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IN MEMORIAM
Harry Buchberg
Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, Emeritus
Los Angeles
1917–2003
Harry passed on after a long brave battle with heart disease and cancer. He leaves his wife of 60 years, Dorothy, two sons and a daughter and grandchildren. An energetic man with great self-confidence, he was always ready to encourage and help others. He will indeed be greatly missed by all those who knew him, including so many students, faculty and staff on the UCLA Campus.
Harry was born and went to school in Detroit. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1935 and he entered Los Angeles City College. After two years he transferred to UC Berkeley and obtained his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1941. Following graduation he secured a position as research engineer at the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Burbank from 1941 through 1946. He joined the Department of Engineering at UCLA in 1947 as an Associate Research Engineer and Lecturer. In 1956 he was promoted to Associate Professor and to Professor in 1965. He retired in 1983. Harry served on many department, school and campus committees, and his administrative service included Head of the Chemical, Nuclear, and Thermal Division from 1965 to 1967, and Head of the Energy and Kinetics Division from 1967 to 1969. He was twice a recipient of a Fulbright award, and served as visiting professor at the Technion University, Israel in 1962 and at Bogazici University, Turkey in 1971-72.
Harry’s career at Lockheed was marked by significant and timely modifications in aircraft design. He often spoke of his work on the P-38, one of the advanced fighter aircraft deployed in Europe during WW II. This “state of the art” airplane had more power and climbing capability than the German “Messerschmidt” but lacked lateral maneuverability due to a wide turning radius. As a result, too many P-38’s were being shot down by enemy aircraft. As this design problem emerged, Harry’s group was assigned the task of upgrading the P-38 booster control system. The success of these emergency efforts provided enhanced maneuverability and corresponding superiority over the German adversary. In fact, the P-38 became one of the most successful fighters in the U.S. Air Force Arsenal during WW II. Harry was, indeed, very proud of this important contribution to the “War Effort”.
Harry’s early research at UCLA was concerned with boiling heat transfer to obtain data required to design the nuclear reactors used to propel the first generation of U.S. nuclear powered submarines. Subsequently he was involved in evaluation of thermal loads on buildings to facilitate design of air conditioning systems. This activity led into a major research program in solar energy collection and utilization. He was a pioneer in the solar energy field with major contributions in the 1960s and 1970s. He introduced courses such as E134A “New Energy Technology; Resources, Conversion and Constraints”, and E134B “Solar Energy Use and Control” so that students could benefit from his and his colleagues’ research. The energy crisis of 1976 confirmed his vision of the role to be played by solar energy in the South Western United States. Cheap oil in the 1980s and 1990s put development of alternative energy sources on hold but it is very likely that engineers will soon be once again benefiting from his pioneering research. Harry’s work on climate control of buildings and enclosures also involved air quality problems in the Los Angeles basin, and management of the air environment in hospital operating rooms. These early studies on air quality also led to “clean room technology” which is now a key component in micro-electronic fabrication. His expertise was in great demand by many government and community agencies related to solar energy and air quality. Harry was an academic whose research and teaching truly had a significant impact on so many aspects of environmental quality and alternative energy sources.
Anthony Mills
Julius Glater
William Van Vorst