William Ewart John Farvis (12 December 1911 – 12 October 2005) was a pioneering

electronics engineer Electronic engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering that emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current flow ...

and educator. His war-time service was in

electronic countermeasure An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting info ...

s. In his subsequent career at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

he initiated the Department of Electrical Engineering, establishing its capabilities in silicon device processing and enhancing industrial interactions through

Wolfson Microelectronics Wolfson Microelectronics plc was a microelectronics and fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. It specialised in signal processing and mixed-signal integrated circuit, mixed-signal Integrated circuit, chips for the ...

Education

Ewart Farvis was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and schooled there. He then studied at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, graduating BSc (Eng) in 1936 with First Class Honours in

Electrical Engineering 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 ...

Career

In 1937, he was appointed Lecturer in

University College, Swansea Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

until called away to war service in the scientific

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

. Here he first extended the chain-home radars to detect low flying targets. He subsequently met with Churchill's scientific adviser,

R V Jones ''R v Jones'', 9862 S.C.R. 284 is an early leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on the freedom of religion under section 2(a) of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' and the right to security of person under section 7. Backgrou ...

, and assisted in detecting the signals from the enemy navigator aids used to direct bombers on to target. Farvis led the interception group, with

Martin Ryle Sir Martin Ryle (27 September 1918 – 14 October 1984) was an English radio astronomer who developed revolutionary radio telescope systems (see e.g. aperture synthesis) and used them for accurate location and imaging of weak radio sourc ...

in charge of the associated radio jamming group, all coordinated by Robert Cockburn. One of Farvis’ major wartime achievements was to counteract a sophisticated new

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

navigation aid, "Benito", with Alex Harley Reeves, the later inventor of pulse code modulation telephony. Farvis went to London with the new radio jammer and, on listening to the German bombers’ radio telephone traffic, he noted that they suspected equipment malfunction, rather than intentional jamming. After the war, Farvis debriefed these German equipment designers. Academic appointments at the

followed in 1948 as a lecturer in Applied Electricity. Here his research focussed on the then fashionable topic of gaseous electronics. He was closely associated in

ionospheric The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...

research with

Edward Appleton Sir Edward Victor Appleton (6 September 1892 – 21 April 1965) was an English atmospheric physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1947 "for his investigations of the physics of the upper atmosphere especially for the discovery o ...

when he was University Principal. In 1961, Farvis became the first Professor and Head of the new Department of Electrical Engineering. Following this, his interests moved into the rapidly expanding field of

solid-state electronics Solid-state electronics are semiconductor electronics: electronic equipment that use semiconductor devices such as transistors, diodes and integrated circuits (ICs). The term is also used as an adjective for devices in which semiconductor elec ...

. In 1964, he took the bold move to construct a centre for solid-state devices and

materials science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...

research at Edinburgh and constructed the first university cleanrooms for silicon semiconductor device fabrication. he was an early pioneer in identifying the significance of semiconductor transistors for application in future electronic systems. In 1969, Farvis set up of the Wolfson Microelectronics Liaison Unit (WMLU), coinciding with the first appointment of part-time paid visiting Professors in a UK university. WMLU later expanded into an independent company,

, under Professor David Milne before being acquired by

Cirrus Logic Cirrus Logic Inc. is an American fabless semiconductor company, fabless semiconductor supplier that specializes in analog, mixed-signal, and audio Digital signal processor, DSP integrated circuits (ICs). Since 1998, the company's headquarters have ...

. Many of his post-war innovations in the undergraduate curriculum were tried out at Edinburgh before catching on elsewhere, including: open book examinations, individual experimental project work, and in-depth dissertation writing. He was innovative in moving the final honours’ examinations from June to January, to improve the student focus on project work. He retired in 1977 after 29 years of university service.

Committee activities

Ewart Farvis had a record of service in national policy-forming via: the Electrical Industries' Training Board, the

Science Research Council The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) and its predecessor the Science Research Council (SRC) were the United Kingdom, UK agencies in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities, including astronomy, biote ...

and the

Institution of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and information technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Tel ...

. Farvis served on numerous committees: the

Council of Engineering Institutions A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

Board of Moderators;

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

International Working Group on Continuing Education; and as President of the Education & Training Committee of the Fédération Européenne d‘Associations Nationales d’Ingénieurs

FEANI Engineers Europe (stylized as ENGINEERS EUROPE), formally FEANI (Fédération Européenne d'Associations Nationales d'Ingénieurs / European Federation of National Engineering Associations) prior to 01 January 2023, is a federation of national pro ...

from 1974- 1977.

Honours and Awards

He was elected to Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1958 and was appointed

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 1972 and

CBE 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 1978.The London Gazette, 30 December 1977, Supplement 47418, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/47418/supplement/1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farvis, Ewart 20th-century Scottish engineers Academics of the University of Edinburgh 1911 births 2005 deaths