Engineering Memory of the Month

Higher Education

Stanford Engineering has long strived to provide educational experiences for students that are directly relevant to industry and the latest technology. How long? At least since 1953, when the Department of Mechanical Engineering began offering a class, "Principles of Helicopter Design." Helicopters had been around for a little while, but significant advances had been made just in the previous decade by Palo Alto inventor Stanley Hiller, Jr. Hiller's engineers collaborated with professors at Stanford to teach the class.

Shown above is a Hiller helicopter as it flies above the west side of campus. The apparently "L"-shaped building at the bottom of the photo in the middle is the northwest "physics" corner of the Quad. Most of the open space in the middle of the picture is now the Medical Center, which did not open until six years later in 1959.

We are interested in your nostalgic photos and the stories they tell. If you'd like to share them with the Stanford Engineering community, e-mail them to David Orenstein , Manager, Communications and P.R.