BACKGROUND INFO ON THE WEBSITE MODERATOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER
The moderator and builder of this website is Dr. David L. Harrington of Troy, Michigan, USA. He is a retired Senior Staff Research Engineer of the General Motors Research Laboratories in Warren, Michigan, USA, and retired after 35 years there. He has his own consulting company; Injection and Atomization Systems, that deals with Laser Optical Diagnostics such as Phase-Doppler Interferometry and Laser Diffraction. He has a doctorate in Mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan (specializing in Fluid Mechanics), and a degree in Mathematics. He is the current Chair of the International (GFISC) Gasoline Fuel Injection Standards Committee of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and is the Author of a technical textbook/handbook on Automotive Gasoline Direct Injection Engines (SAE R-289).
He and his wife, Glenna, both have world travel, astronomy and eclipse chasing as long-time hobbies; in fact, since 1963. They have been to the 63 destinations listed in the slideshows on this website, and more, and have taken many thousands of interesting photographs. Actually, the true hobby of Dave and Glenna is to combine an exciting vacation with an eclipse chase. The total eclipse of 2012 in the Coral Sea north of Australia was total solar eclipse #17 (plus two Transits of Venus in 2004 and 2012) since 1963. The next total eclipse trip planned is for March 9, 2016 in Indonesia. The next big eclipse for the United States (after nearly four decades without one) is on August 21, 2017, and it will be the first total eclipse of the sun for millions of Americans.
The photos taken in the last twelve years have, of course, been digital, so they are the first to go up on the website. Those taken earlier over a 40-year period from 1963 to 2003 (90 trays of slides) have to be individually (and painfully) scanned and processed through PhotoShop, so they will be converted and uploaded as time permits. It is hoped that this travel-blog site will help many of you in your future planning for trips to many exciting destinations around the world. Please provide any of your own interesting experiences for these destinations, and be sure to ask any travel questions that you may have. We also hope that this website will prove to be a good vehicle through which to meet many of you in person at future eclipses.
VIEWS OF DAVE AND GLENNA ENJOYING SOME OF THEIR MANY ECLIPSE TRIPS
ON THE GREAT WALL IN CHINA – July 20, 2008
AT MT. KILIMANJARO IN TANZANIA
BACKGROUND OF THE MODERATOR: CAREER ATTRIBUTES AND ASSOCIATIONS
Senior Staff Research Engineer in the Thermosciences Department
General Motors Research Laboratories (Retired after 35 years there)
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
Fellow of the Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD)
Current Chair of the SAE International Fuel Injection Standards Committee
Current Member of the ASME Energy Committee (EnComm)
Past Member of the ASME Board of Governors
Past Chair of the ASME Internal Combustion Engine Division
Engineer on Nuclear Safety – Westinghouse Atomic Power
Engineer on Petroleum Secondary and Tertiary Recovery – Exxon Research
Engineer on the Flex-Fuel, Methanol, E85, Ethanol and GDI Vehicles – GM Research
Engineer on the Electric (Impact) and Diesel-Hybrid Vehicle Projects – GMR
Engineer on the Saturn V 2nd-Stage Fuel System – North American Aviation
Engineer on the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Ramjet Project
