P007078 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

All key entry types: Awards; Concepts; Corporate Bodies (Organisations); Cultural Artefacts; People; etc

These key entries are listed separately below with other indexes and lists.

 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 2022-08-31 human Ken McInnes updated 2026-05-13 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P007078b.htm person Isaacs David Victor MBE AACR2 26 September 1904 18 September 1991 Place of Birth St.Kilda, Victoria, Australia Place of Death late of Pymble, New South Wales, Australia Civil engineer David Victor Isaacs, MBE MCE MInstCE FIEAust, civil engineer, was recognised for his pioneering work on electric welding and concrete pile design; his consulting work on several major bridges; his contribution to the recovery of gold bullion from the sunken RMS Niagara during the Second World War; and his key role as Director of the Commonwealth Experimental Building Station (CEBS) from its inception in 1944 until his retirement in 1969. He published a large number of research papers that changed the practice of design and construction of buildings and structures, both within Australia and overseas. The 'David Victor Isaacs Prize', a student prize in the School of Engineering, University of Melbourne, is named in his memory.

Some Associated Engineering Works:

* 1929 Railway viaducts at Glenroy and Albion, Victoria;
* 1929 Spencer Street Bridge, Melbourne;
* 1934c. Consulting engineer, Public Works Department, Tasmania. [As a specialist consultant on electric welding];
* 1934 Bridge over Nive River, West Coast Road, Tasmania;
* 1935 Box Hill Town Hall, Victoria;
* 1938c. Bridgewater Bridge, Tasmania.

1923 1923 Career event - Student Member (StudIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia 1926 1926 Education - Bachelor of Civil Engineering (BCE), University of Melbourne 1926 1926 Award - The "Argus" Civil engineering Scholarship, University of Melbourne 1927 1927 Education - Master of Civil Engineering (MCE), University of Melbourne 1929 1929 Career event - Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia 1930 1930 Career position - Senior Demonstrator, Road Materials Testing, Civil engineering, University of Melbourne c. 1933 c. 1937 Career position - Engineer, Scott & Furphy consulting engineers [Design of welded bridges and buildings] 1935 1935 Career event - Scientific Research Grant, Welding of Joints [With Wilfrid Dinsey Chapman] 1937 1937 Award - Warren Memorial Prize, Institution of Engineers Australia 1938 1944 Career position - Consulting engineer, Public Works Department, Tasmania [As a specialist consultant on electric welding] c. 1940 c. 1940 Career event - Associate Member (AssocMInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London 1941 c. 1944 Military service - Lieutenant, Reserve List, Australian Military Forces c. 1943 1944 Career position - Special technical officer, Allied Works Council 1944 1944 Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia 1944 1969 Career position - Director, Commonwealth Experimental Building Station (CEBS), Ryde, New South Wales c. 1950 c. 1950 Career event - Member (MInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London 1966 1966 Award - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) - for service as Director of the Experimental Building Station 13 Sep 1968 13 Sep 1968 Career event - Fellow (FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia [Former Members were designated Fellows on this date.] 1969 1969 Life event - Retired Chapman, Wilfrid Dinsey (1891 - 1955)

Chapman and Isaacs were both pioneers and leaders in the development and application of electric arc welding in structures, and together in 1935 received a scientific research grant, to enable them to further research the welding of joints.

 Allied Works Council (1942 - 1945)

Special technical officer, Allied Works Council c1943 - 1945

 Frazer, Leonard Thomas (Len) (1908 - 1968)

Isaacs, then with Scott and Furphy, supported Len Frazer's application for AMIEAust 1937

 W. H. Warren Medal, Institution of Engineers, Australia (1926 - )

Awarded Warren Memorial Prize 1937, for the paper "The distribution of stresses in fillet welds", Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, vol.8, no.8, Aug 1936, pp.286-294.

 Commonwealth Experimental Building Station (CEBS) (1944 - 1988)

David Isaacs was the Director of CEBS from 1944 until 1969.

 R. W. Chapman Medal, Institution of Engineers, Australia (1935 - )

Awarded special commendation 1936, for the paper "The distribution of stresses in fillet welds", Journal of the Institution of Engineers Australia, vol.8, no.8, Aug 1936, pp.286-294.

 Scott and Furphy (1933 - 1991)

Structural engineer, c1933 - c1937.

 'Isaacs, David Victor', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Isaacs, David Victor Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Journal Article: 19th Annual General Meeting - Minutes [Melbourne, 21st March 1939] Institution of Engineers Australia 19th Annual General Meeting - Minutes [Melbourne, 21st March 1939] 1939 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 11 4 146-147 Journal Article: Prizes of the Institution [Warren Memorial Prize 1937, Edward Noyes Prize 1934] Prizes of the Institution [Warren Memorial Prize 1937, Edward Noyes Prize 1934] 1938 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 10 11 423-424 Journal Article: Reinforced concrete pile formulae (Discussions and communications) Isaacs, D. V. (Jamieson, L. N.; Perrin, C. H.) Reinforced concrete pile formulae (Discussions and communications) 1932 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 4 3 91-93 Journal Article: Nineteenth Annual Report [1938] Institution of Engineers Australia Nineteenth Annual Report [1938] 1939 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia MacLean, E. S. 11 2 67-86 Journal Article: The effect of welding variables on the physical properties of electric arc weld metals (Discussions and communications) Blackwood, Robert Rutherford (Isaacs, D. V.; Telford, W. M.) The effect of welding variables on the physical properties of electric arc weld metals (Discussions and communications) 1936 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 8 1 14 Journal Article: The distribution of stresses in fillet welds (Discussions and communications) Isaacs, D. V. (Gibson, W. H. H.) The distribution of stresses in fillet welds (Discussions and communications) 1937 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 9 6 229-232 Journal Article: The distribution of stresses in fillet welds (Discussions and communications) Isaacs, D. V. (Koerner, C. F.; Gibson, W. H. H.) The distribution of stresses in fillet welds (Discussions and communications) 1937 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 9 11 443-444 Journal Article: The distribution of stresses in fillet welds (Discussions and communications) Isaacs, D. V. (Koerner, C. F.) The distribution of stresses in fillet welds (Discussions and communications) 1939 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 11 2 52 Journal Article: Reinforced concrete pile formulae (Discussions and communications) Isaacs, D. V. (Sexton, C. W. N.; Laing, J. A.; Mulholland, J.) Reinforced concrete pile formulae (Discussions and communications) 1932 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 4 8 284-287 Book: The End was to Build Well: a Half-century of Australian Government Building Research Bock, Geoff The End was to Build Well: a Half-century of Australian Government Building Research North Ryde, New South Wales CSIRO, Division of Building, Construction and Engineering 1995 Journal Article: Prestressed concrete. Overload behaviour Isaacs, D. V. Prestressed concrete. Overload behaviour 1953 Constructional Review 26 4 19-24 Journal Article: The distribution of stresses in fillet welds Isaacs, D. V. The distribution of stresses in fillet welds 1936 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 8 8 286-294 Journal Article: Principles of design of welded structures - III. Isaacs, D. V. Principles of design of welded structures - III. 1934 Commonwealth Engineer 22 1 18-22 Journal Article: Principles of design of welded structures - II. Isaacs, D. V. Principles of design of welded structures - II. 1934 Commonwealth Engineer 21 12 387-391 Journal Article: Principles of design of welding structures Isaacs, D. V. Principles of design of welding structures 1934 Commonwealth Engineer 21 10 291-296 Journal Article: Design of welded steelwork in Bridgewater Bridge, Tasmania Isaacs, D. V. Design of welded steelwork in Bridgewater Bridge, Tasmania 1941 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 13 12 279-286 Journal Article: Reinforced concrete pile formulae Isaacs, D. V. Reinforced concrete pile formulae 1931 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 3 9 305-323 Journal Article: Spencer Street Bridge, III - Design Isaacs, D. V. Spencer Street Bridge, III - Design 1930 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 2 5 149-163 Journal Article: People - Dr. Keith (Bill) Bradfield; Geoffrey Coates; Prof John Crisp; Colin Seckington, Dr Vaughan Beck; Obituary: David Isaacs Institution of Engineers Australia People - Dr. Keith (Bill) Bradfield; Geoffrey Coates; Prof John Crisp; Colin Seckington, Dr Vaughan Beck; Obituary: David Isaacs 1991 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 63 20 23 Journal Article: Railway viaducts on the Albion-Broadmeadows Line Chapman, W. D. Railway viaducts on the Albion-Broadmeadows Line 1930 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 2 6 189-197