Person

McDonald, Arthur Stephen (1891 - 1955)

Born
6 March 1891
Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia
Died
23 April 1955
Longueville, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Radio engineer

Summary

Arthur McDonald had no formal training in engineering, but went on to become Chief Engineer at AWA Ltd. (Amalgamated Wireless Australasia) - the company that took over most of the Commonwealth's radio activities in 1922. During his long tenure at AWA Ltd., McDonald helped establish Australia's broadcasting industry: he set up the construction of the first radio stations and helped establish the beam wireless service between Australia and Britain (1927) and the first commercial use of two-way radio telephone links to overseas. McDonald was a foundation member of the Institution of Radio Engineers, Australia, a Fellow and one-time Vice-President of the Institute of Radio Engineers, United States of America and Vice-President of the Radio & Telephone manufacturers Association.

Details

Chronology

c. 1907 - c. 1910
Career position - General mechanical engineering positions in Victoria
1910
Career position - Junior Instrument Setter in the engineering branch of the Postmaster-General's Department, Victoria
1911 - c. 1916
Career position - Erection Engineer for the Costal Radio Service
1916 - 1917
Career position - Assistant Engineer for Equipment with the Department of the Navy
1918 - 1920
Career position - Radio Engineer with the Department of the Navy
1920 - 1922
Career position - Returned to the Postmaster-General's Department
1922
Award - Fellow, Institute of Radio Engineers, USA
1922 - 1930
Career position - Radio Engineer with AWA Ltd. (Amalgamated Wireless Australasia)
1930 - 1945
Career position - Chief Engineer and Assistant General Manager at AWA Ltd.
1932 -
Career position - Foundation member of the Institution of Radio Engineers, Australia
1940
Award - Fellow, Institution of Radio Engineers, Australia
1943 - 1945
Career position - President, Institution of Radio Engineers, Australia
1945 - 1946
Career position - Assistant Manager of Engineering at AWA Ltd.
1946 -
Career position - Chief Engineer at the Overseas Telecommunications Commission
1949
Career position - Vice-President of the Institute of Radio Engineers, USA

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Book Sections

  • Goot, Murray, 'McDonald, Arthur Stephen (1891-1955), radio engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 10: 1891 - 1939 Lat-Ner, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986), p. 247. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100237b.htm. Details

Resources

McCarthy, G.J.

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