48 | The Fisher Story
1971 New 32,000-square-foot R.A. Engel Technical
Center opens in Marshalltown, housing the world’s
most advanced flow test laboratory. It has 15 flow test
lines and handles liquids and gases at pressures of
2,500 pounds per square inch.
New 16,000-square-foot manufacturing licensee plant
(Fisher Process Equipment, Ltd.) opens in Long Rock,
Cornwall, England, to manufacture ac 2 electronic
instrumentation.
Technology Leadership
dc2 digital control center, Type 410-EKR “El Toro”
gas regulator, giant size 130 actuator, and Design YD
three-way valve introduced.
T
he 1960s and 1970s
represented a phase of
tremendous expansion,
especially in terms of
technological developments.
During this period, Fisher
Controls introduced some of its
most famous products, from
e-body valves to digital (dc2) and
distributed (PROVOX) controls.
It also began the research
efforts that would lead to
industry breakthroughs in noise
abatement, liquid level
measurement, reduced
cavitation and control valve
diagnostics.
In Marshalltown,
manufacturing and product
development resources doubled
in size. As head of research and
development, Ray Engel
expanded Fisher engineering
resources to be the most
comprehensive in the automatic
control valve industry.
Besides directing many
post-war facility additions,
Ray served as an active member
of five technical societies
including the Instrument Society
of America, American Welding
and the Society for Experimental
Stress Analysis.
Under his direction, Fisher
design engineers became
innovators who helped move
not only Fisher Controls but the
entire industry from pneumatic
to analog to digital controls.
Fisher engineers used
computers to solve engineering