The ICC Website is changing.  As this transition is made, our new format can be found at www.pesicc.org/ICCWP. Please send any comments or questions to mvh@voncorp.com.

Joseph H. (Joe) Snow,

September 10, 1920- April 19, 2014

2011 Dr. George H. Bahder Memorial Award

1991 ICC Distinguished Service Award

Obituary, published in "The Facts", April 22, 2014

The son of the late Joseph H. Snow, Sr. and Ada C. Snow was 93 years young, having been born on September 10, 1920, and departing from this life on April 19, 2014. A fourth generation Texan, he was living in Angleton, Texas at the time of his departure, his residence being only a few blocks from the place he was born. Except for his tour of duty in WWII and a 10 year assignment with Dow Chemical at its headquarters in Midland MI, he lived in Texas all of his life. He is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years, Ellen “Pinky” Snow, his three children, Joellen Snow (and husband Stan O’Neal), Joseph H. Snow III (and wife Jamie), and Edie Snow Myer (and husband Austin), 12 grandchildren (his granddaughter, Ellen Ada Snow predeceased him in 2001), and 5 great grandchildren

Career Highlights

• Joseph H. (Joe) Snow graduated from Texas A and M University, College Station, Texas, in December, 1941 with a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering.
• First Lieutenant, U S Army Signal Corps, 1942 -1945: During World War II, Joe was a leader of a unit responsible for providing radar protection and guidance to the US Forces in the Pacific. He was first stationed in Molokai, Hawaii and then on Saipan where his radar unit tracked and guided B-29 long range bombers from and to Isley Field.
• Chief Electrical Engineer, The Dow Chemical Company, Freeport, TX 1946-1961:

Joe began his career in the Texas Operations where he was involved in the engineering and design of the power system for the Texas chemical production location. Under his leadership, the Freeport plant location was one of the first in the world to convert its medium-voltage cables from varnished cambric insulation to polyethylene insulation. The first use of polyethylene was not without its problems. The cables began to fail by treeing from water that had been trapped inside the conductor during cable production. He played a significant role in defining the problem and working with cable manufacturers to correct the problem. It was this work that led him to become an expert in cable design and materials.

• Market and Business Manager, Wire and Cable, The Dow Chemical Co., 1961-1978:

 Joe was involved in the development of many materials for wire and cable applications as the first market and business manager for their wire and cable business. The paper “The Evolution of Sheath Constructions for Communications Cable” is significant, because it showed for the first time the extent to which plastic coated metals enabled the development of the bonded sheath for providing moisture protection to cable. A revolution was taking place in the cable industry at the time because of the invention of functional plastic coated shielding materials and their initial use in bonded sheaths for cable. Joe was heavily involved as a driver to build a plant to manufacture these materials and with the cable makers by providing the assurance needed to commercialize innovative cable designs based on the new material technology. An addendum to the above paper, “A Note on the Sensitivity of Bonded Jackets to Flaws in Construction,” was especially significant to the further development of bonded sheath cable, because it quantitatively defined the role of the bonded jacket and sealed overlap in providing moisture protection to the core of the cable.

 Joe led the customer activities required to manufacture the first medium-voltage power cable prototype having a bonded sheath with coated copper. The design led to the development of a better understanding of the behavior of the bonded sheath under thermal loading, and the role of thin tapes for short circuit protection.

• Senior Engineering Manager, The Dow Chemical Company, 1978-1981:

 Joe provided leadership to the engineering function on the use of chemical-moisture barrier cables in underground cable systems as described in the paper “Chemical Moisture Barrier Cable for Underground Systems”. This paper is significant because it documents the first use of low and medium-voltage cables with a bonded sheath of coated aluminum in an underground system of an industrial plant. The entire electrical system was placed underground for safety reasons, and all low voltage instrument, control and medium voltage cables were protected with bonded sheaths to prevent chemical and moisture attack. The cable system engineering was also his responsibility, and he worked with their research and development groups and several cable manufacturers to design and manufacture the cables. He provided the engineering practices to bury the cable in trenches filled with cement stabilized sand. This plant design was then implemented in several other petrochemical plants along the Gulf coast.

After lightning strikes became a major problem at chemical plants along the Gulf coast by causing the destruction of electronic instruments and controls, Joe led the commercialization activities to provide low voltage instrument and power cables with a heavier gauge (8 mils) coated aluminum shield grounded at both ends. The combination of heavier shield and ground configuration acted to cancel out the interference currents generated by the lightning.

• Senior Engineering Associate, Anixter, Inc., 1981-2010

As a Senior Engineering Associate with Anixter, Joe played a leadership role in developing supplier partnerships between Anixter and their clients. He represented Anixter at the ICC where he continued to make significant contributions to the development of chemical-moisture barrier cable.

Joe was responsible for the commercialization of chemical-moisture barrier cables for petrochemical plant applications. The cables and their development are described in the paper “Chemical-Barrier Cable – Concept and Practice”. This paper is significant because it documents the first industrial use of 5 kV and 15 kV cables with a bonded sheath with coated copper where the copper acted as both a moisture barrier and electrical shield to the cables. He provided the leadership with the cable manufacturers on the cable designs, manufacture and commercialization of the MV cables. He worked with an accessory equipment manufacturer on the termination devices for the shield and training of the personnel involved with installation of these devices. He led the effort on developing the specifications for the cables, manufacturing and testing of the cables and cable management during the installation of the cables.

Awards

• ICC Dr. George H. Bahder Memorial Award 2011
• ICC Distinguished Service Award 1991
• IEEE/PES Outstanding Working Group Award 1996

Professional Activities

• Meeting 46, Spring 1970 to Meeting 67, Fall, 1980, Joe Snow is the chair of Subcommittee 6. Under his leadership the P532 jacket guide and the P635 aluminum sheath guide are initiated and published. The P1777 guide on concentric neutral corrosion is initiated.
• Meeting 52, Spring 1973 to Meeting 66, Spring 1980, Joe Snow chairs Project 9-31 on “Low Voltage Instrumentation and Control Cables.” This project helps integrate the technology associated with industrial tray cables into the ICC technology base.
• Meeting 70, Spring 1982 to Meeting 102, Fall 1997, Joe Snow chairs Project 6-23, “Properties of Laminate Sheaths” which meets jointly with two other discussion groups to provide a forum on all cable designs, technology and cable materials that can help ward off the adverse effects of moisture on underground cables.
• Meeting 77, Fall 1985 to Meeting 97, Spring of 1995, Joe Snow chairs WG 6-23 and under his leadership the P1142 “Guide on the Design, Testing, and Application of Moisture Impervious, Solid Dielectric, 5-35 kV, Power Cable Using Metal/Plastic Laminates” is published.
• Meeting 86, Spring 1990 to Meeting 105, Spring 1999, Joe Snow chairs Project 9-39, “Liaison with IAS/PCIC on Cable Guide for Cable Plants” which results in the publication of the P1242 “Guide for Specifying and Selecting power, Control and Special Purpose cable for Cable Plants.” Joe Snow plays a major role in writing and leading the development of the guide.
• Meeting 109, Spring 2001 to Meeting 127, Spring 2010, Joe Snow chairs WG A11W and under his leadership completes an exhaustive revision of the P1142 “Guide for the Selection, Testing, Application and Installation of Cables Having Radial Moisture Barriers and Longitudinal Water Blocking.”

Publications

• “The Evolution of Sheath Constructions for Communications Cable,” R. C. Mildner, W. R. Ropp, J. H. Snow, 15^th International Wire and Cable Symposium, Atlantic City, N. J., December, 1966.
• “A Note on the Sensitivity of Bonded Jackets to Flaws in Construction,” R. C. Mildner, W. E. Ropp, J. H. Snow, Addendum to the above Paper, 15^th International Wire and Cable Symposium, Atlantic City, N. J., December,1966.
• “Chemical Moisture Barrier Cable for Underground Systems,” K. E. Bow, J. H. Snow, IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, July, 1982, Vol. PAS-101, No. 7, (ISSN 0018-9510). (This paper was also published in the Record of Conference Papers for the Transmission and Distribution Conference).
• “Wire and Cable Update – 1984,” J. W. Frasure, J. H. Snow, D. A. Voltz, Record of Conference Papers, IAS, Petroleum and Chemical Industry Conference, !984.
• “Underground cable – designs extend life”, Joseph H. Snow, Electric Light and Power, June, 1988.
• “Progress in the Development of Medium Voltage Power Cable with Moisture Barriers,” J. H. Snow, J. Quevedo, Paper IX-Reu-1987-23, IEEE –Section Mexico, Conference on Transmission and Distribution of Electrical Energy, Ixtapa, Zihautanejo, Mexico, Nov., 1987 (English and Spanish)
• “International Standardization Activities for Moisture Impervious Cables,” K. E. Bow and J. H. Snow, Third International Conference of Polymer Insulated Cables, Jicable ’91, Versailles, France, June 24-28, 1991, pp. 183-190
• “Wire and Cable Update -1990,” M. G. Bayer, K. E. Bow, J. H. Snow, Paper No. PCIC-90-3, Record of Conference Papers, IAS, Petroleum and Chemical Industry Conference, Houston, TX, Sept. 10-12, 1990, pp.19-29
• “Design, Testing and Application of Moisture Impervious Cable,” K. E. Bow and
• J. H. Snow, Proceedings of the 1991 IEEE/PES Transmission and Distribution Conference, 91CH 3070-0, Dallas, TX, Sep. 22-27, 1991, pp.143-150
• “Wire and Cable Update – 1991, ” M. G. Bayer, K. E. Bow, J. H. Snow, and D. A. Voltz, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 28, No. 1, January/February 1992, pp. 211-220. (This paper was also published in the Record of Conference Papers of the IAS/PCIC).
• “Performance and Economic Considerations in Selecting and Applying Quality Medium Voltage Cables,” J. H. Snow, ICC Summer Meeting, No. 91, Birmingham, England, July 20-23, 1992.
• “Specifying, Selecting, and Testing Quality Cable,” K. E. Bow, J. H. Snow, D. A. Voltz and W. D. Wilkins, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, May/June, 1993, Vol.29, No. 3, pp. 631-638. (This paper was also published in the Record of Conference Papers of the IAS/PCIC).
• “Chemical-Moisture Barrier Cable – Concept and Practice,” M. G. Bayer, K. E. Bow, J. H. Snow, D. A. Voltz, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 31, No. 6, November/December 1995. (This paper was also published in the Record of Conference Papers of the IAS-PCIC).
• “A New Era in Cable Designs and Materials to Resolve Environmental Issues,” R. E. Barras, K. E. Bow, J. H. Snow and D. A. Voltz, Record of Conference Papers, 96CH35988, IAS, Petroleum and Chemical Industry Conference, September 23-25, 1996, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 269-279
• “Guide for Specifying and Selecting Power, Control and Special Purpose Cable for Petrochemical Plants – What’s in It and How Will It Help You,” D. A. Voltz, J. H. Snow, Record of Conference Papers, IAS, Petroleum and Chemical Industry Conference, 2000.

Return to the ICC Homepage page

IEEE prohibits discrimination, harassment and bullying. For more information, visit ieee.org/web/aboutus/whatis/policies/p9-26.html
Privacy & Opting Out of Cookies  Terms & Conditions
IEEE ICC PES & Design is a registered trademark of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.