Arthur Porter (1910–2010) was a British-Canadian engineer and pioneer in computing and

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

. Porter was born in

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 11,524, increasing at the 2011 census to 11,678. Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few mi ...

, England, on 8 December 1910, the son of John William Porter and Mary Anne Harris. He studied at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

where he gained undergraduate (BSc) honours in physics followed by an MSc. He went on to obtain his doctorate (PhD) at Manchester under the supervision of

Douglas Hartree Douglas Rayner Hartree (27 March 1897 – 12 February 1958) was an English mathematician and physicist most famous for the development of numerical analysis and its application to the Hartree–Fock equations of atomic physics and the c ...

). His graduate work and doctoral thesis was on a

differential analyser The differential analyser is a mechanical analogue computer designed to solve differential equations by integration, using wheel-and-disc mechanisms to perform the integration. It was one of the first advanced computing devices to be used operat ...

(early analog computer) constructed from

Meccano Meccano is a brand of model construction system created in 1898 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England. The system consists of reusable metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears, and plastic parts that are connected using nut ...

parts. He spent the period from 1937 to 1939 on a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. This was followed by wartime research with the Admiralty Research Laboratory and the National Physical Laboratory. After the war, he was Professor of Instrument Technology at Royal Military College (1946–1949). Porter then moved to Canada where he was Head of Research at Ferranti Ltd in Toronto from 1949 to 1955. He then returned to London to take up the post of Professor of Electrical Engineering at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

from 1955 to 1958. Following this, he was Dean at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

(1958–1961), followed by two periods as Professor of Industrial Engineering at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

(1961–1968 and 1973–1975). During his career, his colleagues included

and

Marshall McLuhan Herbert Marshall McLuhan (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his ...

. Porter was a member of Project Lamplight in the 1950s. Other posts he held included Chair of the

Royal Commission on Government Organization The Royal Commission on Government Organization (also known as the Glassco Commission) was a Canadian Royal Commission appointed in 1960 to inquire into the organization of the Government of Canada. Chaired by businessman J. Grant Glassco, it is ...

(The Glassco Commission, 1960–1962), Academic Commissioner at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

(1970–1972), Chair of the Science Committee of the

Ontario Science Centre The Ontario Science Centre, formally the Centennial Museum of Science and Technology, is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of Eg ...

, Chair of the Canadian Environmental Council, and Chair of the Ontario Royal Commission on Electric Power Planning. He also chaired the science advisory committee for

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

, the World's Fair held in 1967 in Montreal. Honours conferred on Porter include the

Canadian Centennial Medal The Canadian Centennial Medal (french: Médaille du centenaire du Canada) is a commemorative medal struck by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1967 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation and was awarded to Canadians who were ...

(1967) and the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

(1988). He was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

in 1970. Porter became a US citizen in 1995. He was hospitalised following a stroke and died at Forsyth Memorial Hospital,

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

, on 26 February 2010. Porter was inducted into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame in 2013.

Publications

*''Cybernetics Simplified'' (1969) *''The Report of the Royal Commission on Electric Power Planning'' (1980, 9 vols.) *''So Many Hills to Climb: My Journey from Cumbria to North Carolina'' (2004)

References

External links

Porter, Arthur 1910 - 2010
(Science Museum Group)
Oral History of Arthur Porter, 8 March 2008
(Computer History Museum) {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Arthur 1910 births 2010 deaths 20th-century British engineers 20th-century Canadian engineers People from Ulverston British emigrants to Canada