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I am writing this at the request of the Research Committee of the IEE. I am doing so because the committee are very anxious to interest members - particularly younger members working in the research and development fields - in proposals for a rather unusual meeting.
The interest of the IEE in research is traditional. It must also be contemporary. Electrical and electronic engineering are fields in which technical progress is very rapid, and research is the door through which we enter to the development and manufacturing achievements of tomorrow. But the days are long past when our Institution could meet the cost of particular research projects, and around 1926 we played a major part in the foundation of the Electrical Research Association - incidentally, the first of the co-operative research associations.
A problem
Now a
problem has come before the Research Committee. We have been asked to advise
concerning the fields in which it might be particularly useful to increase
research effort. It is not easy to spot these. Research programmes in Government
establishments are drafted to meet a pattern of military requirements. The major
companies in industry spend large sums of money on research in their own
laboratories. But the choice of what they do is decided by the commercial
judgment of the companies concerned. In the universities there is greater
freedom of choice, but the picture is one of relative concentration of work on
some popular subjects, with comparative neglect of others. Moreover, in many of
the fields in which Government, |
the
universities and industry are working, there has been much reviewing of the subject. Members of the
IEE have assisted in many cases in their personal capacities, contributing their knowledge and experience.
With so much previous turning over of the ground, is it likely that something will be discovered having as profound an effect on equipment design as the transistor? It would probably not be right for the IEE to make any ex cathedra statement on this subject, but an IEE meeting is probably a most useful forum in which one could expect to hear new ideas. Therefore the committee have planned a discussion which will be held at the Ordinary Meeting at Savoy Place on Thursday, 4th November. The subject for discussion will be 'The selection of topics for research in electrical and electronic engineering'.
Well known speakers
The meeting
will open with really brief introductions from four speakers representing
industry (heavy electrical engineering and electronics), the Government research
establishments and the universities; respectively Dr. L. Rotherham, Dr. E.
Eastwood, Sir Robert Cockburn and Prof. Sir Willis Jackson. All are well known,
all have graduated from research laboratories to the positions of eminence which
they now hold. They have been asked to 'trail their coats', and the brevity of
their introductory remarks will leave plenty of time for contributions from the
floor. The committee hope that these will come from many members, including
particularly the younger members. It is from these younger members that the
Research Committee expect the |
most
useful contributions. It is the younger generation, working at the frontiers of scientific knowledge, who are likely to spot openings where rapid progress is possible.
Exports
Just as our survival in war may depend inter alia on research and development in the right weapon fields, so the survival of our standards of living must depend on our ability to pay our way through exports. And the electrical and electronic equipment which forms an important part of our exports will stand a much chance if it is technically ahead of competition. Research has a vital part to play in putting it ahead. But nowadays most researches require teamwork and often call for the use of massive and expensive apparatus. Our national resources are limited, so that the choice of what we do becomes one of very great importance. The committee hope that, as a result of the views expressed on the 4th November, they will be better informed about The thinking of those members who are active in the field.
If the discussion meeting on the 4th November is a success, the Research Committee will consider promoting others, again with the purpose of helping them to ascertain the current views of members concerned with research. But, quite apart from its potential usefulness in improving communication between the committee and those in the front line of research, I think that the meeting will be well worth attending by virtue of its own intrinsic interest and importance.
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