British Rayon Research Association

rdf:langString British Rayon Research Association

rdf:langString The British Rayon Research Association was a research institute formed in 1946 by the British Rayon Federation and others. It was funded by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and by voluntary funds from industry to investigate the chemical and physical properties of rayon and rayon fabrics, using a wide range of laboratory and theoretical methods. John Wilson, who was its Director from 1948 to 1958 was appointed a CBE for his work at the BRRA. It was located near Ringway Airport in Manchester, initially, and then at Heald Green near Manchester after 1955. Work from the Association included academic publication, that included papers by Leslie Treloar in the journal Polymer. The BRRA sponsored Andrew Donald Booth's early research into computing at Birkbeck and was home to the first of his All Purpose Electronic Computers built in 1952 Under Wilson's leadership, the staff of BRRA grew to nearly 300 and gained an international reputation in textiles research. The BRRA also offered annual Technological Scholarships in the Departments of Textiles at the University of Manchester and the University of Leeds. The Duke of Edinburgh opened the new BRRA laboratory at Heald Green on 11 May 1955. It cost £500,000. British Pathé filmed footage of research, at BRRA, on the strength of fabrics. John Wilson was succeeded by Leonard Albert Wiseman in 1958.