Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The engineer as a “linking agent” in international technology transfer: the case of Basque engineers trained in Liège

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 3; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/19378629.2010.550922

1940-8374

Aitor Anduaga,

Historical Studies in Science

Abstract This article examines the role that native engineers trained in a foreign country play in international technology transfer, a topic in which the human factor has often been assumed as ‘tacit knowledge’ by historians of technology. The discussion explores the case of Basque engineers who graduated from the University of Liège in Belgium between 1850 and 1914. I first show that the high number of these graduates was, to a large extent, the result of a specific educational strategy, and will analyze the underlying social and entrepreneurial reasons for this. Next, I follow the actual interactions that took place between foreign suppliers and client companies, revealing a complex process in which the engineer (from hereon linking agent) served as a bridge between two places. Drawing on specific historical episodes of the Basque iron and steel industry, I examine the roles played by these linking agents in each of the four phases I judge important in any technology transfer: decision, acquisition, innovation, and diffusion. Keywords: engineertechnology transferlinking agentengineering educationBasque CountryLiègeAdolphe Lesoinne Acknowledgements The author owe a special debt of gratitude to the editors of Engineering Studies, Gary Downey and Juan Lucena, as well as to the managing editor, Kacey Beddoes, for their valuable remarks and suggestions. The author is particularly grateful to Gary Downey, for generously reading every line of this work, catching factual errors and clarifying confusing expressions. Notes 1Apart from the literature discussed below in connection with international technological transfer, important historical studies on the mobility of engineers and educational strategies in different countries of Europe (especially in the European periphery) are those by A. Cardoso and M.P. Diogo (for the Portuguese case), R. de Lorenzo (Italy), A. Kostov (Balkans), M. Eftermova (Czech lands), and K. Chatzis and his colleagues (Greece). See Gouzevitch and Inkster, “Identifyng Engineers,” Cardoso and Diogo, “Being an Engineer,” Grelon, “French Engineers,” and Roca, Lusa, Barca and Puig, “Industrial Engineering in Spain,” in the issue edited by I. Inkster, “Identifying Engineers in History,” 2007, pp. 101–61; Cardoso, Diogo, Gouzevitch and Grelon, The Quest for a Professional Identity, 2009; Gouzevitch, Grelon and Karvar, La formation des ingénieurs, 2004; Grelon, Ramunni and Badel, La naissance de l'ingénieur-électricien, 1997; Chatzis and Gouzevitch, “Betancourt,” 2009; Diogo and Cardoso, “Being an engineer in the European Periphery,” 2007, pp. 125–46; Chatzis, Assimacopoulou and Mahera, “Elève en France, enseignant en Grèce.” For the case of Spain, see the volumes (IV and V) edited by Silva Suárez, Técnica e ingeniería, 2007–2008; and Lafuente, Cardoso and Saraiva, Maquinismo ibérico, 2007. 2Carter, “Benjamin Henry Latrobe,” 1975, pp. 11–32, and Stapleton, “Moncure Robinson,” 1975, pp. 33–60. For a summary of these papers (read at the Eleutherian Mills Historical Library Spring Conference on Regional Economic History, May 1974), see: Benson, “The Engineer as an Agent in Technology Transfer,” 1975, pp. 67–9. 3Benson, “The Engineer as an Agent in Technology Transfer,” 1975, p. 68. 4Benson, “The Engineer as an Agent in Technology Transfer,” 1975, p. 68. See also Hughes, “Technological momentum,” 1994, p. 101. 5See, for instance, Sismondo, An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies, 2004, pp. 88–90. 6Ferreiro, “Goodall in America. The Exchange Engineer as Vector in International Technology Transfer,” 2006, p. 175. 7Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 1983, p. 312. 8For an analysis on the role of users, see: Kline and Pinch, “Users as Agents of Technological Change,” 1996, pp. 763–95. 9For the case of the Spanish iron and steel industry, see: Muñoz Dueñas, “Minería e industria: ingenieros ingleses en España,” 1999, pp. 874–90; Raveux, “El papel de los técnicos ingleses,” 1994, pp. 143–63; Tascón and Ojeda, Técnicos y empresarios extranjeros en la industrialización de Asturias, 2000. 10The notion of the engineer agent who acts as a filter for discriminating innovations from Northern Europe has been suggested by Houpt and Rojo, “Technology Transfer in the Northern Spain's Heavy and Metalworking Industries,” 2006, pp. 321–2. 11In the sector that I shall largely deal with, the nineteenth century iron and steel industry, the technology transfer process involved a combination of visits, personnel exchanges and machinery imports. See: Fremdling, “Transfer Patterns of British Technology to the Continent,” 2000, pp. 195–222; Fremdling, “The Puddler,” 1991, pp. 345–74; Wengenroth, Enterprise and Technology, 1986; Nuwer, “From Batch to Flow,” 1988, pp. 808–38. For other case studies, see, e.g., Ford, “Charles S. Storrow, Civil Engineer,” 1993, pp. 271–99. 12Raveux, “El papel de los técnicos ingleses en la industria metalúrgica y mecánica,” 1994, pp. 143–61. 13I will be using gender biased nouns (he) from here onwards because all the Basque engineers enrolled at the Liège schools were men. 14Beatty, “Approaches to Technology Transfer in History,” 2003, pp. 167–97. 15No Basque engineers graduated from the Polytechnic Schools of Brussels and Mons. Source: Archives of the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Faculté Polytechnique de Mons. 16These numbers are based on students' registration books dating from 1826 onwards. See: Historical Archive of the University of Liège. Inscriptions des étudiants au rôle. Vol I (1826–1834); vol. II (1832–1840); y de 1841 a 1919, annual vols. From 1882 onwards, see: Répertoire du rôle des étudiants. See also: Liste de Membres de l'Association des Ingénieurs sortis de l'École de Liège. Année 1859–60. Liège, 1860, 28–37; Année 1866–67, 194–207; Année 1875–76, 29–37; Année 1894–95, 53–4; and Bulletin de l'Association des Ingénieurs sortis de l'École de Liège, vols. 1–23 (1877–1900). 17As so often happens, the most detailed and thoroughgoing study on the RCAM's early stages is an unpublished work, Gil-Delgado, La Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines, 1982, pp. 30–52. See also: La Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines, 1853–1953. Bruxelles, Paris, Madrid, esp. 15–18. The doctoral thesis by Niembro, “La presencia belga en la industrialización asturiana,” 2008, pp. 77–87, is in part based on the foregoing sources. 18Muñiz Sánchez, Del pozo a casa, 2007, pp. 57–8. 19Letter from Hauzeur to Antonio Flores, 1858 – quoted in García López, Peribañez, and Daroca, Asturiana de Zinc, 2004, p. 35. 20From the computerized database of Alfonso García, head of the Compañía Asturiana de Zinc Historical Archive, Arnao (Asturias). I have also consulted the letter copier, vols. 1 (1837–41), 2 (1844–58), 3 (1858–59), 4 (1859–60), 5 (1860–61), and 6 (1861), which reproduce in duplicate the correspondence between company heads and clients. 21García López, Peribañez, and Daroca, Asturiana de Zinc, 2004, p. 70. 22Dúmont and Trasenster, “Notice sur Philippe-Adolphe Lesoinne,” 1857, pp. 29–30; Le Roy, Liber Memorialis, 1869, pp. 420–5; Niembro, “La huella de Adolphe Lesoinne,” 2004, pp. 157–61; Niembro, “La presencia belga en la industrialización asturiana,” 2008, pp. 58–68. 23This question has been underscored by Niembro, “La huella de Adolphe Lesoinne,” 2004, p. 160. 24According to the 1816 regulations; see: Chesneau, Histoire de l'École des Mines, 1931. 25For a general overview of the dynamics of the higher engineering education system in a variety of national contexts, see: Harwood, “Engineering Education between Science and Practice,” 2006, pp. 53–62. 26As indicated by the School of Mines' organic rules, decreed on 18 October 1838. See: Le Roy, Liber Memorialis, 1869, p. 1024. 27Le Roy, Liber Memorialis, 1869, p. 1027. 28Belgian authorities seem to have been generous in both admission rules and granting of diplomas. The organic decree of 25 September 1852 stipulates the expedition of three types of diplomas (ingénieur civil mécanicien, civil des mines, and civil des arts et manufactures). These were addressed to those students – most of them foreigners – who were not interested in joining the Belgian Mining Corps, or did not regularly attend the School. Le Roy, Liber Memorialis, 1869, pp. 1034–5. 29Bertrams, Universités & Entreprises, 2006, pp. 25–64; Baudet, “The Training of Engineers in Belgium,” 1993, pp. 93–114; D'Hoker, “Entre école et entreprise,” 1995, pp. 15–42. For a clear overview regarding the engineering education in Liège, Brion, “La querelle des ingénieurs,” 1986, pp. 255–70. 30Royal Decree of 14 April 1825 stipulated that mining engineers should take over the examination of steam engines installed in factories. Moreover, those studying for their mechanical engineering degree were obliged (since 1845) not only to prove theoretical knowledge, but also to “have constructed at least a steam engine of small dimensions, and designed a sufficient number of machines”. Le Roy, Liber Memorialis, 1869, p. 1030. See also: Baudet, “Ingénieurs belges,” 1986, p. 35. 31This sketch is based on the biographies of Basque engineers from Liège, such as `Víctor Francisco Chávarri', ‘Carlos Laffite Martínez’, ‘Miguel Otamendi’, ‘Tomás de Zubiría’, in Anduaga, Scientia in Vasconia, 2008, pp. 94–7, 190–2, 234–6, 279–81; Alonso, Víctor Chávarri, 2005; Rojo, “Tomás de Zubiría,” 2000, pp. 100–5; ‘Nemesio Uranga’, in Insausti, “Nemesio Uranga,” 1966, pp. 173–90; ‘Ricardo de Arellano’, in Alonso et al., Santa Ana de Bolueta, 1998, pp. 103–4; “Torcuato de Barandica”, Bulletin de l'Association des Ingénieurs sortis de l'École de Liège, 1899, 23:123–4; the Vilallonga brothers, in Basas, “Los Vilallonga,” 1987, pp. 66–8; ‘Ramón Ibarra’ and ‘José Antonio de Ybarra’, in Cava, Tubos Forjados, 1992, pp. 53–6; Díaz Morlán, Los Ybarra, 2001; and Ybarra, Nosotros, los Ybarra, 2002. 32This attitude was not exclusive to Basque industrial families. See, for example, the case of the textile industrialists in northern France in connection with the l'École Céntrale de Paris, in: Fox and Weisz, The Organization of Science and Technology in France, 1980, p. 193. 33The new emphasis on the expertise of university-trained engineers even mirrored the transformation of the Western mining industry. See: Hovis and Mouat, “Miners, Engineers, and the Transformation of Work,” 1996, pp. 429–56. 34The confidence placed in the academic engineers trained abroad and the distrust of ‘self-taught engineers’ are evident in the following anecdote. In 1841, at the request of the Sociedad Anónima Santa Ana de Bolueta, the company's first manager, Emmanuele Saint Supery, travelled to London to purchase machinery. When the product arrived in Bilbao, Bolueta's owner, José Salvador de Lequerica, wrote to the French engineer requesting him to return, as he ‘was afraid that the local technicians would make a mess of things due to the lack of intelligence’. Zorrilla Lequerica family Archive, J.S. de Lequerica to E. Saint Supery, 20 January 1843 – quoted in Alonso et al., Santa Ana de Bolueta, 1998, p. 47. 35For instance, in April 1857 the entrepreneur Juan Ybarra eulogized the value of polyvalent training as he tried to persuade his son, José Antonio, to prolong his studies at Liège: ‘[My son] is not determined to study to become a mechanical and mining engineer and I am upset. It is a matter of only one more year and he would not have to study that much – it would be certainly a pity if he were to content himself with being only a mechanical engineer’. Archivo Foral de Bizkaia. J. Ybarra to Gabriel Ybarra and Cosme Zubiría, 13 April 1857. Ybarra Hermanos, 1553/01 – quoted in Ybarra, Nosotros los Ybarra, 2002, p. 454. On the primacy of academic engineering culture from the sixties, formalized in specific technical schools, in detriment of workshop-based in situ learning culture, see: Lundgreen, “Engineering Education in Europe and the U.S.A.,” 1990, pp. 33–75. 36Paulino Oyanarte, the first Basque graduate from Liège, was the son of a businessman with mining interests. He was managing director of the RCAM's mines in Guipúzcoa, before passing away in 1853. A friend of his, Nemesio Uranga, inherited his father's paper mills, Iguerondo and Azaldegui, in Tolosa (Guipúzcoa). Etienne Arzac was probably the son of José Antonio Arzac, a member of the Board of the Compañía Guipuzcoana de Minas in 1830. One of the founders of this company, M.J. de Iguerabide, was the son-in-law of Domingo Tomás Zavala, the cofounder of the Société pour la production du zinc en Espagne and the father of Florentino Zavala, a Liège engineer. Eduardo Aguirre graduated from mechanical engineering in 1858. Six years later, he inherited and carried on the family business, through the company Viuda e Hijos de Máximo Aguirre. His nephew, Ricardo de Arellano, became, after his graduation, the manager (and later president) of the iron foundry Santa Ana de Bolueta, which had been founded by his father Romualdo, among others. Torcuato de Barandica was the son of a renowned notary and lawyer who grew up in an industrial milieu. After graduating, he remained in Seraing, as an engineer at the Société de l'Espérance. He later managed Santa Ana de Bolueta in his home town. The Chávarri brothers, the entrepreneur Tiburcio's sons, became the managing engineers of La Vizcaya and Altos Hornos de Bilbao. Of Víctor, probably the most famous of the brothers, it was said that “he was always very Belgian in inspiration and tastes” – quoted in Anduaga, Scientia in Vasconia, 2008, p. 94. José Antonio Ybarra, Juan's son, joined the family firm after graduating in 1860, and embarked on an intense entrepreneurial career. His brother, Ramón Ibarra, studied in Liège from 1872 to 1876. He then entered the family business and became a cofounder and shareholder of several important iron foundries, including Basconia and Altos Hornos de Bilbao. Guillermo Pradera joined his father Gregorio's metallurgical firm; soon after, he became manager of La Vizcaya. Juan de Jáuregui ran the iron foundry Jaúregui de Zornoza; he was also the manager of a gas factory in San Sebastián. Tomás de Zubiría, José Antonio de Ybarra's nephew, joined the family enterprise ‘Ybarra-Zubiría-Villalonga’ after graduating in 1878, and remained there for the rest of his life, as manager-director and cofounder of other companies. 37Beatty, “Approaches to Technology Transfer in History,” 2003, pp. 172–3. 38Some scholars have questioned the correctness of stage models, such as Beatty's, for describing technological change, arguing that linearity tends to favor an excessively determinist, progressivist narrative that overlooks failure. See: Pinch and Bijker, “The Social Construction of Facts and Artefacts,” 1987, pp. 17–50. 39On the Sociedad Anónima de Metalurgia y Construcciones ‘Vizcaya’, see: González Portilla, La siderurgia vasca, 1985, pp. 41–68; and Alonso Olea, Víctor Chávarri, 2005, pp. 76–94. 40Altos Hornos de Bilbao had the Bessemer procedure patent in Spain. 41The original project is compiled in Víctor Chávarri, Memoria descriptiva de las instalaciones para una fábrica de hierro y acero proyectada en las marismas de Sestao por la Sociedad de metalurgia y construcciones Vizcaya. Baracaldo, 24 January 1883, a manuscript held at the Archivo Foral de Bizkaia, AHV 0013/09. 42On the early years of the Sociedad Altos Hornos y Fábricas de Hierro y Acero de Bilbao (AHB), see: Ybarra, Nosotros, los Ybarra, 2002, pp. 684–733; González Portilla, La siderurgia vasca, 1985, pp. 22–40; Díaz Morlán, Los Ybarra, 2002; Díaz Morlán, Los Ybarra vizcaínos, 1999, pp. 103–112. 43In the words of Vilallonga and Fernando de Ybarra – in Ybarra, Nosotros, los Ybarra, 2002, p. 717. 44As stated during a heated discussion by the Board, when choosing a delegation to Europe “to study the advances produced until the present day.” Finally, José Antonio and Fernando were selected, rather than Ramon (as he expected). Archives of the Altos Hornos de Bilbao 1/30 – quoted by Ybarra, Nosotros, los Ybarra, 2002, p. 718. 45The details are well-known and have been described by Ybarra, Nosotros, los Ybarra, 2002, pp. 716–20; González Portilla, La siderurgia vasca, 1985, pp. 33–4 and 78–9; Houpt and Rojo, “Technology Transfer in the Northern Spain's Heavy and Metalworking Industries,” 2006, pp. 333–4. See also: Libro de Actas del Consejo de Accionistas, vol. 1, 1882/86, “Informe sobre ingenieros”, pp. 11–17. 46A world authority in the building of Bessemer steel factories, W. Richards was manager of Bolckow, “the best organised installations in Europe” according to the Board. González Portilla, La siderurgia vasca, 1985, p. 34. 47Houpt and Rojo, “Technology Transfer in the Northern Spain's Heavy and Metalworking Industries,” 2006, p. 334. 48Electra's origins have been studied by Alonso, La Electra de Bolueta, 2000; Alonso, Erro, and Arana, Santa Ana de Bolueta, 1998, pp. 131–46. 49In 1896, Ahlmeyer and Santa Ana de Bolueta signed the agreement of the project. 50Ahlemeyer was a particularly interesting agent. An engineer experienced in electricity and a wonderful innovator in the field of electromechanical installations and systems, he was living in Bilbao as AHB's foundry manager. Ahlemeyer was one of the major electrical patent applicants in Spain from 1895 to 1896. See: Historical Archive of the Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas. Patent numbers 17157, 17156, 19367, and 19520. 51C.R. Day and John H. Weiss have underlined that the engineers from the French écoles d'arts et métiers and the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures were highly motivated to assume technical responsibilities within industry, though in the eyes of the boards of managers the latter had more prestige and knowledge than the former. See Day, “The Making of Mechanical Engineers in France,” 1978, pp. 439–60; and Weiss, The Making of Technological Man, 1982. 52The figure of linking agent fits into Karvar's exhortation (“Model reception,” 1995, p. 83) ‘to take into consideration individuals and structures through which the transfer was mediated, their collective roles, their interaction’. Karvar focuses on the negotiations between the engineers trained in the donor country and the recipient country environment in contexts of state initiatives – we search for features and patterns common to those engineers, in contexts of local initiatives. Insofar as we try to contextualize the transfer process and analyze the social agents involved, our analyses are complementary (not divergent). 53“Libro de Actas de la Junta de Gobierno de la Vizcaya. Reunión Junta Extraordinaria, 17 de agosto de 1883”. Vol. 1, pp. 44–47 – quoted in González Portilla, La siderurgia vasca, 1985, p. 45. 54Two sixths of the total order value (350,000 francs) would be paid once the agreement had been signed, half would be due upon delivery of the machines, and the remaining sum would be paid after the machines had been assembled. See: Ibid., p. 57 – quoted in González Portilla, La siderurgia vasca, 1985, p. 46. 55La Vizcaya was responsible for salaries and accommodation expenses. 56Other foreign engineers included: León Goffart (blast-furnace manager until 1886), and his substitute Beck (former blast-furnace manager at the Compagnie de Saint-Nazaire, France). 57Enrique Disdier, for example, became in 1866 the steel manufacturing manager after visiting some iron mills in Great Britain, immediately after concluding a three-month instruction with Eston Bessemer's manager. 58In 1896, an English master laminator taught the thin sheet laminating system to AHB workers for three months. See: “Libro de Actas del Consejo de Administración de AHB”, 7, 129. 59An extreme case is AHB's first manager, Alexandre Pourcel, Terre Noire factory's former manager, who was paid an annual salary of Franc 24000 – equivalent to 280 times the average salary in AHB. 60Three notable examples are: the French engineer Alexandre Pourcel, managing director: the English engineer Windson Richards, blast furnace manager; and engineer Carlos Jenkins, blast-furnace construction and reinforcement works management. 61An indispensable study about this Society is Cava, Tubos Forjados, 1992. 62The list of engineers included Enrique Disdier (probably graduated in France), Enrique de Gana (Paris), Ramón de Ibarra (Liège), Tomás de Zubiría (Liège), Gabriel and Mariano Vilallonga brothers (Barcelona), and their father José de Vilallonga y Gipuló (Bordeaux). 63Cava, Tubos Forjados, 1992, pp. 81–5. 64On the prerequisites for replication, see: Rosenberg, Perspectives on Technology, 1976; Temin, Iron and Steel in Nineteenth-Century America, 1964. 65Beatty, “Approaches to Technology Transfer in History,” 2003, p. 178. 66Enrique Disdier Croque, “Elaboración mecánica de tubos de hierro y acero dulces, soldados y volteados,” Historical Archive of the Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas, patent 13483, 28 June 1892. 67On the innovations in the metalworking sector: Fernández Pérez, “Hilos de meta,” 2005, p. 187. 68The few biographical data on Enrique Disdier have been obtained from Cava, Tubos Forjados, 1992, p. 47. There is no evidence that he studied engineering in Spain. 69Patent law provided for the transfer or sale of a patent by a written agreement. The assignee, when the patent was assigned to him, became the owner of the patent and had the same rights that the original patentee had. 70For further details about Bourson's role: Ybarra, Nosotros los Ybarra, 2002, pp. 617–19. 71For example, in 1883, José Antonio de Ybarra looked for engineers candidates for AHB's technical management through Martelet. Ybarra, Nosotros los Ybarra, 2002, pp. 717. 72On the importance of institutional capacity for adaptation and development as critical elements in international technology transfer, see: Ruttan and Hayami, “Technology Transfer and Agricultural Development,” 1973, pp. 119–51. 73Fernando made a vigorous defense of the virtues of the Bessemer converters in a letter sent to the Ybarra & Cía Board on 6th May 1883. Ybarra, Nosotros los Ybarra, 2002, pp. 719–20. 74Altos Hornos de Vizcaya Archive, “Libro de Actas del Consejo de AHB,” 1882/86, vol. 1, 28 November 1883 – quoted in González Portilla, La siderurgia vasca, 1985, p. 22. 75Altos Hornos de Vizcaya Archive, “Libro de Actas del Consejo de AHB,” 1882/86, vol. 1, pp. 5–6 – quoted in González Portilla, La siderurgia vasca, 1985, p. 26. 76Inkster, Science and Technology in History, 1991, esp. pp. 89–128. 77Pickstone, Ways of knowing, 2000. 78D. Edgerton has criticized the profound bias in the current literature towards the study of technologists devoted to research, and the silence regarding employment in other forms of work, such as management, maintenance or routine testing. In his view, confusion between innovation and technology-in-use, and changes in knowledge and knowledge-in-use underlies this bias. See: Edgerton, “From innovation to use,” 1999, p. 125. 79Beatty, “Approaches to Technology Transfer in History,” 2003, p. 180. 80Chenot's procedure allowed producing sponge iron whereupon one could obtain pig iron (by forging) or steel (by carburation and fusion). See: Uriarte, “Desarrollo científico,” 1998, pp. 786–7. 81There were three kinds of difficulty: the use of mineral with phosphorous, overoxidation and the prejudicial effect of sulphur. See: Díaz Morlán, Los Ybarra, 2002, p. 91–7. 82Yarra holding, Archivo Foral de Bizkaia, Ybarra to Chenot, 4 April 1862 – quoted in Díaz Morlán, Los Ybarra, 2002, p. 97. 83A. de Olano was the representative of “Olano, Larrínaga y Cía” trading company, which was created in 1862 in Liverpool and was dedicated to commerce, consignment and ship brokerage. See: Valdaliso, “Bandera y colonias españolas, navieros y marinos vizcaínos, y capital y comercio británicos,” 2003, pp. 456–60. 84Houpt and Rojo, “Technology Transfer in the Northern Spain's Heavy and Metalworking Industries,” 2006, pp. 328–9. 85“In short, a long delay at the restructuring beginning, a relative briefness in the transition phase – hardly thirty years, and a relative rapidity in the transit from modern iron technique to the most up-to-date steel technique, though in this new stage archaic elements from the previous phase also persist.” The technological and organisational restructuring of the Basque iron industry has been exhaustively examined by Bilbao, “La primera etapa de la industrialización en el País Vasco,” 1988, p. 236. 86For a historical interpretation of technological lag during the restructuring period, see: Bilbao, “La primera etapa de la industrialización en el País Vasco,” 1988, pp. 236–40; for the stage of the modern integrated production of iron, see: Fernández de Pinedo, “Nacimiento y consolidación de la moderna siderurgia vasca,” 1983, pp. 14–19. 87Referring to two countries so apparently ‘close together’ as Britain and the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, Rosenberg confessed to being “impressed by the extent to which the transfer of technology skills […] was dependent upon the transfer of skilled personnel.” Rosenberg, “Economic Development and the Transfer of Technology,” 1970, p. 553. 88As discussed in the introduction, one notable exception is Houpt and Rojo, “Technology Transfer in the Northern Spain's Heavy and Metalworking Industries,” 2006. 89The fact that Lequerica demanded Saint Supery's presence in Bilbao as the machinery arrived from London (stating that “I am afraid a disaster happens because of the lack of intelligence”), shows that he played a vital role in the process – quoted in Alonso, Erro, and Arana, Santa Ana de Bolueta, 1998, p. 47. Engineers Eduardo Heckman (1850) and Justine Delpon (1861) succeeded him as managers. 90Radosevic, International Technology Transfer and Catch-up, 1999, p. 4. Similarly, Jeremy, International Technology Transfer. Europe, Japan and the USA, 1991, p. 2, states: “Economic forces and perhaps the state may explain the timing of introduction of new technology. Cultural forces, combined with economic ones, explain the rate of diffusion within the receptor economy/society.” On the influence of culture on technology transfer, see: Staudenmaier, Technology's Storytellers, 1985.