Andrew Robertson (engineer)

Andrew Robertson FRS[1] D.Sc MIMechE, MICE, Wh.Ex (30 January 1883 in Lancashire – 22 October 1977) was a British mechanical engineer.

Andrew Robertson
Born(1883-01-30)30 January 1883
Died22 October 1977(1977-10-22) (aged 94)
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
AwardsFRS (1940)[1] Whitworth Exhibitioner (1904)[2]
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Bristol

Education

He was the son of a marine engineer and was apprenticed at his father's works - J. Robertson & Sons in Fleetwood, Lancashire. He was a graduate of the University of Manchester, with a first-class honours degree, a Fairbairn engineering prize and a Whitworth Exhibitioner in 1904.

Career and research

He was a demonstrator and tutor at the university. He investigated mild steel with Gilbert Cook.[3] During World War I, he worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough Airfield.

He was appointed Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bristol. In 1924, he was elected Principal of the college and dean of the faculty.[4] A room is named for him at Bristol University.[5]

Awards and honours

Robertson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1940.[1] His candidature citation stated that he was "Distinguished for his experimental researches in problems relating to the strength of materials. Much of this work was done during the War (his study of the elastic properties of timber calls for special mention) and has not been published under his own name, but his papers on the drop of stress which occurs at yield (with G Cook), and on the strength of solid and tubular struts are classic. He has played a great part in the building up of the Engineering School at Bristol. Member of the Advisory Council DSIR".[6]

Robertson was a Whitworth Exhibitioner in 1904, and later went on to be President of the Whitworth Society in 1947.[7]

References
  1. Pugsley, A. (1978). "Andrew Robertson. 30 January 1883 – 22 October 1977". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 24: 514–528. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1978.0016. S2CID 73304148.
  2. The Whitworth Register, 2017. The Whitworth Society. pp. 36, 136.
  3. Robertson, A. (1952). "Gilbert Cook. 1885-1951". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 8 (21): 108–117. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1952.0007. S2CID 121426358.
  4. "Engineering Heritage Awards - IMechE". heritage.imeche.org. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010.
  5. "Bristol University | Faculty of Engineering | Room Key". www.bris.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011.
  6. "Library and Archive Catalogue". The Royal Society. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  7. The Whitworth Register, 2017. The Whitworth Society. pp. 36, 136.
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