Fibre composites: the weave of history

Abstract

Alan Windle, Head of the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at Cambridge, writes: This paper was delivered by Tony Kelly to mark the opening of the Gordon Laboratory for Composite Research, a joint venture at Cambridge of DERA and the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. The large audience included the Chief Executive of DERA, the Vice Chancellor of the University, and a number of distinguished visitors many of whom had played key roles in the establishment and development of composite materials. The topic, fibre composites, was very appropriate for the occasion. Moreover, the privilege of having as the inaugural lecturer Tony Kelly, one of the fathers of the science of composite materials, was especially apt. Much of his pioneering research into the mechanical properties of composites was carried out at Cambridge in the 1960s; Tony also knew Jim Gordon, and their diff erent yet complementary contributions established Britain as a leading player in the development of composites as advanced structural materials. Tony Kelly's lecture was the first of an annual series which will feature aspects of the science and technology of composites, and will be promoted in association with the DERA–Cambridge Gordon Laboratory. The series is already being referred to as the Kelly lectures.