In the 1946 recruitment of faculty for the EL&R Department, Cal Poly gave an offer to Clarence Radius. Mr. Radius was a graduate of the University of Chicago, and had worked for ~RCA for a number of years. Part of his work had been in the development and management of training programs. He came to Los Angeles as an engineer for Columbia Broadcasting Company.
It turned out to be Cal Poly's good fortune that Clarence Radius applied for a teaching position in 1946 when the new Electronic and Radio Engineering Department was going through its birthing pains. Mr. Radius was surely the right man at the right time.
Upon the recommendation of Mr. Knott, Head, Engineering and Industrial Division, President McPhee appointed Mr. Radius to the position of Head, Electronic and Radio Engineering Department effective January 1, 1947.
Clarence Radius was not a man who could be easily and justly described. While C. E. Knott should be credited for the establishment of the EL&R Department, the credit of the development, growth and its success and excellent reputation with industry can rightfully be claimed for Clarence Radius. The department became his life, totally and unreservedly. A heart attack quietly claimed his life between quarters in September, 1964.
President McPhee in his 1946 Annual Report to the State Board of Education states: "The new four-year course leading to the B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering was an outgrowth of the regular Electrical Engineering curriculum. The Electrical Engineering Department specializes in 'power', while the new Electronics Department deals with 'communications', and its allied fields. The new department began in March, 1946, with 25 students enrolling in the degree course. By Fall of 1946 the department had 89 students majoring in electronics.
Two new instructors were added to the staff, making a total of three. The entire top floor of the Agricultural Education Building was turned over to this department for laboratory and classroom facilities.
In addition to the original radio and electronics equipment transferred from the electrical engineering laboratory, considerable new and surplus equipment was obtained during the year. The laboratory benches were wired and power supplies installed on each to make available DC voltages varying from 0 to 500 volts at 1/2 amperes. Included in new equipment was:
7 Model 772 Weston Multimeters
4 RCA Vacuum Tube Multimeters
4 Tube Checkers
12 DC Milliammeter
4 Oscilloscopes
2 Radio Frequency Generators
4 Audio Frequency Generators
1 Square Wave Generator
1 Distortion Analyzer
1 "Q" Meter
Numerous inductance and capacitance bridges
Numerous frequency meters
Several Army and Navy transmitters and receivers
Several Army and Navy public address systems
"A $100,000 radar unit, known as No. 5 in the Pacific defense setup, was awarded to the college by the Army in October, 1946. It was shipped early in 1947 from Fort MacArthur to San Luis Obispo for demonstration use in electrical engineering and electronics classes." "The following courses were added: Elementary Direct Current Theory and Laboratory, Advanced Alternating Current Theory and Laboratory, Electron Tubes and Laboratory."
"The three-year technical course in Electronics and Radio is primarily designed to train radio servicemen, commercial radio telegraph and telephone operators, general commercial conununication technicians with specific preparation for commercial licenses."
"The four-year degree course in Electronic Engineering will fill a need no other college is meeting today."
"Students are hired regularly on part-time student labor to construct laboratory equipment from small supplies, consisting of mounting meters in cabinets, replacing worn out or burned out parts in equipment, and in constructing equipment and tools which will be used as the department grows." "It is anticipated that this department will be able to handle 100 to 150 students by September, 1947, with additional equipment and instructors."