David Macleish Smith was born in Elgin, Scotland, in 1900 . He was educated at Blairgowrie High School and the University of Glasgow, Scotland, graduating in 1920 with a BSc (Engineering). He also received, from the University of Glasgow, a DSc in 1932 for his thesis On the motion of a rotor carried by a flexible shaft in flexible bearings, and an honorary LLD in 1967. During the 1914-1918 World War, David Smith served as a private in the Gordon Highlanders, returning to his studies at Glasgow University when he was demobbed in 1919. His working career began in 1920 when he went to Manchester, England as an apprentice to Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company Ltd. He stayed with the company, which was later known as Associated Electrical Industries Ltd, until he retired in 1966 . At Metropolitan Vickers, he carried out pioneering work in the development of the first British axial flow jet engine for aircraft. He became a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (MIMechE) in 1938 and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS) in 1949. He was awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Aeronautical Society and was a founder Fellow of the Fellowship of Engineering. His publications included Journal Bearings in Turbomachinery, 1969 and various technical papers. David Smith died on 3 August 1986 .
From the guide to the Papers of David Macleish Smith, 1900-1986, consulting mechanical engineer, England, 1925-1987, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
