William T. Kane
Encyclopedia
William T. Kane was a physicist
for Corning Incorporated, formerly Corning Glass Works, Inc., in Corning, New York
, who held patents in crystallography and heat-sensing technology
—developments which contributed to the early processing and manufacture of fiber optics. He was also the Corning representative for the establishment of international standards in the use of fiber optics in communications.
Kane attended the Universities of Colorado
, Kansas
, and Missouri
in Boulder
, Lawrence
, and Columbia
, respectively. He procured his Ph.D.
in 1966 in X-Ray
crystallography from the University of Missouri.
Kane was also an Air Force
officer, having served as a navigator in the Air Force's 55th and 38th Strategic Reconnaissance Wings from 1953-1959. As an electronics warfare officer, he participated in the Cold War
overflights of the former Soviet Union
, espionage
missions not disclosed until years later. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross
and the Air Medal
. He was also an Air Force Reserve officer from 1959-1966, having departed the military with the rank of captain.
He was born in Jamaica
, New York
, to Dr. J.T. Kane, a physician
and surgeon
originally from Brooklyn, and the former Marjory Lillian Davis, a native of London. He subsequently resided and worked in Big Flats
, Corning, and Lake Placid
, New York. In 1993, he retired to Cheyenne
, Wyoming
. He was an active skier and sportsman. He was a member of Rotary International
and several fraternal and professional associations.
Kane died at Pointe Frontier Retirement Center in Cheyenne after a lengthy illness. He was survived by his wife, Virginia L. "Ginny" Kane (1926-2009); a son, retired Air Force Brigadier General
William P. Kane of Colorado Springs
; three daughters, Gretchen Gilbert of Cedar Grove
, New Jersey
, Ellen Jacobson of Reno
, Nevada
, and Kathleen "Cindy" Lewis of Cheyenne; eight grandchildren; one great-grandson, and two sisters, June Kunz of Keene
, New Hampshire
, and Phyllis Lazarus of San Jose
, California
.
Memorial services were held on September 27, 2008, at St. Christopher's Episcopal
Church, 2602 Deming Boulevard, in Cheyenne.
"A novel electrochemical cell including a solid electrolyte heated to an elevated temperature for operation and an integral cell electrode/heater for heating the electrolyte. Solid electrolyte embodiments are described. The integral electrode/heater is applied to a surface of the solid electrolyte and is resistively heated by an alternating electric current. A portion of the solid electrolyte may also be resistively heated. The described or comparable cells may be incorporated into an oxygen detector or similar apparatus where the apparatus is operated by alternately heating the cell and measuring the emf developed by the cell across its electrode.The invention is also, in part, a unique, solid electrolyte-integral cell electrode/heater configuration which provides a zone of uniform maximum heating at a predetermined location within the electrolyte and which, when used with a suitable resistive heating electric current, confines the current to the integral electrode/heater prolonging cell life. Another aspect of the invention is the use of a radio frequency alternating electric current for resistively heating an electrochemical cell. Preferably, the radio frequency selected is sufficiently high so as to eliminate any offsets in the emf developed by the cell which are caused by the heater current. The invention also includes an apparatus for measuring the concentration of particular gases, such as oxygen, incorporating either and, preferably, both other inventive aspects of the invention. The preferred cell configuration reduces the complexity of such an apparatus by eliminating the auxiliary heat source and provides a more accurate and reliable electrochemical sensing cell. Radio frequency heating allows the operations of cell heating and emf measurement to proceed independent and concurrently and provides a continuously responding, self-heating detection apparatus."
US Patent 4362580 - Furnace and method with sensor
"Oxygen sensor comprising solid oxygen-ion-conducting electrolyte with a platinum group metal film electrode contacts and monitors nonoxidizing or reducing gas atmosphere in a metal heat treatment (gas carburizing) furnace after a getter of the same platinum group metal as in the film electrode removes platinum group metal contaminants from such atmosphere before it contacts the electrode. Getter is held in a thin-walled, multi-passaged honeycomb body."
US Patent 4290586 - Furnace and method with sensor
"Oxygen sensor comprising solid oxygen-ion-conducting electrolyte with a platinum group metal film electrode contacts and monitors nonoxidizing or reducing gas atmosphere in a metal heat treatment (gas carburizing) furnace after a getter of the same platinum group metal as in the film electrode removes platinum group metal contaminants from such atmosphere before it contacts the electrode. Getter is held in a thin-walled, multi-passaged honeycomb body."
US Patent 4277322 - Oxygen sensor
"A metal film electrode on the outer surface of an electroded, oxygen-ion-conducting solid electrolyte, closed end portion of an oxygen sensor tube is maintained in contact with the electrolyte and in its electrical conducting function by a compressible, porous, ceramic boot firmly press-fit onto and over the electroded end portion in slidable and frictional engagement with the outer film electrode (including any connector or reinforcing wire therein or thereon). Boot has open porosity of greater than 50 (or 80) volume percent and can consist essentially of zirconia, such as a sintered mass of zirconia fibers."
US Patent 3958052 - Subsurface-fortified glass laminates
"Subsurface-fortified glass laminates exhibiting improved breakage characteristics and increased resistance to delayed breakage are described. Such laminates have particular utility in the fabrication of glass tableware."
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
for Corning Incorporated, formerly Corning Glass Works, Inc., in Corning, New York
Corning (city), New York
Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,842 at the 2000 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community.- Overview :The city of...
, who held patents in crystallography and heat-sensing technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
—developments which contributed to the early processing and manufacture of fiber optics. He was also the Corning representative for the establishment of international standards in the use of fiber optics in communications.
Kane attended the Universities of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
, and Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
in Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, Lawrence
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
, and Columbia
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
, respectively. He procured his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1966 in X-Ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
crystallography from the University of Missouri.
Kane was also an Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
officer, having served as a navigator in the Air Force's 55th and 38th Strategic Reconnaissance Wings from 1953-1959. As an electronics warfare officer, he participated in the Cold War
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...
overflights of the former 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....
, espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
missions not disclosed until years later. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
and the Air Medal
Air Medal
The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
. He was also an Air Force Reserve officer from 1959-1966, having departed the military with the rank of captain.
He was born in Jamaica
Jamaica, Queens
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. It was settled under Dutch rule in 1656 in New Netherland as Rustdorp. Under British rule, the Village of Jamaica became the center of the "Town of Jamaica"...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, to Dr. J.T. Kane, a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
originally from Brooklyn, and the former Marjory Lillian Davis, a native of London. He subsequently resided and worked in Big Flats
Big Flats, New York
Big Flats, New York may refer to:* Big Flats , New York in Chemung County* Big Flats , New York, a Census-Designated Place within the Town of Big Flats...
, Corning, and Lake Placid
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
, New York. In 1993, he retired to Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. He was an active skier and sportsman. He was a member of Rotary International
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
and several fraternal and professional associations.
Kane died at Pointe Frontier Retirement Center in Cheyenne after a lengthy illness. He was survived by his wife, Virginia L. "Ginny" Kane (1926-2009); a son, retired Air Force Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
William P. Kane of Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
; three daughters, Gretchen Gilbert of Cedar Grove
Cedar Grove, New Jersey
-Climate:Cedar Grove has a humid subtropical climate, with warm/hot humid summers and cool/cold winters. The climate is slightly colder overall during the summer than in New York City because there is no urban heat island effect....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Ellen Jacobson of Reno
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and Kathleen "Cindy" Lewis of Cheyenne; eight grandchildren; one great-grandson, and two sisters, June Kunz of Keene
Keene, New Hampshire
Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,409 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Cheshire County.Keene is home to Keene State College and Antioch University New England, and hosts the annual Pumpkin Fest...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, and Phyllis Lazarus of San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Memorial services were held on September 27, 2008, at St. Christopher's Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
Church, 2602 Deming Boulevard, in Cheyenne.
Patents
US Patent 4659435 - Integrally heated electrochemical cell method and apparatus"A novel electrochemical cell including a solid electrolyte heated to an elevated temperature for operation and an integral cell electrode/heater for heating the electrolyte. Solid electrolyte embodiments are described. The integral electrode/heater is applied to a surface of the solid electrolyte and is resistively heated by an alternating electric current. A portion of the solid electrolyte may also be resistively heated. The described or comparable cells may be incorporated into an oxygen detector or similar apparatus where the apparatus is operated by alternately heating the cell and measuring the emf developed by the cell across its electrode.The invention is also, in part, a unique, solid electrolyte-integral cell electrode/heater configuration which provides a zone of uniform maximum heating at a predetermined location within the electrolyte and which, when used with a suitable resistive heating electric current, confines the current to the integral electrode/heater prolonging cell life. Another aspect of the invention is the use of a radio frequency alternating electric current for resistively heating an electrochemical cell. Preferably, the radio frequency selected is sufficiently high so as to eliminate any offsets in the emf developed by the cell which are caused by the heater current. The invention also includes an apparatus for measuring the concentration of particular gases, such as oxygen, incorporating either and, preferably, both other inventive aspects of the invention. The preferred cell configuration reduces the complexity of such an apparatus by eliminating the auxiliary heat source and provides a more accurate and reliable electrochemical sensing cell. Radio frequency heating allows the operations of cell heating and emf measurement to proceed independent and concurrently and provides a continuously responding, self-heating detection apparatus."
US Patent 4362580 - Furnace and method with sensor
"Oxygen sensor comprising solid oxygen-ion-conducting electrolyte with a platinum group metal film electrode contacts and monitors nonoxidizing or reducing gas atmosphere in a metal heat treatment (gas carburizing) furnace after a getter of the same platinum group metal as in the film electrode removes platinum group metal contaminants from such atmosphere before it contacts the electrode. Getter is held in a thin-walled, multi-passaged honeycomb body."
US Patent 4290586 - Furnace and method with sensor
"Oxygen sensor comprising solid oxygen-ion-conducting electrolyte with a platinum group metal film electrode contacts and monitors nonoxidizing or reducing gas atmosphere in a metal heat treatment (gas carburizing) furnace after a getter of the same platinum group metal as in the film electrode removes platinum group metal contaminants from such atmosphere before it contacts the electrode. Getter is held in a thin-walled, multi-passaged honeycomb body."
US Patent 4277322 - Oxygen sensor
"A metal film electrode on the outer surface of an electroded, oxygen-ion-conducting solid electrolyte, closed end portion of an oxygen sensor tube is maintained in contact with the electrolyte and in its electrical conducting function by a compressible, porous, ceramic boot firmly press-fit onto and over the electroded end portion in slidable and frictional engagement with the outer film electrode (including any connector or reinforcing wire therein or thereon). Boot has open porosity of greater than 50 (or 80) volume percent and can consist essentially of zirconia, such as a sintered mass of zirconia fibers."
US Patent 3958052 - Subsurface-fortified glass laminates
"Subsurface-fortified glass laminates exhibiting improved breakage characteristics and increased resistance to delayed breakage are described. Such laminates have particular utility in the fabrication of glass tableware."