Jeff Collins (22 April 1930 – 23 September 2015) was a British
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 ...
who directed and researched experimental physics, robotics, microelectronics, communications technologies and
parallel computing
Parallel computing is a type of computing, computation in which many calculations or Process (computing), processes are carried out simultaneously. Large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which can then be solved at the same time. ...
.
Moving between academia, commercial and military research throughout his diverse career, he proved to be an enthusiastic leader demonstrated in his numerous directorships, successful fund-raising and his recreational interests of sports.
Institutions he worked for included Automation & Robotics Research Institute at the
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...
,
Rockwell International
Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avioni ...
,
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 ...
,
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
,
GEC,
Ferranti
Ferranti International PLC or simply Ferranti was a UK-based electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century, from 1885 until its bankruptcy in 1993. At its peak, Ferranti was a significant player in power grid system ...
,
Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory
The Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory (HEPL) is a facility at Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, Californ ...
at
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
,
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 ...
Institute, Advent Technology Venture Capital Group,
Artemis Intelligent Power Artemis Intelligent Power (AIP) is an engineering and R&D company based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It primarily manufactures hydraulic machines and transmissions that are based on high-speed solenoid valves and digital control technology. The company ...
,
Lothian Regional Council
Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...
and
Edinburgh Napier University
Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...
.
He contributed to many academic papers, such as Surface Wave Transducers and Microwave magnetostatics
In the 1970s and 80s working for
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 secured funding for
Surface acoustic wave
A surface acoustic wave (SAW) is an acoustic wave traveling along the surface of a material exhibiting elastic (solid mechanics), elasticity, with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the material, such that they are c ...
devices research and then used them in a
Skynet (satellite)
Skynet is a family of military communications satellites, now operated by Babcock International on behalf of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MOD). They provide strategic and tactical communication services to the branches of the Brit ...
receiver which achieved faster synchronisation.
Education
Jeffrey Hamilton Collins was born in
Luton
Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census.
Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
, England on 22 April 1930 and was educated at the
Royal Grammar School in
Guildford
Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
, Surrey. He received a
BSc in Physics, an
MSc in Mathematics and later a
DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to:
Education
* Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
* District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India
* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
Educational institutions
* Dyal Sin ...
all from the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
. Collins was further awarded an honorary DEng by
Edinburgh Napier University
Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...
in 1997.
Career
He started his technical career in the 1940s as a technician in the Department of Physics at
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the Kin ...
Medical School. From 1951 to 1956 he gained experience in
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300&n ...
tubes and ferrite parametric amplifiers during employment at
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 ...
, Wembley and at
Ferranti
Ferranti International PLC or simply Ferranti was a UK-based electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century, from 1885 until its bankruptcy in 1993. At its peak, Ferranti was a significant player in power grid system ...
, Edinburgh. From 1957 to 1966 he was a lecturer 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 ...
at the
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
under John Lamb, teaching and researching in
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300&n ...
devices. He then took up appointment as a research engineer at the
Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory
The Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory (HEPL) is a facility at Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, Californ ...
,
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. Here he was introduced to
signal processing
Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, Scalar potential, potential fields, Seismic tomograph ...
capabilities of
surface acoustic wave
A surface acoustic wave (SAW) is an acoustic wave traveling along the surface of a material exhibiting elastic (solid mechanics), elasticity, with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the material, such that they are c ...
devices, magnetic garnet delay lines for correlation and
pulse compression
Pulse compression is a signal processing technique commonly used by radar, sonar and Ultrasound, echography to either increase the range angular resolution, resolution when pulse length is constrained or increase the Signal-to-noise ratio, signal ...
applications. In addition to his technical collaborations with Gordon Kino, Bert Auld, Hank (WR) Smith and John Shaw (HEPL Stanford), he had industrial collaborations with Tom Bristol (
Hughes Aircraft
The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace company, aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of the Hughes Tool Company. The company produced the Hughes ...
), Tom Reeder (
United Technologies
United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational corporation, multinational list of conglomerates, conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous are ...
), Leland Solie (
Sperry Corporation
Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the 20th century. Sperry ceased to exist in 1986 following a prolonged hostile takeover bid engineered by Burroughs ...
) etc. and subsequently he served as Director of Physical Sciences at
Rockwell International
Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avioni ...
.
Collins was an innovator in 1969 when he, with
Ted Paige and Dennis Maines from
RSRE persuaded the
IEE Electronics Division to underwrite the first International Specialist Seminar on
surface acoustic wave
A surface acoustic wave (SAW) is an acoustic wave traveling along the surface of a material exhibiting elastic (solid mechanics), elasticity, with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the material, such that they are c ...
devices held in
Aviemore
Aviemore (; ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popular for skiing and ...
, to expand interest in this new technology in the UK and beyond. Further events were held in 1973 (
IEE Conference Publication 109), with Collins as Joint Organiser with Tom Bristol and Tom Reeder, and repeated again in 1976 (IEE Conference Publication 144).
In 1970, Collins was recruited back to the UK to join 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 ...
to take up a SRC sponsored position as a research Professor, later converted to a personal chair in Industrial Electronics. He brought expertise in the emerging field of
surface acoustic wave
A surface acoustic wave (SAW) is an acoustic wave traveling along the surface of a material exhibiting elastic (solid mechanics), elasticity, with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the material, such that they are c ...
(SAW) and
magnetostatic
Magnetostatics is the study of magnetic fields in systems where the currents are steady (not changing with time). It is the magnetic analogue of electrostatics, where the charges are stationary. The magnetization need not be static; the equat ...
wave devices, securing significant financial support for the University. His research team comprised Douglas Adam, Barry Darby,
Peter Grant, John Hannah, Mervyn Jack, David Morgan, John Owens, etc. with Dennis Lambert leading the device fabrication on
Lithium niobate
Lithium niobate () is a synthetic salt consisting of niobium, lithium
Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperatur ...
and
Quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...
polished substrates. Following the Aviemore seminars SAW became a UK major
R&D activity at this time with companion investigations by
Charles Sandbank (
Standard Telecommunication Laboratories), Cyril Brown (
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 ...
), John Palfreeman (
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...
),
Ted Paige and Denis Maines (
RSRE Malvern) and
Eric Ash (
University College London
University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
).
In this era, before
digital signal processing
Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processing, such as by computers or more specialized digital signal processors, to perform a wide variety of signal processing operations. The digital signals processed in this manner are a ...
, these analogue devices offered a unique way to implement complex receiver designs. His University research team, under John Hannah and David Morgan, designed and delivered a prototype receiver
1for the UK
Skynet military communication system, which synchronised 100 times faster than the existing design. Much of this research was based on spectrum analysis
2for identifying or acquiring signals, with Collins publishing several papers in the early 1980s on
Electronic Support Measures
In military telecommunications, electronic support (ES) or electronic support measures (ESM) gather intelligence through passive "listening" to electromagnetic radiations of military interest. They are an aspect of electronic warfare involving ...
3
As Head of the Electrical Engineering Department from 1977 to 1984 Collins also served as the Chairman of the
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 ...
Institute (WMI), advising on technology transfer. WMI was floated in January 1985 as the private company,
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 ...
. The company's growth accelerated markedly with the move into
audio signal processing
Audio signal processing is a subfield of signal processing that is concerned with the electronic manipulation of audio signals. Audio signals are electronic representations of sound waves—longitudinal waves which travel through air, consisting ...
products with the turnover, in 1998, being £14 million. In 2014 it was 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 ...
for $500 million
4
Collins was noted within the University for his drive and enthusiasm. He helped grow the Department of Electrical Engineering (EE) academic staff from 10 to 25, re-structured student teaching programmes and set the path towards EE at Edinburgh achieving top category research status in the 1996 and 2001 national assessments
5, 16
The ultimate success of Collins' 1971 vision to establish
signal processing
Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, Scalar potential, potential fields, Seismic tomograph ...
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 ...
is still in evidence today
7 Further a 140-person joint research institute in signal and image processing
8 between the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University, is the largest
signal processing
Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, Scalar potential, potential fields, Seismic tomograph ...
research activity in the UK. In recognition of Collins many research and technical achievements Professor Michael Davies at Edinburgh now holds the "Jeffrey Collins Chair of Signal Processing"
9
Collins served from 1970 as technical director of Microwave and Electronic Systems (MESL)
0 where he expanded their commercial capabilities into SAW radar
pulse compression
Pulse compression is a signal processing technique commonly used by radar, sonar and Ultrasound, echography to either increase the range angular resolution, resolution when pulse length is constrained or increase the Signal-to-noise ratio, signal ...
filters for new
radar
Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
receiver designs. This success led to the company merging with
Racal Electronics in 1979 and achieving a 1989 Queen's Award for Technological Achievement
1
Collins was involved with Roger Marriott, through the company, Microwave Exhibition and Publishers, where they organised the first in a series of Technical Conference and Trade Exhibition, MICROWAVE 73, at
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
2 The associated Trade Exhibition was subsequently combined with the European Microwave Conference
3 Here Jeff honed his skills on document word optimisation with Harry Eustace at the conference's US magazine 'Microwave Systems News'
4
Collins served from 1979 on the Equipment Sub-committee of the
University Grants Committee. This nine person Sub-committee had responsibility for, the distribution of Equipment Funds to every UK University; and to assess whether or not Departments were "well found". In 1984 he joined the Computer Board who had executive authority for dispersing £30 million p.a. to Universities for maintaining and enhancing their computer resources for teaching, research and library search.
In 1987, Collins moved to the USA to take up a position as the founding director of the Automation and Robotics Research Institute at the
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...
. Here he developed this new institute securing the necessary funding from the
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
legislature, further demonstrating his technical and management skills.
In 1991 Collins returned to
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, where he joined
Lothian Regional Council
Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...
as a consultant on entrepreneurship in their Economic Development Division. He also chaired 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 ...
,
Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre
EPCC, formerly the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre, is a supercomputing centre based at the University of Edinburgh. Since its foundation in 1990, its stated mission has been to ''accelerate the effective exploitation of novel computing ...
which attracted the UK National Supercomputing Service in 1994, running today using the ARCHER,
Blue Gene
Blue Gene was an IBM project aimed at designing supercomputers that can reach operating speeds in the petaFLOPS (PFLOPS) range, with relatively low power consumption.
The project created three generations of supercomputers, Blue Gene/L, Blue ...
and HECTOR supercomputers.
Collins assisted
Napier University
Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...
in 1992, when his colleague
John Mavor was appointed principal, reorganising of their research and computing infrastructure. Collins then became Chair of the Napier Scottish Electronics Manufacturing Centre securing financial support from
Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise () is a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, Business, enterprise, innovation, international and investment agency, investment in business. The body covers the eastern ...
before it transformed into the Scottish Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Livingston.
Collins also encouraged and assisted
Stephen Salter
Professor Stephen Hugh Salter, (7 December 1938 – 23 February 2024) was a South African-born Scottish academic who was Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Edinburgh
and inventor of the eponymous Salter's duck wav ...
and Win Rampen to form the Edinburgh digital hydraulics spin-out company Artemis Intelligent Power, who secured the 2015
McRobert Award. Collins served here as an advisor until the company was sold to
Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...
in 2010.
Recognition
Collins achieved several distinctions: Fellow of the
IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines.
The IEEE ...
; Fellow of 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 ...
,
Chartered Engineer
Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thr ...
; Fellow of 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 ...
, where he served as chair of the Electronics Division Board with a local industrial featured chairman's address
5 He was elected in 1981 as a Fellow of the
Royal Academy of Engineering
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering.
The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...
and in 1983 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 ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Jeffrey
1930 births
2015 deaths
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
People educated at Royal Grammar School, Guildford
British electrical engineers