Priddle, Raymond Arthur (1913 - 1971)

Summary

Raymond Priddle, BE FIEAust MASCE, was a partner and structural engineer with the consulting engineering firm Macdonald, Wagner and Priddle, and was directly concerned with the structural design of a wide range of projects in Australia and New Zealand. As a structural engineer, he worked on many large bridges and buildings, including assisting the overseas consultants for the Sydney Opera House. He was an excellent mathematician, and he designed the structures of the University of Sydney's Mills Cross radio-telescope / Molonglo Cross Telescope at Canberra; the CSIRO radio-telescope at Parkes; the University of Sydney's Stellar Intensity Interferometer at Narrabri; and at the time of his death was working on the design of the Anglo-Australian Telescope, optical-telescope, at Siding Spring Observatory, near Coonabarabran. In 1968, he visited a number of the world's largest telescopes and made several alternative designs and models of polar-axis struts.

Priddle took a leading role in the profession for more than a quarter of a century - as a committee-man and chairman of the Sydney Division of the Institution of Engineers Australia; as National Councillor, President and Treasurer of the Institution of Engineers Australia; and as a Councillor and President of the Association of Consulting Engineers, Australia. He was a Fellow of the Senate of the University of Sydney; a member of the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC); and was on many committees of the Standards Association of Australia.

His distinguished career and contributions to engineering were recognised when he was awarded the R. W. Chapman Medal in 1963, and posthumously was awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal in 1971.

Details

Associated major projects:
* 1960 Mills Cross Radio Telescope / Molonglo Cross Telescope, at Canberra;
* 1961 CSIRO Radio Telescope, at Parkes;
* 1963 Stellar Intensity Interferometer, at Narrabri;
* c1962 - c1968 Sydney Opera House;
* c1968 - 1971 Anglo-Australian Telescope, at Siding Spring Observatory, near Coonabarabran.

Chronology

1933

Career event - Student Member (StudIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1934

Education - Bachelor of Engineering (BE(Civil)(hons)), University of Sydney

1934

Award - University Medal in civil engineering, University of Sydney

1935 - c. 1936

Career position - Assistant engineer, Department of Main Roads [Yass-Canberra region]

c. 1936 - c. 1937

Career position - Engineer, Building Surveyors Branch, Sydney City Council

c. 1938 - 1944

Career position - Engineer, A. S. Macdonald and Wagner, Consulting Engineers

1939

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

1944 - 1971

Career position - Partner, A. S. Macdonald and Wagner, Consulting Engineers [from c1948 renamed Macdonald, Wagner and Priddle]

1946 - c. 1958

Career position - Chairman Civil Engineering Branch, and Committee member, Sydney Division, Institution of Engineers Australia

1951

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

1954 - 1971

Career position - National Councillor, Institution of Engineers Australia

1958

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

1958 - 1961

Career position - Representative of the Institution of Engineers Australia, on the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC)

1961 - 1962

Career position - Vice President, Institution of Engineers Australia

1963

Career position - President, Institution of Engineers Australia

1963

Award - R W Chapman Medal, Institution of Engineers Australia [for paper "Load distribution in piled bents"]

1965 - 1971

Career position - Honorary Treasurer, Institution of Engineers Australia

1968

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

1969 - 1971

Career position - Fellow of the Senate, University of Sydney

1971

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

1971

Career position - Chairman, Macdonald, Wagner and Priddle

Related entries

Published resources

Book Sections

• Cowan, Henry J., 'Priddle, Raymond Arthur (1913 - 1971), consulting engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 16: 1940 - 1980 Pik-Z, John Ritchie and Diane Langmore, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002), pp. 33-34, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/priddle-raymond-arthur-11459. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Obituary: Raymond Arthur Priddle', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia (1971), 23. Details
• 'Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal: 1971 Award [posthumously to the late Mr R A Priddle]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 43 (12) (1971), 15. Details
• Priddle, R. A., 'Eccentrically loaded concrete columns', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 15 (1943), 247-. Details
• Priddle, R. A., 'Load distribution in piled bents (and Discussion)', Civil Engineering Transactions, 5 (1963), 43-. Details
• Priddle, R. A., 'History and development of Australia's national capital. (Presidential Address)', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 36 (3) (1964), 41-46. Details

Newspaper Articles

• 'President's part. Engineer helped build Capital', Canberra Times (1964), 15, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104278394. Details

See also

• 'Institution News and Notes - Prizes [1963: Warren Memorial Prize; R. W. Chapman Medal; Electrical Engineering Prize; Mechanical Engineering Prize; Chemical Engineering Prize; The Institution Awards]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 36 (1964), N82-N83. 'R. W. Chapman Medal (1963) - to Mr R A Priddle, BE MIEAust, for paper "Load Distribution in Piled Bents", Civil Engineering Transactions, Sep 1963'. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia, Forty-fifth Annual Report [1964] (1965), 14 pp. 'Prizes - R. W. Chapman Medal (1963 Award), to Mr R A Priddle, BE MIEAust, for his paper entitled "Load Distribution in Piled Bents"', p.3. Details