Harry Alonzo Winne (October 27, 1888 – September 15, 1968), usually credited professionally as H. A. Winne, was an American electrical engineer, inventor, industrial executive and advisor on nuclear energy. He spent more than four decades with General Electric, becoming vice president for apparatus engineering in 1941, vice president in charge of engineering policy in 1945 and subsequently vice president for engineering. During and after the Second World War, Winne helped coordinate GE's work for the American atomic-energy program. He was familiar with the electromagnetic isotope separation and gaseous diffusion programs at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and in 1946 became chairman of GE's nucleonics committee, which directed company policy concerning the Hanford Site, the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory and other nuclear projects. Winne was one of the five consultants who wrote the 1946 Report on the International Control of Atomic Energy. The report proposed placing dangerous nuclear activities under an international authority rather than relying principally on inspection and punishment of individual countries. He later chaired an atomic-energy panel of the Department of Defense's Research and Development Board.
Early life and education Winne was born in Cherry Valley, New York, on October 27, 1888. In 1904 he was the president of a local student organization. A 1943 General Electric advertisement traced Winne's interest in engineering to his childhood fascination with locomotives and machinery. According to the company, he experimented with the steam engine in his father's laundry, dismantled a small magneto and used its components to construct an electric motor. While employed as a grocery clerk, he and a local blacksmith reportedly fashioned a set of metal climbing irons so that he could practice climbing telephone poles in anticipation of becoming an electrical lineman. He attended Syracuse University, where he studied electrical engineering and graduated in 1910. Syracuse subsequently awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree. To help finance his education, he worked during summers at a creamery; during the academic year he delivered the college newspaper and worked Sundays as a watchman at a Woolworth store. He graduated at the head of Syracuse's 1910 engineering class.
General Electric career
Electrical machinery engineering Winne joined General Electric immediately after leaving college in 1910. He initially worked in engineering positions concerned with industrial electrical apparatus, motors, electric furnaces and control systems. His early publications included studies of electric welding, furnace circuits and large motors used in steel rolling mills. Winne developed or co-developed systems for controlling industrial motors, rolling mills, electric furnaces and strip-processing equipment. Patent records assigned to General Electric identify him as an inventor on control systems dating from the 1920s and 1930s. His work included methods for regulating rolling-mill drives and controlling the thickness of continuously processed strip material. In 1941, GE appointed Winne vice president in charge of apparatus engineering. In 1945, he became vice president in charge of engineering policy, a position intended to coordinate engineering across the company. His title was subsequently changed to vice president for engineering. He continued in that position until November 1, 1953, after which GE assigned him a special project for the remainder of the year. He retired from GE effective December 31, 1953.
Wartime engineering and the Manhattan Project Beginning in late 1942 or early 1943, Winne devoted a substantial part of his work to coordinating GE's participation in the United States atomic-energy program. GE manufactured equipment for the electromagnetic-separation facilities at Oak Ridge and for the gaseous-diffusion process used to enrich uranium. Winne visited both the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory and Oak Ridge and served as an industrial consultant at Oak Ridge. In October 1945, the Kellex Corporation presented him with an inscribed copy of the Smyth Report. The copy was signed by senior Manhattan Project personnel including Leslie Groves, Thomas F. Farrell, Kenneth Nichols, Percival C. Keith and John R. Dunning. Winne also discussed GE's wartime improvements to naval turbines. In 1943, he stated that higher steam pressures, temperatures and improved turbines had reduced the fuel consumption of naval vessels, permitting greater range or increased armor and armament.
Atomic-energy policy
Acheson–Lilienthal Report On January 23, 1946, Secretary of State James F. Byrnes's Committee on Atomic Energy appointed Winne to a five-member Board of Consultants. The other consultants were David E. Lilienthal, who served as chairman, Chester Barnard, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Charles Allen Thomas. The consultants met intensively during January, February and March 1946. Their report, issued on March 16, became known as the Acheson–Lilienthal Report. It was the first major United States proposal for an international system governing nuclear materials and technology. Instead of merely outlawing atomic weapons and policing violations, the report proposed an international Atomic Development Authority that would own or control the most dangerous nuclear activities. Less dangerous research and industrial work would remain available to national governments and private organizations. The State Department committee described the report as a foundation for further negotiations rather than a final plan. Its proposals substantially influenced the later Baruch Plan presented to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission. Winne served as the board's representative of large-scale industrial engineering. Winne continued to speak publicly about the report and international control. In June 1946, he participated in a Harvard Business School discussion of atomic energy and international relations. Academic studies of early nuclear governance have continued to identify him as one of the report's industrial and engineering contributors.
GE nucleonics committee When GE assumed responsibility for operating the Hanford Works in 1946, Winne was appointed chairman of the company's nucleonics committee. According to his later testimony, the committee directed GE policy and operations in the atomic-energy field, including Hanford, construction and operation of the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory and related projects. GE became involved in the Navy's program to develop a nuclear-powered submarine through Knolls. An official history of the Nuclear Navy notes that Winne had become interested in the future of atomic power while serving on the Acheson–Lilienthal board and was involved in GE's early discussions with officers working under Hyman G. Rickover. A November 1951 visit to Knolls brought Winne together with GE president Ralph J. Cordiner, Secretary of the Navy Dan A. Kimball, Atomic Energy Commission members, Rickover and other naval and industrial officials reviewing progress on the submarine power-plant project. Winne advocated long-term reactor development, including nuclear plants designed to produce electricity. Histories of the Atomic Energy Commission record his participation in discussions of reactor development and the relationship between GE, the Navy and the commission.
Government advisory work Winne chaired the atomic-energy committee or panel of the Department of Defense's Research and Development Board. In that capacity, he was identified in the 1954 Oppenheimer security hearing as chairman of the board's atomic-energy committee. He also participated in federal discussions concerning the declassification of nuclear information and the relationship between security, industrial research and patent policy. During the 1950s, Winne served on advisory panels of the National Science Foundation. By 1960 he served as chairman of the foundation's Advisory Panel for Engineering Sciences.
Views on industrial research and nuclear power Winne argued that industrial research programs required stable, long-term financial support rather than funding that fluctuated sharply with short-term business conditions. In a 1952 keynote address, he discussed the relationship between fundamental research, industrial development and economic progress. He also advised young engineers that large industrial organizations depended on cooperation among small engineering groups while still allowing individual engineers professional independence. Winne was initially cautious about the immediate commercial prospects of nuclear electricity. His 1947 engineering paper argued that early nuclear generating stations would probably be suitable principally for large-output installations. In February 1950, after meeting with Winne, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote that he expected the practical production of electricity from nuclear energy to require time and continued research. His June 1950 address, "Atomic Energy's Place in Your Plans," was delivered to a conference of electric-utility executives and was subsequently cited in studies of utility investment.
Later career After leaving full-time employment at General Electric, Winne became the director of American Electric Power for the American Gas and Electric Company, later known as the American Electric Power Company. Winne remained active in engineering organizations and professional meetings after his GE retirement. In 1954, Cherry Valley held a "Harry A. Winne Day" in recognition of his engineering and public service career.
Honors Winne was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1945. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers elected him an honorary member in 1951. In 1954, he received the National Society of Professional Engineers Award. In 1955, he received the John Fritz Medal for his contributions to electrical engineering, industrial development and atomic-energy engineering. IEEE–Eta Kappa Nu named Winne an Eminent Member in 1955. Syracuse University's 1947 honorary Doctor of Science recognized his industrial engineering and public-policy work.
Personal life and death Winne married Dorothy Louise Hodges, with whom he had two children. Winne died in Schenectady on September 15, 1968, aged 79. He was buried in Cherry Valley Cemetery.
Works The following are documented technical papers, reports and published addresses by Winne.
"Electric Welding and Its Applications to Ship Construction" (1919), General Electric Review. "Reactors for Electric Furnace Circuits" (1920), Journal of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. "Recent Developments in Electric Furnaces of the Muffled Arc Type" (1921). "Synchronous Motors for Driving Steel Rolling Mills" (with W. T. Berkshire, 1928), Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. "Synchronous Motors for Driving Steel Rolling Mills," journal-edition record (1928). A Report on the International Control of Atomic Energy (with David E. Lilienthal, Chester I. Barnard, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Charles A. Thomas, 1946). "Power—Where Do We Go from Here?" (1946), Mechanical Engineering, volume 68, page 1032. "Atomic Energy in Industry" (1947), Electrical Engineering. "Sees Atomic Power Limited to High-Output Installations" (1947), abstract in SAE Journal, volume 55, page 56. Atomic Energy in Industry (1948), Smithsonian Institution reprint. "Atomic Energy's Place in Your Plans" (1950), address to the Electric Utility Executives Conference. "Application of Atomic Energy to Industry" (with B. R. Prentice). "The Response of the Medalist" (1955), Winne's John Fritz Medal address.
Patents Winne held the following United States patents and related Canadian patent-family publications.
U.S. patent 1,462,350, "Electric steam boiler" (with Wilbur L. Merrill), filed February 15, 1922. U.S. patent 1,535,883, "Electric-furnace control," filed November 23, 1921. U.S. patent 1,698,288, "Motor-control system," filed January 5, 1927. U.S. patent 1,812,818, "Motor control system," filed May 16, 1928. U.S. patent 1,815,754, "System of electric control," filed October 27, 1928. U.S. patent 1,886,773, "Motor control system," filed February 24, 1930. U.S. patent 1,862,354, "Motor control system," filed October 28, 1930. U.S. patent 1,871,437, "Control system for rolling mills," filed January 21, 1931. U.S. patent 1,988,930, "Cold strip rolling mill," filed March 6, 1931. U.S. patent 1,969,536, "Apparatus for controlling the thickness of strip material," filed February 18, 1932. U.S. patent 1,953,792, "Parallel operation of dynamo-electric machines," filed February 11, 1933. Canadian patent-family record CA 244578 , "Electric steam boiler." Canadian patent-family record CA 246203 , "Electric steam boiler."
See also Acheson–Lilienthal Report Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory
References
Further reading Rhodes, Richard (1995). Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-80400-2. Hewlett, Richard G.; Anderson, Oscar E. (1962). The New World, 1939–1946 (PDF). Pennsylvania State University Press. Thorpe, Charles (2004). "Violence and the Scientific Vocation". Theory, Culture & Society. 21 (3): 59–84. doi:10.1177/0263276404043620.
External links Harry A. Winne portrait sitting, Yousuf Karsh archive, September 24, 1947 "Atomic Energy in Industry" at Semantic Scholar Patents indexed under Harry A. Winne at Google Patents