ROBINSON A.R.

ROBINSON A.R. 24.04. 1921 San Antonio TX/USA 19.09. 1990 Oxford MS/USA August Robert Robinson began his career in federal service in 1947 with the US Geological Survey. He joined the US Department of Agriculture USDA in 1951. He held degrees in civil engineering from the University of Iowa, and Colorado State University. He also studied hydraulic engineering at University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls SAF Hydraulic Laboratory. Robinson was the director of the USDA Sedimentation Laboratory, Oxford MS, since 1969, from where he was transferred to the facilities at Beltsville MD, in 1974, where he was a specialist in erosion and sedimentation on the National Program Staff of Soil, Water and Air Service. While at Oxford, he was also a professor of civil engineering at the University of Mississippi. In 1979, Robinson became a consultant. Robinson published a number of papers and reports, mainly in agricultural engineering, covering topics including seepage, irrigation, discharge measurement structures, sand traps, open channel flow, and sediment transport and yield. He also was interested in the advance of water in furrows and the corresponding roughness characteristics of these irrigation channels. He proposed a trapezoidal-shaped flume for discharge measurement, which is still popular in agricultural engineering. In contrast to other designs, his flume appears to be not really economic, yet it has a high modular limit. Robinson was the recipient of the 1968 USDA Superior Service Award, and the 1980 Hancor Soil and Water Conservation Engineering Award. Anonymous (1974). Robinson, A.R. Agricultural Engineering 55(7): 30. P Anonymous (1991). Robinson Jr., August Robert. Trans. ASCE 156: 505-506. Kruse, E.G., Huntley, C.W., Robinson, A.R. (1965). Flow resistance in simulated irrigation borders and furrows. Conservation Research Report 3. USDA: Washington DC. Robinson, A.R. (1951). Artificial roughness in open channels. MS Thesis. Colorado State University: Fort Collins. Robinson, A.R. (1957). Report on trapezoidal measuring flumes for determining discharges in steep ephemeral streams. Colorado State University: Fort Collins CO. Robinson, A.R., Rohwer, C. (1957). Measurement of canal seepage. Trans. ASCE 122: 347-373. Robinson, A.R., Chamberlain, A.R. (1960). Trapezoidal flumes for open-channel flow measurement. Trans. American Society of Agricultural Engineers 3(2): 120-124. Robinson, A.R. (1962). Vortex tube sand trap. Trans. ASCE 127(3): 391-433. Robinson, A.R. (1971). Model study of scour from cantilevered outlets. Trans. ASAE 14: 571-581.

ROBINSON S.W. 06.03. 1838 South Reading VT/USA 31.10. 1910 Columbus OH/USA Stillman Williams Robinson received apprenticeship in a machine shop until 1859, and obtained the civil engineering degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI, in 1863. He worked as an instrument maker already during his education, inventing a machine for grading thermometers. He was until 1866 assistant engineer on US Lake surveys, was appointed instructor in civil engineering at his Alma Mater, continuing until 1870 as assistant professor of mining engineering and geodesy. Until 1878 he was professor of mechanical engineering and physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana IL, from when he continued in a similar position as professor at the Ohio State University, Columbus OH, until 1895, becoming professor emeritus in 1899. He was in the 1880s inspector of railways for Ohio State, and acted as consulting engineer for the Santa Fe Railway. Robinson was a prolific inventor, having taken more than forty patents on a variety of subjects. He improved in 1892 the Pitot tube for measuring local gas and fluid flow velocities, an instrument that was employed in most hydraulic laboratories until late of the 20th century for the exact total head reading. He also improved the transmission dynameter in 1898, the Robinson-Delmers hypodermic syringe in 1898, the RobinsonHitchcock automatic air brake mechanism in 1899, among many other. Robinson also was an active writer in scientific journals, and a book author. He contributed three volumes to the Van Nostrand’s Science Series, and revised several of the then existing volumes. He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science AAAS, acting as its vice-president. He was further member of the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE, Mechanical Engineers ASME, and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers SNAME. He was recipient of the 1892 ASCE Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize. Davis, J.B. (1912). Stillman W. Robinson: A memorial. Ohio State University: Columbus. P FitzSimons, N., ed. (1991). Robinson, Stillman W. (1991). A biographical dictionary of American civil engineers 2: 98. ASCE: New York. Robinson, S.W. (1876). Mathematical investigation of the use of floats in gaging rivers and streams. Hydrographic Report: 75-86. Water Commissioner: Detroit. Robinson, S.W. (1881). The flow of gases through tubes. Engineering Magazine 24: 370-377. Robinson, S.W. (1884). Compound steam pumping engines. Van Nostrand: NY. https://umhistory.dc.umich.edu/history/Faculty_History/R/Robinson,_Stillman_Williams.html P