Irwin P. Sharpe

Irwin P. Sharpe was born in 1921 and died just short of his 100th birthday in 2021. He was recruited for the Manhattan Project by his employer, General Electric, after he graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in engineering in 1942. His work took place in the Woolworth Building in Manhattan, where he played a key role in developing pumps and seals that were used in the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant at Oak Ridge. He and his team encountered several challenges posed by the highly corrosive uranium hexafluoride gas. He made several trips to Oak Ridge to test their inventions. Sharpe was part of the Kellex Corporation which was instrumental to the success of the Manhattan Project.