Sir Bernard Crossland
Bernard Crossland was born in Sydenham, South London in 1923. On leaving grammar school, aged 16, he was apprenticed to Rolls Royce Ltd, Derby. He was awarded an External University of London BSc (Eng) before he was 20. Subsequently, he served as a vibration engineer, and for his work on the axial vibration of crankshafts he was awarded an External University of London MSc (Eng). In 1946 he became involved in high-pressure research at pressures up to 7 kbar under Professor JLM Morrison at the University of Bristol. In 1953, he gained a PhD from the University of Bristol for research on the effect of high-pressure on the shear strength of metals and, subsequently, was awarded a DSc from the University of Nottingham in 1960.
In 1959, he was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Queen’s University, Belfast, where he instituted research into...