Abstract
MR. D. G. SOPWITH has been appointed superintendent of the Engineering Division of the National Physical Laboratory in succession to Dr. G. A. Hankins, who recently became director of mechanical engineering research in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Mr. Sopwith has been on the staff of the Engineering Division of the National Physical Laboratory for about twenty years, and his main interest has been in research on engineering materials and in the application of the basic principles of elasticity to engineering design. problems. Until 1938 he worked in collaboration with Dr. H. J. Gough on fatigue and corrosion fatigue of metals, and on the design of lifting gear such as crane hooks. The former work showed the effect of the atmosphere on the fatigue resistance of various metals, while the latter resulted in improved practical designs. During the War, Mr. Sopwith carried out important work on the design of gun springs, gun barrels and shells ; but his most valuable Contribution was on the penetration of shot into armour plate, and his work both analytically and by controlled experiment in a laboratory armour-penetration range has done much to place that hitherto empirical subject on a sounder scientific basis. Mr. Sopwith brings to his new task, not only research experience, but also a marked ability to appreciate and then simplify analytical methods so that they can be readily applied to practical problems of engineering design.
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Engineering at the National Physical Laboratory : Mr. D. G. Sopwith. Nature 161, 552–553 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161552b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161552b0