Eng. (Prof.) R. H. Paul:

Remembering an engineering great

M. Jiffry FARZANDH

The 108th birth anniversary of Eng.(Prof.) Robert Haisington Paul, (popularly known as R. H. Paul) is to be commemorated with a memorial lecture to be held at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) at 120/15, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7, today at 1715 hours.

The IESL which is the premier professional body for engineers in Sri Lanka devoutly commemorates birth anniversaries of engineering greats who have passed away after doing yeoman service towards the development of the country and to improve the living standards of fellow countrymen. The memorial lectures, delivered by persons of eminence in their respective fields, are usually on the life and work of these great men or on subjects of relevance to the times and to which the late engineers have contributed during their life time. This year the R. H. Paul memorial lecture will be delivered by Eng. Mangala P. B. Yapa - Managing Director/CEO of Colombo Dockyard PLC on ‘Engineering Education and Practices: Issues and Future Challenges’.

The late Eng. (Prof.) R. H.Paul is part of the history of development of engineering education in the country. In 1933 he joined the Ceylon Technical College, Colombo, the only institution for engineering education in the country at that time, as a lecturer.

Engineering education

The improvements he brought to the curriculum and laboratory facilities were said to be largely responsible for the recognition of the College by the University of London in 1942 for preparing students for the B.Sc (Engineering External Degree) of the latter. He held the post of Director of the College from 1944-49.

Despite his engagement with teaching he had written many research papers, in appreciation of one of which he won the overseas premium in 1944. When the University of Ceylon was established in 1950, he was its first professor of Electrical Engineering and successfully met the challenges of producing new engineers with great technical skills in large numbers to meet the post-independence need for development in the country. He had to train staff and develop new courses for the university, at first in the temporary location in Colombo and later at its permanent location at Peradeniya.

The electrical engineering laboratory complex at the University of Peradeniya is based on a concept developed by him. He retired from service in 1968. Besides educating he showed keen interest in the engineering profession and actively participated in its development, becoming the president of IESL in 1968. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers London and also was its overseas representative in Sri Lanka from 1964-78.

Technological advancements

He was also a founder member of Sri Lanka Association for Advancement of Science and served as its General President in 1945. The government sought his service on various matters and he was a member of the Commission on Broadcasting and Information (1969) and the Advisory Board of Technical Education (1966). He passed away on July 3, 1978 at the age of 74. His commitment to his profession was total.

Living in an era of rapid technological advancements and phenomenal speeds of transfer of technology it may be difficult to imagine the slow yet steady pace at which the foundations of the study and practice of Electrical Engineering in the country were laid through the hard work of people like the late Eng. (Prof.) R. H. Paul and others tasked with the creation of professionals capable of mastering an emerging field. Electrical energy was first introduced to Sri Lanka by a private enterprise in 1895. Its first commercial use was for lighting up the then city of Colombo. The electrically operated Tram Car and Trolley Bus Services of a bygone era, though now extinct, were also stages in the history of development of electrical energy for public use in the country. Today almost 90 percent of households have access to electrical energy from the national grid and off grid sources. The government has declared year 2012 as the year when electrification of households would reach 100 percent in the country.

New challenges

With the passage of time many new challenges have emerged from the old challenges. By 1986, the gas fired generators initially used by the electrical pioneers Ms Boustead Bro’s has become almost wholly replaced by more cost effective and sustainable hydro-electric plants when it was realized that waters of the rivers in the country could be harnessed to generate electrical energy.

Today, however, the balance has shifted again in favour of more costly fossil fuel consuming plants as the rivers have been harnessed almost to saturation point and the demand for electrical energy has outstripped its supply from hydro-electric plants.

On the other hand global concerns on air pollution, global warming and extent of carbon footprint caused by the use of fossil fuel has pushed to the fore calls for restricting the use of fossil fuels and to promote renewable resources such as solar, wind, biogas etc as environment friendly and socially responsible technology. Currently such technology accounts to less than 5 percent of the total electrical energy generated in the country.

Thus the educating of new engineers to skillfully sort out the complexity of the issues is in itself the biggest challenge of the future.