ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701170015
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HAMMERSCHLAG STAFF WRITER
Curtis Layton can bend steel.
No, he's not a superhero. Layton, 18, is a Cave Spring High School senior who has created a county, regional and state award-winning science project. Now, it's up for national honors.
Layton's project examines how heat processing affects the physical properties of steel. He's spent hours working at the Ingersoll-Rand Co. Rock Drill Division in Roanoke County testing the strength, hardness and flexibility of steel cylinders - each of which is about the size of a cigarette.
In February, Layton will travel to Seattle, where he will present his project at the American Junior Academy of Science conference. His project is one of four in Virginia to be chosen for the honor.
Layton said every science fair judge has asked him the same question: "How did you become interested in such a specific industrial process?" His answer: He's following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who worked for many years at a steel company in Utah.
Layton's project has numerous practical applications. If you're building a car, you want bendable metal, Layton explained. So you heat it at a different temperature than the steel you would use for a drill bit.
At Ingersoll-Rand, the machines Layton used in his project are regularly used to test drill bits. The international company makes equipment used in highway construction.
Without the help of people at Ingersoll-Rand, Layton said, the project would not have been possible. "I went in there and they helped me shape my project into something doable. They had the equipment and the expertise.
"The whole process really opened doors for me," Layton said. "I learned how important science is to industrial manufacturing. I learned how to experiment with properties."
Dickie Hall, 50, a metallurgical technician who has worked at Ingersoll-Rand for 28 years, advised Layton on his project. He said it gives him "a sort of high" when students like Layton succeed. "When I was Curtis' age," he said, "I was too busy playing baseball and chasing girls to devote my energy to science."
In the past five years, Hall has advised four Roanoke-area high school students on science projects dealing with metallurgy, the science of metals. And he annually judges projects at the Roanoke Governor's School science fair. "What I've learned," he said, "is that we're in good hands with today's young people."
"These kids," Hall said, "they come in here [to Ingersoll-Rand], learn factory orientation and leave further ahead than we were when we started working professionally."
Gayle Ross, 42, Layton's chemistry teacher, has taught at Cave Spring High School for 18 years and has never had another student make it to the national level with a science project. "Getting to attend the national conference is really a big honor," Ross said.
Ross praised Ingersoll-Rand officials for their role. "Ingersoll Rand has shown how much they're willing to support our educational system," she said. "He just called them up and they wanted to help."
In addition to donating materials, equipment and hours of consulting time, Ingersoll-Rand has offered to pay for Ross to accompany Layton to the conference in Seattle.
In Seattle, Layton will present his project and meet with professional scientists. He also plans to visit the University of Washington's Center for Molecular Biotechnology and the Human Genome Center. "Maybe I'll even see the Space Needle," he said, grinning.
Next year, Layton will attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where he intends to study human biology.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Curtis Layton tests the strength of a steel cylinderby CNBwith the help of Dickie Hall of Ingersoll-Rand.