Lloyd M. Hedgepeth, BSME 1958
Mr. Lloyd Hedgepeth received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from NC State in 1958. He later completed an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Ohio State University. Mr. Hedgepeth designed, developed and supervised construction of the first ever USDA approved continuous feed poultry chiller. During his active duty in the USAF, he designed space on board power generation systems for dynamic power systems using Rankine (sub and supercritical), Brayton, and Sterling cycles. Working fluids for these systems ranged from argon to water to various liquid metals. He participated in zero gravity test flights acquiring information on heat transfer and fluid flow and directed a group developing ways to evaluate and reduce protection weight from micrometeoroid damage via belt and disk radiators. After leaving the Air Force, he founded Sure Temp refrigeration for the manufacture of precise temperature and humidity control for environmental test chambers. At U.S. EPA, he directed a task force developing computer programs that greatly streamlined data acquisition from State and local agencies. He then became Director of Duke Medical Center Information Systems (MCIS) and was responsible for updating the Duke Hospital Information System (DHIS) which handled all admitting, discharging, test results reporting and all Medicare charges and new functions as required. In this role, he was also responsible for the hospital computer operations center and directed the installation and support of the fiber optics communications for the Medical Center.
