Meet our Alumni

Inventor of the automatic totalisator, Sir George Julius was also the first Chairman of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Julius studied mechanical engineering at Canterbury College in New Zealand before working as an assistant engineer at Western Australia Railways.

A keen inventor, he set about designing a mechanical vote counting machine. After the initial design was rejected he developed it for use in racecourse betting. He achieved this without ever having visited a racecourse. The first prototype of his automatic totalisator was installed at Auckland's Ellerslie racetrack in 1913. It was then adopted overseas and subsequently computerised by Julius's son Hawdry. A model was still in operation in London greyhound racing until 1987.

Julius received a knighthood in 1929 for his contribution to technology. He became a Senior Partner of Julius, Poole & Gibson, engineering consultants to State and Commonwealth governments. In 1926 he was selected by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce to become the first Chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, which later became the CSIRO. While the organisation was originally intended to concentrate its research on primary production, Julius turned its focus toward secondary industry. He remained as Chairman until 1945.

Julius held a number of commercial directorships and was prominent on several professional associations and Government committees related to science and invention. Most notably, he founded the Institution of Engineers and the Electrical Association of Australia. As President of the Electrical Association of Australia he was influential in the introduction of Australia-wide rules for electrical safety.