Facilities and Equipment: The High Voltage Laboratory, cartoon from ELC magazine, 1935.
In 1928, whilst in the USA, Professor MacGregor-Morris inspected High-Tension facilities. The College realised it was a desirable facility to house, and would make them stand out from other universities in England.
‘The laboratory would be used for two purposes. It is understood that the BDIRA finds difficulty in obtaining facilities for experimental work at High Tension, and that Body would aid, and probably pay liberally for, research work carried out in the suggested laboratory.
It would be…of great help to those who had already graduated, and it is believed that a considerable number of postgraduate students interested in High Tension work would be attracted to the College.’
The College took up the matter with the Central Electricity Board which welcomed the proposal that a modern lab be set up at East London College; it would be ‘an asset of the utmost value’. In December 1930 the University agreed to a grant of £10,000 for the laboratory, yet had to postpone the construction whilst finding a site.