Brown, William Piper (Bill) (1914 - 2004)

Summary

Bill Brown, AM FTSE BE DEng HonFIEAust, civil engineer, was a pioneer in the design and mass-production of precast prestressed concrete structures in Australia. In particular he took a lead role in its use in Victoria for bridge decks for the Country Roads Board and the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, and for precast single and multi-storey buildings for the Housing Commission of Victoria.

He also made a major contribution to education, business and local government - through his long time involvement and strong support for industry-based learning with Swinburne Technical College / Swinburne University of Technology; with W P Brown and Associates, the Concrete Institute, the Institution of Engineers Australia, and the Institute of Arbitrators; and as a Councillor and Mayor of Hawthorn City Council.

His distinguished contributions to engineering were acknowledged when he became the first Australian to be awarded the Federation lnternationale de la Precontrainte Medal in 1976; when he was awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal in 1981; appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1982; awarded an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia in 1985; and honoured as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 1988.

The W P Brown Medal, was established in his honour by the Institution of Engineers Australia, and was presented annually to the best final-year engineering student at Swinburne University of Technology. The Dr William Piper Brown PhD scholarship at Swinburne also perpetuates his memory.

Details

Associated Major Projects:

* 1950: William Anglis abattoir, Footscray. EPM Concrete mass-produced thousands of pretensioned concrete I-beams, floor panels - the first large scale use of prestressed concrete in Australia;
* 1953: High Strength Concrete Pty Ltd. Manufactured bridge planks for the Country Roads Board (CRB), the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (SRWSC), and a variety of single and double T standardised building components;
* 1953: Engaged by Housing Commission Victoria, to design and commission a plant to manufacture pretensioned concrete components;
* 1953: Engaged by the SRWC to design their Tatura plant to produce component short-span prestressed concrete Bridge decks;
* c1956 Designed components, plant, factory, handling and erection for pre-stressed multi-storey domestic buildings for the Housing Commission Victoria. [With Prof Arthur Francis].

Associated Major Papers:
* 1968: "The use of lightweight concrete in the Melbourne area, particularly in high-rise precast residential construction". Proceedings of the First International Congress on Lightweight Concrete, London, May 1968

Chronology

1921

Life event - Migrated to Australia with his parents

1930s

Education - Footscray Technical School

1930s

Career position - Apprentice, Edward Campbell and Sons [Structural steel fabrication]

1930s

Career position - Apprentice, Charles Ruwolts

1938

Education - Diploma of Civil engineering (DipCE), Swinburne Technical College

1941 - 1945

Military service - Civilian engineer, seconded to the Navy [To work on the design and installation of antisubmarine defences, including the 5km submarine boom in Darwin Harbour]

1943

Career event - Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

c. 1945 - c. 1951

Career position - Engineer, Commonwealth Experimental Building Station, North Ryde

c. 1946

Career event - Associate Member (AssocMInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London

1946 - 1950

Career position - Building Research Establishment, UK [studying European approaches to post-war rebuilding]

1950

Life event - Returned to Australia

1950 - c. 1953

Career position - Chief engineer, EPM Concrete [Designing mass-produced pretensioned concrete I-beams, floor panels - the first large scale application in Australia.]

1953 -

Career position - Established High Strength Concrete Pty Ltd [For over a decade made bridge planks for the Country Roads Board (CRB), the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (SRWSC), and a variety of single and double T standardised building components]

1953 -

Career position - Established W P Brown and Associates, consulting engineers [Designing pre-stressed concrete components, plant, factories, handing and erection mechanisms]

1961 - 1973

Career position - Councillor, City of Hawthorn

1962

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

1962 - 1983

Career position - Councillor, Swinburne Technology College / Swinburne Institute of Technology

1968

Career event - Fellow (FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia [Former Members were designated Fellows on this date.]

1968 - 1969

Career position - Mayor, City of Hawthorn

1968 - 1983

Career position - Building Regulations Committee, Victoria

1970

Career position - Chairman, Victoria Division, Institution of Engineers Australia

1976

Award - Federation lnternationale de la Precontrainte (FIP) Medal

1976

Career position - First president, Concrete Institute of Australia

c. 1977

Career position - Arbitrator in civil engineering contract dispute resolution

1977 - 1978

Career position - President, Victoria Chapter, Institute of Arbitrators

1977 - 1979

Career position - President, Victorian Council of the Professions

1979 - c. 1982

Career position - Federal Councillor, Institute of Arbitrators

1981

Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia

1981

Award - Bachelor of Engineering (BE), honoris causa, Swinburne Institute of Technology

1982

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) - in recognition of service to engineering

c. 1983

Life event - Retired

1984

Award - Life Governor, Swinburne University of Technology

1985

Award - Honorary Fellow (HonFIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia - for outstanding achievements in engineering, long service to the engineering profession and service to the community in education, local government building regulations and arbitration

1988 - 2004

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)

1998

Award - Doctor of Engineering (DEng), honoris causa, Swinburne University of Technology [for distinguished service to the university and eminence in the field of engineering]

2004

Life event - Cremated, Springvale Crematorium

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Bock, Geoff, The End was to Build Well: a Half-century of Australian Government Building Research (North Ryde, New South Wales: CSIRO, Division of Building, Construction and Engineering, 1995). Brown, W. P. p.31. Details

Conference Papers

• Brown, W. P., 'The use of lightweight concrete in the Melbourne area, particularly in high-rise precast residential construction', in Proceedings of the First International Congress on Lightweight Concrete edited by Brooks, Anthony E. (London: Cement and Concrete Association, 1968), pp. 137-145.. Details

Edited Books

• Lewis, Miles ed., Two hundred years of concrete in Australia (North Sydney: Concrete Institute of Australia, 1988), 137 pp. See pp. 107, 116, 129. Details

Journal Articles

• 'First prestressed concrete floors in Australia : Important Victorian contract', Building, lighting and engineering (1953), 48, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-302281484/view?sectionId=nla.obj-313709196&partId=nla.obj-302874134. Details
• 'The IEAust's top award, the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal, has gone this year to a leading Melbourne engineer, W. P. Brown [1981 Award]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 53 (22) (1981), 33. Details
• 'IEAust elects five new Honorary Fellows', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 57 (19) (1985), 14. Details
• Brown, W. P., 'The use of mechanical equipment on small house building sites in Great Britain', Building and Engineering (1950), 42-6, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-299486492/view?sectionId=nla.obj-311698554&partId=nla.obj-299516043. Details
• Brown, W. P., 'Recent tests on prestressed concrete beams', Commonwealth Engineer, 41 (3) (1953), 87-8. Details
• Brown, W. P., 'Some structural aspects of the Tullamarine Airport terminal building', Australian Prestressed Concrete Group (1968), 7. Details
• Longworth, Roy, 'A lifetime of commitment Dr William (Bill) Brown AM 1914 - 2004', Swinburne News (2005), 17. Details
• Taylor, D., 'Obituary: Bill Brown - concrete pioneer and consultant', Engineers Australia, 77 (2) (2005), 68. Details

Reports

• Brown, W. P., A general introduction to building research and development in Great Britain and Australia [Building research review lecture: no. 1] (Melbourne: Department of Works and Housing, 1950), 16 pp. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia, Annual Report 1981 [Sixty-second Annual Report] (1982), 16 pp. 'Institution Awards - Council awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal for 1981 to Mr W P Brown, FIEAust', p.11. Details

Resources

• Stevens, L. K., Obituary: Brown, William Piper [1914 - 2004], Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 2005, https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20091027223546/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/30565/20091028-0001/www.atse.org.au/indexae02.html. Details

See also

• Grojic, Slobodan, 'Obituary: Stephen John Pinter 1941-2009', Engineers Australia, 81 (10) (2009), 71, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.841800393663750. Pinter was an associate of W P Brown and Associates. Details