Merte

Professor Merte's drop tower pool boiling experiment mounted in place as it is prepared for loading into the space shuttle for launch

Several family members of Professor Merte, right, accompany him to Cape Canaveral in June 1996, to witness the blast-off of a NASA space shuttle carrying one of his experiments. Back row:(l–r) Lawrence, Bernice, and James, Front Row(l–r) granddaughters, Jennifer, Suzannah, Heather, and Alexis. Professor Merte went on to the Marshal Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, where he controlled the experiment on and off for the next two weeks.

The career of Professor Herman Merte, Jr. (BS NAM '50, BSE ME '51, MSE '56, PhD '60)—which spans more than 40 years with MEAM—has been out of this world. Literally!

Much of Merte's academic pursuits have been involved with NASA in one way or another. He has conducted basic research for the space agency, performed experiments on space shuttles, served on a variety of NASA committees, and presented at many NASA-sponsored workshops and programs. Even in retirement, he is working on a proposal for a new re-search project with NASA.

Professor Merte rehearses for a concert with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra of which he was a member for several years, playing both the violin and viola.

"In addition to teaching, the big attraction of the University of Michigan (U-M) has been the freedom to work on research as you'd like," says Merte. "There are some constraints, but creative people can always find the interest and funding they need, especially if they work hard and are persistent. My work with NASA has been very exciting."

Professor Merte served as a lieutenant (jg) in the U.S. Navy for three years.

photos courtesy H. Merte, Jr.

Professor Merte, third from left, and fellow sophomores have some fun in the courtyard of East Quadrangle where they all lived in Prescott House in 1947. He and four others, two of whom not pictured here, have maintained contact over the past 52 years and continue to meet in Ann Arbor every fall at a U-M football game.

Merte earned his BS in Marine Engineering, as well as BSME, MSME, and PhD, all in Mechanical Engineering, from the U-M. He joined the faculty of MEAM as an assistant professor in 1960 and rose to associate professor in 1962 and to full professor in 1967.

Merte's research in heat transfer has focused on phase changes under reduced and high gravity fields, including the dynamics of phase change, boiling, and condensation; the study of boiling heat transfer (pool and flow) in microgravity; and heat transfer in wire bundles. As a result of his studies, a clearer picture is emerging on the role of buoyancy in the heat transfer associated with boiling and condensation. Particularly interesting activities are now taking place with pool boiling in the NASA-sponsored study of the long-term microgravity environment of the space shuttle.

Merte has also been a devoted and enthusiastic teacher. He introduced six new courses in heat transfer and is the coauthor of Recent Developments in Boiling and Condensation. He served as the director of the Heat Transfer Laboratory for 18 years. He received the Distinguished Service Award of the Class of 1938E.

Merte says he believes it's a lot more intense in the Department and at the U-M for young faculty then when he began his career. "When I started teaching, you were expected to be involved with research but not in the same way as today. A full course load then was three courses per semester. Today it is two courses because of the increased emphasis on research. We never talked about tenure. I hardly knew about it until I got it."

U-M MEAM CPO / Rodney Hill

Professor Merte and wife, Bernice, enjoy his MEAM retirement party

Merte has enjoyed every aspect of his career—from his teaching and microgravity experiments with NASA to his travel all over the world. He was especially gratified to serve a three-year term as a member of NASA's Space Station Science and Applications Advisory Subcommittee, which is responsible for the planning of laboratories in future space stations.

In his retirement ("I'm only retired from teaching!"), Merte plans to continue his research with NASA as well as take more advantage of his private pilot's license, play violin and viola in the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra, travel, and complete some maintenance projects around home. Thankfully, he and his wife, Bernice, don't have to travel far to visit their family. Four of their five sons (and eight of their 10 grandchildren) live nearby. Their fifth son and his family lives in Seattle.

U-M MEAM CPO Rodney Hill

Bernice, born on February 29, celebrates her "15th" birthday with Professor Merte, at left, and their five sons, (l .r) Richard, James, Robert, Kenneth, and Lawrence.

Merte credits two men for being instrumental in the success he has had throughout his career .and life. One man was Professor Gordon Van Wylen, former MEAM Chair and College of Engineering (CoE) Dean. "He helped me get a scholarship and talked me into getting a PhD. It hadn't occurred to me that I could get a PhD, but once the seed was planted, I knew I wanted it. Gordon also encouraged me to stay at the U-M, offering me a position as a MEAM faculty member."

The other man was his father, Herman, Sr., a woodworker for a Detroit car company, who had immigrated to the U.S. from Germany after World War I. "He hammered into me the importance of getting a good education. He always had work, but many of his friends did not. He would tell me, 'Whatever you own, you can lose it. But they can never take away what's in your head.'"