OBITUARY

Dr Leonard John Hart-Smith died on 13/12/2024

Dr Leonard John Hart-Smith – known as John – was elected to the Academy in 1998 in recognition of his role as a world leader on composite materials manufacturing and design.

At the time of his election, John was recognised globally for his innovative research on the analysis of adhesively bonded joints in both metallic and advanced fibre composite structures.

His many seminal publications in the scientific literature also led to a series of computer programs used extensively around the world in critical aircraft design, including on the F/A-18 Hornet.

Over the course of his career, he spent many years in the United States as an engineer with Douglas Aircraft, and later, with Boeing. Even after his retirement in 2008, he continued as a consultant advising on planes including the 787 Dreamliner.

Throughout his career, he was considered an expert on composites manufacturing technology with an almost innate understanding of stress and mechanical behaviours in aircraft materials. Right up to his death, he was working on papers about how thin-shell structures like airplane fuselages buckle under pressure. 

Dr John Hart-Smith is recognised.as the world leader for his innovative research on the analysis of adhesively bonded joints in both metallic and advanced fibre composite structures.

His work has resulted in many seminal publications in the scientific literature and in a series of computer programs used extensively world-wide in critical aircraft design, such as the critical wing-root splice on the F/A-18 Hornet.

He is also recognised as an expert on composites manufacturing technology and mechanical behaviour and has proposed new and innovative composite failure theories which should lead to simplified and more reliable design procedures.

Dr John-Hart Smith's expertise is regularly sought and applied around the world, and in Australia.