James P. Harrington was an American engineer, educator, author and editor.

He was rised in Lucknow, India, but returned to the United States to complete high school in New York. He served in an Army field hospital in the European theater during World War II. He earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering in 1949 and a master’s degree in engineering from Princeton in 1952.

Harrington had two patents, published many papers, and was a recognized expert in his field.

He was a Research Assistant at Princeton from 1949-51 when he obtained his MSE in Plastics Engineering. He was a research engineer with DuPont from 1951-61 and then a group manager from 1961-69. Harrington was Director of R&D for Deutsply from 1969-72 and the served as Director of Exhibits at the Franklin Institute Science Museum from 1972-81.

After working as a consultant and as an Adjunct Professor with the Materials Engineering Department at Drexel University for several years, he joined Technomic Publishing Company, where he has developed and conducted several seminars on blow molding and plastic films and founded the Journal of Plastic Film and Sheeting which he edited until 2010.

Harrington obtained two patents on nylon film and sheet. He helped develop the solvent-free process for producing polyvinylbutyral sheet for safety glass inner layer.

A. Contributions to technical literature on plastics:

1. Co-author of Packaging Food with Plastics

2. Editor of Journal of Plastic Film & Sheeting for 14 years

3. Editor of Plastics in Building Construction newsletter for 10 years

4. Editor of U.S. Foamed Plastics Directory (2 editions)

5. Author of more than 10 papers

6. Editor of Insulation newsletter at Drexel University for 3 years

7. Editor of information and data sheet on industrial plastic films for 6 years at DuPont

8. Member of ASTM D-9 editorial committee for 3 years

9. Reviewer for SPE Journal for 6 years

B. Accelerated adoption of monolayer polyester film capacitors while group manager in market development section of DuPont’s Film Department.

1. Supervised large-scale test with participation of 15 capacitor manufacturers to demonstrate that many of them could produce reliable capacitors for electronic equipment.

2. Edited report and published brochure on test results.

3. Presented talks on test results to over 15 capacitor users.

4. Almost doubled sales of polyester capacitor film to over $20 million.

C. Obtained use of polyester film to replace paper insulation in hermetic motors.

1. Experimental work with sealed tube tests showed they were not reliable for determining life of polyester film for hermetic motors.

2. Wrote and presented paper which showed—with the help of Bell Lab date on hydrolysis of polyester film—that this film should not be degraded when used for air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers.

D. Directed development of UV-cured plastic for dental sealants and filling material while Director of R & D at L.D. Caulk Division of Deutsply International.

1. Arranged design and manufacture of molded plastic apparatus to provide UV light.

2. Supervised formulation of filling material

3. Arranged field test.

4. Developed plastic package to hold materials.

E. Increased use of plastics in museums and trade shows while acting as a consultant, as Director of Exhibits for Franklin Institute Science Museum, publisher of Exhibit File, and editor of Exhibitionist (a newsletter for the American Association of Museums).

1. Increased use of vinyl wall covering.

2. Used fire-retardant FRP to replace paper-mache in 18 foot high walk through heart

3. Arranged manufacture and marketing of acrylic and polycarbonate exhibit cases

F. Participated in technical societies.

1. Active in ASTM for over 15 years, including being chairman of Committee D-9’s subcommittee on laminations and its plastic films section.

2. Developed and led a session on plastic barrier films for TAPPI’s PLC division

3. Led session for Plastics Institute of America

4. Education chairman for SPE’s Philadelphia section

See:

"James P. Harrington ' 47 *51," Princetin Alumni Weekly (Nov 17, 2010)