Person
Coyle, Richard Alan (Dick) (1922 - 2014)
- Born
- 31 May 1922
New Zealand - Died
- 18 January 2014
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Physicist and X-ray diffractionist
Summary
Richard Coyle was internationally recognised X-ray diffractionist and widely regarded as the foremost Australian expert on residual stress assessments of engineering components, such as aircraft parts. He was known particularly for his expertise in equipment development, rather than buying analytical equipment off-the-shelf. After serving as a naval radar officer during WWII, in the post-war years he designed and built instruments, including X-ray diffraction equipment, for materials research and identification while at the CSIRO Division of Tribophysics and the Munitions Supply Laboratory, Maribyrnong. Following more than two years at the British National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, United Kingdom, Coyle joined the Aeronautical Research Laboratory, Fishermans Bend, Melbourne. His research as an Experimental Officer encompassed metal fatigue, fibre patching of metals, carbon-fibre technology, and car seatbelt design. He later moved to the Department of Physics at Monash university. Coyle was a founding member of the Australian X-Ray Analytical Association, the Australian Institute of Physics and the Society of Crystallographers in Australia.
Details
Chronology
- 1958
- Award - Florence Taylor Medal (Victoria), Australian Institute of Metals
- 1962
- Career position - Founding member, Australian Institute of Physics
- 1986
- Career position - Honorary Fellow, Department of Physics, Monash University
- 1986
- Life event - Retired from Monash University
- 1991
- Award - Florence Taylor Medal, Materials Australia (NSW) (formerly Australian Institute of Metals)
Related entries
Published resources
Newspaper Articles
- Coyle, Jackey and Coyle, Stephen, 'Physicist who loved family and fairness: Richard Coyle, physicist, 31-5-1922 - 18-1-2014', The Age (2014), 50, https://www.theage.com.au/national/physicist-who-loved-family-and-fairness-20140218-32yd4.html. Details
Resources
- 'Coyle, Richard Alan (19220531-20140118)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1772635. Details
Helen Cohn
Last modified: 4 July 2023