Stanley Alexander Ambrose

Stanley Alexander Ambrose
(1926 - )

Prepared by Jill Willis, April 2006 from an oral history interview conducted on 11 August.1997

Stanley Ambrose was born on 21 July, 1926 in Melbourne. His father was a jeweller and engraver.

Between 1932 and 1942 he attended Coburg State School and Coburg High School.

After leaving school, Ambrose joined the Public Service as a clerk in the Correspondence Branch, and upon turning 18 left to join the RAAF as a Flight Mechanic where he topped the Flight Mechanics Course. Upon leaving the RAAF Ambrose rejoined the Public Service, applied for a post-war reconstruction training course in engineering and commenced study at Melbourne University in March 1946 where he developed an interest in welding and in 1949 graduated with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering.

Ambrose’s first job was with C.O.R. (Colonial Oil Refineries, later BP) as a Design Engineer where he designed road tankers, rail tank car handling equipment, fluid handling systems, especially for heavy oils, the boiler plant and heat exchangers at Port Melbourne, pipelines and mixing systems; he also investigated exotropic materials handling. As Resident Engineer he was responsible for the erection of large storage tanks and associated piping and was involved in conversion of a landing barge to an oil lighter. Ambrose developed a great respect for welders.

Ambrose then joined the Navy, primarily to further his interest in welding. He was stationed at the Navy Office at St Kilda working with the Principal Naval Architect and the Principal Mechanical Engineer and providing advice on matters such as materials, corrosion and welding. Around 1957 Ambrose became interested in underwater gas cylinders.

In 1962 he accepted an invitation to join the Standards Association in Sydney to help solve their pressure vessel problems and to develop new standards for boilers and pressure vessels. It was at his suggestion that research be done on cold stretched pressure vessels, and he also carried out development work on them.

Ambrose left the Standards Association in 1969 when he was asked to join the Australian Welding Research Association as Chief Engineer working for Sir William Hudson. Once more, Ambrose’s main aim was to gain more information about welding. Among his achievements were: acting as a “troubleshooter” for the industry, as well as helping to develop research on welding; provision of information for the hot tapping of the main Gidgealpa to Adelaide pipeline; ultrasonic checks on power station drum nozzles; fixed shell fatigue cracks in Queensland Alumina mills.

Ambrose’s was next asked to join NSW Department of Labour & Industry as Chief Inspector to help in the application of standards and technology. One of the challenges was to correct the over-inspection of pressure equipment in boilers in NSW. Ambrose also spent a 12-month period as Assistant Director of Major Hazards, during which time he was seconded as Chief Inspector of Dangerous Goods and became involved in the problem of whether fireworks should be controlled or banned. The solution was to control their sale and a retail firework ban was implemented.

Among the various international conferences Ambrose attended were TC 11 in New York in 1967, an International Standards Conference in Stockholm in 1970 and in 1996 the 8th International Conference on Pressure Vessel Technology. In 1981 Ambrose organised the IEA Conference on Pressure Vessels which included quality management principles. In 1986 he was invited to lecture in China.

Following his retirement in 1989, Ambrose was offered a position as a Director of Cryofab, a major pressure vessel manufacturer. He saw this as an opportunity to introduce new ideas into the system and became involved in research into the development of Australia’s first liquefied natural gas fuel vessel.

After retirement Ambrose worked on various consultancies and between 2001 and 2006 worked on a research project for Australian Gas Association on the development of high-pressure-gas cylinders.

In 2006, Ambrose was also heavily involved in the latest development of design for LPG vessels for use in vehicles to avoid explosions, and also in the setting up of ACIP, the Australian Institute for the Certification of Inspection Personnel . Ambrose was a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australa and the Welding Technology Institute of Australia. He was also a member of many other groups and committees including: Institute of Metals and Materials Australia; founding member of Australian Institute for Non-Destructive Testing 1973; SA/NZS Committee ME/1 Pressure Equipment; SA/NZS S/Committee ME/1/3 Pressure Vessels; International Committee on Pressure Vessel Technology; WTIA Panel 1 Pressure Vessels; PEAC-ANZ Pressure Equipment Advisory Committee – Australia/New Zealand; AICIP Chairman National Panel of Examiners for In-service Inspectors of Pressure Equipment; Chairman, SAA Mechanical Standards Board; Engine Drivers and Boiler Attendants Board; WTIA NSW Division; IEAust National Committee on Applied Mechanics; Australian Institute for the Certification of Inspection Personnel. From the Welding Technology Institute of Australia, he received the Florence Taylor Award in 1977 and the Wilfred Chapman Award in 1995. From Standards Australia he received the Standards Award in 1993. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to mechanical engineering in standards for pressure equipment in 1997.

Stanley and his wife Barbara had three sons - Greg, Warren and Roger.

To access an oral history interview with Stanley Ambrose please use this link:'

https://heritage.engineersaustralia.org.au/wiki/Oral_Histories_Sydney