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Millsaps is home to 985 students.

In 1900 Powell had started his career in 1900 at the New York Edison Company, now Consolidated Edison, at the meter and testing department. After his graduation in 1904 until 1907 he was as chemist in charge of the Chemical Laboratory & Mechanical Testing Department. [6]

Consolidated Edison energy company in the United States

Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison or Con Ed, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $48 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through its subsidiaries:

Further career and acknowledgement

In 1907 Powell moved to the Stone & Webster engineering services company in Stoughton, Massachusetts, where he started as engineer on the engineering department. [7] From 1914 to 1920 he was betterment engineer, supervising charge betterment work on several power stations. In 1920 he was appointed consulting engineer for the organization, [8] [6] specializing in power stations. [9]

Stone & Webster

Stone & Webster was an American engineering services company based in Stoughton, Massachusetts. It was founded as an electrical testing lab and consulting firm by electrical engineers Charles Stone and Edwin S. Webster in 1889. In the early 20th century, Stone & Webster was known for operating streetcar systems in many cities across the United States; examples include Dallas, Houston and Seattle. The company grew to provide engineering, construction, environmental, and plant operation and maintenance services, and it has long been involved in power generation projects, starting with hydroelectric plants of the late 19th-century; and with most American nuclear power plants.

In 1952 Powell was elected Fellow of ASME, [10] and in the same year he celebrated fifty years of continuous membership. In 1954 the ASME awarded his that year the ASME Medal for "distinguished service in engineering and science." [11]

Family

Powell married Jessie Elizabeth (Walker) Powell. Their son, Edwin Burnley Powell, Jr. (27 Sept. 1909 – June 1985) followed into his footsteps. He graduated from MIT in 1932 [12] and published a series articles about a method of measuring and displaying generator rotor angles in the late 1950s. [13] [14]

Selected publications

Articles, a selection

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References

  1. ASME. "Powell, Edwin BURNLEY Obituary." Transactions of the ASME. 1963. p. 131
  2. Claire Walter, Facts on File, Inc. Winners, the blue ribbon encyclopedia of awards. 1982. p. 485
  3. Linda S. Hubbard, Notable Americans: What They Did, from 1620 to the Present, 1988. p. 533.
  4. Carl Stripe, Combustion, Volumes 26-27. 1954. p. 54
  5. Mechanical Engineering. Volume 77. 1955. p. 86
  6. 1 2 3 John William Leonard, Winfield Scott Downs, M. M. Lewis, Who's who in Engineering. Volume 9, 1964. p. 1486
  7. Stone & Webster Public Service Journal. Volume 32. 1923. p. 164
  8. Powell, 1925. ii
  9. Power, Volume 85. 1941. p. 84
  10. American Society for Testing Materials. Bulletin, Nr. 203-218. 1952.p . 76
  11. ASTM Bulletin, Nr. 203-218. 1955, p. 76
  12. Clarence Winthrop Bowen. The history of Woodstock, Connecticut. Vol. 6, p. 217
  13. .B. Powell, M.E. Harper. "Rotor angle by stroboscope." Journal of the IEE, Volume 4, Issue 43, 1958 , p. 387-388
  14. J. D. Ristroph and E. B. Powell, "Contamination of Condensate by Heat-Exchanger-Tube Alloys," Trans. Amer. Soc. Mech. Engrs,, 1953, 75, 729-745;