Marching toward our diamond jubilee
Dr. Ali Erdemir | TLT President's Report May 2017
While many engineering societies have come and gone, STLE is preparing to celebrate its 75th anniversary.
STLE—and to a large extent, our profession—were born in the waning days of World War II when the need for lubricant products was at its highest.
© Can Stock Photo / rodfrancis
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, STLE'S DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY—75 years—is knocking on our door and will be celebrated in 2019. This is a remarkable milestone for STLE—and for any organization for that matter. As we approach the 75-year mark, now is a great occasion to commemorate our many achievements in advancing the arts and science of tribology and the practice of lubrication engineering.
Let’s be frank. In science and engineering fields, professional societies come and go. Only the most relevant and successful survive over a significant period. In the case of STLE, thanks to great leadership and the hard work of countless volunteers, the society has not only survived but in fact thrived during its amazing history.
When it was first incorporated in the state of Illinois on Friday, Mar. 3, 1944, the society was called ASLE—the American Society of Lubrication Engineers. The name change to the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers occurred in 1987 (after lengthy discussions and heated debates) to better represent and serve an expanding membership base that encompassed not only lubrication engineers and suppliers but also the broader world tribology community. Since its foundation, STLE has contributed immensely to the expansion of the tribology field and the needs of lubrication specialists worldwide, thus making a positive impact on all humanity.
It must have been a very difficult and exhilarating time when the society was first established by Walter D. Hodson and other pioneers of our field back in 1944. For one thing, World War II was still raging in full force (the D-day invasion was just three months away). National spirit was high, but the casualties of war were mounting every day. FDR would soon be re-elected president for a fourth term, and the Nobel Peace Prize was presented to the International Red Cross for its heroic effort in helping those most afflicted by the war. The same year Casablanca (one of my favorite movies to this day) won the Oscar for Best Picture for very elegantly conveying all the desperation, suffering and human toll this horrific war was inflicting on ordinary people.
Prior to the inception of ASLE, rapid expansion was occurring in such industries as machine tooling, cars and trucks, railroads, textiles, agricultural hardware and steamships, and all of them needed effective lubricants for smooth and long-lasting operations. Hence, while there already was a growing body of lubrication activities taking place, especially in and around Chicago, there was no umbrella organization coordinating or representing all these activities. In fact, the U.S. Midwest was at the crossroads of all kinds of industrial activities that depended on lubricants and lubrication. Considering the ongoing war effort and the expanding need for better lubricants and bearing systems in aircrafts, tanks and other military hardware, the timeliness for creating a lubrication society must have been perfect in 1944.
Accordingly, farsighted leaders in the lubrication field at that time had the courage and motivation to form a dedicated engineering society. In ensuing years, the field of lubrication flourished immensely through the organization of regular meetings and the publication of such archival publications as Lubrication Engineering, the society’s official technical magazine that launched in 1945 and was the forerunner to TLT. To better serve the needs of our research community, in 1958 ASLE introduced a peer-reviewed journal, ASLE Transactions, which eventually was renamed Tribology Transactions. Both publications still serve STLE members today.
Over the years, STLE commissioned the publication of many other books, handbooks, white papers and proceedings to disseminate the art and science of lubrication. Over its history, our society has done a remarkable job in expanding and promoting the tribology and lubrication engineering fields. There is no doubt that the relentless pursuits of excellence and continuous improvement will continue in coming years as we prepare for our diamond jubilee.
As we get excited over our 75th Diamond Anniversary, STLE thanks its founding fathers and all those who contributed to its success.
Ali Erdemir is a Distinguished Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill. You can reach him at erdemir@anl.gov.