Much has been written about the halcyon days of manufacturing in Fishermans Bend during the post-war period. This talk explores its antecedents through the lives of four, largely forgotten, engineers who made significant contributions to the rise of manufacturing there during the first half of the 20^th century: Otto Schumacher, Alfred Harman, Albert Longoni and Fred David.

They learnt their craft in America, Britain, and Europe respectively before making their mark in Port Melbourne. Two founded manufacturing businesses here while the other two made pivotal contributions to existing firms. The innovative machines they designed and developed ranged from steam-powered winches and excavators to flour milling and food processing equipment, from large cranes and systems for handling bulk materials to designing an urgently needed fighter aircraft.

The talk aims to evoke a sense of what it means to engineer. The emphasis is on people and place as much as it is on technical matters. The story of each engineer includes their family background and formative years. Their engineering achievements are set against the prevailing social, cultural, and geopolitical context and major events in their personal life.

Although the locus of the stories is Port Melbourne encompassing Fishermans Bend, the matters covered, and the issues raised around manufacturing, are universal. Themes that run through the stories of these four engineers speak to education and industry policy today.

David Radcliffe is a Professor Emeritus at Purdue University where he was the head of the School of Engineering Education. A mechanical engineer, his scholarly interests over a forty-year career in Australia and the US centred on the nature of engineering as a profession, its history and practice, and how engineering knowledge and identity are formed. Since retiring, David has undertaken local history investigations in the Port Melbourne area. He published Changing Fortunes in 2021, a social history of a precinct within the suburb and has written articles on the engineering heritage of the district. His new book, Making it Here, is due for release later this year.

The RHSV is delighted to co-present this event with Engineering Heritage Victoria.

Housekeeping

When you book a ticket you will be sent an automatic email confirmation – these emails often go astray, ending up in your Spam or Junk Mail in-box – please check there.

If you have booked to attend via ZOOM, we will send you the ZOOM log-in details about 24 hours prior to the event.

As with most RHSV events, we serve refreshments from 5:30pm – 6pm when the lecture starts.

This is a History Month event