Abstract
THE seventeenth annual report of the British Electrical and Allied Research Association (E.R.A.) proves that the research scientific worker is becoming indispensable to the industry. It is his work that enables the producer to acquire new principles, data and methods which he can embody in his technique and products. The producer passes these benefits on to the distributor, and finally the consumer derives benefits from greater efficiency, trustworthiness and utility. The work enables the industry to gain substantial immunity from breakdowns and the consequent and ever-present risk of black-outs and extensive damage. The activities of the Association are expanding very satisfactorily. Nearly half the research work of the E.R.A. is now conducted by its own staff. Its success is built up largely upon the gratuitously given labours of its eighty committees comprising about 500 voluntary workers. It carries out researches in co-operation with many scientific and engineering institutions. The principal income of the Association consists of the following annual grants: Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, £24,500 ; electricity supply undertakings, £32,932 ; manufacturers, £19,737. In addition, the Institution of Electrical Engineers gives £1,000 and so also does the B.B.C. The accounts show a surplus for the year of £13,500 after transferring £5,000 to the reserve account, but it is pointed out that practically all this sum is already required in connexion with particular researches in hand and is not available for next year's commitments. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and other important contributors are urging the Association to establish a more adequate reserve.
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Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association. Nature 141, 1050 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/1411050b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1411050b0