Alan Dunlop Foster
Alan Dunlop Foster (c1897-1948)
1949 Obituary [1]
"ALAN DUNLOP FOSTER, M.Sc., whose untimely death occurred at Abadan on 9th August 1948, at the age of fifty-one, was the chief power engineer of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in Iran.
He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was gazetted to the King's Own Scottish Borderers in 1916. He saw service in France and was wounded. He resigned his commission in 1919 and took a four years' course of study at Durham University, where he graduated B.Sc., with first-class honours in electrical and mechanical engineering in 1923. He obtained his M.Sc. degree a year later. His apprenticeship was served during his vacations, with Messrs. Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., of Wallsend, and with the English Electric Co, of Stafford, from 1923 to 1926.
He then gained experience in the London office of the Perak River Hydro-Electric Power Co as assistant to the executive officer during the next four years. After acting as assistant engineer in the supply department of the Central Electricity Board he went to Iran in 1932 to take up an appointment as a senior electrical engineer, and for the next six years held with great ability a number of important posts including those of fields electrical engineer and deputy chief electrical engineer. In 1938 he was appointed superintendent of technical training, in which position he rendered valuable services to the Company. On the completion of this appointment he served on the management at Abadan, advising on technical problems connected with the power, steam, and water services. His investigations and advisory reports were of great assistance in maintaining the maximum efficiency of these vital services. Mr. Foster was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1936 and was transferred to Membership in 1943. He was also a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers."