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Central New York home to some of America's most famous engineers

CNY Business Journal (1994-95), Feb 20, 1995 by Grossman, Naomi

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It was in that same building on Geddes Street that Henry H. Franklin worked on his air-cooled engines for the Franklin automobile, which boasted four cylinders and an in-head valve, and was the most successful air-cooled automobile of the era. In 1906, the Franklin automobile ranked third in sales of all automobiles sold in the United States. In the mid-1920s, 15.000 cars were being made a year, but by 1934, due to the Depression, the Franklin plant was closed.

Three years later, Willis Carrier, who was a fan of the Franklin car and wanted to expand his company, the Carrier Corporation, out of New Jersey, moved into the abandoned Franklin plant in Syracuse and began manufacturing air conditioners. The company now distributes its air-conditioning products worldwide.

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Today, the tradition of engineering automobiles in Central New York has moved into a new era. Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation is developing electric cars using electric motors designed and made at Syracuse-based Advanced D.C. Electric Motors, Inc. New Venture Gear in Syracuse has also designed and produced a manual-drive unit for Chrysler Corporation's electric car, and they now have a program in electric-car technology. New Venture Gear is also the world leader in four-wheel drive technology.

Another engineering soul who decided to take the plunge into the risky area of inventions was Edwin A. Link of Broome County. In the 1930s he wanted to learn how to fly but couldn't afford flight lessons, so he developed a pilot trainer that enabled pilots to learn how to fly without leaving the ground. Link's initial goal was to provide flight instruction at an affordable rate, but World War II increased the need for trained pilots, and orders for the trainers came from American and Allied governments. Binghamton-based Link Aviation, Inc., eventually became a major manufacturer of aviation equipment.

Over half a century later, the CAE-Link Corporation, as it is now called after it was bought by a Canadian company, continues to provide simulation training systems and technical support services, mostly to military establishments.

"Our capability has been expanded," says Robert Goerlich, community-affairs manager at CAE-Link, "but our basic thrust hasn't really changed in 65 years."

World War I made Theodore Case of Auburn famous for his signalling system that allowed ships and convoys to communicate secretly. The system used what he called the "thalofide cell." which was able to receive beams of infrared rays. These rays are invisible to the human eye but still capable of producing sounds, according to a predetermined code, at a distant point. Case applied this technology to film and by 1923 invented the first successful sound film system. Three years later, William Fox of Fox Films purchased the patent ad, in 1927, Sunrise, the first feature-length motion picture with a soundtrack, was released. Within two decades, new technology eclipsed Case's inventions, but many of the standards he developed for sound production, such as the perforated motion-picture screen, which allows the sound to emanate directly from the action, are still in effect.

Central New York home to some of America's most famous engineers

CNY Business Journal (1994-95), Feb 20, 1995 by Grossman, Naomi

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