William E. Young

William E. Young, 82, a Westinghouse research scientist and engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project and the development of one of the first American jet engines at the end of World War II, died during the early morning, Tuesday, May 14, 2002. Dr. Young, who later was a resident of Churchill, was born in Barre, Vt., the son of William J. Young, a blacksmith, and Ada Young, a high school teacher. He attended the University of Vermont, partially paying his way by performing as a trumpet player in local dance bands. After graduation, he accepted a position with Westinghouse and relocated to Pittsburgh in 1941. On Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7, 1941, he attended a young people's social event at Wilkinsburg Baptist Church and met Betty Fraker of Wilkinsburg. They were married during the war while Dr. Young worked for Westinghouse at the Forest Hills Research Center. His Manhattan Project team was asked to develop an ultra centrifuge for uranium hexafloride for the atomic bomb. After completion of that project, he joined another team to work on developing an "air breathing machine," the jet engine, which was developed for the Navy. Dr. Young received his master's degree and doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, where he also taught part-time. At the Westinghouse Research Center in Churchill, he concentrated on power systems based on magnetohydrodynamics, the study of the reaction of materials with magnetic fields. These projects resulted in many cooperative research studies with scientists from the Soviet Union and other eastern bloc communist countries during the 1960s and 1970s. Dr. Young was involved with the Churchill Area Kiwanis and was an active member of the Wilkinsburg Baptist Church. He is survived by his wife, Betty, a resident of Asbury Place in Mt. Lebanon; daughter, Cynthia Lucas and her husband Anthony of Dormont; son, Carleton Young and his wife Carol of Castle Shannon; and four grandchildren, Adam and Rachel Lucas, Kristi and Erica Young. Friends may call in the LAUGHLIN MEMORIAL CHAPEL INC., 222 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon, Wednesday 3 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral Service will be held in Restland Memorial Park, 990 Patton St., Monroeville, Thursday at 11 a.m. (EVERYONE PLEASE MEET AT THE CEMETERY).