Harold Chestnut
Encyclopedia
Harold Chestnut (25 November 1917, Albany
- Schenectady, NY 29 August 2001) was an American electrical engineer, who contributed to the development of the fields of control theory
and systems engineering
.
at MIT and received a B.S.
degree in 1939 and a M.S.
degree in 1940. In that same year he began a life-long career with the General Electric Company, which would last until his retirement in 1983. He married his wife Erma Ruth Callaway Chestnut in 1944 and they had three sons.
During the Second World War Chestnut was both a student and an instructor in General Electric's well-known Advanced Engineering Program. He worked on the design of the central fire-control system and remotely controlled gunturrets used on the B-29 aircraft. Later he worked in the Aeronautics and Ordnance Department and the Systems Engineering and Analysis branch of the Advanced Technology Laboratory, where he served as manager from 1956 to 1972. Here he worked on a wide variety of technical problems including reliability issues in rapid transit and the Apollo mission to the moon
. Later in his career he returned to the field of electric power
. This time the focus was power systems automation.
From 1957 to 1959 he was the first president of the International Federation of Automatic Control
(IFAC). After his term as president he chaired the technical board, from 1961 to 1966 and the Systems Engineering
technical committee for another three years. He served as honorary editor from 1969 to 1972 and was the first advisor appointed for life in 1984. Chestnut was also involved in the IEEE since its establishment in 1963 and served as president in 1973. He was active in the formation of the IEEE History Center and the International Federation of Automatic Control.
In 1961 Chestnut edited Automatica: The International Journal on Automatic Control and Automation. He also became editor of a John Wiley book series on systems engineering
and analysis. In this series Chestnut published his own books.
In the 1980s and 1990s after retirement he created the "Supplemental Ways of Improving International Stability (SWIIS) Foundation" to identify and implement "supplemental ways to improve international stability". He devoted those years to this effort in which he applied principles from the control field, such as stability and feedback, to international political realities.
Harold Chestnut received many awards: In 1966 he received an Honorary Doctorate in engineering from Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland, and in 1972 from Villanova University. In 1984 he won the IEEE Centennial Medal
and in 1985 the AACC Bellman Heritage Award. Chestnut further in 1981 received the prestigious Honda Prize for ecotechnology, with it a substantial financial award from the Japan’s Honda Foundation. He was further a Fellow of the AIEE, ISA, and AAAS. He was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 1974 and selected as a Case Centennial Scholar in 1980.
In 1998 Harold Chestnut and the Chestnut Family provided a gift to IFAC for the IFAC Textbook Prize. The income from this generous gift is used to fund the award for an outstanding textbook author recognized at each IFAC Congress.
, control theory
and systems engineering
.
Articles:
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
- Schenectady, NY 29 August 2001) was an American electrical engineer, who contributed to the development of the fields of control theory
Control theory
Control theory is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering and mathematics that deals with the behavior of dynamical systems. The desired output of a system is called the reference...
and systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
.
Biography
Harold Chestnut was born in 1918. He studied electrical engineeringElectrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
at MIT and received a B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in 1939 and a M.S.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degree in 1940. In that same year he began a life-long career with the General Electric Company, which would last until his retirement in 1983. He married his wife Erma Ruth Callaway Chestnut in 1944 and they had three sons.
During the Second World War Chestnut was both a student and an instructor in General Electric's well-known Advanced Engineering Program. He worked on the design of the central fire-control system and remotely controlled gunturrets used on the B-29 aircraft. Later he worked in the Aeronautics and Ordnance Department and the Systems Engineering and Analysis branch of the Advanced Technology Laboratory, where he served as manager from 1956 to 1972. Here he worked on a wide variety of technical problems including reliability issues in rapid transit and the Apollo mission to the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. Later in his career he returned to the field of electric power
Electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
. This time the focus was power systems automation.
From 1957 to 1959 he was the first president of the International Federation of Automatic Control
International Federation of Automatic Control
The International Federation of Automatic Control , founded in September 1957, is a multinational federation of , each one representing the engineering and scientific societies concerned with automatic control in its own country.The aim of the Federation is to promote the science and technology of...
(IFAC). After his term as president he chaired the technical board, from 1961 to 1966 and the Systems Engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
technical committee for another three years. He served as honorary editor from 1969 to 1972 and was the first advisor appointed for life in 1984. Chestnut was also involved in the IEEE since its establishment in 1963 and served as president in 1973. He was active in the formation of the IEEE History Center and the International Federation of Automatic Control.
In 1961 Chestnut edited Automatica: The International Journal on Automatic Control and Automation. He also became editor of a John Wiley book series on systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
and analysis. In this series Chestnut published his own books.
In the 1980s and 1990s after retirement he created the "Supplemental Ways of Improving International Stability (SWIIS) Foundation" to identify and implement "supplemental ways to improve international stability". He devoted those years to this effort in which he applied principles from the control field, such as stability and feedback, to international political realities.
Harold Chestnut received many awards: In 1966 he received an Honorary Doctorate in engineering from Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland, and in 1972 from Villanova University. In 1984 he won the IEEE Centennial Medal
IEEE Centennial Medal
The IEEE Centennial Medal was a medal minted and awarded in 1984 to celebrate the Centennial of the founding of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1884.The medal obverse shows 1884 in calligraphic writing and 1984 in an LCD font...
and in 1985 the AACC Bellman Heritage Award. Chestnut further in 1981 received the prestigious Honda Prize for ecotechnology, with it a substantial financial award from the Japan’s Honda Foundation. He was further a Fellow of the AIEE, ISA, and AAAS. He was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 1974 and selected as a Case Centennial Scholar in 1980.
In 1998 Harold Chestnut and the Chestnut Family provided a gift to IFAC for the IFAC Textbook Prize. The income from this generous gift is used to fund the award for an outstanding textbook author recognized at each IFAC Congress.
Work
Harold Chestnut worked in the fields of controlControl system
A control system is a device, or set of devices to manage, command, direct or regulate the behavior of other devices or system.There are two common classes of control systems, with many variations and combinations: logic or sequential controls, and feedback or linear controls...
, control theory
Control theory
Control theory is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering and mathematics that deals with the behavior of dynamical systems. The desired output of a system is called the reference...
and systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
.
Publications
Harold Chestnut published several articles and books, a selection:- 1951. Servomechanisms and Regulating Systems Design. Vol. 1, with R.W. Mayer, Wiley.
- 1955. Servomechanisms and Regulating Systems Design. Vol. 2, with R.W. Mayer, Wiley.
- 1965. Systems Engineering Tools. Wiley.
- 1967. Systems Engineering Methods. Wiley.
Articles:
- 1970. "Information requirements for systems understanding". In: IEEE Trans. Syst. Sci. Cybern.. Vol. SSC-6. pp. 3–12, Jan. 1970.
Further reading
- Stephen Kahne (2002). "Harold Chestnut, First IFAC President". In: Automatica, June 2002, Volume 38, No. 6.
- U. Luoto et al. (1978). "20 Years Old; 20 years Young". In: AUTOMATICA. Vol. 14, pp 49–75, 1978.
- In memoriam - Harold Chestnut (1918-2001), in: Control Systems Magazine, IEEE, Volume 22, Issue 2, Apr 2002 Pp. 87 – 87.
- "In memoriam—Harold Chestnut". In: IEEE the current source. Vol 28, no 1, April 2002.