Home › Colleges & Schools▻College of Science and Engineering▻School of Engineering▻Electrical and Electronic Engineering▻Electricity & NUI Galway

Electricity & NUI Galway

NUI Galway has a long association with developments in Electricity.

George Johnstone Stoney, who was born in 1826 near Birr, Co. Offaly and was Professor of Natural Philosophy at Queen's College, Galway (now the National University of Ireland, Galway) from 1852-1857, was the proposer of the term ' electron' to describe the fundamental unit of electrical charge, and his contributions to research in this area laid the foundations for the eventual discovery of the particle by J.J. Thomson in 1897.


‌Alexander Anderson, who was born in 1858 in Co. Derry and was Professor of Natural Philosophy at Queen's College, Galway from 1885 to his retirement in 1934, was the inventor of an important instrumentation circuit, now called the Anderson Bridge, used for the measurement of inductance. Anderson developed his innovative circuit during his 50 years at the University and during this time also wrote prolifically on induction and potential difference. More than a century after its inception, the " Anderson Bridge" remains the first choice for accurate measurement of inductance.