Ronald Ernest Aitchison
Encyclopedia
Ronald Ernest Aitchison (1921–1996), was born in Hurstville, NSW, Australia
on 29 December 1921. From 1942 to 1945 Ron worked as an engineer with the Amalgamated Wireless Valve Company
on the design and production of klystron
s and radar
magnetrons, which were new devices important to the war effort. He was also involved in work on semiconductor
diode
s, which were the forerunners of the revolution in electronics brought about by the advent of solid-state semiconductor components. In 1945 he joined the National Acoustic Laboratories where he worked on the design and construction of hearing aids for children.
Aitchison was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Communications Engineering at the University of Sydney
, which was the start of his 25-year teaching experience at that institution, culminating in his appointment as Associate Professor. His interest in solid-state physics
took him to Bristol University, UK, for a year and he also spent a year at Stanford University
, California
, on a Fulbright scholarship, working at the forefront of electronics research. In 1970, he accepted an offer from Macquarie University
to become the founding Professor of Electronics and took up the post in 1971. During his fifteen years at Macquarie, Aitchison was well known for his dedication to his students and his insistence on keeping up to date with the latest laboratory techniques, experiments and equipment for his students. This was necessary to ensure that the university was keeping in pace with the rapid changes in the electronics industry at the time.
At Macquarie, he led several successful projects of a highly practical nature including pioneering work on the reception of satellite weather pictures that were shown every evening in Sydney's TV newscasts. Aitchison became a good friend of famed physicist John Clive Ward
and openly supported the successful science reform movement
of the late 1970s.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on 29 December 1921. From 1942 to 1945 Ron worked as an engineer with the Amalgamated Wireless Valve Company
Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited
Amalgamated Wireless Ltd . Throughout most of the 20th century AWA was Australia's largest and most prominent electronics organisation, undertaking development, manufacture and distribution of radio, telecommunications, television and audio equipment as well as broadcasting services.After the...
on the design and production of klystron
Klystron
A klystron is a specialized linear-beam vacuum tube . Klystrons are used as amplifiers at microwave and radio frequencies to produce both low-power reference signals for superheterodyne radar receivers and to produce high-power carrier waves for communications and the driving force for modern...
s and radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
magnetrons, which were new devices important to the war effort. He was also involved in work on semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
diode
Diode
In electronics, a diode is a type of two-terminal electronic component with a nonlinear current–voltage characteristic. A semiconductor diode, the most common type today, is a crystalline piece of semiconductor material connected to two electrical terminals...
s, which were the forerunners of the revolution in electronics brought about by the advent of solid-state semiconductor components. In 1945 he joined the National Acoustic Laboratories where he worked on the design and construction of hearing aids for children.
Aitchison was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Communications Engineering at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
, which was the start of his 25-year teaching experience at that institution, culminating in his appointment as Associate Professor. His interest in solid-state physics
Solid-state physics
Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the large-scale properties of solid materials result from...
took him to Bristol University, UK, for a year and he also spent a year at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, on a Fulbright scholarship, working at the forefront of electronics research. In 1970, he accepted an offer from Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
to become the founding Professor of Electronics and took up the post in 1971. During his fifteen years at Macquarie, Aitchison was well known for his dedication to his students and his insistence on keeping up to date with the latest laboratory techniques, experiments and equipment for his students. This was necessary to ensure that the university was keeping in pace with the rapid changes in the electronics industry at the time.
At Macquarie, he led several successful projects of a highly practical nature including pioneering work on the reception of satellite weather pictures that were shown every evening in Sydney's TV newscasts. Aitchison became a good friend of famed physicist John Clive Ward
John Clive Ward
John Clive Ward , was a British-Australian physicist. His most famous creation was the Ward-Takahashi identity, originally known as "Ward Identity" . This celebrated result, in quantum electrodynamics, was inspired by a conjecture of Dyson and was disclosed in a one-half page letter typical of...
and openly supported the successful science reform movement
Macquarie science reform movement
Macquarie science reform movement refers to the successfultransformation of the degree system at Macquarie University in 1979which followed an academic and political campaign initiated in 1977.Macquarie University, founded in 1964, adopted a degree structure...
of the late 1970s.
Achievements
- The scientific calculator with speech output for blind students. Aitchison's passion in his later years at Macquarie University was the development of the Speakwriter, a typewriter which enunciated the sounds of typewriter keys as they were pressed. An article written by Tony Healy in Computing Australia (1/9/86) quotes Tim Connell now working for Quantum Technology: “We saw Professor Aitchison on TV with his (talking) typewriter and realised we could do that.” Aitchison developed the talking typewriter originally to help a blind student complete a standard science course. His ideas can now be seen in many of the products available today made for people with vision impairment.
- The completion of the design, construction and commissioning of an orbiting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite for remote sensing.
- The development of solid-state pulse modulators for driving hydrogen thyratronThyratronA thyratron is a type of gas filled tube used as a high energy electrical switch and controlled rectifier. Triode, tetrode and pentode variations of the thyratron have been manufactured in the past, though most are of the triode design...
s and for replacing hydrogen thyratrons in pulsed lasers. As a result of his work in these fields and his forty years teaching experience, he was awarded the status of Emeritus Professor of Electronics.
Later years
He retired July 4, 1986. In the words of Professor Frederick Choong, (Foundation Professor of Mathematics, Macquarie University, 1966–1980): "No problem was too peculiar for him. We knew that he could call on the most sophisticated of electronic devices, but he might also improvise with matchsticks, chewing gum and string! I can say that Ron Aitchison was one of the most energetic, most knowledgeable, most practical, most intelligent and most interesting persons I have ever known, and even more importantly, he was a real friend with a heart of gold and a purity of spirit unsullied by self-seeking motives."Physics genealogy
- 1668, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."... - 1706, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Roger CotesRoger CotesRoger Cotes FRS was an English mathematician, known for working closely with Isaac Newton by proofreading the second edition of his famous book, the Principia, before publication. He also invented the quadrature formulas known as Newton–Cotes formulas and first introduced what is known today as... - 1715, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Robert SmithRobert Smith (mathematician)Robert Smith was an English mathematician and music theorist.-Life:Smith was probably born at Lea near Gainsborough, the son of the rector of Gate Burton, Lincolnshire... - 1723, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Walter TaylorWalter Taylor (mathematician)Walter Taylor was a Trinity College, Cambridge tutor who coached 83 students in the 1724–1743 period. He later was appointed as the Regius Professor of Greek.... - 1742, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Stephen WhissonStephen WhissonStephen Whisson was a tutor at Trinity College, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and coached 72 students in the 1744-1754 period.Wisson was from St Neots, Huntingdonshire and was the son of a publican... - 1756, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Thomas PostlethwaiteThomas PostlethwaiteThomas Postlethwaite was an English clergyman and Cambridge fellow, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge from 1789 to 1798.... - 1782, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Thomas JonesThomas Jones (mathematician)Thomas Jones was Head Tutor at Trinity College, Cambridge for twenty years and an outstanding teacher of mathematics. He is notable as a mentor of Adam Sedgwick.... - 1811, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Adam SedgwickAdam SedgwickAdam Sedgwick was one of the founders of modern geology. He proposed the Devonian period of the geological timescale... - 1830, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, William HopkinsWilliam HopkinsWilliam Hopkins FRS was an English mathematician and geologist. He is famous as a private tutor of aspiring undergraduate Cambridge mathematicians, earning him the sobriquet the senior-wrangler maker.... - 1857, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Edward John Routh - 1868, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, John William Strutt (Lord Rayleigh) - 1883, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, J. J. ThomsonJ. J. ThomsonSir Joseph John "J. J." Thomson, OM, FRS was a British physicist and Nobel laureate. He is credited for the discovery of the electron and of isotopes, and the invention of the mass spectrometer... - 1903, MA, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, John Sealy Edward TownsendJohn Sealy TownsendJohn Sealy Edward Townsend, FRS was a mathematical physicist who conducted various studies concerning the electrical conduction of gases and directly measured the electrical charge... - 1923, DPhil, University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, Victor Albert BaileyVictor Albert BaileyVictor Albert Bailey, 18 December 1895, Alexandria, Egypt - 7 December 1964, Geneva, Switzerland was a British-Australian physicist. He was the eldest of four surviving children of William Henry Bailey, a British Army engineer, and his wife Suzana, née Lazarus, an expatriate Romanian linguist.He... - 1948, MSc, University of SydneyUniversity of SydneyThe University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
, Ronald Ernest Aitchison
Publications of R.E. Aitchison
Aitchison's most cited paper, according to the ISI database, is his 1954 paper on transparent semiconducting films - which is still cited to this day. Also his 1964 paper in Am. J. Phys. is notable as it is still cited today and was the first calculation of the resistance between two points on an infinite 2D mesh.- R.E Aitchison, "The resistance mesh problem," J. Electrical & Electronics Engineering Australia, 2(2), pp. 65–67, 1982.
- T.J. Brown and R.E. Aitchison, "A microprocessor controller for a personal typewriter for visually handicapped users," IEEE Trans. Biomedical Engineering, 29(7), pp. 551–555, 1982.
- R.E. Aitchison, "The calendar," Phys. Educ., 17, pp. 186–189, 1982.
- R.E. Aitchison and T.J. Brown, "A talking typewriter for the visually handicapped," J. Electrical & Electronics Engineering Australia, 1(4), pp. 288–292, 1981.
- R.E. Aitchison, "VHF field strengths for line of sight reception," Proc. Inst. Radio & Electronics Engineers Australia, 36 (7), pp. 225–231, 1975.
- R.E. Aitchison and T.J. Brown, "A high impedance amplifier for biological research," Electronic Engineering, 48(575), p. 23, 1976.
- R.E. Aitchison, "Electronic world-wide navigation systems," Monitor, 37(12), pp. 346–353, 1976.
- R.E. Aitchison, ‘‘Resistance between adjacent points of Liebman mesh,’’ Am. J. Phys. 32(7), p. 566, 1964.
- R.E. Aitchison, "A high-capacitance parametric diode for use at low frequencies," IEEE Trans. MTT, 10(1), p. 91, 1962.
- R.E. Aitchison, "Suppressed zero d.c. volmeter," J. Sci. Instrum., 38, p. 329, 1961.
- R.E. Aitchison, "Transparent semiconducting oxide films," Australian J. Appl. Science, 5, pp. 10–17, 1954.
- R.E. Aitchison, "Small glass spray gun," J. Sci. Instrum., 26, p. 245, 1949.