Burstall, Aubrey Frederic (1902 - 1984)

Summary

Aubrey Burstall, DSc PhD MSc FIMechE MIEAust, was Professor of Engineering at the University of Melbourne from 1937 to 1946, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) by the University in 1937.

During the infantile poliomyelitis epidemic of 1937-1938, he developed locally made mechanical respirators, and a new type of "jacket" respirator that successfully helped treat the condition. His earlier experiments and expertise on the use of various fuels in internal combustion engines, helped the development of gas producers for motor vehicles in Australia, and helped him champion the development of the new Engineering workshops at the University.

During the Second World War, he was involved in the design and production of tanks in Australia, and was seconded to England to design armaments for the British Ministry of Supply.

Before and after his post in Australia, Burstall worked in the UK where he was educated at the universities of Birmingham (MSc) and Cambridge (PhD). He invented and patented improvements relating to the fabrication of metallic structures, reducing the complexity of welds, by using spherical connectors. From 1946 to 1957 he was Professor at King's College / University of Newcastle upon Tyne. In retirement he wrote a number of books including "A history of mechanical engineering" (1963).

Details

Chronology

1922

Award - Bowen Research Scholar

1922

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham

1923

Education - Master of Science (MSc) in Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham [Thesis: "The rotary gas producer"]

1923 - 1925

Career position - Research Investigator, Engineering Department, University of Cambridge, UK

1925

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Cambridge

1926

Career event - Graduate, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London

1928 - 1934

Career position - Research Engineer then Works Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Deputy Chief Engineer, Imperial Chemical Industries (Billingham Works), UK

1930

Career event - Associate Member (AMIMechE), Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London

1932

Patent - Improvements in or relating to the fabrication of metallic structures [6133/1932]

1935

Career event - Member (MIMechE), Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London

1937

Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1937

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

1937 - 1943

Career position - Committee Member, Melbourne Division, Institution of Engineers Australia

1937 - 1946

Career position - Professor of Engineering, University of Melbourne

1941 - 1944

Career position - Commissioner, State Electricity Commission of Victoria

1943 - 1944

Career position - Designed armaments for British Ministry of Supply

1946 - c. 1954

Career position - Professor of Mechanical and Marine Engineering, King's College, Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK

1955 - 1957

Career position - Dean of Faculty of Applied Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne

1958 -

Career position - Emeritus Professor (Mechanical Engineering), University of Newcastle upon Tyne

1959

Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, University of Ireland

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Burstal, Aubrey F., Simple working models of historic machines; easily made by the reader (London: Edward Arnold, 1968), 79 pp, https://archive.org/details/simpleworkingmod00burs. Details
• Burstall, Audrey F., A history of mechanical engineering (London: Faber and Faber, 1963), 456 pp. Details

Edited Books

• Alexander, Joseph A. ed., Who's who in Australia 1950 (Melbourne: Colorgravure Publications, 1950). Burstall, Aubrey Frederic, BSc MSc Phd DSc MIMechE. Pages 131-132. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Producer gas operated vehicles', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 12 (3) (1940), 110-v. Details
• Burstall, A., 'Gas-operated vehicles', Report of the twenty-fourth meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, Canberra meeting, January, 1939 (1939), 193. Details
• Burstall, A. E. (Crawford, E. J.), 'Research and engineering education (Discussions and communications)', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 10 (8) (1938), 307. Details
• Burstall, A. E. (Crawford, E. J.), 'Research and engineering education (Discussions and communications)', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 10 (7) (1938), 273-274. Details
• Burstall, A. E. (Sexton, C. W. N.; Mathieson, J.: Loder, L. F.; Kelso, A. E.; Robertson, W. A.; Darwin, D. V.), 'Research and engineering education (Discussions and communications)', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 9 (12) (1937), 479-483. Details
• Burstall, A. F., 'Experiments on the power and efficiency of the high-speed gas engine', Proceedings of the Institution of Automobile Engineers, 19 (1) (1924), 620-671, https://doi.org/10.1243/PIAE_PROC_1924_019_035_02. Details
• Burstall, A. F., 'Experiments on the combustion of carbon-monoxide-air mixtures in a high-speed engine', Proceedings of the Institution of Automobile Engineers, 21 (1) (1926), 627-658, https://doi.org/10.1243/PIAE_PROC_1926_021_037_02. Details
• Burstall, A. F., 'Experiments on the behaviour of various fuels in a high-speed internal combustion engine', Proceedings of the Institution of Automobile Engineers, 22 (1) (1927), 358-392, https://doi.org/10.1243/PIAE_PROC_1927_022_024_02. Details
• Burstall, Aubrey F., 'New type of "jacket" respirator for the treatment of poliomyelitis', British Medical Journal, 2 (Jul-Sep 1938) (1938), 611-612, https://www.bmj.com/content/2/4054/611.full.pdf. Details
• Burstall, Aubrey Frederic, 'Research and engineering education', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 9 (7) (1937), 275-279. Details
• Burstall, Aubrey Frederic, 'Test of British Emergency Producer fired with Australian charcoal', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 12 (11) (1940), 293-297. Details
• Burstall, Aubrey Frederic, 'Some selected textbooks for mechanical engineers', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 14 (10) (1942), 241-247. Details
• Burstall, Aubrey Frederic; Shaw, Mansergh, 'The new engineering workshops of the University of Melbourne', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 12 (4) (1940), 111-120. Details
• Kaye, A. E.; Burstall, Aubrey Frederic, 'Gas producers for motor vehicles. The cross-draught type. A study of charcoal gas production with dry air blast.', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 14 (4) (1942), 81-93. Details
• Trubuhovich, Ronald V., 'Notable Australian contributions to the management of ventilatory failure of acute poliomyelitis: with special reference to the Both respirator and Dr John A Forbes', Critical care and resuscitation, 8 (4) (2006), 383-93. Details

Resources

• 'Methods of Teaching Mechanical Engineering Subjects at British Universities, Vol 171, No.1, pp.463-468', Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1957, https://doi.org/10.1243/PIME_PROC_1957_171_041_02. Details
• IP Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, 'Appliaction: 6133/1932. Title: Improvements in or relating to the fabrication of metallic structures', Australian Patent search database, Commonwealth of Australia, 2015, https://ipsearch.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/1932006133. Details
• 'Burstall, Aubrey F (19020115-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-584649. Details
• 'Awarded honorary DSc, 1937', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details

Reviews

• Aubrey F. Burstall A history of mechanical engineering
  J. F. D. W., Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 38 (1-2), N21. Details

Theses

• Burstall, Aubrey F., 'The rotary gas producer', MSc thesis, University of Birmingham, 1923, 66 pp, https://birmingham.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/44BIR_INST/140jqhm/alma990032831850204871. Details
• Burstall, Aubrey F., 'Testing and indicating a two-stroke engine', MSc thesis, University of Birmingham, 1923, 67 pp. https://birmingham.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/44BIR_INST/140jqhm/alma990032831760204871. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, https://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_b.html. Details
• Corbett, A. H., 'The first hundred years of Australian engineering education, 1861-1961', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 33 (4-5) (1961), 147-160. Details
• Wisdom, John, A History of Defence Science in Australia (Melbourne: Defence Science and Technology Organisation, 1995), 267 pp. Details
• Woods, Macdonnell Watkyn, 'Producer gas vehicles', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 10 (3) (1938), 89-96. Details