The British Iron and Steel Research Association or BISRA, formed in 1944, was the research arm of the British steel industry. It had headquarters in London, originally at 11 Park Lane, later moved to 24 Buckingham Gate, with Laboratories in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
on Hoyle Street,
Swansea,
Teesside
Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire.
Historically a hub for heavy manu ...
, and
Battersea
Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park.
History
Batte ...
.
The organization was created by
Sir Charles Goodeve, who remained its director until his retirement in 1969.
Roger Eddison was hired as a manager shortly after BISRA's founding. BISRA's research has been responsible for much of the
automation
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
of modern steelmaking. BISRA were pioneers of
digital computing
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...
in the steel industry.
BISRA was funded 15% by a grant from the government of
the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, and 85% by a cooperative of several steelmaking companies.
["Choosing the Operational Research Programme for B.I.S.R.A.", R. H. Collcutt, R. D. Reader OR, Vol. 18, No. 3 (September 1967), pp. 219-242]
See also
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British Steel (1967–1999)
British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated from the nationalised British Steel Corporation (BSC), formed in 1967, which was privatised as a public limited company, British Steel plc, in 1988. It was once a constituent of t ...
*
Steel
*
Steelmaking
Steelmaking is the process of producing steel from iron ore and carbon/or scrap. In steelmaking, impurities such as nitrogen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and excess carbon (the most important impurity) are removed from the sourced iron, and allo ...
*
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fi ...
References
External links
Sir Charles Goodeve Biography -- section on BISRA
1944 establishments in the United Kingdom
British research associations
Organisations based in Sheffield
Organisations based in the City of Westminster
Science and technology in South Yorkshire
Scientific organizations established in 1944
Steel industry of the United Kingdom
People from Little Horsted
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