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In memoriam William C. Winters (1919–1990)
Atmospheric Research, ( 1991 ) 189-190
189
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
In Memoriam William C. Winters ( 1919-1990) William Winters name appears on only a few scientific papers, but he was a major contributor to aerosol science and cloud physics for nearly forty years. Bill was trained as a machinist in the General Electric Apprentice Program, and joined the General Engineering Laboratory (now part of the corporate R&D Center) in the early 1950's. He became the instrument maker of the Chemical Instrumentation Group, which included T.A. Rich as a consultant, and a young engineer, G.F. Skala. L.W. Pollak always sought "Mister Bill", with complicated designs for valves or optical components, during his annual consulting visit to Schenectady. The prototype of the Rich (1955) "Nucleus Counter With Size Discrimination" in use worldwide, and still in production as the Gardner Counter, came from Bill's shop, with a deadline to be ready for Ted to demonstrate it at the ICCN. The prototype automatic nucleus counter, which through Skala's engineering became "The GECNC", still in worldwide use, was a Winters creation, as was the Rich Diffuser-denuder which adapted the CNC to particle sizing. Bill followed Rich and Skala to form Environment One, where he again was responsible for the prototype of the Rich 100, a photo recording Aitken counter, and a portable photoelectric counter. When Rich retired again, to consulting with the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, Bill followed, still building aerosol instruments, but now more frequently one of a kind designs for individual polar, shipboard, or airborne experiments. During those ASRC years, a Winters diffusiophoretic chamber was used by Podzimek, and the Winters aerosol calibration facilities were annually visited by Sinclair and Megaw. The cloud water collectors made for Whiteface Mountain, approach a world standard for cloud chemistry research, and the airborne cloud water collectors, first made for the NCAR APEX program are widely used. Eclipse cameras for Schaefer, electrodes for Vonnegut, sensitive nucleus counters and multi-spectral radiometers for the Antarctic, almost anything for a student, airtight metal to metal seals just for fun. Bill Winters made them all and made them well. Bill leaves his wife Mary, and son William in the Schenectady area. We have lost a prolific contributor to science. A. HOGAN (Hanover, NH, USA) V. MOHNEN V. SCHAFFER (Albany, NY, USA)
189
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
In Memoriam William C. Winters ( 1919-1990) William Winters name appears on only a few scientific papers, but he was a major contributor to aerosol science and cloud physics for nearly forty years. Bill was trained as a machinist in the General Electric Apprentice Program, and joined the General Engineering Laboratory (now part of the corporate R&D Center) in the early 1950's. He became the instrument maker of the Chemical Instrumentation Group, which included T.A. Rich as a consultant, and a young engineer, G.F. Skala. L.W. Pollak always sought "Mister Bill", with complicated designs for valves or optical components, during his annual consulting visit to Schenectady. The prototype of the Rich (1955) "Nucleus Counter With Size Discrimination" in use worldwide, and still in production as the Gardner Counter, came from Bill's shop, with a deadline to be ready for Ted to demonstrate it at the ICCN. The prototype automatic nucleus counter, which through Skala's engineering became "The GECNC", still in worldwide use, was a Winters creation, as was the Rich Diffuser-denuder which adapted the CNC to particle sizing. Bill followed Rich and Skala to form Environment One, where he again was responsible for the prototype of the Rich 100, a photo recording Aitken counter, and a portable photoelectric counter. When Rich retired again, to consulting with the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, Bill followed, still building aerosol instruments, but now more frequently one of a kind designs for individual polar, shipboard, or airborne experiments. During those ASRC years, a Winters diffusiophoretic chamber was used by Podzimek, and the Winters aerosol calibration facilities were annually visited by Sinclair and Megaw. The cloud water collectors made for Whiteface Mountain, approach a world standard for cloud chemistry research, and the airborne cloud water collectors, first made for the NCAR APEX program are widely used. Eclipse cameras for Schaefer, electrodes for Vonnegut, sensitive nucleus counters and multi-spectral radiometers for the Antarctic, almost anything for a student, airtight metal to metal seals just for fun. Bill Winters made them all and made them well. Bill leaves his wife Mary, and son William in the Schenectady area. We have lost a prolific contributor to science. A. HOGAN (Hanover, NH, USA) V. MOHNEN V. SCHAFFER (Albany, NY, USA)