Jeff Collins (22 April 1930 – 23 September 2015) was a British
electrical engineer
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
who directed and researched experimental physics, robotics, microelectronics, communications technologies and
parallel computing
Parallel computing is a type of computation in which many calculations or processes are carried out simultaneously. Large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which can then be solved at the same time. There are several different fo ...
.
Moving between academia, commercial and military research throughout his diverse career, he proved to be an enthusiastic leader demonstrated in his numerous directorships, successful fund-raising and his recreational interests of sports.
Institutions he worked for included Automation & Robotics Research Institute at the
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...
,
Rockwell International
Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. R ...
,
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
,
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
,
GEC,
Ferranti
Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The firm was known ...
,
Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory
The Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory (HEPL) was founded in 1947 and is a facility at Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The ...
at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
,
Wolfson Microelectronics
Wolfson Microelectronics plc was a microelectronics and fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. It specialised in signal processing and mixed-signal chips for the consumer electronics market and had engineering and s ...
Institute, Advent Technology Venture Capital Group, Artemis Intelligent Power,
Lothian Regional Council
Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sc ...
and
Edinburgh Napier University
, mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain
, established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 802
, administrative_staff = 562
, chancellor = Will Whitehorn
, ...
.
He contributed to many academic papers, such as Surface Wave Transducers and Microwave magnetostatics
In the 1970s and 80s working for
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
he secured funding for
Surface acoustic wave
A surface acoustic wave (SAW) is an acoustic wave traveling along the surface of a material exhibiting elasticity, with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the material, such that they are confined to a depth of abou ...
devices research and then used them in a
Skynet (satellite)
Skynet is a family of military communications satellites, now operated by Airbus Defence and Space on behalf of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MoD). They provide strategic and tactical communication services to the branches of the ...
receiver which achieved faster synchronisation.
Education
Jeffrey Hamilton Collins was born in
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...
, England on 22 April 1930 and was educated at the
Royal Grammar School in
Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
, Surrey. He received a
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in Physics, an
MSc
MSC may refer to:
Computers
* Message Sequence Chart
* Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
* MIDI Show Control
* MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor)
* USB mass storage device class (USB MSC ...
in Mathematics and later a
DSc DSC may refer to:
Academia
* Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
* District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India
* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
Educational institutions
* Dalton State Col ...
all from the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. Collins was further awarded an honorary DEng by
Edinburgh Napier University
, mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain
, established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 802
, administrative_staff = 562
, chancellor = Will Whitehorn
, ...
in 1997.
Career
He started his technical career in the 1940s as a technician in the Department of Physics at
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre.
...
Medical School. From 1951 to 1956 he gained experience in
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran ...
tubes and ferrite parametric amplifiers during employment at
General Electric Company
The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 250 ...
, Wembley and at
Ferranti
Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The firm was known ...
, Edinburgh. From 1957 to 1966 he was a lecturer in
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
under John Lamb, teaching and researching in
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran ...
devices. He then took up appointment as a research engineer at the
Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory
The Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory (HEPL) was founded in 1947 and is a facility at Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The ...
,
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
. Here he was introduced to
signal processing
Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, and scientific measurements. Signal processing techniq ...
capabilities of
surface acoustic wave
A surface acoustic wave (SAW) is an acoustic wave traveling along the surface of a material exhibiting elasticity, with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the material, such that they are confined to a depth of abou ...
devices, magnetic garnet delay lines for correlation and
pulse compression Pulse compression is a signal processing technique commonly used by radar, sonar and echography to increase the range resolution as well as the signal to noise ratio. This is achieved by modulating the transmitted pulse and then correlating th ...
applications. In addition to his technical collaborations with Gordon Kino, Bert Auld, Hank (WR) Smith and John Shaw (HEPL Stanford), he had industrial collaborations with Tom Bristol (
Hughes Aircraft
The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting p ...
), Tom Reeder (
United Technologies
United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous areas, including aircraft engines, aerospace systems ...
), Leland Solie (
Sperry Corporation
Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the 20th century. Sperry ceased to exist in 1986 following a prolonged hostile takeover bid engineered by Burroughs ...
) etc. and subsequently he served as Director of Physical Sciences at
Rockwell International
Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. R ...
.
Collins was an innovator in 1969 when he, with
Ted Paige
Professor Edward George Sydney Paige FRS (18 July 1930 – 20 February 2004), known as Ted Paige, was a British physicist and engineer. His main areas of research were semiconductor devices to improve radar, including work on surface acoustic ...
and Dennis Maines from
RSRE
The Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE) was a scientific research establishment within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the United Kingdom. It was located primarily at Malvern in Worcestershire, England. The RSRE motto was ''Ubique S ...
persuaded the
IEE Electronics Division to underwrite the first International Specialist Seminar on
surface acoustic wave
A surface acoustic wave (SAW) is an acoustic wave traveling along the surface of a material exhibiting elasticity, with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the material, such that they are confined to a depth of abou ...
devices held in
Aviemore, to expand interest in this new technology in the UK and beyond. Further events were held in 1973 (
IEE Conference Publication 109), with Collins as Joint Organiser with Tom Bristol and Tom Reeder, and repeated again in 1976 (IEE Conference Publication 144).
In 1970, Collins was recruited back to the UK to join the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
to take up a SRC sponsored position as a research Professor, later converted to a personal chair in Industrial Electronics. He brought expertise in the emerging field of
surface acoustic wave
A surface acoustic wave (SAW) is an acoustic wave traveling along the surface of a material exhibiting elasticity, with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the material, such that they are confined to a depth of abou ...
(SAW) and
magnetostatic
Magnetostatics is the study of magnetic fields in systems where the currents are steady (not changing with time). It is the magnetic analogue of electrostatics, where the charges are stationary. The magnetization need not be static; the equatio ...
wave devices, securing significant financial support for the University. His research team comprised Douglas Adam, Barry Darby,
Peter Grant, John Hannah, Mervyn Jack, David Morgan, John Owens, etc. with Dennis Lambert leading the device fabrication on
Lithium niobate
Lithium niobate () is a non-naturally-occurring salt consisting of niobium, lithium, and oxygen. Its single crystals are an important material for optical waveguides, mobile phones, piezoelectric sensors, optical modulators and various other linea ...
and
Quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
polished substrates. Following the Aviemore seminars SAW became a UK major
R&D activity at this time with companion investigations by
Charles Sandbank (
Standard Telecommunication Laboratories
Standard Telecommunication Laboratories was the UK research centre for Standard Telephones and Cables (STC).
Initially based in Enfield, North London, and moved to Harlow Essex in 1959. STC was a subsidiary of ITT.
Notable Achievements
It is now ...
), Cyril Brown (
General Electric Company
The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 250 ...
), John Palfreeman (
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
),
Ted Paige
Professor Edward George Sydney Paige FRS (18 July 1930 – 20 February 2004), known as Ted Paige, was a British physicist and engineer. His main areas of research were semiconductor devices to improve radar, including work on surface acoustic ...
and Denis Maines (
RSRE
The Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE) was a scientific research establishment within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the United Kingdom. It was located primarily at Malvern in Worcestershire, England. The RSRE motto was ''Ubique S ...
Malvern) and
Eric Ash
Sir Eric Albert Ash (31 January 1928 – 22 August 2021) was a British electrical engineer, past Rector of Imperial College and President of IEE, UK. He was elected an international member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2001 for i ...
(
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
).
In this era, before
digital signal processing
Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processing, such as by computers or more specialized digital signal processors, to perform a wide variety of signal processing operations. The digital signals processed in this manner are ...
, these analogue devices offered a unique way to implement complex receiver designs. His University research team, under John Hannah and David Morgan, designed and delivered a prototype receiver
1for the UK
Skynet military communication system, which synchronised 100 times faster than the existing design. Much of this research was based on spectrum analysis
2for identifying or acquiring signals, with Collins publishing several papers in the early 1980s on
Electronic Support Measures
In military telecommunications, electronic support (ES) or electronic support measures (ESM) gather intelligence through passive "listening" to electromagnetic radiations of military interest. They are an aspect of electronic warfare involving ac ...
3
As Head of the Electrical Engineering Department from 1977 to 1984 Collins also served as the Chairman of the
Wolfson Microelectronics
Wolfson Microelectronics plc was a microelectronics and fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. It specialised in signal processing and mixed-signal chips for the consumer electronics market and had engineering and s ...
Institute (WMI), advising on technology transfer. WMI was floated in January 1985 as the private company,
Wolfson Microelectronics
Wolfson Microelectronics plc was a microelectronics and fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. It specialised in signal processing and mixed-signal chips for the consumer electronics market and had engineering and s ...
. The company's growth accelerated markedly with the move into
audio signal processing products with the turnover, in 1998, being £14 million. In 2014 it was acquired by
Cirrus Logic
Cirrus Logic Inc. is an American fabless semiconductor supplier that specializes in analog, mixed-signal, and audio DSP integrated circuits (ICs). Since 1998, the company's headquarters have been in Austin, Texas.
The company's audio processo ...
for $500 million
4
Collins was noted within the University for his drive and enthusiasm. He helped grow the Department of Electrical Engineering (EE) academic staff from 10 to 25, re-structured student teaching programmes and set the path towards EE at Edinburgh achieving top category research status in the 1996 and 2001 national assessments
5, 16
The ultimate success of Collins' 1971 vision to establish
signal processing
Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, and scientific measurements. Signal processing techniq ...
at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
is still in evidence today
7 Further a 140-person joint research institute in signal and image processing
8 between the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University, is the largest
signal processing
Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, and scientific measurements. Signal processing techniq ...
research activity in the UK. In recognition of Collins many research and technical achievements Professor Michael Davies at Edinburgh now holds the "Jeffrey Collins Chair of Signal Processing"
9
Collins served from 1970 as technical director of Microwave and Electronic Systems (MESL)
0 where he expanded their commercial capabilities into SAW radar
pulse compression Pulse compression is a signal processing technique commonly used by radar, sonar and echography to increase the range resolution as well as the signal to noise ratio. This is achieved by modulating the transmitted pulse and then correlating th ...
filters for new
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
receiver designs. This success led to the company merging with
Racal Electronics
Racal Electronics plc was a British electronics company that was founded in 1950.
Listed on the London Stock Exchange and once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, Racal was a diversified company, offering products including voice loggers and ...
in 1979 and achieving a 1989 Queen's Award for Technological Achievement
1
Collins was involved with Roger Marriott, through the company, Microwave Exhibition and Publishers, where they organised the first in a series of Technical Conference and Trade Exhibition, MICROWAVE 73, at
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
2 The associated Trade Exhibition was subsequently combined with the European Microwave Conference
3 Here Jeff honed his skills on document word optimisation with Harry Eustace at the conference's US magazine 'Microwave Systems News'
4
Collins served from 1979 on the Equipment Sub-committee of the
University Grants Committee. This nine person Sub-committee had responsibility for, the distribution of Equipment Funds to every UK University; and to assess whether or not Departments were "well found". In 1984 he joined the Computer Board who had executive authority for dispersing £30 million p.a. to Universities for maintaining and enhancing their computer resources for teaching, research and library search.
In 1987, Collins moved to the USA to take up a position as the founding director of the Automation and Robotics Research Institute at the
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...
. Here he developed this new institute securing the necessary funding from the
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
legislature, further demonstrating his technical and management skills.
In 1991 Collins returned to
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, where he joined
Lothian Regional Council
Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sc ...
as a consultant on entrepreneurship in their Economic Development Division. He also chaired the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
,
Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre
EPCC, formerly the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre, is a supercomputing centre based at the University of Edinburgh. Since its foundation in 1990, its stated mission has been to ''accelerate the effective exploitation of novel computing th ...
which attracted the UK National Supercomputing Service in 1994, running today using the ARCHER,
Blue Gene and HECTOR supercomputers.
Collins assisted
Napier University
, mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain
, established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College
, type = Public
, academic_staff = 802
, administrative_staff = 562
, chancellor = Will Whitehorn
, ...
in 1992, when his colleague
John Mavor was appointed principal, reorganising of their research and computing infrastructure. Collins then became Chair of the Napier Scottish Electronics Manufacturing Centre securing financial support from
Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise is a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, enterprise, innovation and investment in business. The body covers the eastern and central parts of Scotland whilst similar ...
before it transformed into the Scottish Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Livingston.
Collins also encouraged and assisted
Stephen Salter
Stephen Hugh Salter, (born 7 December 1938) is Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Edinburgh and inventor of the eponymous Salter duck wave energy device. Salter is also a proponent of geoengineering and is responsib ...
and Win Rampen to form the Edinburgh digital hydraulics spin-out company Artemis Intelligent Power, who secured the 2015
McRobert Award. Collins served here as an advisor until the company was sold to
Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
in 2010.
Recognition
Collins achieved several distinctions: Fellow of the
IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
; Fellow of the
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application.
It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...
,
Chartered Engineer; Fellow of the
Institution of Electrical Engineers
The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Te ...
, where he served as chair of the Electronics Division Board with a local industrial featured chairman's address
5 He was elected in 1981 as a Fellow of the
Royal Academy of Engineering
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering.
The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...
and in 1983 Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Jeffrey
1930 births
2015 deaths
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
People educated at Royal Grammar School, Guildford
British electrical engineers