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Robert A. Neault Collection (MechE Class of 1938)

Neault from 1938 Keweenawan.jpg

Although born in Minnesota, Robert Neault (1915-1994) lived most of his life in the UP, attending Michigan Technological University in the 1930s and gaining a degree in mechanical engineering (Class of 1938).

Neault attended Michigan Technological University from 1935 to 1938. His college years were made up of gaining mechanical skills through the Mechanical Engineering curriculum, spending time with his Sigma Rho fraternity brothers, and attending Michigan Tech’s many yearly events. He was known for presiding in the Sigma Rho fraternity house and for his assistance in making the organization’s float for the 1935 Winter Carnival celebration. 

Robert Neault went on to serve in World War II as head of engineering in the Army Air Corp photo-resonance division. After receiving an honorable discharge, Neault returned to his civilian career as a surveyor for Lakeshore Engineering. He used his surveying and mechanical skills for the company surveying Upper Peninsula mines. He also worked as a surveyor following WWII, where several tracts of land he surveyed in the northern Lower Peninsula still remain. 

Later in life, Neult moved to Traverse City and eventually Battle Creek and began working for the Post Cereal company. At C.W. Post, Neault used his mechanical engineering skills for industrial layout design, formatting, and drafting cereal manufacturing lines in factories. This work included not only industrial complexes in the Michigan area but larger factories in Illinois and New York. 

The drafting tools on display in the Neault Collection were kept in Robert Neault’s office until he retired from C.W. Post, at which time they were taken home and secured in his workshop. They saw rare use, with the exception of the slide rule which Neault used to teach his daughter several computational processes, including chemistry and mathematics. After his passing in 1994, Mary Zavitz (daughter of Robert Neault) donated his instruments and other materials to Michigan Technological University. 

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