Richard Edwin Dolby, OBE, HonDMet, FREng, FIMMM
HonFWeldI
(born 7 July 1938 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

) is a metallurgist and former Director of Research and Technology at The Welding Institute (TWI) in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, UK. He is a past President at the

Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a British engineering institution with activities including promotion of the development of materials science. It has been a registered charity governed by a royal charter and a member ...

and a current Distinguished Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy.

Education

Richard Dolby was educated at Northampton Grammar School and, following two years' National Service in the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's professional engineers". History Prior t ...

, at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

( Selwyn College), Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy where he also gained his PhD.

Career

Richard Dolby's early career began at British Alcan and 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 ...

, and in 1964 he joined The Welding Institute (British Welding Research Association). Here he worked on metallurgical aspects of HAZ toughness of pressure vessel steels and jointly led pioneering studies into lamellar tearing in welded structural steel. He spent 14 years specialising in metallurgy and carrying out fundamental industrial research in the Materials Department at the Institute, becoming Head of Department in 1978. He was appointed Director, Research and Technology in 1985 until his retirement in 2003 when The Welding Institute hosted a two-day conference in his honour. The Welding Institute'
Richard Dolby-Rolls-Royce Prize
is given biennially to young engineers who demonstrate success in, and enthusiasm for, welding, joining and/or materials engineering at an early stage in their career.

Advisory committees and awards

Richard Dolby has held appointments on th
UK Technical Advisory Board on the Structural Integrity of High Integrity Plant
(TAGSI), the Materials Board of th
UK Defence Scientific Advisory Council
and various Department of Trade and Industry Committees, as well as the

(IoM3). He was President of the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining from 2006-2007 and is a past Vice-President of the International Institute of Welding (IIW) where he also served as Chairman of the IIW Technical Management Board and Chairman of the IIW Research Strategy Group. He was elected 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 ...

in 1987 and awarded the

Order of the British Empire 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 2000 for his services to research and technology transfer in materials joining. He is a past winner of The Welding Institute'
Brooker Award
and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining's Bessemer Gold Medal for contributions to the steel industry. He was invited to deliver the Hatfield Memorial Lecture in 1997 and awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Metallurgy at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

in 1998. In 2003 he was presented with th
IIW Arata Prize
for his contribution to the science of welding and joining.

References

External links

R.E. Dolby selected publications and citations

Conference announcement: Metals Joining Technology - Where Next?

Richard Dolby-Rolls-Royce Prize, The Welding Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolby, Richard 1938 births Living people Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Bessemer Gold Medal British metallurgists Fellows of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining