Derek Dring

FOLLOWING the devastating fire in York Minster on July 9, 1984, Derek Dring of Leeds University helped North Yorkshire Fire Brigade investigate its cause.

The fire broke out in the early hours, and the brigade's forensic team concluded it was caused by a lightning strike.

A Chartered Engineer and Physicist, a member of the Institute of Physics and an Associate of Trinity College of Music in London, Derek Dring who has died aged 74 was a former chief instructor and administrator in the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Leeds.

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Brought up in the city, he went to Cockburn High School and Leeds College of Technology, later obtaining his M. Phil at the university.

He worked for more than a decade as an engineer and draughtsman in industry, punctuated by National Service in the Army, which he spent in charge of a training facility.

He joined the university staff of what was then the Department of Electrical Engineering at the end of 1963, and for over 35 years his working life revolved around the university. Although not having an academic background, he rapidly came to be seen as his own man, who adapted readily to academic ways, while his dedication and reliability were highly regarded.

He came to the department to help operate the laboratory; this was not simply a matter of making sure that apparatus was in good shape because he also took part in the supervision of students. His army training was evident in the discipline which he combined with the smooth organisation and running of the undergraduate laboratory classes.

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In the late 1960s, his career took on an added dimension with the appointment of Dr T E Allibone as an external professor. Chief Scientist of the Central Electricity Generating Board, he was eager to conduct research into high voltage technology.

But his was a part-time appointment and he needed somebody to make preparations for his visits and to assist in the work in the high voltage laboratory. Derek was detailed for the job and he and the professor made a formidable team. Perhaps it helped that both were Yorkshiremen, but there can be no doubt that Derek's self-discipline and meticulous approach enabled him to learn from Dr Allibone, to raise his level and to make significant contributions of his own.

Out of their work, which was internationally recognised, arose a joint project with a Romanian group and Derek made several visits to that country over the years.

Their remarkable collaboration lasted for more than a decade and following Dr Allibone's retirement, Derek Dring's contributions to research in high voltage continued into the late 1980s, but now with Dr Norman Allen, senior lecturer in the department.

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For a substantial part of his career, Derek was extremely active on professional committees, notably those of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), the primary professional body in the field.

After retiring from the university in 1999, Derek became director of education at Filtronic in Shipley, a company originally spawned from the Department. He also became the membership adviser for the Yorkshire region of the IEE (now the Institute of Engineering and Technology).

A man who respected convention but scorned the pretentious and specious, Derek Dring was orderly and self-disciplined. His committed, meticulous approach to the task in hand was seen in the care he took over students' work. A shrewd judge of character, his own was marked by a determination always to do the right thing.

He is survived by his wife Enid and their daughter Andrea and son

Steven.

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