| Ronald Aitchison | |
| Birth Date: | 1921 12, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia |
| Death Place: | Sydney, Australia |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Fields: | Physics Electronic engineering |
| Workplaces: | Amalgamated Wireless University of Sydney Bristol University Stanford University Macquarie University |
| Alma Mater: | University of Sydney |
| Academic Advisors: | Victor Albert Bailey |
| Doctoral Students: | Peter Harold Cole |
| Notable Students: | F. J. Duarte |
| Known For: | Solid-state physics |
Ronald Ernest Aitchison (29 December 1921 – 9 March 1996) was an Australian physicist and electronics engineer who contributed to a range of fields and technologies from solid-state devices to satellite imaging. He was born in Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia on 29 December 1921.
From 1942 to 1945 Aitchison worked as an engineer with the Amalgamated Wireless Valve Company on the design and production of klystrons and radar magnetrons, which were new devices important to the war effort. He was also involved in work on semiconductor diodes, which were the forerunners of the revolution in electronics brought about by the advent of solid-state semiconductor components. In 1945 he joined the National Acoustic Laboratories where he worked on the design and construction of hearing aids for children.
Aitchison was appointed as senior lecturer in Communications Engineering at the University of Sydney, which was the start of his 25-year teaching experience at that institution, culminating in his appointment as associate professor. His interest in solid-state physics took him to Bristol University, UK, for a year, and he also spent a year at Stanford University, California, on a Fulbright scholarship, working at the forefront of electronics research. In 1970, he accepted an offer from Macquarie University to become the founding professor of electronics and took up the post in 1971.
At Macquarie Aitchison was hired as foundation professor of electronics. He taught this subject, with an emphasis on semiconductor physics, to advanced undergraduates and graduate students. In his teachings he emphasized understanding of principles over memorization of facts.
As a researcher he created a state-of-the-art electronics laboratory and led several successful projects of a highly practical nature including pioneering work on the reception of satellite weather pictures that were shown every evening in Sydney's TV newscasts. In addition, he served as Head of the School of Mathematics and Physics, and as a member of Macquarie's Academic Senate.[1]
At the School of Mathematics and Physics Aitchison became a colleague and friend of quantum physicist John Clive Ward and he was a supporter, and active participant, of the Macquarie science reform movement.[2] [3]
He retired 4 July 1986.[4]
Professor Frederick Chong (Foundation Professor of Mathematics, Macquarie University, 1966–1980): "No problem was too peculiar for him. We knew that he could call on the most sophisticated of electronic devices, but he might also improvise with matchsticks, chewing gum and string! I can say that Ron Aitchison was one of the most energetic, most knowledgeable, most practical, most intelligent and most interesting persons I have ever known, and even more importantly, he was a real friend with a heart of gold and a purity of spirit unsullied by self-seeking motives."[5]
University Research Bulletin (1982) written by The Australian Vice-Chancellor's Committee, outlines initial research on talking typewriters at Macquarie University, detailing the role of the head of the Talking Typewriter Research team: Professor Ron Aitchison,(Professor of Electronics)[8]
Aitchison's most cited paper, according to the ISI database, is his 1954 paper on transparent semiconducting films – which is still cited to this day. Also his 1964 paper in Am. J. Phys. is notable as it is still cited today and was the first calculation of the resistance between two points on an infinite 2D mesh.