Born: 15 February 1917, United Kingdom
Died: 18 October 2014
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: Kathleen Rachel White
This biography has been shared from The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, published by the Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Rachel Makinson was a Chief Research Officer, CSIRO Division of Textile Physics 1979-1982. She was a known authority in textile physics, particularly in wool felting friction and shrink proofing. Earlier she was Senior Principal Research Scientist 1971-1977, and Chief Research Scientist 1977-1982 in the Division, beginning her work there in 1953. She was originally employed by CSIR Division of Radiophysics during WWII from 1945.
Chronology
1939
Education – Bachelor of Arts (BA), Newnham College, Cambridge, UK
1939 – 1941
Career position – Research Assistant in Physics, University of Sydney
1941 – 1944
Career position – Assistant Lecturer, University of Melbourne
1944 – 1945
Career position – CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) Radiophysics Laboratory
1945 – 1950
Career position – Division of Physics, National Standards Laboratory
1950 – 1952
Career position – ICI Research Fellow in Electrical engineering, University of Leeds
1953 – 1955
Career position – CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Division of Textile Physics
1957 – 1961
Career position – CSIRO Division of Textile Physics
1961 – 1963
Career position – Visiting Scientist, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge
1964 – 1982
Career position – CSIRO Division of Textile Physics
1970
Education – Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Newnham College, Cambridge
1971 – 1977
Career position – Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Textile Physics
1977 – 1982
Career position – Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Textile Physics
1979 – 1982
Career position – Assistant Chief of Division of Textile Physics, CSIRO
1981 – 1987
Award – Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences (FTS)
1982
Award – Member of the Order of Australia (AM) – for public service
1987
Award – Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) [Awarded by AATS 1981]
1 Jan 2001
Award – Centenary Medal – for service to Australian society in textile physics