Vale Edwin Joseph Anthony Armarego
[ UniNews Vol. 12, No. 11
30 June - 14 July 2003 ] By Alan Smith
(March 1935 May 2003)
Eddie Armarego was a person who did not have much time for those who talk about standards and excellence rather he preferred to get on with showing excellence in all that he did. His favourite saying was just do it.
Edwin Armarego (right), simply Eddie to his friends, colleagues and acquaintances and Boss to appreciative postgraduate students, was a man of great passion and little pretension. His research in machining science is internationally recognised as being of the highest order and he certainly fulfils the motto of this University: he will grow in the esteem of future generations.
Eddie arrived in Australia in 1957 as a first class honours BSc(Eng) graduate of the University of London to take a graduate position at Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, Fishermens Bend. He joined the University of Melbourne in 1958 as a drawing office tutor (assistant lecturer) and went on to complete a research Masters (1961), a PhD (1970) and gain promotion to reader in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (1972).
Internationally, Eddie is probably best known for his 1969 book The Machining of Metals a classic in its field which has been translated into Russian and Chinese. It is still used as a graduate reference in the USA, although out of print for a number of years.
Eddie won $2.3 million in competitive research grants and supervised more than 50 higher degree research projects, almost half being successful PhDs. His standing was such that respected overseas researchers would send their children to Melbourne to undertake postgraduate research under Eddies supervision. Eddie was passionate about teaching, regularly ranking highly in student surveys.
In 1980 Eddie was elected to the exclusive International Institution for Production Research in Paris. In 1989 he was elected Honorary Member of the elite Chinese Society of Metal Cutting for Universities and in 1992 received an Honorary Professorship at a major university in the Peoples Republic of China.
He was promoted to Professorial Research Fellow at Melbourne in 2000 in , recognition of his contributions to the University and to international research.
Eddie represented the University on seven national standards and the country on two international standards in his field. He served on the editorial boards of five international journals, was a degree course advisor to Australian and overseas tertiary institutions and a keynote speaker at more than 20 international conferences.
Internationally he is sorely missed for his research and leadership, his plain talk and humour and his wonderful company. But, in the words of a US professorial colleague, Eddie leaves behind a great legacy, the machining empire that he built and promoted with very many scientific models and validation techniques, and the great people he helped through his mentorship and support.
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