Ernest Vincent Pannell
Ernest Vincent Pannell (1866-1951) of the British Aluminium Co
1952 Obituary [1]
"ERNEST VINCENT PANNELL was an authority on the metallurgical uses of light alloys and their engineering properties, particularly in connection with automobile engines and chassis. He had been associated in managerial positions with the British Aluminium Company, Ltd., for many years.
He was born in London in 1886 and received his theoretical training in mechanical and electrical engineering at Northampton Institute, London, obtaining the diploma of the Institute in 1908. His apprenticeship was served during 1906 and 1907 at the Rugby works of the British Thomson-Houston Company, Ltd. After gaining experience of construction work with John Aird and Sons, contractors, Mr. Pannell joined the staff of the British Aluminium Company, Ltd., in London and began in 1911 to specialize on the development of aluminium and light alloys. Two years later he went to Canada to act as special engineer at the Toronto office of the British Aluminium Co and in 1916 was appointed manager there. This was followed in 1919 by a visit to the New York office of the same company to develop the use of aluminium alloys in the automobile trade and in the course of his stay he held consultations with the leading motor-car manufacturers of the United States. Subsequently he was appointed manager of the London Aluminium Company, Ltd., Witton, Birmingham, but returned to the head office of the British Aluminium Company, Ltd., in 1935 and from that date acted as outside technical representative, chiefly in the Midlands area.
In 1942 he received the appointment of manager of the British Aluminium Company's Birmingham branch, a position he retained until his retirement in 1946. Mr. Pannell had been a Member of the Institution of Automobile Engineers since 1930. He was also a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and of various technical institutions in the United States. He had contributed numerous articles to technical journals and was the author of a paper on "Continuous Current Railway Motors" which he presented before the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1916. He was also the author of "Magnesium : Its Production and. Use", and he revised Dr. Blugden's "Aluminium and its Alloys". His death occurred at Newton Abbot Hospital, Devon, on 9th May 1951."