Abstract
THE Council of the Institution of Electrical Engineers has elected Mr. John Somerville Highfield, past-president, to be an honorary member of the Institution. This distinction has been conferred upon him in appreciation of his distinguished work in the development of the science of the supply and application of electricity. Mr. Highfield became chief engineer to Stafford and St. Helens, Lancashire, after which he was appointed chief engineer and manager of the Metropolitan Electric Supply Company. As senior partner in the firm of Highfield and Roger Smith, he later acted as consulting engineer for the Central Electricity Board and several large electricity undertakings and industries in Great Britain and abroad. He also became a director of the London Power Company, the London Associated Undertakings, the Central London Electricity Ltd., etc. Mr. Highfield originated the closed-bar system for switchgear, discovered the reason for the failure of high-voltage alternator windings, and introduced to England the Thury system of high-voltage D.C. constant-current generation and distribution. During the War of 1914–18 he demonstrated at sea the use of shrouded hydroplanes for submarine detection.
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Institution of Electrical Engineers: Honorary Member. Nature 155, 169 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/155169a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/155169a0