Tech Topics - Spring 2008 - (Page 35)

Burdell&Friends He is responsible for product and service quality for Chrysler Dodge and Jeep vehicles globally. Betts previously was senior vice president of product and service quality for Nissan Americas. He and his family live in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Dan Drechsel, IM 82, was appointed senior vice president and general manager of the SAP America Inc. banking line of business in November. He most recently served as president and COO of Global Energy Decisions LLC. Christie Rice Eheman, Biol 82, MS HPhys 83, has been promoted to branch chief of the cancer surveillance branch in the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The branch supports state cancer registries in the United States. In her previous position, she conducted epidemiological studies on breast and ovarian cancers. She lives in Smyrna, Ga., with her husband, Gary Eheman, ICS 82. Their son, Tom, is studying civil engineering at Georgia Tech. James A. Friedman, EE 80, was named a 2007 Wisconsin Super Lawyer by Law & Politics magazine and selected by his peers for inclusion in “The Best Lawyers in America” for 2008. Friedman is the team leader of Godfrey & Kahn’s insurance practice group and is based in the law firm’s Madison, Wis., office. His practice focuses on civil litigation with an emphasis on media law, appellate litigation, insurance coverage, insurance liquidation and guaranty fund work. Steven L. Hale, IE 80, of Fayetteville, Ga., was selected to attend the annual Northwestern Mutual Forum, which was held in November in Scottsdale, Ariz. A financial representative with the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, Hale was invited to the forum in recognition of his outstanding year of performance. Lynda B. Herrig, ME 84, MS ME 85, has been certified as a health care facility design professional by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Bob Babington, right, shows Marine Corps Gen. Charles C. Krulak how his field kitchen, used to prepare everything from pizza to cake, works. Cooking on the Move Bob Babington designs modern field kitchen for military, disaster relief By Karen Hill N apoleon Bonaparte famously said “an army runs on its stomach.” In that case, Georgia Tech alumnus Bob Babington figures it ought to bring along the kitchen. Last October, Babington, AE 55, introduced his ideal field kitchen to Marine Corps officials — the Ultimate Mobile Airtronic Kitchen. Babington said it can cook everything from pizza to sheet cake in battlefield conditions. The ultimate kitchen is produced at his factory in Rocky Mount, N.C., which Babington visits frequently. He and his wife of 50 years, the former Carol Wommack, live in McLean, Va., where they reared four sons. Babington has been providing field kitchens for the military for some time. Some of his kitchen units now are being used by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. It was Hurricane Katrina, however, that provided the inspiration for the “ultimate” kitchen, Babington said. While providing disaster relief, the Air National Guard used two of his Tray Ration Heaters to prepare 12,000 hot meals daily in Gulfport, Miss. Babington got an emergency call asking for the heaters when Army kitchens proved too hot, with temperatures inside the kitchens climbing to 145 degrees in the humid Southern city, and too dangerous, with open flames producing more carbon monoxide than could be vented outside. Air Force and Marine Corps kitchens didn’t have open flames but required large amounts of electricity to run — a hardship in a city that had lost its infrastructure and was trying to power many emergency functions with generators. None of the existing kitchens could provide drinking water; none could wash dishes. That experience, Babington said, made him realize the need for improved field kitchens, which hadn’t really been upgraded since World War II. “One of the things we had at Tech was a hands-on mentality; the good engineers are always hands-on,” Babington said. He went to work, developing a mobile field kitchen that combines cooking and sanitation systems in a single commercial cargo trailer. The back wall drops down to form something of an “open-air back porch.” Cooking and sanitation systems are powered by burners that use blowers and allow all the heat not necessary for cooking to be pumped outside the trailer. His kitchen can be used for anything from simply heating prepackaged, precooked meals to preparing an entire meal from scratch, including grilling, frying, roasting and baking. Babington said he has always been interested in the science of heat. His current work grew from his interest in finding new applications for a liquid atomization principle that he invented and patented in the mid-1960s, after he grew frustrated with a home humidifier that didn’t work well. The resulting invention goes under a variety of trade names, but is best known as the Babington Nebulizer. It can produce a uniform spray as fine as a fog and has numerous applications, including a clog-free oil burner, an insecticide fogger and a medical mist generator for people with respiratory illnesses. That invention led him to form his own engineering company after 12 years of government service, including two as an Air Force lieutenant immediately after college graduation and 10 as a NASA civilian engineer. As part of his work with NASA, he became the youngest member of the Apollo lunar landing management team in Washington, D.C. Although, at 74, Babington is past the age when many consider retirement, he said that he is available nearly around the clock to field questions about his equipment, especially from troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I think those who graduated with me in 1955 would get a charge out of the fact that one of their own is still working seven days per week, enjoying every minute, and still capable of hitting the long ball every now and then,” he said. TECHTOPICS | SPRING 2008 35

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Tech Topics - Spring 2008 Contents Mail Call Gold & White Honors Alumni House Sweet Spring Centennial Buzz Supreme Court Victory The Hill ‘Treasure Trove’ of Stories Living History Forget-me-not Fashion Student Life Investing in Graduates Giving Back Training the Next Generation Burdell & Friends Ingredients for Success Yellow Jackets Hockey Club Ices Georgia Tech Job Hunters Fare Well Real World

Tech Topics - Spring 2008

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