Alfred Pippard
Encyclopedia
Alfred John Sutton Pippard MBE
FRS (6 April 1891 – 2 November 1969) was a British
civil engineer
and academic. Pippard was the son of a carpenter
and joiner
and spent much of his early life helping his father on construction sites. Initially supposed to follow his father into the family business, Pippard instead decided to study for a bachelors degree in civil engineering at the University of Bristol
, supporting himself with an Exhibition
award. Pippard worked for a Bristol
based consulting engineer and for the Pontypridd and Rhondda Valley Joint Water Board
in his early career. He also completed his masters degree during this period.
At the start of the First World War Pippard joined the Admiralty
Air Department
where he studied aircraft stresses. After the war he joined an aeronautical engineering consultancy with many of his colleagues and was involved in accident investigation cases. He gained his Doctorate of Science from Bristol in 1920 and took up the chair in Civil Engineering at University College, Cardiff
in 1922. This began a long career in academia at Cardiff, Bristol and Imperial College during which he was responsible for the analysis of the methods used in the design of the R100
and R101 airships
. The public enquiry into the latter's crash, which ended British participation in airship development, found no faults with Pippard's work but he withdrew from the field of aeronautical engineering - feeling keenly the loss of several of his friends amongst the 48 dead.
During the Second World War Pippard was a member of the Civil Defence Research Committee which met at Princes Risborough
and continued his teaching at Imperial College. Pippard was a member of the council of the Institution of Civil Engineers
for fifteen years and was their president for the 1958-9 session. During his later career he chaired the fifteen year investigation into pollution in the Thames tideway
the length of which he was criticised for by the press. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1954 and was pro-rector
of Imperial college for the next year. He retired in 1956 and began a lecture tour of the United States
and received honorary degrees from Bristol, Birmingham
and Brunel Universities
.
and was the son of Alfred Pippard, a carpenter
, joiner
and devout Baptist
. His family had a strong connection with the construction industry and included mason
s, stonecutter
s and plasterer
s. The elder Alfred was a renowned craftsman and worked on Yeovil Post Office
, the offices of the Western Gazette
, Yeovil Girls' High School, a bank in Weymouth and several private houses, often working as his own architect
and drawing up the plans. During his youth the younger Alfred helped his father on several building sites.
Alfred attended several kindergarten
schools before progressing to Yeovil School after which it was presumed that he would enter into the family business. However he particularly enjoyed his studies and wished to further them, to that end he applied to study at the Merchant Venturers College (which would become the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Bristol
in 1909). He spent one year working for a local architect and engineer and studying for the London Matriculation exam which he passed in the summer of 1908 and started at the college in the autumn of that year.
During the Easter
vacation of his first year at Bristol Pippard's father died and the family was put under great financial strain. With three siblings still at school it was only Pippard's winning of the Proctor Baker Exhibition
with the accompanying payment of his tuition fees that allowed him to continue his studies. He graduated from Bristol with first class honours.
(ICE) at the time required prospective members to undertake articled work for two years for a corporate member and Pippard arranged to work for Mr Cotterell of Bristol, the father of one of his friends who he had undertaken work for with his father as a joiner. However the family finances were still poor and his mother could not afford to provide him with his keep for two years and pay the premium that all apprenticeships entailed. Fortunately the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
had just started an industrial bursary
scheme and invited applications from universities across the country. Bristol University submitted Pippard's name and he was accepted as one of ten successful applicants from across the country.
With the financial security provided by the bursary Pippard began work at Cotterell's offices in 1911. One of his first jobs was to design the steelwork for a warehouse in Bristol on which he gave a talk to the local students association of the ICE in 1913 for which he was awarded the Miller Prize and a set of drawing
instruments which he used for the rest of his life. He completed his apprenticeship in 1913 and obtained a job with the Pontypridd and Rhondda Valley Joint Water Board
, he did not enjoy this routine work and disliked his district. To continue his interest in civil engineering he began a master of science
dissertation on masonry dam
s which he wrote at evenings and weekends. This was submitted to his alma mater
in April 1914, was approved and he subsequently received his MSc.
He began repaying his mother's financial assistance in 1915 and deeply regretted her death in 1921 before he could make any substantial contribution to her retirement.
A few months after the start of World War I
Pippard resigned from the water board with the intention of helping the war effort. His poor eyesight barred him from a commission in the Royal Engineers
so he entered his name of a register organised by the Institution of Civil Engineers to place their members in appropriate wartime jobs. Pippard's name was brought to the attention of HC Watts, who was a university classmate and a member of the technical section of the Admiralty
Air Department
. Pippard was offered a job at the department and joined in January 1915.
Pippard's work with the department was to analyse stresses in airframe
s to ensure that they could survive the rigours of aerial combat, the work was of great importance to the war effort and he often found himself working for ten to twelve hours at a time. In December 1917 he married Olive Field, also from Yeovil, and they moved into a flat together at Earls Court
, London
. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the New Years Honours of 1918. Pippard joined an engineering consultancy in 1919 which was set up by Alec Ogilvie, an Air Department engineer, and several colleagure. Later that year Pippard and JL Pritchard, another colleague, wrote Aeroplane Structures which became a standard reference for aeronautical engineers and was revised in 1935. For this work, amongst others, he was awarded a Doctorate of Science by Bristol University in 1920. The firm was awarded several accident investigation contracts such as investigating the failure of the Tarrant Tabor
triplane
and the R38 airship
disaster but was unable to win many large contracts due to the military and large aeronautical firms controlling the market. Pippard preferred his work as a visiting lecturer at Imperial College, London which he had started in 1919 and applied, and was accepted, for the chair of engineering at University College, Cardiff
in 1922. He also wrote a series of scripts for radio broadcasts, including two made for schools.
Upon arriving at Cardiff Pippard set about modernising the department and attracting research opportunities. Pippard's most important research client was the Aeronautical Research Committee
which agreed to pay the salary of a full time assistant from January 1924. During this time Pippard and his assistant, John Baker, worked on proving the methods used to analyse airship frames which were proposed for use on the R100
and R101
airship
s. In 1928 Pippard was invited to take over the chair of civil engineering at Bristol University which he accepted.
At Bristol Pippard implemented many of the modernising methods he has developed at Cardiff and continued his work on the R100 and R101. He took part in the first test flight of the R101 but due to political pressure for quick development he was unable to finish his structural report before the R101 crashed on her final test flight on 5 October 1930, spelling the end for airship development in the United Kingdom. The public enquiry found that there were no faults with the airship's structure or the design methods employed by Pippard. However Pippard was so affected by the episode, particularly as several of his friends were among the 48 dead, that he withdrew from the field of aeronautical engineering and thereafter concentrated on civil engineering. He moved to Imperial College in London
in 1933 and took over the running of the civil engineering department there where he actively encouraged a more research centric teaching method. This attitude was demonstrated in a paper presented to the Royal Aeronautical Society
in 1935 in which he states that "University years should be devoted to the study of engineering science with as little emphasis as possible on the practical interests of the work".
and minister in charge of air raid precautions
. At the outbreak of the Second World War on 3 September 1939 he was assigned to the research and experiments section located in Princes Risborough
. The section had little work to do and Pippard found himself bored, especially compared to his frantic work with the Air Department during the First World War. Fortunately the government's decision to allow university students to complete their degrees before compulsory national service
meant that Pippard could spend four days of his week lecturing at Imperial College whilst remaining a member of the committee, a practice he continued for the rest of the war.
in 1944 in which he continued to sit for the next fifteen years, advocating an increased academic presence in that body. His dedication to the institution led to his election as president for the 1958-9 session. In 1946 he introduced concrete and soil mechanics lecturers to the staff of Imperial College for the first time. In 1951 he was appointed by Hugh Dalton
, the Minister of Local Government and Planning, to investigate pollution in the Thames tideway
. This was a highly complex task which involved fifteen years of detailed investigation for which he was, perhaps unfairly, ridiculed in the press. Pippard was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1954 and became pro-rector (assistant to the rector
) of Imperial College the next year. After a year in this capacity Pippard retired in September 1956.
s at Northwestern University
in Illinois
, United States
. During his time in the US Pippard also delivered lectures at Berkeley
, Purdue
, Harvard
and Urbana
. Upon returning from America he took on the duties of the president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, which included a two month visit to South Africa
. In 1966 Pippard was awarded honorary degree
s from both Bristol and Birmingham Universities and from Brunel University
in 1968. Pippard continued to write on the theory of structures throughout his retirement and over the course of his life authored (or co-authored) more than 80 academic papers and six books. Towards the end of his life he began writing an autobiography
which remained unfinished on his death. Pippard died in Putney
, London
on 2 November 1969 and the memorial service was held at St. Margaret's Church
in Westminster
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
FRS (6 April 1891 – 2 November 1969) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
and academic. Pippard was the son of a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
and joiner
Joiner
A joiner differs from a carpenter in that joiners cut and fit joints in wood that do not use nails. Joiners usually work in a workshop since the formation of various joints generally requires non-portable machinery. A carpenter normally works on site...
and spent much of his early life helping his father on construction sites. Initially supposed to follow his father into the family business, Pippard instead decided to study for a bachelors degree in civil engineering at the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
, supporting himself with an Exhibition
Exhibition (scholarship)
-United Kingdom and Ireland:At the universities of Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge, and at Westminster School, Eton College and Winchester College, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a financial award or grant to an individual student, normally on grounds of merit. The...
award. Pippard worked for a Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
based consulting engineer and for the Pontypridd and Rhondda Valley Joint Water Board
Welsh Water
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is a company which supplies drinking water and wastewater services to most of Wales and parts of western England.It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991.-History:...
in his early career. He also completed his masters degree during this period.
At the start of the First World War Pippard joined the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
Air Department
Air Department
The Air Department of the British Admiralty was established prior to World War I by Winston Churchill. Its function was to foster naval aviation developments and later to oversee the Royal Naval Air Service . Its first director was Captain Murray Sueter...
where he studied aircraft stresses. After the war he joined an aeronautical engineering consultancy with many of his colleagues and was involved in accident investigation cases. He gained his Doctorate of Science from Bristol in 1920 and took up the chair in Civil Engineering at University College, Cardiff
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
in 1922. This began a long career in academia at Cardiff, Bristol and Imperial College during which he was responsible for the analysis of the methods used in the design of the R100
R100
HM Airship R100 was a privately designed and built rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop new techniques for a projected larger commercial airship for use on British empire routes...
and R101 airships
R101
R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airship completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Ministry-appointed team and was effectively in competition...
. The public enquiry into the latter's crash, which ended British participation in airship development, found no faults with Pippard's work but he withdrew from the field of aeronautical engineering - feeling keenly the loss of several of his friends amongst the 48 dead.
During the Second World War Pippard was a member of the Civil Defence Research Committee which met at Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough is a small town in Buckinghamshire, England, about 9 miles south of Aylesbury and 8 miles north west of High Wycombe. Bledlow lies to the west and Monks Risborough to the east. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns,...
and continued his teaching at Imperial College. Pippard was a member of the council of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
for fifteen years and was their president for the 1958-9 session. During his later career he chaired the fifteen year investigation into pollution in the Thames tideway
Tideway
The Tideway is a name given to the part of the River Thames in England that is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock and is just under long...
the length of which he was criticised for by the press. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1954 and was pro-rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Imperial college for the next year. He retired in 1956 and began a lecture tour of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and received honorary degrees from Bristol, Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
and Brunel Universities
Brunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
.
Early life and training
Alfred John Sutton Pippard was born on 6 April 1891 in YeovilYeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
and was the son of Alfred Pippard, a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
, joiner
Joiner
A joiner differs from a carpenter in that joiners cut and fit joints in wood that do not use nails. Joiners usually work in a workshop since the formation of various joints generally requires non-portable machinery. A carpenter normally works on site...
and devout Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
. His family had a strong connection with the construction industry and included mason
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
s, stonecutter
Stonemasonry
The craft of stonemasonry has existed since the dawn of civilization - creating buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone from the earth. These materials have been used to construct many of the long-lasting, ancient monuments, artifacts, cathedrals, and cities in a wide variety of cultures...
s and plasterer
Plasterer
A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls...
s. The elder Alfred was a renowned craftsman and worked on Yeovil Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, the offices of the Western Gazette
Western Gazette
The Western Gazette is a newspaper, published in Yeovil, Somerset, England.The Western Gazette is published every Thursday with five different editorial editions, named North Dorset, Sherborne/West Dorset, Crewkerne, Yeovil and South Somerset....
, Yeovil Girls' High School, a bank in Weymouth and several private houses, often working as his own architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and drawing up the plans. During his youth the younger Alfred helped his father on several building sites.
Alfred attended several kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
schools before progressing to Yeovil School after which it was presumed that he would enter into the family business. However he particularly enjoyed his studies and wished to further them, to that end he applied to study at the Merchant Venturers College (which would become the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
in 1909). He spent one year working for a local architect and engineer and studying for the London Matriculation exam which he passed in the summer of 1908 and started at the college in the autumn of that year.
During the Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
vacation of his first year at Bristol Pippard's father died and the family was put under great financial strain. With three siblings still at school it was only Pippard's winning of the Proctor Baker Exhibition
Exhibition (scholarship)
-United Kingdom and Ireland:At the universities of Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge, and at Westminster School, Eton College and Winchester College, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a financial award or grant to an individual student, normally on grounds of merit. The...
with the accompanying payment of his tuition fees that allowed him to continue his studies. He graduated from Bristol with first class honours.
Apprenticeship
The laws of the Institution of Civil EngineersInstitution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
(ICE) at the time required prospective members to undertake articled work for two years for a corporate member and Pippard arranged to work for Mr Cotterell of Bristol, the father of one of his friends who he had undertaken work for with his father as a joiner. However the family finances were still poor and his mother could not afford to provide him with his keep for two years and pay the premium that all apprenticeships entailed. Fortunately the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 is an institution founded in 1850 to administer the international exhibition of 1851, officially called the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, held in The Crystal Palace in London, England...
had just started an industrial bursary
Bursary
A bursary is strictly an office for a bursar and his or her staff in a school or college.In modern English usage, the term has become synonymous with "bursary award", a monetary award made by an institution to an individual or a group to assist the development of their education.According to The...
scheme and invited applications from universities across the country. Bristol University submitted Pippard's name and he was accepted as one of ten successful applicants from across the country.
With the financial security provided by the bursary Pippard began work at Cotterell's offices in 1911. One of his first jobs was to design the steelwork for a warehouse in Bristol on which he gave a talk to the local students association of the ICE in 1913 for which he was awarded the Miller Prize and a set of drawing
Engineering drawing
An engineering drawing, a type of technical drawing, is used to fully and clearly define requirements for engineered items.Engineering drawing produces engineering drawings . More than just the drawing of pictures, it is also a language—a graphical language that communicates ideas and information...
instruments which he used for the rest of his life. He completed his apprenticeship in 1913 and obtained a job with the Pontypridd and Rhondda Valley Joint Water Board
Welsh Water
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is a company which supplies drinking water and wastewater services to most of Wales and parts of western England.It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991.-History:...
, he did not enjoy this routine work and disliked his district. To continue his interest in civil engineering he began a master of science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
dissertation on masonry dam
Masonry dam
Masonry dams are dams made out of masonry; mainly stone and brick. They are either the gravity or the arch type.The largest masonry dam of the world is Nagarjunasagar Dam in India....
s which he wrote at evenings and weekends. This was submitted to his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
in April 1914, was approved and he subsequently received his MSc.
He began repaying his mother's financial assistance in 1915 and deeply regretted her death in 1921 before he could make any substantial contribution to her retirement.
Admiralty Air Department
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Pippard resigned from the water board with the intention of helping the war effort. His poor eyesight barred him from a commission in the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
so he entered his name of a register organised by the Institution of Civil Engineers to place their members in appropriate wartime jobs. Pippard's name was brought to the attention of HC Watts, who was a university classmate and a member of the technical section of the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
Air Department
Air Department
The Air Department of the British Admiralty was established prior to World War I by Winston Churchill. Its function was to foster naval aviation developments and later to oversee the Royal Naval Air Service . Its first director was Captain Murray Sueter...
. Pippard was offered a job at the department and joined in January 1915.
Pippard's work with the department was to analyse stresses in airframe
Airframe
The airframe of an aircraft is its mechanical structure. It is typically considered to include fuselage, wings and undercarriage and exclude the propulsion system...
s to ensure that they could survive the rigours of aerial combat, the work was of great importance to the war effort and he often found himself working for ten to twelve hours at a time. In December 1917 he married Olive Field, also from Yeovil, and they moved into a flat together at Earls Court
Earls Court
Earls Court is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It is an inner-city district centred on Earl's Court Road and surrounding streets, located 3.1 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It borders the sub-districts of South Kensington to the East, West...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the New Years Honours of 1918. Pippard joined an engineering consultancy in 1919 which was set up by Alec Ogilvie, an Air Department engineer, and several colleagure. Later that year Pippard and JL Pritchard, another colleague, wrote Aeroplane Structures which became a standard reference for aeronautical engineers and was revised in 1935. For this work, amongst others, he was awarded a Doctorate of Science by Bristol University in 1920. The firm was awarded several accident investigation contracts such as investigating the failure of the Tarrant Tabor
Tarrant Tabor
- See also :* Witteman-Lewis XNBL-1 - a design by Barling for a similar aircraft for the US Army- External links :* http://avia.russian.ee/air/england/tarrant_tabor.php* http://members.aol.com/wwatrans/unique.htm...
triplane
Triplane
A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically-stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they may occasionally be.-Design principles:...
and the R38 airship
R38
The R38 class of rigid airships was designed for Britain's Royal Navy during the final months of World War I, intended for long-range patrol duties over the North Sea...
disaster but was unable to win many large contracts due to the military and large aeronautical firms controlling the market. Pippard preferred his work as a visiting lecturer at Imperial College, London which he had started in 1919 and applied, and was accepted, for the chair of engineering at University College, Cardiff
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
in 1922. He also wrote a series of scripts for radio broadcasts, including two made for schools.
Academic life
Aeronautical Research Committee
The Aeronautical Research Committee was a UK government committee established in 1919 in order to coordinate aeronautical research and education following World War I...
which agreed to pay the salary of a full time assistant from January 1924. During this time Pippard and his assistant, John Baker, worked on proving the methods used to analyse airship frames which were proposed for use on the R100
R100
HM Airship R100 was a privately designed and built rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop new techniques for a projected larger commercial airship for use on British empire routes...
and R101
R101
R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airship completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Ministry-appointed team and was effectively in competition...
airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s. In 1928 Pippard was invited to take over the chair of civil engineering at Bristol University which he accepted.
At Bristol Pippard implemented many of the modernising methods he has developed at Cardiff and continued his work on the R100 and R101. He took part in the first test flight of the R101 but due to political pressure for quick development he was unable to finish his structural report before the R101 crashed on her final test flight on 5 October 1930, spelling the end for airship development in the United Kingdom. The public enquiry found that there were no faults with the airship's structure or the design methods employed by Pippard. However Pippard was so affected by the episode, particularly as several of his friends were among the 48 dead, that he withdrew from the field of aeronautical engineering and thereafter concentrated on civil engineering. He moved to Imperial College in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1933 and took over the running of the civil engineering department there where he actively encouraged a more research centric teaching method. This attitude was demonstrated in a paper presented to the Royal Aeronautical Society
Royal Aeronautical Society
The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community.-Function:...
in 1935 in which he states that "University years should be devoted to the study of engineering science with as little emphasis as possible on the practical interests of the work".
Second World War
In April 1939, predicting the approaching war, Pippard joined the Civil Defence Research Committee at the invitation of Sir John Anderson, Lord Privy SealLord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
and minister in charge of air raid precautions
Air Raid Precautions
Air Raid Precautions was an organisation in the United Kingdom set up as an aid in the prelude to the Second World War dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. It was created in 1924 as a response to the fears about the growing threat from the development of bomber...
. At the outbreak of the Second World War on 3 September 1939 he was assigned to the research and experiments section located in Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough is a small town in Buckinghamshire, England, about 9 miles south of Aylesbury and 8 miles north west of High Wycombe. Bledlow lies to the west and Monks Risborough to the east. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns,...
. The section had little work to do and Pippard found himself bored, especially compared to his frantic work with the Air Department during the First World War. Fortunately the government's decision to allow university students to complete their degrees before compulsory national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
meant that Pippard could spend four days of his week lecturing at Imperial College whilst remaining a member of the committee, a practice he continued for the rest of the war.
Post-war
Pippard was elected to the council of the Institution of Civil EngineersInstitution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
in 1944 in which he continued to sit for the next fifteen years, advocating an increased academic presence in that body. His dedication to the institution led to his election as president for the 1958-9 session. In 1946 he introduced concrete and soil mechanics lecturers to the staff of Imperial College for the first time. In 1951 he was appointed by Hugh Dalton
Hugh Dalton
Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton PC was a British Labour Party politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1945 to 1947, when he was implicated in a political scandal involving budget leaks....
, the Minister of Local Government and Planning, to investigate pollution in the Thames tideway
Tideway
The Tideway is a name given to the part of the River Thames in England that is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock and is just under long...
. This was a highly complex task which involved fifteen years of detailed investigation for which he was, perhaps unfairly, ridiculed in the press. Pippard was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1954 and became pro-rector (assistant to the rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
) of Imperial College the next year. After a year in this capacity Pippard retired in September 1956.
Retirement
Upon retirement Pippard began a series of visiting lectureVisiting scholar
In the world of academia, a visiting scholar or visiting academic is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university, where he or she is projected to teach , lecture , or perform research on a topic the visitor is valued for...
s at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. During his time in the US Pippard also delivered lectures at Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Purdue
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
, Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and Urbana
Urbana University
Urbana University is a private university specializing in liberal arts education. Urbana is located in Urbana, Ohio, approximately one hour west of Columbus and one hour northeast of Dayton.-History:...
. Upon returning from America he took on the duties of the president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, which included a two month visit to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. In 1966 Pippard was awarded honorary degree
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
s from both Bristol and Birmingham Universities and from Brunel University
Brunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
in 1968. Pippard continued to write on the theory of structures throughout his retirement and over the course of his life authored (or co-authored) more than 80 academic papers and six books. Towards the end of his life he began writing an autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
which remained unfinished on his death. Pippard died in Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 2 November 1969 and the memorial service was held at St. Margaret's Church
St. Margaret's, Westminster
The Anglican church of St. Margaret, Westminster Abbey is situated in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, and is the parish church of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in London...
in Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
.