And finally… John Logie Baird inducted into Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame

John Logie Baird, the man who was the first in the world to televise objects in motion, has been inducted into the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame.

Launched in 2011 by The Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland (IESIS), the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame is supported by engineering institutions, museums and trade bodies.

IESIS, Scotland’s multi-disciplinary engineering institution was founded in 1857. Each year it features the announcements of the latest inductees to the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame, established by IESIS in 2011. Collectively, the twenty-three members in the Hall of Fame now tell a story of 450 years of world-beating engineering innovation that has led to massive improvements in our quality of life and benefits to the economy of Scotland and the United Kingdom.

Professor Malcolm Baird, the son of John Logie Baird, provided some original material for the Hall of Fame website and said: “Scotland’s contributions to engineering are so great that it came as a surprise to me that the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame has only been in existence for a few years. The descendants of John Logie Baird in Scotland and Canada are delighted that he has been included and we hope that the SEHF will inspire bright young people to continue Scotland’s great tradition of engineering and innovation.”



Chairman and founder of the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame, Gordon Masterton, said: “The Hall of Fame shows how Scotland can rightly claim to be one of the most important seed beds of great engineering accomplishments since the 16th Century. Engineering inspired enterprise has been part of Scotland’s DNA for nearly half a millennium. John Logie Baird is one of Scotland’s outstanding examples of ingenuity, invention and perseverance. We would like to see the public participate in nominations for the Hall of Fame, especially if it expands our group of living engineers and women engineers. Citation forms can be downloaded from the website:”

Derek Elder, chair of the IET’s Scottish Policy Group, said: “The IET has an annual John Logie Baird Lecture in his memory. That is a measure of his importance in the history of technology. The Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame award is richly deserved.”

Baird was born in Helensburgh, and educated at Larchfield Academy, the Royal Technical College and the University of Glasgow.

Contributions from SCN readers to our “And finally…” section are welcome – they should be sent to: newsdesk@scottishnews.com


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