HYDRAULICS IN ENGINEERING

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25738, 25 February 1949, Page 3

HYDRAULICS IN ENGINEERING

NEW LECTURER AT UNIVERSITY MORE COLLEGE' RESEARCH ADVOCATED “To be level with the older countries, New Zealand should delegate more of its research work to the university,” said Mr Neil Mowbray, who has returned from England to become senior lecturer in civil engineering, in charge of hydraulics, at Canterbury University College. “This would be an advantage to graduate students, who could raise here the standard of their professional education and thus benefit the community in general. “Training in research in a small ■country like New Zealand demands close co-operation between all bodies concerned; whereas, in the United States, for instance, local areas seem to be able to carry on independent research successfully,’’ he said. “In spite of geographical considerations in

a big country, I believe the United States could profit by a more systematic exchange and co-ordination of scientific information. New Zealand should participate fully in any such scheme of exchange as it is, so to speak, at the end of the lines of comn.unication. “From my experience of the standard. of training of New Zealand engineers abroad, I would say they can hold their own; although there are obvious deficiencies in their numbers and research facilities at home,” Me Mowbray continued. “Training in a small country may have the advantage of giving a more practical outlook.” Mr Mowbray considers that all New Zealanders assisted to go abroad for further study should be required to return to their old colleges for a term to return something in experience and knowledge. At present more promising opportunities overseas and inadequate appreciation of the professional graduate in New Zealand were handicaps. Catchment board work already in progress in New Zealand, and other tasks which should be started immediately, would be fruitful in years to come, he said. The systematic gauging of rivers, for instance, giving data over long periods, was of inestimable value to engineers in any control schemes or hydro-electric projects. In the United States records for some rivers went back almost 100 years. The English River Boards Act now required this work to be done. The immediate cpst might seem uneconomic, but the dividends would be high in a country that must grow. Mr Mowbray favours long-range plans for future development, even though they might have to be recast. This was particularly important in river country and valley development schemes, he said. Continuity of effort was essential, even in difficult times. He had seen great Americarv works in decay because they had been interrupted and left unprotected, particularly on the Mississipi. Mr Mowbray is also particularly interested in the relatively new science of soil mechanics. Systematic interpretation of the settlement behaviour of soils helped immeasurably in planning the laying of foundations, stabilisation of slopes, and other works. Mr Mowbray was educated at Wellington College, and took a bachelor of engineering degree with honours at Canterbury University College in 1937 after preliminary studies in Auckland. In 1938 he was awarded an Engineering Travelling Scholarship. after serving as structural designer in the district architect’s office of the Public Works Department in Auckland. In England he joined, the staff of the River Great Ouse Catchment Board. Cambridge, as senior technical assistant engineer in charge of the outfall department. This involved analysis of hydrographical data on the river Ouse and the Wash and preparation of improvement schemes. From 1940 to 1942 Mr Mowbray was research engineer at the board’s hydraulic research station. Until 1946 he was personal assistant to the chief engineer. From that time until his departure for New Zealand he was deputy engineer. A Carnegie Corporation grant enabled him to visit United States universities and hydraulic projects.