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INTRODUCTION | ||
| It is said that if four people, standing on the four corners
of an intersection, observe and report on an accident, there will be four
different reports. This is not because any one report is inaccurate. It
is due to that fact that each person had a different point of perspective
as the accident was viewed. One saw things the others did not. It is up
the officers who investigate the accident to piece these reports together
in such a way that an accurate account of the accident is obtained.
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| The above concept applies to all history, whether a auto
accident or the "rise and fall" of the Roman Empire. Different people view
things from different perspectives and make different observations. It
is because of this that I undertake to write another historical account
of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Cal Poly. My perspective is
quite different than that of Professor Anderson. To understand the difference,
it is necessary to have an overview of its history before you.
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| DEPARTMENT HEADS
ELECTRICAL ENGR. Fred Bowden, 1946-1971 ELECTRONIC ENGR.
ELECTRONIC & ELECTRICAL
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DEPARTMENT CHAIRS
Martin Kaliski, 1989-1992 Saul Goldberg, 1992-1995 Martin Kaliski, 1995,-1998 Martin Kaliski, 1998-2001 CPE DIRECTORS
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| Warren Anderson personally witnessed the history from the
beginning of the EE departing in 1946 to the merger of the two departments
in 1971. Professor McMorran personally witnessed the history from 1956
to 1998 (and beyond). So the time of coverage was different. More important
than this, however, is the fact that during the 25 years where EE and EL
were separate departments, Warren was on the faculty of the EE department
whereas Wayne was on the faculty of the EL Department (a student in the
department from 1956-1960). The two departments were quite different.
As Warren correctly states in his history, "The reader must keep in mind
that it is a history as seen through the eyes of the author."
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| The differences in the two departments were several. First,
the area of concentration was different, with EE concentrating on power
generation & distribution, electric machines and controls, while EL
dealt with communications and other electronic applications. The most important
difference, however, was in educational philosophy.
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| The Electrical Engineering Department, under the leadership
of Fred Bowden followed a traditional Engineering Science type of EE program,
not much different than other universities at that time. The Electronic
(& Radio) Engingeering Department departed widely from this with the
result that the two departments were vastly different. There was
very little communication or social interaction between the two departments.
Because of this difference, a person from the EE Department would view
this 25 year period in a much different light than a person from the EL
department.
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| Note that this history will be divided by topic rather
than by date. Each topic shall be covered from neginning to end (or to
date).
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