Great Pioneers That Inspire Us: Dr. Ernest C. Fitch

At Machinery Lubrication India, we constantly endeavor to enhance the content of our publication. Keeping in mind the interest of our subscribers, we have started a special section last year - ‘Great Pioneers that inspire us’.

We have great pioneers who made a profound impact on industry and academia with their works, inventions, research and writings. One of them is Dr. Ernest C. Fitch. His knowledge and vision have been an inspiration to many. He has made a mark in the fields of tribology and fluid power.

In this section, we will look at the life, the challenges and the achievements of Dr. Fitch, one of the most outstanding pioneers of all-time.

Dr. E. C. Fitch began his engineering career as a journeyman machinist before entering the military in World War II. After receiving his Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University (OSU), He set out to gain practical experience by taking jobs with Jersey Production Research, Boeing Aircraft, Deere and Company, Cincinnati Milacron and Cessna Fluid Power.

During his 35 years on the faculty of Oklahoma State University, he advised more than 100 doctoral and master degree students and countless undergraduate students. In order to provide a hands-on research opportunity for his students, he started a contract research center in 1956 that became the Fluid Power Research Center (FPRC). At least 160 industrial companies and governmental agencies sponsored research that provided financial support for his students.

For 18 years, Dr. Fitch headed teams of research engineers in developing hundreds of test procedures relating to tribology, contamination control and fluid power. Many of these procedures have since become national and international standards.

The Beginnings

In the spring of 1958, Dr E C Fitch was awarded an Air Force contract to study fluid contamination in aircraft hydraulic systems for Tinker Air Base in Oklahoma City. He began the program by conducting a major literature research study in the field. His involvement in this work was interrupted by a sabbatical leave to complete his Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma. Upon his return to Oklahoma State University (OSU), the Air Force awarded him a new contract that continued its research sponsorship for the next nine years. With this support, He gained factual knowledge of contamination control and hands-on, real world experience on many different systems at various Air Force bases. According to him, this proved to be an unusual opportunity to acquire an unbelievable background that served him well throughout his lifetime of work in the field of fluid contamination control.

Another important event relates to a report he wrote in November 1962 entitled “A Basic Science Program in Filtration Mechanics”. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Huntsville, Alabama received a copy of this bulletin and offered to sponsor a six-year research program on the subject. This resulted in the establishment of the Basic Fluid Power Research (BFPR) Program, which lasted until He retired. NASA encouraged him to investigate various test procedures in contamination control that were relevant to the capture and retention of particulate matter in hydraulic systems. Between the NASA and Air Force research studies, a tremendous amount of spin-off subjects of special interest to his BFPR sponsors were discovered and published. As graduate advisor in mechanical engineering, in June 1966 he graduated his first doctoral student in contamination control, Roger H. Tucker, followed shortly by Robert Bose and Ross M. Stuntz, with many others in the pipeline.

Big Achievements

During his career, Dr. Fitch co-founded several companies providing services relating to hydraulics, tribology and contamination control. Two of these companies continue on today under the administrative leadership of his daughter, Paula Fitch and his former student, Dr. I. T. Hong, who is the CEO.

He has served on more than 250 consulting projects, nearly 200 court cases and has written more than 210 technical articles and 20 books. Dr. Fitch has been awarded 16 U.S. and 15 foreign patents and has five patents pending. From the 1960s through the 1980s, he has served as editor-in-chief of three international technical journals.

Dr. Fitch was Emeritus Professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at OSU. He had received 15 major honors and awards from state, national and international professional organizations. Some of the most notable include:

The three generation picture (Circa 2008) featuring Dr. E C Fitch with his son Jim Fitch, Founder & CEO, Noria Corporation and grandsons Tom Fitch, CEO, Luneta LLC (Right) & J. Bennett Fitch, Director of Product Development and LPD Services, Noria Corporation (Left). Dr. Fitch and his wife, Janette, also had two daughters, Donna and Paula.

Dr. Fitch had an ambitious professional goal of documenting the knowledge he had been instrumental in developing for his beloved fluid power field.

• Wonders of Engineering Award by Society of Professional Engineers

• Distinguished Educational Leader by Fluid Power Society

• Named SAE Fellow for his leadership in standards work

• National Achievement Award by the National Fluid Power Association

• Awarded Honorary Professorship, Huanghong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

• Named Distinguished Professor in mechanical engineering for 11 years by the OSU Board of Regents and Faculty, until his retirement

• Hall of Fame recipient at Oklahoma State University Alumni Association

A Great Mentor And Motivator

In June of 1969, the U.S. Army initiated its contamination program with the BFPR, which ran for more than 10 years and culminated in the development of several hundred test procedures, many of which are in use today as NFPA, ANSI and ISO standards. At this point, He decided his laboratory needed an identifiable name to represent his work. In September 1969, the university approved the new name as the Fluid Power Research Center. Dr. Fitch traveled extensively during his career including India in 1977. Many of his foreign students were from India.

He served on many standards committees in the United Sates (NFPA, SAE, ASTM, ANSI) and then later internationally (ISO, BSI, NATO, Hydravlika, CETOP). He submitted many proposed test procedures originally developed at the Fluid Power Research Center (or at least those in which we had direct involvement). A few of the most recognizable includes:

• Fluid Sampling – ISO 4021
• Bottle Cleanliness – ISO 3722
• Particle Counter Calibration – ISO 4402
• Multipass Filtration Performance (Beta Rating) – ISO 4572

He authored more than 20 books, out of which his book named Fluid Contamination Control (FCC) has been his all-time best seller. The four editions of FCC have presented answers to many of the questions engineers and maintenance professionals have had with respect to contamination control. It would have been impossible to write such a book without the research conducted by the FPRC. As a result, the seminars he presented using these editions reached thousands of attendees around the world. The fifth edition of this book is currently under construction by his son, Jim, and was mostly completed at the time of his death.