Evening star., 1942-08-12
WPB Will Establish
Agencyt Coordinate
Research Activities
Program Will Include
Rubber, Cargo Planes and
Synthetic Food Tests
By JAMES Y. NEWTON.

IlOouC OlOll SlliCl DOIldIu m .
Nelson shortly will issue an order
setting up machinery within the
War Production Board to mo-
bilize and direct the scientific
brains of the Nation for war on
the home front, The Star learned
today.
The order will create the Office of
Technical Development, which will
sponsor and encourage studies and
experiments in many essential lines
such as synthetic rubber, cargo
planes and synthetic foods.
The office, it was stated, will be
nearly as large as the recently
formed Smaller War Plants Corp. 1t
will be headed by Col Royal B. Lord,
now assistant director of the Board
Of Economic Warfare in charge of
the Office of exports.
Cooperating with the Office of
Scientific Research and Develop
ment, engaged largely in perfecting
new combat weapons, the new WPB
organization will coordinate activi-
ties and make use of all existing re-
search and development organiza-
tions both Government and private
Basis Worked Out by Scientists.
A basis for founding the Office
has been worked out over a period
of months by group of scientists
who have donated their time and
efforts. Heading this group are
Msgr. Cletus A. Miller and DR..
George Sperti of the Institutum Di-
vinae Thomae, Cincinnati, a re-
search laboratory and clinic estab-
lished by the Catholic Church, along
the lines of the Rockefeller Founda-
ton. Msgr. Miller and DR.. Sperti
are said to have talked with many
synthetic rubber men among others
in laying the ground work for the
new Office.
The Office will be financed either
through direct appropriation-$10O,- -
100000 was mentioned as the sum
to be requested-or through issuance
of certificates of necessity to enable
it to obtain funds from the Recon-
Struction Finance Corp. or other loan
agencies. Loans might be iquidated
by means of royalty exchanges for
use of technical developments &C
complished.
One important task to be assigned
the office will be determination of
WPB policy with respect to tech
nical developments. In this way
controversies over the relative merits
of various processes for making rub
Der might be handled. The Office
could experiment or encourage ex-
Fermentation in developing huge
cargo planes, currently a contro-
versial subject.
Set up within the OTD will be the
Technical Development Corp, to
implement the work of the Office
The corporation would have the
power to build pilot plants and con-
struct prototypes of new products,
or to finance or aid in the financing
of these or any other research and
development projects such as pat
ents, inventions, secret processes, etc.
Clearing House for Research.
The new Office will act as a clear
ing house for research and develop
ment work and for proposals for
such work 1t will direct the work
in accordance with war aims of the
United Nations, and have power to
carry out technical development to
the production line stage wherever
deemed advisable. 1t will recon-
mend technical advances, innova-
tions or Improvements in products.
The Office will assist Government
and private organizations in OBJ
tanning funds to carry out it's OBJ
jectives.
Still another duty will be to assist
the Combined Production and Re
cources Board on technical asp s
of achieving Standardization =
assigning to each United Nation he
product to be produced in accord
ance with the overall Ian of the
board.
It will advise wpB units
and Government al Vhcies of the op2
portunities of technical develop
ments and take steps to see the
newly found processes are adopted
The Office also will coordinate
reseach and development in the
United States with other Allied
Nations.
Foreign patents and processes held
by the alien property custodian,
that might be helpful in winning
the war, will be developed.
WPB officials long have felt the
need for an office of the type to be
established. 1t will supply WPB
with a big weapon for holding its
power, it was said.