John Logie Baird, the first person to televise objects in motion, has been inducted into the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame, which was launched in 2011 by the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, and is supported by engineering institutions, trade bodies and museums.
Professor Malcolm Baird, the inventor’s son, said: “Scotland’s contributions to engineering are so great that it came as a surprise to me that the Hall of Fame has only been in existence for a few years. The descendants of John Logie Baird in Scotland and Canada are delighted that he has been included; we hope that the Hall of Fame will inspire bright young people to continue Scotland’s great tradition of engineering and innovation.”
Gordon Masterton, chairman and founder of the Hall of Fame, said: “Scotland can rightly claim to be one of the most important seed beds of great engineering accomplishments since the 16th century. John Logie Baird is one of Scotland’s outstanding examples of ingenuity, invention and perseverance.
“We would like to see the public participate in nominations for the Hall of Fame, especially if it expands our group of living engineers and women engineers. Citation forms can be downloaded from the Web site:
www.iesis.org.”Mr Baird was born in Helensburgh and educated at Larchfield Academy, the Royal Technical College and the University of Glasgow. He produced televised images in outline in 1924, transmitted recognisable human faces in 1925 and demonstrated the televising of moving objects in 1926 at the Royal Institution; he then demonstrated colour television in 1928.
On 30 September 1929, the BBC transmitted its first experimental television broadcast, using the Baird 30-line system. The last BBC transmission using the Baird system was made on 30 January 1937, and Baird Television Ltd went into receivership in 1939. Despite this, Mr Baird continued to innovate and ultimately held 178 patents.