Abstract :
HENRY E. WARREN (A´02) president of the Warren Telechron Company, Ashland, Mass., has been awarded the 1934 Lamme Medal of the A.I.E.E. This medal, which will be presented to Mr. Warren at the 1935 summer convention of the Institute which is to be held at Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., June 24–28, was awarded him “for outstanding contributions to the development of electric clocks and means for controlling central station frequencies.” Mr. Warren was born in Boston, Mass., May 21, 1872, and graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the degree of bachelor of science in 1894. From 1897 to 1902 he served as electrical and mechanical engineer of the Saginaw Valley Traction Company at Saginaw, Mich. Returning to Boston in 1902 he became engineer and general superintendent of the Lombard Governor Company, which position he held during the next 16 years. In 1904 the factory was moved from Boston to Ashland, Mass. While associated with this company he made improvements in the design of hydraulic speed governors which were installed in many of the largest water power plants of the United States. During the World War he designed several types of hydraulically operated machines which were used in the production of heavy shells and he also developed a new type of fire control mechanism. In 1907 Mr. Warren settled on a farm in the town of Ashland. Here he spent considerable time and thought in designing and constructing various forms of electric clocks as an avocation. One of the farm buildings was converted into a workshop. After several years of experimenting the Warren Clock Company was organized in 1912 to build and sell battery operated clocks. Not satisfied with the product, he undertook in 1916 the problem of utilizing commercial alternating current for the purpose of time-keeping. This involved first, the invention of a new form of self-starting synchronous motor which would be adaptable for use in clocks under conditions qui- e different from those to which ordinary power motors are subjected; and second, the development of an instrument for measuring frequency with great precision, which later became known as a Warren master clock. Then it was necessary to persuade engineers of power companies to use this instrument so that the frequency of alternating current might be controlled with sufficient accuracy. These objectives were reached before the end of 1916, when the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston adopted the new method of frequency regulation by means of the first Warren master clock. Other companies soon recognized the merits of the idea and within 10 years the use of regulated alternating current as a new kind of time service became general. As a result, the proportion of electric clocks to all clocks exclusive of alarm clocks produced and sold annually has risen from less than 2 per cent in 1916 to more than 60 per cent in 1933 and the increase still continues. Mr. Warren has been engaged since 1916 in adapting time-keeping synchronous motors to many fields of usefulness and in providing improved devices for frequency control. More than 100 patents have been granted to him. During the past 15 years he has served as president of the Warren Telechron Company and consulting engineer for the General Electric Company. He has held several town offices, is actively concerned with the Boy Scouts of America, and has been involved in numerous public enterprises. He has presented several technical papers on the subject of electric time keeping before the Institute and other organizations.