Ray Whitmore (1920–2008) was a British mining and metallurgical engineer and academic, who specialised in research into radar, mining and metallurgical engineering and mining heritage in England and Australia.
Early life and education
Raymond Leslie Whitmore was born in Luton, England on 13 September 1920. He attended Handsworth Boys Grammar School. After completing school he joined 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 ...
as a laboratory assistant in the Department of Mining. He completed a BSc in physics 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 ...
by external study, graduating in 1942. He was awarded the Sumpter Prize for Special Physics at the Central Technical College in 1941 which led to undertaking further study in the Department of Physics at the University of Birmingham. His field there was the emerging study of
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 ...
.
War service
Whitmore enlisted with the RAF in 1943 and was posted to the officers radio location training facilities at
Yatesbury
Yatesbury is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Cherhill, in Wiltshire, England. It is in the northeast of Cherhill parish, north of the A4 road approximately east of Calne and west of Marlborough.
Yatesbury was ...
, where he learned radar operations. He was posted to RAF
Aberdaron
Aberdaron () is a community (Wales), community, electoral ward and former fishing village at the western tip of the Llŷn Peninsula in the Wales, Welsh county of Gwynedd. It lies west of Pwllheli and south-west of Caernarfon; as of 2021, it h ...
where he took on many of the commanding officer duties to the 80 personnel stationed there. He was later posted to RAF Malvern where he was involved with radar development and the team producing counter measures against the German radar operations, devising new techniques to assist with the
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
landings at Normandy.
Professional career
After the war ended Whitmore returned to work at the university and was awarded his PhD in 1949. He was appointed senior lecturer in the Department of Mining and Fuels at
Nottingham University
The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948.
Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
in 1953. This appointment was financially supported by the
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...
. They were keen to encourage research into coal preparation and mineral dressing. Whitmore pursued research into the cleaning of coal, viscosity and sedimentation of material suspended in fluids. His research led to him being awarded a DSc by the University of Birmingham in 1959, following extensive publication of his findings. He was appointed to Reader within his department. He also lectured outside of the university in courses for the National Coal Board.
Whitmore's research extended beyond mining engineering. He published a paper with another academic on “The theory of the flow of blood in narrow tubes” in the ''American Journal of Physiology'' in 1959. This publication led to research in Great Britain and the United States on the behaviour of blood in the circulation system, which had parallels to his study of the flow of particles in his mineral research.
Move to Australia
In 1967, Whitmore was appointed to the Chair of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering at the
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...
. His chief programs were to appoint new staff to the department as the mining boom was increasing demand for graduate engineers and to push forward with the move of the department to the
St Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...
campus of the university. He developed links with industry which led to the establishment of a number of scholarships and support from
MIM Holdings
MIM Holdings Limited was an Australian mining company created in 1970 Accessed 31 May 2013 as the parent company of Ltd for the creation of a Mineral Research Centre. The Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre was opened in 1970 to recognise the work of Kruttschnitt who had been a former chairman of MIM Holdings. It was located at the university's experimental mine site at
Indooroopilly
Indooroopilly ( , colloquially Indro ) is a riverside suburb south-west of the Brisbane CBD, Queensland, Australia. In the , Indooroopilly had a population of 13,622 people.
Geography
Indooroopilly is bounded to the south and south-east by ...
.
Whitmore pursued the creation of a chair in Metallurgy, and worked with the Department of Geology and Mineralogy to establish the Mineral Industry Advisory Committee which was chaired by industry representatives. He was Dean of the Faculty of Engineering between 1974 and 1975. He stepped back as head of the department in 1976 to remain Professor of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering and pursued the creation of several histories of the exploration of coal in Queensland and engineering heritage. He retired in 1985 and was made Emeritus Professor, a role which led him to pursue historical studies in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
, including heritage studies of smelters in north Queensland, the Mount Crosby water treatment station and the Tower Mill at Spring Hill. He also undertook industrial archaeology studies of
coke oven
Coke is a grey, hard, and porous coal-based fuel with a high carbon content. It is made by heating coal or petroleum in the absence of air. Coke is an important industrial product, used mainly in iron ore smelting, but also as a fuel in stove ...
technologies, the Rhondda colliery and sawmill in the Ipswich region. He had contributed to over 40 historical papers and books during his later career.
Personal life and legacy
Whitmore married Ruth Franklin in 1947. He died in Brisbane on 20 December 2008. He was survived by his wife and two sons.
Whitmore's professional papers were donated to the University of Queensland Fryer Library. A reading room at Engineering House Queensland was named for him.
Memberships and other roles
*1970–1974 – representative on the Australian Research Grants Commission
*1976 – Engineering Heritage Panel, Engineers Australia, Queensland and National Division
*1982 - Chairman of Engineers Australia, Queensland division
*1991–2004 Member of
Ipswich City Council
The City of Ipswich is a local government area (LGA) located within the southwest of Greater Brisbane, which in turn, is situated within the vast South East region of the state of Queensland. Positioned between the City of Brisbane and the Cit ...
Heritage Advisory Committee
*Member of Brisbane City Council Heritage Advisory Committee
*Board member, Queensland Museum Science Centre
*Advisory on mining education,
Papua New Guinea University of Technology
The Papua New Guinea University of Technology (Unitech) is a university located in Lae, Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.
Courses offered
Unitech offers courses in the following fields:
*Agriculture
*Architecture
* Construction Management ( ...
*Member –
Royal Historical Society of Queensland
The Royal Historical Society of Queensland (RHSQ) is a historical society founded in Brisbane, Australia in 1913. It promotes the study of Australian history especially that of Queensland and adjacent Pacific islands. It maintains an important c ...
*Member – Brisbane History Group
*Member –
Queensland Heritage Council
The Queensland Heritage Council is an independent statutory authority created by the Queensland Parliament under the ''Queensland Heritage Act 1992''. The Council advises and reports to the Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef and ...
*Trustee – Willis L. Haenke Foundation
*1998 Honorary Fellowship, National Council
*Fellow – Australasian Institute of Mining an Metallurgy
*Life Member – Australian Coal Preparation Society
Honours
*1994 – Member of the
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
for service to mining and metallurgical engineering and to engineering history, heritage and industrial archaeology
*2005 –
John Monash
General (Australia), General Sir John Monash (; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the World War I, First World War. He commanded the 13th Brigade (Australia), 13th Infantry Brigade befor ...
medal from
Engineers Australia
Engineers Australia (EA), known formally as the Institution of Engineers, Australia, is an Australian professional body and Non-profit organization, not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to advance the science and practice of engineerin ...