Ian Steele
STEELE, Ian William, BE FIEAust FIEE FAusIMM (1931-2003)
Ian was born in Sydney, on January 2, 1931, the son of chemist Maxwell Campbell Steele and his wife Letitia Margaret Steele nee Campbell. His father had been attacked by a shark at North Bondi in 1928 and had a leg amputated. Ian grew up in Mt Kiera Road, Wollongong. His secondary education was at Wollongong High School completing his Junior Certificate in 1945 and Leaving Certificate in 1947.
Ian commenced a Diploma of Electrical Engineering at the Wollongong Technical College in 1948.
In 1951, a Division of the University of New South Wales was established in Wollongong to train engineers and metallurgists for the steel industry. This enabled Ian to graduate with a Bachelor of Engineering in 1952.
In 1957 he married Pauline Gaillard in Surrey England. They returned to Australia in October 1957, to live in Wollongong. They had four children.
He joined Merz and McLellan by 1961 and was working in Melbourne for them in 1965.
By 1968, he was in Western Australia where he was Managing Partner for Merz and McLellan.
From September 1994 to January 1995 he was Acting Chairman of the WA State Supply Commission.
He became a Student Member of the Institution of Engineers in 1951, a Graduate Member in 1954 and became a Member in 1958. By 1977, Ian became a Fellow of the Institution. He was Chairman of the Western Australian Division of the Institution of Engineers in 1977. A copy of his retiring Chairman's address titled Power in Perspective is available here. He was also a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
From 1984 to 1986, Ian was the Chairman of the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia WA Chapter.
Ian died in Perth on July 11, 2003, aged 72.
References:
The Sun Sydney, 24.1.1946, p. 8.
South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 15.1.1948, p. 5.
South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 15.1.1953, p. 9.
