My father, Ivor Smith, who has died aged 92, personified the benefits of widening access to higher education. Having left school aged 15, and started work at the General Electric Company in Birmingham, he managed to gain the necessary qualifications for university admission and eventually became professor of electrical power engineering at Loughborough University, where he also served as head of the electronic and electrical engineering department, dean of engineering and pro-vice-chancellor.
He wrote or contributed to more than 450 technical papers and served on the MoD’s Defence Scientific Advisory Council. In 1988 he was elected fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Ivor was born in Birmingham, the son of Elsie (nee Underhill) and Howard Smith, and left school without even being entered for any school-leaver qualifications. The 1940s was an era of heavily segregated education; the assumption at institutions such as Handsworth technical school, where he went, was that all boys would ply their trade as industrial apprentices.
That was indeed Ivor’s focus for the next few years, working at the General Electric Company’s sprawling Witton campus, where his father was employed. But two university students undertaking industrial placement inspired him with tales of academic endeavour, and the chance encounter changed his life.
For the next few years, any spare moments were devoted to securing his Ordinary School Certificate and Higher National Certificate (the equivalents of today’s GCSEs and A-levels) – prerequisites for university admission.
He then gained BSc and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from Bristol University, as well as a DSc from Birmingham University, where he was appointed a lecturer in 1959.
In 1974 he joined Loughborough University, where he remained for the rest of his career. His pioneering research focused on the production, conditioning and utilisation of large pulses of electrical power. The work done by the Plasma and Pulsed Power Research Group that he founded led to Loughborough becoming pre-eminent in the field. He and his colleagues had security clearance to undertake classified projects for the Ministry of Defence and Nato, collaborating extensively with other universities.
Ivor was instrumental in many technological innovations including magnetically insulating high-voltage transformers, pulsed power generation for high-impedance loads, multiple-phase twin-output, high-voltage generation, and unconventional microwave generation. The research had many bio-medical applications, including contactless methods for cancer treatment using intense pulsed electric fields, pre-packed solid food processing using a non-invasive technology, and processing and recovering precious metals from electronic waste.
He continued working daily at Loughborough University until his late 80s. Throughout, he remained an avid supporter of Aston Villa FC and Warwickshire county cricket club.
He is survived by his wife, Pamela (nee Voake), whom he married in 1962, his three sons, Andrew, Michael and me, and six grandchildren.
