Sir Clifford Copland Paterson FRS (1879–1948) was an English scientist and

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He was educated at

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, Day school, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ...

, the

Finsbury Technical College The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has bee ...

, and

Faraday House Faraday House Electrical Engineering College was created to train engineers in power engineering, power generation and distribution. It was set up at a time before engineering was widely taught at universities, founded as an adjunct to a commerc ...

. He joined the newly established National Physical Laboratory in 1903, specialising in light and lighting. He was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1916 for his work on the Paterson-Walsh aircraft

height finder A height finder is a ground-based aircraft altitude measuring device. Early height finders were optical range finder devices combined with simple mechanical computers, while later systems migrated to radar devices. The unique vertical oscillating ...

. In January 1916

Hugo Hirst Hugo Hirst, 1st Baron Hirst (26 November 1863 – 22 January 1943), known as Sir Hugo Hirst, Bt, between 1925 and 1934, was a German-born British industrialist. Born near Munich, Hugo Hirsch became a naturalized British subject in 1883 and chang ...

, chairman and managing director of the

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

, approached him with a view to him setting up a research department for the company's Osram lightbulb manufacturing division. He accepted a further invitation following the end of World War I, this time to establish a research facility to serve the whole of GEC. The laboratories came into existence at the start of 1919, initially housed at the Osram Lamp and Valve Works at

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

. Planning for new purpose-built laboratories began almost immediately with a site being found at East Lane,

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

, and the new buildings came into use in 1922. Paterson would remain as director of the laboratories – later named the

Hirst Research Centre The Hirst Research Centre, also known as the GEC Hirst Research Centre or GEC Research Laboratories, was established in 1919 at Wembley, Middlesex, by the General Electric Company. History Formally opened in 1923, the site at East Lane, Wembley ...

– until his death in 1948. Paterson was the recipient of several honours, including an Honorary Doctorate in Science from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

in 1937, the

Faraday Medal The Faraday Medal is a top international medal awarded by the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) (previously called the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE)). As one of the world's most prestigious awards in engineering, it ...

in 1945, the

James Alfred Ewing Medal This is an award of the Institution of Civil Engineers in memory of James Alfred Ewing made by the Council on the joint nomination of the president and the President of the Royal Society. It is made to a person, whether a member of the Institution o ...

in 1946 and the Gold Medal of the

Illuminating Engineering Society of North America The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), is an industry-backed, not-for-profit, learned society that was founded in New York City on January 10, 1906. The IES's stated mission is "to improve the lighted environment by bringing together thos ...

in 1948; he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1942 and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1946. 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, re ...

Clifford Paterson Lecture and the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

Clifford Paterson Medal and Prize The Clifford Paterson Medal and Prize is awarded by the Institute of Physics. It was established in 1981 and named after Clifford Copland Paterson. The prize is awarded each year for exceptional early career contributions to the application of p ...

are named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Clifford Copland Fellows of the Royal Society General Electric Company People educated at Mill Hill School 1948 deaths 1879 births Scientists of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire