Professor Sir

Eric Ash

CBE FRS FREng FIET HonFInstP
Born(1928-01-31)31 January 1928
Berlin, Germany
Died22 August 2021(2021-08-22) (aged 93)
NationalityBritish
EducationUniversity College School
Alma materImperial College London
AwardsRoyal Medal (1986)
IET Faraday Medal (1980)
Marconi Prize (1984)
FRS (1977)
FREng (1978)
EPS Europhysics Prize (1979)
Scientific career
FieldsElectronics
Surface acoustic waves
Acoustic Microscopy
InstitutionsImperial College London
University College London
Stanford University
ThesisElectron interaction effects (1952)
Doctoral advisorDennis Gabor
Doctoral studentsKumar Wickramasinghe[1] Mehrdad Nikoonahad[2]
Websitewww.imperial.ac.uk/about/introducing-imperial/our-people/our-leaders/sir-eric-a-ash/

Sir Eric Albert Ash CBE FRS FREng FIET HonFInstP (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 innovations in optics and acoustics and for leadership in education.[3]

Early life and education

Eric Ash was born Ulrich Asch[4] in Berlin, the son of Dorothea Cecily (Schwarz) and Walter J. Asch,[5][6] a Jewish lawyer. The family emigrated to England in 1938 to escape Nazism. He was educated at the independent University College School, and at 17 won a scholarship to Imperial College London.

After graduating in electrical engineering, he continued his studies with doctoral research. His PhD supervisor was Dennis Gabor, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, and his thesis was published as Electron Interaction Effects (1952). He worked on microwave tubes as a Fulbright scholar at Stanford University for two years, before returning to England to continue this work at the Standard Telecommunications Laboratory in London.

Career and research

Ash joined the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at University College in 1963, became a full professor in 1967. He was appointed Head of Department, and holder of the Pender Chair, in 1980. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 17 March 1977, and was awarded its Clifford Paterson medal shortly afterwards. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1978.[7]

He worked on problems in physical electronics, ultrasonic signal processing[8][9] and imaging.[10] He won the Marconi Prize in 1984 "for leadership in electronic technology, including surface acoustic wave devices and optical fibre communications".[11]

He won the Royal Society Royal Medal in 1986, in "recognition of his outstanding researches on acoustic microscopy leading to wholly new techniques and substantial improvements in resolution of acoustic microscopes".[12] He also won the Institution of Electrical Engineers' Faraday Medal.

He was a Senior Member and Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (an organisation based in the United States that complements the IET) and a member of the Academia Europea.

Ash became rector of Imperial College in 1985. He sat on the board of British Telecom as a non-executive director from 1987 to 1993. In 1988, he was president of the IEE for one year. In 1987, he was made an honorary fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society.[13]

After retiring as Rector in 1993, Ash was an emeritus professor in the Department of Physics at University College, 1993–1998, working on educational technology. He acted as CEO of the Student Loans Company 1994–1996, remaining a non-executive director of the company until the end of August 2000.

Ash was treasurer and vice-president of the Royal Society 1997–2002. He has also served as a trustee of a number of other organisations including the Afghan Educational Trust,[14] the Dennis Rosen Memorial Trust, the Royal Institution, the London Science Museum and the Wolfson Foundation. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Campaign for Science and Engineering[15] and an international member of the National Academy of Engineering.

In 2017, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics, UK.[16]

Death

On 22 August 2021, Sir Eric Ash peacefully died at home at the age of 93.[17][18]

References

  1. ↑ Wickramasinghe, H. Kumar (1974). Two and Three Dimensional Acoustic Holography in Solids. jisc.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University College London (University of London). OCLC 500588924. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.477197.
  2. ↑ Nikoonahad, Mehrdad (1983). Reflection Acoustic Microscopy for Micro-NDE (PhD thesis). University College London (University of London).
  3. ↑ "NAE: Sir Eric Ash". Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "Sir Eric Ash obituary". TheGuardian.com. 25 November 2021.
  5. ↑ The International Who's Who: 1990-1991. Europa Publications. 1990. ISBN 9780946653584.
  6. ↑ People of Today. Debrett's Peerage Limited. 2006. ISBN 9781870520324.
  7. ↑ "Royal Academy of Engineering: The Fellowship". Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  8. ↑ Mason, I. M.; Ash, E. A. (1973). "Acoustic Surface Waveguides - Analysis and Assessment". IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques. 21 (4): 225–236.
  9. ↑ Ash, E. A. (1978). Oliner, A. A. (ed.). Fundamentals of Signal Processing. ISBN 3662309173.
  10. ↑ Ash, Eric A.; Hill, C. R., eds. (1982). Acoustical Imaging. Vol. 12. New York: Plenum Publish Corporation. ISBN 0-306-41247-0.
  11. ↑ Details of the 1984 Marconi Prize, marconi foundation.org. Accessed 19 December 2022.
  12. ↑ Royal Medal, royalsoc.ac.uk. Accessed 19 December 2022.
  13. ↑ "Honorary Fellows of the Royal Microscopical Society".
  14. ↑ Daily Telegraph article about the Afghan Educational Trust
  15. ↑ "Advisory Council of the Campaign for Science and Engineering". Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  16. ↑ "Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Physics, UK".
  17. ↑ "Sir Eric ASH - Deaths Announcements - Telegraph Announcements". announcements.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2021. Sir Eric ASH Passed away peacefully at home on August 22nd aged 93. Much loved husband of Clare for 67 years and adored father of Gill, Cany, Lucy, Emily and Jenny. Grandfather to Lily, Sarah, Louise, Dora, Matilda, Alex, Jo, Constance, Ruby, Carmen and Luc. ...
  18. ↑ "Professor Sir Eric Ash - Obituary". The Times. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
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