'Engineering education and practices: issues and future challenges’:

Prof. Paul created pathway for Lankans to learn engineering

Eng. (Prof.) Robert Hoisington Paul memorial lecture titled ‘Engineering Education and Practices: Issues and Future Challenges’ was delivered by Eng. Mangala P. B. Yapa recently at the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL)

Late Prof. Robert Hoisington Paul, who was born on February 9, 1904, had his early education in Singapore and subsequently at S. Thomas’s College, Mt. Lavinia. Prof. Paul is one of the acclaimed teachers in the field of electrical engineering, a man with a great vision, dedication and commitment to his profession; a gentleman and an-engineer par-excellence, who created the pathway for many Sri Lankans to learn engineering in Sri Lanka, and most rightfully, being remembered as the 'father of electrical engineering education in Ceylon'.

It is my pleasant privilege and honour to deliver this memorial lecture, in celebrating his 108th birth anniversary.

He won a scholarship to the University College which subsequently became the University of Ceylon, and obtained a B.Sc. (General) Degree from the University of London, with First Class Honours, at the age of 20! He was also awarded the Coomaraswamy Physics Prize and won the Government Scholarship for further studies in the UK and joined the University of Cambridge and obtained the Mechanical Sciences Tripos with First Class Honours in 1928 and thereby created history by becoming the first Sri Lankan to achieve this distinction.

Illustrious career

Looking back at late Prof. Paul’s illustrious career, what I find as most interesting is his decision to return to Sri Lanka, after continuing his undergraduate studies in the UK and working as a graduate apprenticeship to serve his motherland; a lesson that many can emulate even to date.

Upon his return he joined the then Ceylon Technical College as a Lecturer. In 1940’s the University of London granted recognition for the Ceylon Technical College to prepare students for its Bachelor of Science Engineering Degree. It is noted that the development of the higher level electrical engineering courses and the establishment of laboratory facilities at this Ceylon Technical College were largely due to Prof. Paul’s valiant efforts.

He played a major role in the eventual recognition of the College in 1942, by the University of London to prepare students for its B.Sc. (Engineering) external degree.

Quite obviously, he was appointed its first Professor of Electrical Engineering, and from 1944 to 1949 held the position of the Director of the College. Simultaneously, he also functioned as the Registrar of Patents. Being an academic, he published several scientific papers and one such article published in the Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, London was accredited with the Institution’s Overseas Premium in 1944.

When the University of Ceylon established its faculty of engineering in 1950, late Prof. Paul became the natural choice as its first Professor of Electrical Engineering, a position he held until his retirement from the faculty of Electrical Engineering in 1968, having served for 18 long-years!

Once again, it was his responsibility, to plan and establish the laboratories, train the staff and develop the courses of study in Electrical Engineering, now at the University of Ceylon, which he had done with his usual enthusiasm, initially at temporary facilities in Colombo and later, in its permanent campus at Peradeniya.

Engineering graduates

An important part of late Professor Paul’s role as an educationalist and an engineer was the support he extended towards the establishment of an industry in the country, where electrical engineers could practice, at that time under Department of Government Electrical Undertakings (DGEU).

He always identified that the role of engineers is to serve its community with a sense of purpose, and to challenge what needs to be done and use the learning as an opportunity to serve the society at large.

By the time of his retirement in 1968, around 130 electrical engineering graduates had passed out and the department had gained much recognition both locally and internationally.

Technical education

Late Prof. Paul took a keen interest in the upholding of the Engineering profession. He was the President of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka in 1968, a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, UK and also its Overseas Representative in Sri Lanka from 1964 to 1978, the first Sri Lankan to hold this position. Being a founder member of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, he served briefly as its General President in 1945.

His services were sought by the government of the day, on many occasions. He was a Member of the Commission on Broadcasting and Information (1965) and the Advisory Board of Technical Education (1966), to name a few.

Prof. Paul passed away on July 3, 1978 at the age of 74. Undoubtedly, there is a lot that we can learn from Prof. Paul’s illustrious career. What caught my attention amongst his many qualities were the following;

? He had a broad vision and dedicated his entire life to achieve this vision; to create an institution, a university where generations of his own countrymen could learn the noble profession of engineering. I am sure that as a young bachelor of 26 years, he had more than ample opportunities to get himself well established in the greener pastures of the United Kingdom, but instead, he chose to return to Ceylon and join his ulma-mater, the University College and started teaching electrical engineering, dedicating himself to the motherland, demonstrating the qualities of a great visionary and a true patriot.

? His vision was such that he worked relentlessly until it was transformed into a full-fledged degree awarding university, and if not for the valiant efforts of distinguished people of the calibre of late Prof. Paul, perhaps there wouldn’t have been a university in Sri Lanka dedicated to engineering education. Such was his commitment to the cause he chose!

? He was an academic and a practitioner, who took time, though short to apprentice in the industry, at his early stages of the career, perhaps hinting the importance of practice of engineering, a point that I would dwell upon later.

? His purpose was not that of merely achieving personal goals, but dedicating himself towards far more broader societal goals, contributing towards the development of the society at large; becoming a guiding role model to many engineers to learn from.

Now, let’s look at today’s topic for discussion, on the backdrop of late Prof. Paul’s illustrious career as an engineer, acclaimed teacher and a distinguished professional.

Social change

The theme I have been requested to talk upon is ‘Engineering education and practice: issues and future challenges’, which I believe is an important aspect that late Prof. Paul himself would have to dwell upon, during his entire career. As for me, the topic is timely and relevant.

Timely, because, I truly believe that we in Sri Lanka are at the threshold of significant economic and social change. I also believe that engineering and engineers have a crucial role to play in this national endeavour. Therefore, it is timely.

I also see late Prof. Paul as a person who just happen to be in a similar situation, and a person that belongs to the great men (and of course women) who were able to give meaning to the independent Sri Lanka. In spite of being 'subjects' of a colonial nation, who belonged to the privileged class and had the fortune to educate himself in the then existed colonial education system, he was able to establish himself well in the independent Ceylon, and support the national cause, playing a pivotal role in establishing a university in Sri Lanka.

To be continued