Unique experiment, ideal location
Monday, September 18, 2006 4:07 PM CDT
Benefactor donates money for new science and technology museum in Menomonie
By LeAnn R. Ralph, Reporter
Thanks to a $1.9 million gift, Menomonie has a new museum.
The Fulton and Edna Holtby Science and Technology Museum has been built next to the Rassbach Heritage Museum in Wakanda Park.
“I hope the museum pays off for the young people,” said Fulton Holtby, who was on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.
The 95-year-old Holtby retired as an associate professor of mechanical engineering after teaching at the University of Minnesota for 41 years.
Holtby has been involved with UW-Stout’s College of Technology, Engineering and Management for more than 20 years. Over the past 12 years, he has awarded scholarships to more than 400 Stout engineering students.
The 15,000-square-foot museum will feature working shops focusing on applied technology. After all of the equipment has been moved to the museum and set up, qualified individuals will be able to use the machines.
“If the museum inspires one out of 50 youngsters to say, ‘I want to learn more,’ it will all be worth it,” Holtby said.
The United States, he noted, has fallen far behind other countries in science and technology.
“There are 10 times more engineers trained in places like China and India than there are in this country,” Holtby said.
“I wanted to put something in front of the young people to get them interested in science and technology,” he said. “This is a unique experiment. There’s nothing else like it in the state of Wisconsin.”
Ideal location
Holtby says the Wakanda Park location is ideal because families will come for the ball park, the Lion’s Club wildlife park and the Wakanda Water Park.
“When they’re here with their children for those other things, they will be able to come to the museum, too,” Holtby said.
The museum project was developed through cooperation between the Stout University Foundation and the Stout Historical Association (a sub-group of the Dunn County Historical Society).
The science and technology museum “will be a way to get through to students, a way to arouse their curiosity,” Holtby said.
The museum will be a permanent working home for Holtby’s machine, metal and woodworking shops as well as the models Holtby designed and manufactured.
After Holtby retired as a professor, he worked as a forensic engineer and was a consultant to attorneys and insurance companies. His areas of expertise included product design, product failure, material failures, fires and explosions involving plastics, and litigation involving product design and patents.
One of the models that will be on display in the museum was constructed for a courtroom exhibit following the 1979 Amoco Cadiz oil spill off the coast of France and the resulting $2 billion lawsuit.
Working laboratory
The science and technology museum “will be a laboratory students can use and a place to access equipment,” said Bob Meyer, Dean of the UW-Stout College of Technology, Engineering and Management. “He [Holtby] has kept the engineering program going at Stout... we’re fortunate to have him as a friend.”
The Holtby Museum is a fitting addition to Dunn County, said Steve Rasmussen, chair of the Dunn County Board of Supervisors.
“We are a community of doers — get it done and make it work,” Rasmussen said.
“Your donation will turn a good museum into a great museum,” said Mayor Dennis Kropp.
“The way things are changing, it’s important to know where we’ve come from to know where we’re going,” said state Senator Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls).
Fulton Holtby’s gift to Dunn County is unique in many ways, said Roy Ostenso, president of the Dunn County Historical Society.
Not only has Holtby given money for the building, he has also given money to operate the building and money to hire professional museum staff, Ostenso said.
programs
The Dunn County Historical Society plans to develop educational and historical programming at the science and technology museum for both school groups and for adults.
“We need more of an emphasis on education in this country. We need to get (the young people) off the couch and curious. We need to get them interested in how things work and how things are made,” Holtby said.
Some of Holtby’s most famous accomplishments include collaborating with a colleague on building the first flight data recorder (also known as the ‘black box’) and designing and making heart valve replacements and suture clamps for heart surgeon Dr. Christiaan Barnard.
For now, the Fulton and Edna Holtby Science and Technology Museum is empty.
An exact date for opening the exhibit has not yet been determined, although the historical society plans to move Holtby’s machine, metal and woodworking shops out of his home in Minnesota this winter.
To follow the progress of the Fulton and Edna Holtby Science and Technology Museum, call the Dunn County Historical Society at (715) 232-8685 or visit its Web site at www.discover-net.net/~dchs. |
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