Roman Emil Strub
Roman Emil Strub (1888-1944)
1946 Obituary [1]
ROMAN EMIL STRUB. whose death occurred in London on 4th August 1944, was one of the most outstanding designers of his time with a wide knowledge of engineering problems, and will be remembered for the many valuable contributions he made to the design and improvement of the oil engine during his long association with the firm of Messrs. W. H. Allen, Sons and Company, Ltd., of Bedford. He was born in Switzerland in 1888 and after a year's apprenticeship at the works of Messrs. Kendall and Gent, Ltd., Manchester, returned to the Continent to take a course of technical training at the universities of Zurich and Karlsruhe, and finally after a three years' course at Charlottenburg (where latterly he acted as assistant lecturer), he obtained his engineering diploma in 1914.
In the following year he received' an appointment with the Dentz Motoren Company, of Cologne, and was chiefly concerned with the design of petrol and compression-ignition engines. In 1919 he became research engineer to the Schweizerische Lokomotivand Maschinenfabrik at Winterthur. After holding this position for seven years he came to England to take up the appointment of chief engineer in the oil engine department of Messrs. W. H. Allen, where for fourteen years he worked on the design and improvement of the Allen oil engine. But in other directions also his versatility and powers of research were applied with considerable success, such as in dealing with problems connected with vibration and its elimination, and the enclosing of engines to reduce noise. He was further responsible for developments in structural design involving the use of cast iron and fabricated steel.
His knowledge of welding and the requirements of production was also directed to the design of electrical machinery and plant. In 1940 he accepted a position as designer to Messrs. British Auxiliaries, Ltd., at Govan, which he vacated three years later to become consulting engineer to Messrs. R. and H. Green and Silley, Weir and Company, in London. Mr. Strub was elected a Member of the Institution in 1935 and was also a Member of the Institution of Naval Architects.
He was a joint author of a paper on "Internal combustion engine transmissions for small craft" with Mr. R. J. Welsh, which was published in the JOURNAL in 1939.