Twentieth Century Science, Technology and Engineering

Presented by Laureate Professor R. J. EVANS

Engineering Heritage Victoria and the RHSV are, once again, partnering to present some fascinating events which are of interest to anyone interested in history and the history of engineering in its broadest scope.

This talk explores the development of key scientific and technological advances over the past 100 years. Building upon the great achievements of the Victorian Era which saw huge advances in fundamental sciences coupled with breathtaking engineering achievements, the twentieth century progressed electronics to astonishing complexity, conquered air transport and space travel through advances in materials and propulsion, revealed the structure of DNA, and uncovered the fundamental  structure on matter and the universe. This talk will briefly describe these advances and the impact they are having on our lives in the areas of communications, automation, health etc.

Rob Evans was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1947. After completing a BE degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Melbourne in 1969, he worked as a radar systems engineering officer with the Royal Australian Airforce. He completed a PhD in 1975 at the University of Newcastle followed by postdoctoral studies at the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, MIT, USA and the Control and Management Department, Cambridge University, UK. In 1977 he took up an academic position at the University of Newcastle, where he served as Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 1986 until 1991 and Chief Investigator and Co-Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence on Industrial Control Systems between 1988 – 1991.

In 1992 he moved to the University of Melbourne, where he has served in many roles including Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering for the periods 1993-1996 and 2013-2017, Research Leader for the Cooperative Research Centre for Sensor Signal and Information Processing 1992-2000, Director of the DSTO Centre for Networked Decision and Sensor Systems 2001-2004, Director of the Victoria Research Laboratory of National ICT Australia 2004-2012, Executive Dean of Engineering during 2007 and Director of the Defence Sciences Institute 2014-2017. He has served on several Boards and Government and Academy committees including the Council of the International Federation of Automatic Control from 2002-2008.

He is currently a Melbourne University Laureate Professor and a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery.
His research and industry engagement has ranged across many areas including theory and applications in control systems, industrial electronics, radar systems, signal processing and telecommunications. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, a Life Fellow of the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers USA, and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia.

Refreshments from 5:30pm – 6pm

Lecture 6pm – 7pm