Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 5 · column 1 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
Several hours before Arun G. Phadke was scheduled to deliver his American Electric Power professorship lecture at Virginia Tech, the campus experienced a power outage.
But it was only a “local failure,” Mr. Phadke explained, nothing at all like the 1985 east coast blackout which he detailed in his lecture, “Electric Power: A Century of Innovation.”
Although the electric power industry has the reputation of being “old fashioned and dull,” Mr. Phadke, whose career includes 12 years with AEP and four with AllisChalmers, feels that just the opposite is true - it is a dynamic and innovative field.
In his lecture he traced certain industry milestones. First came the turn-of-the century DC/AC controversy — whether to go with direct current or alternating current. DC won the battle, although Thomas Edison himself supported AC. The latter is standard in households today, however, thanks to the invention of the transformer, a device that continually reverses (alternates) the flow of direct current.
Next came the “station concept,” the idea of a central generating location, which made the production of electricity economically feasible.
This was followed by bulk power transmission of electricity through high voltages and the advent of necessary insulating and switching equipment.
94.3%