Alec David Young (15 August 1913 – 27 January 2005) was a British

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

. Alec Young was the son of refugees from Russia who raised him in Stepney, London. He attended

Central Foundation Boys' School ''(By hope, by work, by faith)'' , established = 1865 , closed = , type = Voluntary aided school , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = , ...

for his secondary education. He first noticed his future wife Dora Caplan when they were both studying at a public library. In December 1931 he sat for examination at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and was successful at winning an

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Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

. In order to achieve matriculation in one of the classical languages, a condition of entry at the time, he was obliged to make an intense study of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

over a 6 month period and was duly awarded a School Certificate in the subject in June 1932. Beyond his studies at Cambridge, Alec played tennis, swam, was cox of a rowing eight, and courted Dora. After graduation he continued study with

Melvill Jones Sir Bennett Melvill Jones, (28 January 1887 – 31 October 1975) was Francis Mond Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Cambridge from 1919 to 1952. He demonstrated the importance of streamlining in aircraft design. It had b ...

who had written "The Streamline Aeroplane" for the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows ...

in 1929. Their study aimed to reduce

parasitic drag Parasitic drag, also known as profile drag, is a type of aerodynamic drag that acts on any object when the object is moving through a fluid. Parasitic drag is a combination of form drag and skin friction drag. It affects all objects regardless of ...

of an aircraft. Alec published his findings with the

Aeronautical Research Council The Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (ACA) was a UK agency founded on 30 April 1909, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. In 1919 it was renamed the Aeronautical Research Committee, later becoming the Aeronautical ...

. In 1936 he went to the Aerodynamics Department of the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), before finally losing its identity in me ...

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. There he became a member of the

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and was able to marry his sweetheart Dora. They were to have two sons, Robert and Jonathan. Minimization of drag was his focus, even measuring drag of rivet heads, lap joints, gaps and paint. He was able to give corrective instructions for the

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and some trainers. In 1942 he began to work with wind tunnels and William Hawthorne in development of

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

s. The work sought to determine high-speed flow characteristics in inlets, curved and straight ducts, and diffusers. He also worked with Sydney Goldstein of the National Physical Laboratory to extend the Prandtl-Glauert transformation from two to three dimensions. In July 1946 Alec became Senior Lecturer at the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield. One of Alec's collaborations there was with

Abraham Robinson Abraham Robinson (born Robinsohn; October 6, 1918 – April 11, 1974) was a mathematician who is most widely known for development of nonstandard analysis, a mathematically rigorous system whereby infinitesimal and infinite numbers were reincorp ...

on 3D flows approaching the

speed of sound The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. At , the speed of sound in air is about , or one kilometre in or one mile in . It depends strongly on temperature as ...

. Another project attempted

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of jet engines by modification of the efflux nozzle to improve mixing with external flow. He was awarded a

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and collected some royalties. Daughter Judith arrived in 1949, and the following year Alec became

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

at Cranfield. In 1951 he was elected Fellow of the

. In 1954 he became Professor of Aeronautical Engineering, Queen Mary College, University of London. In 1962 he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Engineering. A bachelor's degree in

avionics Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fitt ...

was pioneered in collaboration with

Marconi Electronic Systems Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of General Electric Company (GEC). It was demerged from GEC and bought by British Aerospace (BAe) on 30 November 1999 to form BAE Systems. GEC then ren ...

. In 1966 he became Vice-Principal at the College. His research following up the causes of the tragic Munich air crash of 1958, which resulted in the deaths of most of the Manchester United football team, was of great interest to the media, because in pinpointing the slush on the runway as the key factor, rather than the ice on the wings, the pilot of the aircraft was vindicated and the airport authorities were seen to be at fault in giving the go-ahead for take-off. Dora Young developed a brain tumor in 1968 and died in 1970. The following year daughter Judith married

Herman Waldmann Herman Waldmann FRS FMedSci (born 27 February 1945) is a British immunologist known for his work on therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. As of 2013, he is Emeritus Professor of Pathology at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at the Univers ...

. His mother, a widow, then married Alec the widower. He formally retired in 1978 but continued to be very active academically with some collaborations on the research front, with consultancy both in the UK and abroad, guest lectures and the authorship of articles and several books. He was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1964, and elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

in 1973. He was awarded the

Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring The Ludwig Prandtl Ring is the highest award of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics), awarded "for outstanding contribution in the field of aerospace engineering". The award is named ...

from the

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics (DGLR; german: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V.) is a German aerospace society. It was founded in 1912 under the name of ''Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für ...

(German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics) for "outstanding contribution in the field of aerospace engineering" in 1976. He is buried in the Jewish Section of Cambridge City Cemetery.

Selected publications

* 1952: ''Principles of the Control and Stability of Aircraft'',

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* 1953: Chapter "Boundary layers" in Howarth: ''Modern developments in fluid dynamics: high speed flow'',

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

* 1960: (with W. J. Duncan & A. S. Thom) ''The Mechanics of Fluids'', Edward Arnold * 1970: (with M. Zamir) "Experimental investigation of the boundary layer in a streamwise corner", ''Aeronautical Quarterly'' 21: 313–39,

* 1971: (with O. O. Mojola) "An experimental investigation of the turbulent boundary layer along a streamwise corner",

AGARD The Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) was an agency of NATO that existed from 1952 to 1996. AGARD was founded as an Agency of the NATO Military Committee. It was set up in May 1952 with headquarters in Neuilly sur Sei ...

CP 93. * 1979: (with M. Zamir) "Pressure gradient and leading edge effects on the corner boundary layer", ''Aeronautical Quarterly'' 30; 471–84. * 1984: ''The Aerodynamics of Controls'', AGARD CP 384 * 1989: ''Boundary Layers'',

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Alec David 1913 births 2005 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society British Jews Jewish scientists British aerospace engineers Engineering educators Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Academics of Queen Mary University of London Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring recipients Burials at the Cambridge City Cemetery