ARDC Plans Index of Industry Skills

By Philip

J. Klass

Washington-Air Research and De,clopmcnt Command plans to draft a

rcgistcr of 30,000-to-50,000 scientists
and enginecrs working in all ficlds of
technology to pcrmit fast acccss to cxperts in any given fiele] and rcduce
duplication of scicntific cffort.
The program, known as Project Cate
for Current ARDC T ech nical Efforts,
is scheclulecl to gct undcr way within
the next scvcral wecks.
1Beginning tvfar. 1, Air Force contractors and subcontractors will be asked to
havc their cngincers ancl scientists fill
out small ca rcls to show which of 33
different tcchnical fields in which they
are currently working, with a more detailed breakclown into one or more
sub-areas and additional key words to
describe the specific nature of thc individual's work.
The information asscmblccl by
.\RDC will bc reduced to punched card
form ancl he used in thesc two basic
wavs:
Technical rosters, one for each of the
33 technical fields, which lists cvery Air
Force cngineer ancl seientist engaged in
that area togethcr with key words which
deseribe his particular specialties plus
his acldrcss and telcphonc number, will
be printed and distributed to all engineers ancl scicntists who register with
Cate. Each of thcse Air Force scientists
in turn will have a more completc teehnical roster whieh also lists all registerecl
engineers and scientists in industry and
their specialties. If an industry engineer or scicntist needs technical assistance, or wishes to find out who else is
working in a particular area, he ,,ill be
able to look through his roster of USAF
scientists and find the man who specializes in this area. lf the Air Force scientist ca nnot providc from first-hand
knowleclgc the answer the industry scientist necds, thc Air Force scientist can
rcfcr to his complctc Air Force/ industry
roster to recommencl other scientists in
inclustry who can bc contactccl.
IBM 9310 computer and a small staff
at Air Force Research Division's Project Cate office will bc availablc for eonsultation ancl machine-search of its
extensive punehed card register for harclto-fincl skills. Inqui ries can be made by
telcphone or by tclctypc.
Air Force and inclustry engineers ancl
scientists will bc askecl to fill out the
Project Catc information cards every
three months so that rosters can be
kept up-to-clatc ancl rcvised quarterly.
Projeet Cate alreacl y has undergone
scveral months of trial operation, using
a register of about 2,400 Air Force engineers ancl scicntists, wi th marked
32

succcss, according to Lt. Co!. James

Vann, ARDC, who hcacls thc progra m.
Approximatcly 600 industry inquirics
havc bccn rcccived and processcd at
Cate hcadquarters, with an avcrage of
less than 20 min. bcing rcquirecl to locatc thc appropriatc USAF spccialist.
Thc clecision to publish rostcrs of
USAF scicntists ancl thcir areas of spccialty for distribution to industry is expcctecl to grea tly accclcra tc thc proccss by enabling industry to go clirectly
to thc Air Force spccialist without
worki ng th rough Ca te hcaclquartcrs for
routinc inquirics.

At present, the 33 1m1jor tcchnological fields, cach assigncd a code numbcr

from 0100 to 3300, includc: adYancecl
weapons, bioscicnecs rcscareh, communications, computcr techniques,
deceleration dc,ices tcchniques, elcctromagnetic ,ulncrability red uction. clcctromagnetic wa rfarc, clcctronics rescarch, clectronic tcchniqucs, flight
control, flight mechanics, gcophysics,
gcophysics rcscarch, human pcrformancc, intelligcncc tcchn iqucs, matcrials,
materials rcscarch, mcchanics rescarch,
naviga tion and guiclancc, nuclcar warfare, propulsion, propulsion rcsearch,

Pershing Service Tower at Cape Canaveral

Pershing missile service tower at Cape Canaveral, Fla., is almost completed. Complex comprises a two-story blockhousc with 8-ft.-thick concrete-dirt roof, t:wo launch pacls with
servicc towers, missile installation :md checkout building, and helicopter parking apron.
The tactical r:mge missilc is being developed by M artin Co. for Army.
AVIATION WEEK, February 15, 1960