Frank Newby considered that the engineer's role should be to be a tool of the architect. The architect's job was to use that tool appropriately. Used properly, an engineer could make a positive contribution to the development of a design.

Using his preliminary sketches and calculations for a number of jobs, David Yeoman's talk will explore the interaction between Frank Newby and some of the architects he worked with, showing where he made a positive contribution to their designs.

David Yeomans sees himself as a teacher, a historian and an engineer. He has taught in schools of architecture and published widely on historical topics. His recent book 'How Structures Work' is an exercise in all three of his chosen roles, written to explain building structures to architectural historians (and to architects as well).