Sir Diarmuid Downs CBE, KSG,[1] FRS, FREng,[2] FIMechE (23 April 1922 – 12 February 2014)[3] was a British automotive engineer.

Early life

Downs was born in 1922 in London, where his father ran a small engineering business manufacturing equipment for the oil industry. Downs was educated at Gunnersbury Catholic Grammar School and the Regent Street Polytechnic, London.[4] He then studied at Northampton Engineering College, London, where he graduated with First Class honours in 1942. He won a postgraduate bursary for further research and study, which he took up with Ricardo and Co.

Career

For his first 15 years with Ricardo & Co., first as student, then as a member of staff, and from 1947 as Head of the Petrol Engine Department, Downs pursued a study of fundamental study of abnormal combustion phenomena in the petrol engine, resulting in a clearer understanding of the problems of knock and pre-ignition.

Downs was made a Director of Ricardo in 1957. He was made Managing Director ten years later, remaining in this position until 1984. He was Chairman of the company from 1976 to 1987.[5]

Downs served as President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1978 and as President of FISITA, the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies, from 1978 to 1980.[6] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1985.[7] He was elected a Fellow[8] for the Royal Academy of Engineering.[9]

More details can be found in the Bibliographical Memoirs of Fellows of The Royal Society published in 2019.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Association Members Archived 2012-02-06 at the Wayback Machine -Website of the Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain
  2. ↑ "List of Fellows". Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Sir Diarmuid Cbe Frs Downs". The Argus. 18 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Engineering Heritage Awards - IMechE".
  5. ↑ Ricardo Consulting Engineers
  6. ↑ International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies
  7. ↑ "Fellows". Royal Society. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  8. ↑ "List of Fellows". Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "List of Fellows". Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  10. ↑ Morrison, David (2019). "Sir Diarmuid Downs CBE. 23 April 1922—12 February 2014". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 66: 159–181. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2018.0036.
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