Melpar
Encyclopedia
The story of how Washington’s technology business unfolded during the 20th century would be incomplete without a discussion of Melpar. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s Melpar Inc was the preeminent technological company in Washington–not only was it the largest private employer in the capital area; it was also one of the nation’s top electronics research firms. For a ten-year period it served as a national asset that was heavily relied upon by the Government to solve a wide range of scientific, military and technological problems during the Cold War
period.
At the conclusion of World War II
, the founders of Melpar Inc (Thomas Meloy and Joseph Parks), at the suggestion of the Navy, moved from New York City
to Washington to obtain Government contracts
. In late 1945 Joe Parks accidentally killed himself in a hunting accident; nevertheless Tom Meloy continued to foster the idea of developing Melpar as an engineering and production company doing business with the Armed Forces
. He began by acquiring the Carl Miller Engineering Company, a small firm that designed and produced electro-mechanical
products, located on 5th St between G and H (near the old Pension Building). Soon the new company took over a problem contract for airborne radar systems, and thereafter business expanded rapidly. In the next few years Melpar moved to Alexandria, Va
., added a second plant in Cambridge, Mass and a third plant in Alexandria. Within 15 years the company grew to more than 6,000 employees who worked on hundreds of Government contracts, and occupied ten facilities (more than 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²)) throughout Northern Virginia.
Melpar’s role was uniquely suited to the post War period characterized by events such as the Berlin Airlift
, the detonation of the Atomic Bomb
by the Soviet Union
, the formation of NATO, and the outbreak of the Korean War
. However, in addition to military applications, technology began to play an important role in nonmilitary areas, resulting in many emerging areas of scientific inquiry. The Government had a large pool of technical talent in its laboratories, and assumed an expanded role, funding programs and research of vital interest to the country. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 further intensified competition with the Soviet Union, culminating in the race to place a man on the moon.
Against this backdrop Melpar emerged as the perfect company to help the Government and the nation solve its daunting problems. Melpar wanted first and foremost to be a Government contractor and embraced rather than shunned Government work, as did most other companies. In 1951 Westinghouse Air Brake, a prestigious old-line railway equipment producer, purchased the company, and gave it a free hand to undertake government contracts involving engineering development, production and scientific exploration. By today’s standards profits expected and realized on Government contracts were low (1-2% of sales), and were reinvested in research. There was little pressure to focus on core specialties so that Melpar was able to respond to a broad array of needs of Federal and Defense agencies.
Traditionally, during each decade, attracting outstanding talent involves judgement about the kind of work that is considered the most fun, the most exciting, the most technically challenging and rewarding. In the 1990s the development of the Internet, and its emphasis on computer science
, information systems
, and software has most excited imaginations and intensified the pace of technology. During the 1970s and 1980’s a similar fervor was experienced in the telecommunications and biotechnology sectors. However, during the 1950s and 1960’s the most exciting, technically challenging place to advance the frontiers of knowledge was the fledgling aerospace and electronics industry
. The 1950-60’s had many of the same characteristics as today - new firms started by entrepreneurs with promising ideas, financed on a shoestring, and people readily working long hours challenged by the difficulty and excitement of the work. A unique feature of the 1950s, however, was that the Government, not the commercial marketplace, was the prime source of funding and sponsor of the new technologies.
Melpar perfectly fit into a role of helping the Government take on new exciting challenges. Its location in Washington near its customers was ideal. Melpar wasn’t the only company in the area to thrive; other government contractors such as Atlantic Research, Vitro Laboratories, Page Communications Engineers, Hazleton Laboratories
, COMSAT
and the Applied Physics Laboratory
also played important roles. However, Melpar was the biggest company and had the greatest ability to attract a wide variety of talent and experts from the best universities all over the country. In 1963 a sample of openings included a need for astronomers, astrophysicists, microbiologists, entomologists, geophysicists and gas chromatagraphers. There was a constant migration of the nation’s best intellects between Melpar and Government laboratories and, in effect, Melpar filled a void due to the lack of a preeminent technical university in the area. Overall, the company played an important role on the Washington scene leading technical societies, chairing symposia, and hosting numerous high level meetings and exchange visits with top Government officials and international dignitaries.
Melpar’s daring foresight was dramatically exemplified by a decision in 1952 to build a picturesque, modern plant 10 miles (16.1 km) from downtown on a 44 acres (178,061.8 m²) wooded tract near Seven Corners on Route 50. The new building, surrounded by fields in a campus-like setting 400 feet (121.9 m) back from the road, had a pond, willow trees
, brick facade, and parking tucked away inconspicuously behind the plant. It was a vivid contrast to the ugly, dingy buildings and warehouses located downtown, and immediately became the development model to be followed in harmonizing industrial design
with residential surroundings. To accommodate Melpar, Fairfax County revamped its zoning laws
and welcomed the clean, non-polluting company to help relieve the tax burden
on property owners. Melpar was an employer of choice as employees relished a new life-style permitting them to work near their homes. In development advertising the state of Virginia
touted Melpar as a model. The decision to move to the country was especially daring considering it would be more than ten years before the “circumferential highway” (later known as the Beltway) was completed, and more than 15 years before a shopping mall
was built at Tyson’s Corner.
Melpar’s success also stemmed from its ability to link production facilities to its scientific and engineering capabilities. The company won two large contracts for B-58 aircraft electronics and Minuteman missile
guidance components, requiring a buildup of manufacturing plants
and an associated work force for the first time in the Washington area
. These facilities also enabled scientists to test their laboratory research with prototype hardware. By 1960 the company had assembled a wide range of products such as missile equipment, flight simulator
s, radar beacons, fuses, data processing
equipment, communications, antennas, electronic countermeasure and reconnaissance systems. All the necessary ingredients provided a catalyst for Melpar to thrive and prosper–a superb location near customers with many requirements, the ability to attract the needed talent, excellent facilities to carry out the work, and the right company management motivation.
Managing manufacturing programs presented a different set of challenges. Since Washington did not have a workforce of electronic technicians Melpar had to quickly build and train one. The Minuteman production line
required 1,800 people and as many as 130 were hired in a single day. Technology schools such as the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute rapidly expanded to help train designers and draftsmen to build products for space and missile programs with reliability levels never previously approached. Universities conducted technical courses -e.g. Principles of Transistors- in Melpar’s facilities for hundreds of employees participating on their own time, in programs praised by the Secretary of Education as a model for the future. Melpar instituted unheard of tuition-reimbursement policies with special incentives for high grades in technical courses. Positions for minorities and females opened at unprecedented levels and provided lifetime opportunities for many.
During this time the company also pioneered manufacturing technology that accompanied new state of the art
developments. Unlike today when existing off-the-shelf
technology is readily available, manufacturing had to become engineering’s handmaiden, ready to translate ideas quickly into producible reality. Intense development occurred in areas of microelectronics technology such as fabrication and layout of miniature circuits, and use of thin film
devices and plastic components. Processes such as welding, plating, soldering and automatic component insertion were constantly studied and made more reliable, faster and less costly. Since Government manufacturing specifications and standards did not yet exist, Melpar’s manufacturing engineers often found themselves writing process
documents that eventually became the Government standard.
When looked at 40 years later, the diversity of research in physical and life sciences
undertaken by Melpar was truly astounding. One project begun in the late 1950s (foreshadowing artificial intelligence
) linked biology and the design of electrical devices–computer programs that emulated artificial nerve cells
and simulated functions such as learning ability and initiative. The intent was to construct a practical thinking machine, similar to a human nervous system
that learned pattern recognition
and avoided mistakes (e.g. programming a mobile satellite on the moon to avoid a deep precipice). Studies on the nature of speech led to more efficient use of the radio spectrum
through bandwidth compression
, and improved long distance and coded communications–other related studies focused on elimination of speech deficiencies and development of a phonetic typewriter. In medical research Melpar developed synthetic materials (tissue growth) to be compatible with the heart (later known as the Jarvik heart), and produced an electronic heart monitor
(Cardiac Sentry) which detected out-of-norm variations, maintained hospital records and administered prescribed treatments. The company was an early pioneer in plasma physics
and developed materials for communicating with manned space vehicles reentering the atmosphere. Using solar energy
, desalinization experiments were conducted to make saline and brackish water
drinkable. Detection systems to measure highway curves, motions and vibrations were developed so that future mass transit
systems would be fast, comfortable and safe.
Melpar’s broad expertise and available researchers assisted the Government in many other fields as well. They performed studies in cell biology
, food chemistry, composite material
s (light weight, high temperature), solar energy, meteorology, virology and immunology (cancer research), air and water pollution
, air traffic control
, global navigation (constructed a prototype map of the Global Positioning System
), and underwater acoustics and optics. They studied methane detection in mines and conversion of coal to acetylene as a new source of energy. An antenna was placed on top of the Empire State Building to evaluate the feasibility of UHF broadcasting. Offshoot products from laboratory technology included resins, varnishes, foam, nonsmudge ink, adhesives, photoelectric readers and frequency standard
instrumentation. Synthetic diamonds and emeralds were produced to test hardness in space age materials. While most of Melpar’s efforts were technical in nature, some involved the social sciences–creation of a stock index
of Standard and Poor 500 companies for Business Week
, and operation of a Job Corps
center.
In spite of on-going research programs Melpar continued its mainstream focus on military and space applications such as radar, communications, and electronic counter measure systems as well as airborne and ground intelligence systems. Devices to detect lethal chemical and biological agent
s were developed. The company participated in early unmanned (Vanguard and Explorer) and manned space programs (Mercury and Apollo), providing antennas and semidried food for lunar missions. A quarantine facility was produced to insure the astronauts had not brought any contamination from the moon.
Melpar was also one of the world’s foremost flight simulator producers–more than a dozen different systems (including many of the Air Force’s century series
fighters and helicopter systems for the Navy) were deployed at bases throughout the world. These simulators became progressively more complex and enabled more realistic and demanding training, and proved their value in saving pilots’ lives and cost (reduced fuel consumption
during the 1970s energy crisis
).
Overall, during the 1950s and 60’s Melpar was continually on the cutting edge of scientific and engineering discoveries which helped solve some of mankind’s most fundamental problems. A company newspaper editorial in 1957 stated, “We have sought the breeder job, the line of inquiry promising to expand a general field of engineering endeavor or open a new one.” In effect during its ten-year period of ascendancy Melpar played a role as a surrogate university, and served as a repository for a wide variety of engineering and scientific knowledge. The company expanded the frontiers of technology and then passed this information on to others to continue the work– in this sense Melpar truly was a breeder carrying out an important role to propagate scientific and engineering knowledge.
Inevitably, however, in the mid-1960s the situation began to change and Melpar’s research, engineering and production efforts began a period of decline. Many circumstances that initially contributed to the company’s success began to change. First and probably most important, the Government’s budget priorities changed, with much greater emphasis being placed on solving the nation’s social problems
, best exemplified by President Lyndon Johnson’s initiatives in the “War on Poverty”. The space program
had no clear follow-on mission after landing a man on the moon. The military’s budget was heavily dedicated to providing the necessary manpower and armament to fight the war in Vietnam
. None of these budget trends dovetailed with Melpar’s on-going programs.
Other factors contributed to the business decline. The Government didn’t award follow-on manufacturing contracts so mass layoffs of production workers took place. The American Standard Company, a plumbing supply manufacturer that had little interest in Government business, bought the Westinghouse Air Brake Company
, and immediately began to sell off the assets. Melpar’s many research programs were too diverse, too unprofitable, and had uncertain business prospects–as scientific knowledge burgeoned, new competitors emerged to take the lead in specialized areas. Without government funding, no company had the internal resources to sustain such a wide variety of research.
Some unfavorable national publicity contributed to Melpar’s misfortunes. In 1963 Bobby Baker
was Secretary for the Majority Democratic caucus in the US Senate, and closely linked to Lyndon Johnson
- he held perhaps the most powerful nonelected position in Congress. A Melpar vending machine
contractor filed a lawsuit against Baker, accusing him of influence-peddling
to switch the contract to a competitor, with which he had financial ties. Within a few days Baker resigned his position hoping the issue would quietly die. It didn’t, however, and for almost two years there were daily front-page headlines and congressional investigations into Baker’s many business deals and questionable relationships. Melpar’s top management was called to testify before the Senate Rules committee
, although ultimately the Melpar incident was overshadowed by many other allegations and settled out of court. Even so the situation was demoralizing to employees, did not enhance the company’s ability to win new Government contracts, and changes in company management soon took place.
Considering all these events it was inevitable that employees would begin to leave Melpar, start new companies (usually in the Washington area), and take the business with them. As a result over the next 20 to 30 years more than a dozen spin-off
s would continue to generate millions of dollars in annual sales and provide employment for thousands in the Washington area. One employee began a communications company in Florida that ultimately emerged as the Harris Corporation
, today a $3 billion enterprise. A data communications manufacturer in Boston, Codex, was sold to Motorola for $80 million. Many spin-offs prospered in the 1970s and 1980’s, but have recently left the area, due to industrial consolidations, mergers, and acquisitions. The Meloy Laboratories continued Melpar’s biotechnical, pharmaceutical research until Rhone Poulenc Rorer moved the operation to Philadelphia in the 1980s. A flight simulator spin-off named Simulation Engineering Corporation (Secor), went through four changes in ownership in Northern Virginia–from Sperry Rand
(later renamed Unisys) to Honeywell to Hughes to Raytheon - before being moved to Texas in 1998. The same employees started a second company, Quintron, which was purchased by Loral for $22 million and later owned by Lockheed–recently the work has been taken over by Intellx. A few companies still reside in Northern Virginia
–VSE Inc in Alexandria (1300 employees), RSI Inc in Sterling (500 employees), ISOMET in Springfield, ST Research (now Sensys Tech) in Newington, as well as half a dozen small machine shops.
While Melpar never regained its lofty position, almost 50 years later it is still in the same facility on Route 50 and has about 1,500 employees. The company has gone through several changes in ownership, being purchased by LTV Electrosystems in 1970 (changed to E-Systems
in 1972) and the Raytheon Company
in 1994. The name Melpar was discontinued in 1994 and the facility now serves as headquarters for Raytheon’s Strategic Systems Division. Over the last 25 to30 years the company has maintained a low profile performing Government electronics contracts, most notably production and support of ground systems for the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft
, and unmanned aerial vehicle
s. Additionally this facility manages large-scale information systems for civil agencies, such as the Department of Education, and continues to operate a full-service fabrication and test unit for electronic products.
Overall, during a ten-year period of time, Melpar played a pivotal role in the evolving history of Washington technology. At a time after World War II when Washington was totally a Government town, it was the first to nurture and develop private industry
, attracting and training a high tech
nology workforce in suburbia. As the first premier high technology company in the area, Melpar’s lasting legacy was to form an industrial base which, over the years, would diversify from Government-oriented contracts to today’s commercial marketplace of knowledge-based, information systems companies.
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
period.
At the conclusion of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the founders of Melpar Inc (Thomas Meloy and Joseph Parks), at the suggestion of the Navy, moved from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Washington to obtain Government contracts
Government contracts
Government procurement in the United States is based on many of the same principles as commercial contracting, but is subject to special laws and regulation as described below....
. In late 1945 Joe Parks accidentally killed himself in a hunting accident; nevertheless Tom Meloy continued to foster the idea of developing Melpar as an engineering and production company doing business with the Armed Forces
Armed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
. He began by acquiring the Carl Miller Engineering Company, a small firm that designed and produced electro-mechanical
Electromechanics
In engineering, electromechanics combines the sciences of electromagnetism, of electrical engineering and mechanics. Mechanical engineering in this context refers to the larger discipline which includes chemical engineering, and other related disciplines. Electrical engineering in this context...
products, located on 5th St between G and H (near the old Pension Building). Soon the new company took over a problem contract for airborne radar systems, and thereafter business expanded rapidly. In the next few years Melpar moved to Alexandria, Va
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
., added a second plant in Cambridge, Mass and a third plant in Alexandria. Within 15 years the company grew to more than 6,000 employees who worked on hundreds of Government contracts, and occupied ten facilities (more than 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²)) throughout Northern Virginia.
Melpar’s role was uniquely suited to the post War period characterized by events such as the Berlin Airlift
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...
, the detonation of the Atomic Bomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, the formation of NATO, and the outbreak of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. However, in addition to military applications, technology began to play an important role in nonmilitary areas, resulting in many emerging areas of scientific inquiry. The Government had a large pool of technical talent in its laboratories, and assumed an expanded role, funding programs and research of vital interest to the country. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 further intensified competition with the Soviet Union, culminating in the race to place a man on the moon.
Against this backdrop Melpar emerged as the perfect company to help the Government and the nation solve its daunting problems. Melpar wanted first and foremost to be a Government contractor and embraced rather than shunned Government work, as did most other companies. In 1951 Westinghouse Air Brake, a prestigious old-line railway equipment producer, purchased the company, and gave it a free hand to undertake government contracts involving engineering development, production and scientific exploration. By today’s standards profits expected and realized on Government contracts were low (1-2% of sales), and were reinvested in research. There was little pressure to focus on core specialties so that Melpar was able to respond to a broad array of needs of Federal and Defense agencies.
Traditionally, during each decade, attracting outstanding talent involves judgement about the kind of work that is considered the most fun, the most exciting, the most technically challenging and rewarding. In the 1990s the development of the Internet, and its emphasis on computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, information systems
Information systems
Information Systems is an academic/professional discipline bridging the business field and the well-defined computer science field that is evolving toward a new scientific area of study...
, and software has most excited imaginations and intensified the pace of technology. During the 1970s and 1980’s a similar fervor was experienced in the telecommunications and biotechnology sectors. However, during the 1950s and 1960’s the most exciting, technically challenging place to advance the frontiers of knowledge was the fledgling aerospace and electronics industry
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
. The 1950-60’s had many of the same characteristics as today - new firms started by entrepreneurs with promising ideas, financed on a shoestring, and people readily working long hours challenged by the difficulty and excitement of the work. A unique feature of the 1950s, however, was that the Government, not the commercial marketplace, was the prime source of funding and sponsor of the new technologies.
Melpar perfectly fit into a role of helping the Government take on new exciting challenges. Its location in Washington near its customers was ideal. Melpar wasn’t the only company in the area to thrive; other government contractors such as Atlantic Research, Vitro Laboratories, Page Communications Engineers, Hazleton Laboratories
Covance
Covance, Inc. , formerly Corning Incorporated, with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, USA, is a contract research organization , providing drug development and animal testing services...
, COMSAT
COMSAT
The Communications Satellite Corporation is a global telecommunications company, based in the USA, and with branches in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and several other countries in the Americas. It is present also in Turkey...
and the Applied Physics Laboratory
Applied Physics Laboratory
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , located in Howard County, Maryland near Laurel and Columbia, is a not-for-profit, university-affiliated research center employing 4,500 people. APL is primarily a defense contractor. It serves as a technical resource for the Department of...
also played important roles. However, Melpar was the biggest company and had the greatest ability to attract a wide variety of talent and experts from the best universities all over the country. In 1963 a sample of openings included a need for astronomers, astrophysicists, microbiologists, entomologists, geophysicists and gas chromatagraphers. There was a constant migration of the nation’s best intellects between Melpar and Government laboratories and, in effect, Melpar filled a void due to the lack of a preeminent technical university in the area. Overall, the company played an important role on the Washington scene leading technical societies, chairing symposia, and hosting numerous high level meetings and exchange visits with top Government officials and international dignitaries.
Melpar’s daring foresight was dramatically exemplified by a decision in 1952 to build a picturesque, modern plant 10 miles (16.1 km) from downtown on a 44 acres (178,061.8 m²) wooded tract near Seven Corners on Route 50. The new building, surrounded by fields in a campus-like setting 400 feet (121.9 m) back from the road, had a pond, willow trees
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
, brick facade, and parking tucked away inconspicuously behind the plant. It was a vivid contrast to the ugly, dingy buildings and warehouses located downtown, and immediately became the development model to be followed in harmonizing industrial design
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
with residential surroundings. To accommodate Melpar, Fairfax County revamped its zoning laws
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
and welcomed the clean, non-polluting company to help relieve the tax burden
Tax incidence
In economics, tax incidence is the analysis of the effect of a particular tax on the distribution of economic welfare. Tax incidence is said to "fall" upon the group that, at the end of the day, bears the burden of the tax...
on property owners. Melpar was an employer of choice as employees relished a new life-style permitting them to work near their homes. In development advertising the state of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
touted Melpar as a model. The decision to move to the country was especially daring considering it would be more than ten years before the “circumferential highway” (later known as the Beltway) was completed, and more than 15 years before a shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
was built at Tyson’s Corner.
Melpar’s success also stemmed from its ability to link production facilities to its scientific and engineering capabilities. The company won two large contracts for B-58 aircraft electronics and Minuteman missile
LGM-30 Minuteman
The LGM-30 Minuteman is a U.S. nuclear missile, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile . As of 2010, the version LGM-30G Minuteman-III is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States...
guidance components, requiring a buildup of manufacturing plants
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
and an associated work force for the first time in the Washington area
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. These facilities also enabled scientists to test their laboratory research with prototype hardware. By 1960 the company had assembled a wide range of products such as missile equipment, flight simulator
Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
s, radar beacons, fuses, data processing
Data processing
Computer data processing is any process that a computer program does to enter data and summarise, analyse or otherwise convert data into usable information. The process may be automated and run on a computer. It involves recording, analysing, sorting, summarising, calculating, disseminating and...
equipment, communications, antennas, electronic countermeasure and reconnaissance systems. All the necessary ingredients provided a catalyst for Melpar to thrive and prosper–a superb location near customers with many requirements, the ability to attract the needed talent, excellent facilities to carry out the work, and the right company management motivation.
Managing manufacturing programs presented a different set of challenges. Since Washington did not have a workforce of electronic technicians Melpar had to quickly build and train one. The Minuteman production line
Production line
A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory whereby materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward consumption; or components are assembled to make a finished article....
required 1,800 people and as many as 130 were hired in a single day. Technology schools such as the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute rapidly expanded to help train designers and draftsmen to build products for space and missile programs with reliability levels never previously approached. Universities conducted technical courses -e.g. Principles of Transistors- in Melpar’s facilities for hundreds of employees participating on their own time, in programs praised by the Secretary of Education as a model for the future. Melpar instituted unheard of tuition-reimbursement policies with special incentives for high grades in technical courses. Positions for minorities and females opened at unprecedented levels and provided lifetime opportunities for many.
During this time the company also pioneered manufacturing technology that accompanied new state of the art
State of the art
The state of the art is the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field, achieved at a particular time. It also refers to the level of development reached at any particular time as a result of the latest methodologies employed.- Origin :The earliest use of the term...
developments. Unlike today when existing off-the-shelf
Commercial off-the-shelf
In the United States, Commercially available Off-The-Shelf is a Federal Acquisition Regulation term defining a nondevelopmental item of supply that is both commercial and sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace, and that can be procured or utilized under government contract...
technology is readily available, manufacturing had to become engineering’s handmaiden, ready to translate ideas quickly into producible reality. Intense development occurred in areas of microelectronics technology such as fabrication and layout of miniature circuits, and use of thin film
Thin film
A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer to several micrometers in thickness. Electronic semiconductor devices and optical coatings are the main applications benefiting from thin film construction....
devices and plastic components. Processes such as welding, plating, soldering and automatic component insertion were constantly studied and made more reliable, faster and less costly. Since Government manufacturing specifications and standards did not yet exist, Melpar’s manufacturing engineers often found themselves writing process
Writing process
The Writing process is both a key concept in the teaching of writing and an important research concept in the field of composition studies.Research on the writing process focuses on how writers draft, revise, and edit texts...
documents that eventually became the Government standard.
When looked at 40 years later, the diversity of research in physical and life sciences
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
undertaken by Melpar was truly astounding. One project begun in the late 1950s (foreshadowing artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
) linked biology and the design of electrical devices–computer programs that emulated artificial nerve cells
Neuron
A neuron is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information by electrical and chemical signaling. Chemical signaling occurs via synapses, specialized connections with other cells. Neurons connect to each other to form networks. Neurons are the core components of the nervous...
and simulated functions such as learning ability and initiative. The intent was to construct a practical thinking machine, similar to a human nervous system
Nervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
that learned pattern recognition
Pattern recognition
In machine learning, pattern recognition is the assignment of some sort of output value to a given input value , according to some specific algorithm. An example of pattern recognition is classification, which attempts to assign each input value to one of a given set of classes...
and avoided mistakes (e.g. programming a mobile satellite on the moon to avoid a deep precipice). Studies on the nature of speech led to more efficient use of the radio spectrum
Radio frequency
Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...
through bandwidth compression
Bandwidth compression
In telecommunication, the term bandwidth compression has the following meanings:*The reduction of the bandwidth needed to transmit a given amount of data in a given time.*The reduction of the time needed to transmit a given amount of data in a given bandwidth....
, and improved long distance and coded communications–other related studies focused on elimination of speech deficiencies and development of a phonetic typewriter. In medical research Melpar developed synthetic materials (tissue growth) to be compatible with the heart (later known as the Jarvik heart), and produced an electronic heart monitor
Heart rate monitor
A heart rate monitor is a personal monitoring device which allows a subject to measure his or her heart rate in real time or record his or her heart rate for later study...
(Cardiac Sentry) which detected out-of-norm variations, maintained hospital records and administered prescribed treatments. The company was an early pioneer in plasma physics
Plasma (physics)
In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...
and developed materials for communicating with manned space vehicles reentering the atmosphere. Using solar energy
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
, desalinization experiments were conducted to make saline and brackish water
Brackish water
Brackish water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salty"...
drinkable. Detection systems to measure highway curves, motions and vibrations were developed so that future mass transit
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
systems would be fast, comfortable and safe.
Melpar’s broad expertise and available researchers assisted the Government in many other fields as well. They performed studies in cell biology
Cell biology
Cell biology is a scientific discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level...
, food chemistry, composite material
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
s (light weight, high temperature), solar energy, meteorology, virology and immunology (cancer research), air and water pollution
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
, air traffic control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
, global navigation (constructed a prototype map of the Global Positioning System
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
), and underwater acoustics and optics. They studied methane detection in mines and conversion of coal to acetylene as a new source of energy. An antenna was placed on top of the Empire State Building to evaluate the feasibility of UHF broadcasting. Offshoot products from laboratory technology included resins, varnishes, foam, nonsmudge ink, adhesives, photoelectric readers and frequency standard
Frequency standard
A frequency standard is a stable oscillator used for frequency calibration or reference. A frequency standard generates a fundamental frequency with a high degree of accuracy and precision. Harmonics of this fundamental frequency are used to provide reference points.Since time is the reciprocal of...
instrumentation. Synthetic diamonds and emeralds were produced to test hardness in space age materials. While most of Melpar’s efforts were technical in nature, some involved the social sciences–creation of a stock index
Stock market index
A stock market index is a method of measuring a section of the stock market. Many indices are cited by news or financial services firms and are used as benchmarks, to measure the performance of portfolios such as mutual funds....
of Standard and Poor 500 companies for Business Week
BusinessWeek
Bloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
, and operation of a Job Corps
Job Corps
Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free-of-charge education and vocational training to youth ages 16 to 24.-Mission and purpose:...
center.
In spite of on-going research programs Melpar continued its mainstream focus on military and space applications such as radar, communications, and electronic counter measure systems as well as airborne and ground intelligence systems. Devices to detect lethal chemical and biological agent
Biological agent
A biological agent — also called bio-agent or biological threat agent — is a bacterium, virus, prion, or fungus which may cause infection, allergy, toxicity or otherwise create a hazard to human health. They can be used as a biological weapon in bioterrorism or biological warfare...
s were developed. The company participated in early unmanned (Vanguard and Explorer) and manned space programs (Mercury and Apollo), providing antennas and semidried food for lunar missions. A quarantine facility was produced to insure the astronauts had not brought any contamination from the moon.
Melpar was also one of the world’s foremost flight simulator producers–more than a dozen different systems (including many of the Air Force’s century series
Century series
The Century Series is a popular name for a group of US fighter aircraft representing models designated between F-100 and F-106 which went into full production...
fighters and helicopter systems for the Navy) were deployed at bases throughout the world. These simulators became progressively more complex and enabled more realistic and demanding training, and proved their value in saving pilots’ lives and cost (reduced fuel consumption
Fuel efficiency
Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the efficiency of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier fuel into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, which in turn may vary per application, and this spectrum of variance is...
during the 1970s energy crisis
1970s energy crisis
The 1970s energy crisis was a period in which the major industrial countries of the world, particularly the United States, faced substantial shortages, both perceived and real, of petroleum...
).
Overall, during the 1950s and 60’s Melpar was continually on the cutting edge of scientific and engineering discoveries which helped solve some of mankind’s most fundamental problems. A company newspaper editorial in 1957 stated, “We have sought the breeder job, the line of inquiry promising to expand a general field of engineering endeavor or open a new one.” In effect during its ten-year period of ascendancy Melpar played a role as a surrogate university, and served as a repository for a wide variety of engineering and scientific knowledge. The company expanded the frontiers of technology and then passed this information on to others to continue the work– in this sense Melpar truly was a breeder carrying out an important role to propagate scientific and engineering knowledge.
Inevitably, however, in the mid-1960s the situation began to change and Melpar’s research, engineering and production efforts began a period of decline. Many circumstances that initially contributed to the company’s success began to change. First and probably most important, the Government’s budget priorities changed, with much greater emphasis being placed on solving the nation’s social problems
Social issues
Social issues are controversial issues which relate to people's personal lives and interactions. Social issues are distinguished from economic issues...
, best exemplified by President Lyndon Johnson’s initiatives in the “War on Poverty”. The space program
Human spaceflight
Human spaceflight is spaceflight with humans on the spacecraft. When a spacecraft is manned, it can be piloted directly, as opposed to machine or robotic space probes and remotely-controlled satellites....
had no clear follow-on mission after landing a man on the moon. The military’s budget was heavily dedicated to providing the necessary manpower and armament to fight the war in Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. None of these budget trends dovetailed with Melpar’s on-going programs.
Other factors contributed to the business decline. The Government didn’t award follow-on manufacturing contracts so mass layoffs of production workers took place. The American Standard Company, a plumbing supply manufacturer that had little interest in Government business, bought the Westinghouse Air Brake Company
Westinghouse Air Brake Company
The railway air brake was invented by George Westinghouse of New York state in 1869. Soon after, he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he established the Westinghouse Air Brake Company on September 28, 1869...
, and immediately began to sell off the assets. Melpar’s many research programs were too diverse, too unprofitable, and had uncertain business prospects–as scientific knowledge burgeoned, new competitors emerged to take the lead in specialized areas. Without government funding, no company had the internal resources to sustain such a wide variety of research.
Some unfavorable national publicity contributed to Melpar’s misfortunes. In 1963 Bobby Baker
Bobby Baker
Robert Gene Baker was a political adviser to Lyndon B. Johnson, and an organizer for the Democratic Party.-Life:Baker was the son of the Pickens postmaster and lived in a house on Hampton Avenue...
was Secretary for the Majority Democratic caucus in the US Senate, and closely linked to Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
- he held perhaps the most powerful nonelected position in Congress. A Melpar vending machine
Vending machine
A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....
contractor filed a lawsuit against Baker, accusing him of influence-peddling
Influence peddling
Influence peddling is the illegal practice of using one's influence in government or connections with persons in authority to obtain favors or preferential treatment for another, usually in return for payment. Also called traffic of influence or trading in influence ...
to switch the contract to a competitor, with which he had financial ties. Within a few days Baker resigned his position hoping the issue would quietly die. It didn’t, however, and for almost two years there were daily front-page headlines and congressional investigations into Baker’s many business deals and questionable relationships. Melpar’s top management was called to testify before the Senate Rules committee
United States Senate Committee on Rules
The United States Senate Committee on Rules is a defunct Congressional committee, replaced by the United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.-History:...
, although ultimately the Melpar incident was overshadowed by many other allegations and settled out of court. Even so the situation was demoralizing to employees, did not enhance the company’s ability to win new Government contracts, and changes in company management soon took place.
Considering all these events it was inevitable that employees would begin to leave Melpar, start new companies (usually in the Washington area), and take the business with them. As a result over the next 20 to 30 years more than a dozen spin-off
Spin out
A spin-out, also known as a spin-off or a starburst, refers to a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" sections of itself as a separate business....
s would continue to generate millions of dollars in annual sales and provide employment for thousands in the Washington area. One employee began a communications company in Florida that ultimately emerged as the Harris Corporation
Harris Corporation
Harris Corporation is a Florida-based international communications equipment company that produces wireless equipment, electronic systems, and both terrestrial and spaceborne antennas for use in the government, defense, and commercial sectors. It is also the largest private-sector employer in...
, today a $3 billion enterprise. A data communications manufacturer in Boston, Codex, was sold to Motorola for $80 million. Many spin-offs prospered in the 1970s and 1980’s, but have recently left the area, due to industrial consolidations, mergers, and acquisitions. The Meloy Laboratories continued Melpar’s biotechnical, pharmaceutical research until Rhone Poulenc Rorer moved the operation to Philadelphia in the 1980s. A flight simulator spin-off named Simulation Engineering Corporation (Secor), went through four changes in ownership in Northern Virginia–from Sperry Rand
Sperry Corporation
Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century...
(later renamed Unisys) to Honeywell to Hughes to Raytheon - before being moved to Texas in 1998. The same employees started a second company, Quintron, which was purchased by Loral for $22 million and later owned by Lockheed–recently the work has been taken over by Intellx. A few companies still reside in Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
–VSE Inc in Alexandria (1300 employees), RSI Inc in Sterling (500 employees), ISOMET in Springfield, ST Research (now Sensys Tech) in Newington, as well as half a dozen small machine shops.
While Melpar never regained its lofty position, almost 50 years later it is still in the same facility on Route 50 and has about 1,500 employees. The company has gone through several changes in ownership, being purchased by LTV Electrosystems in 1970 (changed to E-Systems
Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems
Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems is a business of Raytheon Company. It is led by Lynn Dugle and its headquarters is located in Garland, Texas, United States...
in 1972) and the Raytheon Company
Raytheon
Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...
in 1994. The name Melpar was discontinued in 1994 and the facility now serves as headquarters for Raytheon’s Strategic Systems Division. Over the last 25 to30 years the company has maintained a low profile performing Government electronics contracts, most notably production and support of ground systems for the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft
Surveillance aircraft
A surveillance aircraft is an aircraft used for surveillance — collecting information over time. They are operated by military forces and other government agencies in roles such as intelligence gathering, battlefield surveillance, airspace surveillance, observation , border patrol and fishery...
, and unmanned aerial vehicle
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
s. Additionally this facility manages large-scale information systems for civil agencies, such as the Department of Education, and continues to operate a full-service fabrication and test unit for electronic products.
Overall, during a ten-year period of time, Melpar played a pivotal role in the evolving history of Washington technology. At a time after World War II when Washington was totally a Government town, it was the first to nurture and develop private industry
Private sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
, attracting and training a high tech
High tech
High tech is technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology currently available. It is often used in reference to micro-electronics, rather than other technologies. The adjective form is hyphenated: high-tech or high-technology...
nology workforce in suburbia. As the first premier high technology company in the area, Melpar’s lasting legacy was to form an industrial base which, over the years, would diversify from Government-oriented contracts to today’s commercial marketplace of knowledge-based, information systems companies.