Person
Lawson, Robert (1880 - 1949)
OBE
- Born
- 29 February 1880
Liverpool, Lancashire, England - Died
- 5 August 1949
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Electrical engineer
Summary
Robert Lawson, OBE MIEAust, was the Chief Engineer, Postmaster-General's Department, Commonwealth of Australia, from 1936 until 1945. For more than twenty years before that, he held senior engineering positions within the Department in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.
From 1940 for the duration of the War, Lawson was appointed to the Air Board as Fifth Member in the capacity of Director-General of Production and Supply, and to the Aircraft Production Commission. From 1942 to 1944 he was Staff Business Manager, Royal Australian Air Force, and in 1944 was appointed Technical Assistant to the Chief of Air Staff.
He also took a prominent part in the activities of the Standards Association of Australia, as a member of the Council, as Chairman of the Committee on X-Ray-Equipment, and as Chairman of the Victorian Committee on Quality Control. He was also active within the Institution of Engineers Australia, as a foundation member in 1919, as Chairman of the Melbourne Division 1922, as Chairman of the Sydney Division 1930, and was a member of its Council for many years.
His distinguished service to engineering was recognised when he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil Division) in 1939, and when he was awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal in 1948.
Details
Chronology
- 1890s
- Education - The Institute, Liverpool
- c. 1896
- Education - Polytechnic, London
- 1900s
- Education - London University
- 1904 - 1914
- Career position - Engineering Department, British Post Office, Manchester and London, England
- 1908
- Career event - Published paper 'Wireless Telephony' Institute of Post Office Electrical Engineers, England
- 1910
- Career event - Published paper 'Automatic Telephony' Institute of Post Office Electrical Engineers, England
- 1914
- Life event - Migrated to Victoria, to take up a position with the Postmaster-General's Department
- 1914 - 1916
- Career position - Engineer, Chief Electrical Engineer's Office, G.P.O., Melbourne, Postmaster-General's Department
- 1916 - 1918
- Career position - State Engineer (later Chief Electrical Engineer), South Australia, Postmaster-General's Department
- 1918 - 1924
- Career position - State Engineer, Victoria, Postmaster-General's Department
- 1919
- Career event - Foundation Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1920
- Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1921 - 1922
- Career position - Member of Council, Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1922
- Career position - Chairman, Melbourne Division, Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1924 - 1933
- Career position - State Engineer (later Superintending Engineer), New South Wales, Postmaster-General's Department
- 1925
- Career position - Member of Council, Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1927 - 1933
- Career position - Member of Council, Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1930
- Career position - Chairman, Sydney Division, Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1930s
- Career position - Member of Council, Standards Association of Australia
- 1930s
- Career position - Chairman of the Committee on X-Ray-Equipment, Standards Association of Australia
- 1933 - 1936
- Career position - Deputy-Director of Posts and Telegraphs, Victoria, Postmaster-General's Department
- 1936 - 1945
- Career position - Chief Engineer, Postmaster-General's Department
- 1939
- Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) - Chief Engineer of the PMG Department
- 1940 - 1945
- Career position - Member representing the Air Board, Aircraft Production Commission
- 1940 - 1945
- Career position - Fifth Member of the Air Board, Director-General of Production and Supply
- 1940s
- Career position - Chairman of the Victorian Committee on Quality Control, Standards Association of Australia
- 1942 - 1944
- Career position - Staff Business Manager, Royal Australian Air Force
- 1944 - 1945
- Career position - Technical Assistant to the Chief of Air Staff
- 1945
- Life event - Retired
- 1946 - 1949
- Career position - Board of Business Administration, Department of Treasury, Commonwealth of Australia
- 1948
- Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1949
- Life event - Cremated, Springvale Crematorium
Related entries
Published resources
Journal Articles
- 'Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal: 1948 Award [Robert Lawson, OBE MIEAust]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 20 (1948), 194. Details
- 'Obituary [Robert Lawson OBE MIEAust]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 21 (1949), 139. Details
- Institution of Engineers Australia, 'Twenty-ninth Annual Report [1948]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 21 (1949), 10-23. 'Prizes - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal (1948 Award), to Mr Robert Lawson, OBE MIEAust, Melbourne Division', p.12. Details
- Lawson, R, 'Recent Developments in Post Office Engineering', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1 (1929), 345-. Details
- Lawson, R., 'Automatic Telephone Exchange, Collingwood, Victoria', Commonwealth Engineer, 9 (8) (1922), 258-261. Details
- Lawson, R., 'A Modern Broadcasting Station (Chairman's Address, Sydney)', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 3 (1931), 176-. Details
- Lawson, R., 'Sydney-Newcastle-Maitland Telephone and Telegraph Cable', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 11 (1939), 301-. Details
See also
- Alexander, John A. ed., Who's who in Australia 1944 (Melbourne, Victoria: The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, 1944), 906 pp. Details
- Langevad, Bob, 'Chapter 12: Telecommunications' in Sydney: from settlement to city: an engineering history of Sydney, Don Fraser, ed. (Crows Nest, New South Wales: Engineers Australia, 1989), pp. 241-256. Details
Ken McInnes
Created: 31 August 2023, Last modified: 13 September 2023