UA College Of Engineering Dedicates Renovated Foundry

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama College of Engineering will dedicate its newly renovated foundry to a late engineering professor emeritus at a special ceremony on Monday, August 28, from 11-11:45 a.m., in 121 H. M. Comer Hall (Mineral Industries Building).

Ray L. Farabee, an academic and industrial pioneer in the field of metallurgical and materials engineering, earned a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University in 1922. He went on to earn his P.E. in metallurgical engineering in 1928 and his master’s degree in chemical engineering in 1937 from the University. In 1982, UA honored him with the doctor of science degree.

Farabee served on the College of Engineering’s faculty as an assistant professor and professor of chemical and metallurgical engineering from 1926 to 1970, including service as head of the metallurgical engineering department from 1939 to 1941. At the time of his death, in October 1994, Farabee was 94 and was the College’s oldest surviving faculty member.

A member of Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Mu, Sigma Gamma Epsilon and an American Institute of Chemists Fellow (1965), Farabee is credited as the driving force behind the building of H.M. Comer Hall’s original foundry wing, at no cost to the University.

The UA foundry’s recent renovation was funded through a $2 million campaign that was supported by the University, the Alabama Cast Metals Association and the Birmingham District Chapter of the American Foundrymen’s Society.

Renovations, designed to provide UA engineering students with the latest in metallurgical technology, included installation of state-of-the-art electric induction melting furnaces, as well as equipment for molding, computer modeling and modern pattern making. Other specific equipment added to the foundry includes an analytical laboratory, sand-testing equipment, x-ray and sonic equipment and a process simulation laboratory.

With renovations complete, Dr. Doru Stefanescu, professor of metallurgical and materials engineering, said projects that once took days now take only minutes.

“We can now demonstrate firsthand to our students that the metal casting industry is very high-tech,” Stefanescu said. “Metal casting is the sixth largest manufacturing industry in the U.S. and the state of Alabama is second in the nation in castings produced.”

For more information, contact Carol Sanders, events coordinator for the College of Engineering, at 205-348-7674.

Note: Representatives of the media are invited to attend this event, which will include comments by UA President Andrew Sorensen and photo opportunities in the newly named Farabee Metal Casting Laboratory.

Contact

Kathryn Adams, Engineering Student Writer, 205/348-3051 Janice Fink, 205/348-6444

Source

Carol Sanders, events coordinator, College of Engineering, 205-348-7674