When James McHarg started studying engineering at the-then Royal Technical College in Glasgow in 1916, he could have had no way of knowing his son, grandson and the great grandson he would never meet would follow in his footsteps.
At the age of just 15 he started an incredible family association with the University of Strathclyde which has seen four generations study here in the institution’s various forms across more than 100 years, with the latest McHarg graduating this week.
James, who died in 1978 and his son and grandson – both also called Jim – studied Mechanical Engineering, while the family’s latest alumnus, Blair is part of the Class of 2019 and graduated in Chemical Engineering.
Blair’s grandfather Jim, who was the second generation to come to Strathclyde, and was awarded his Mechanical Engineering degree in 1960, said:
My father would have been very pleased to know that the family still continues to pursue Engineering as a career, but equally he would be delighted and happy to see his grandson and great grandson being successful in any other discipline.
I have a record that my father attended Evening Classes at the Technical College Glasgow at the age of 15 and completed his studies there, gaining a Senior Certificate which was probably the Higher National Certificate of its time.
Jim, 83, was brought up in Govanhill and himself came to the college after he completed a day release scheme at Paisley Technical College while an engineering apprentice at Renfrew firm Babcock and Wilcox, like his own father.
In October 1956 he was chosen to join a four year course at the Royal College and added: “I enjoyed my own studies at Strathclyde University but engineering today is unrecognisable in comparison to the sixties.
"At that time heavy engineering was still the main employer of the Clydeside."
Jim later left industry and became a Mechanical Engineering lecturer at Hamilton’s Bell College and admitted there have been seismic changes in the sector down the decades.
He added: “We have lived through an era of closing almost all of our engineering factories with the result of a surplus in electricity generation.
“The fossil fuelled power stations are long gone and wind turbines and solar panels are the clean producers of our modern era.”
His son Jim, 48, who is an HR Director with Glasgow-based Weir Group and came to the University in 1988, revealed his own interest in engineering was literally learnt at his father’s knee.
He said: “My dad was always working on hands on engineering, fixing cars and working on big DIY projects around the house and that gave me an interest in things which were technical.
“My own son Blair also followed in our footsteps but he chose Chemical Engineering.
“My grandfather’s and dad’s experience of studying at the Royal College was probably quite different to mine in terms of the technology of the time.
“It’s interesting to think how a person from 100 years ago would cope with the technology and demands of today.”
He said he felt proud of his family’s century long legacy and added: “It’s quite amazing we’ve all come through that same route.
“Who knows if there will be a fifth generation? If there is then I hope I’m around to see it.”
Blair McHarg, who graduated from Strathclyde this week, said: “It is a great feeling to have been able to carry on this family tradition that spans over a century and I am really proud and happy that I have succeeded in achieving my degree in Chemical Engineering.
“I joke with my dad and grandpa that it is a much tougher subject than Mechanical Engineering and at times it definitely felt that way, but I pushed through and I am now looking forward to starting my career in industry.”
Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, in 1828, the Strathclyde was later renamed Anderson's University.
It became the Royal Technical College in 1912, and the Royal College of Science and Technology in 1956, concentrating on science and engineering teaching and research.
The University received its royal charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university and takes its name from the historic Kingdom of Strathclyde.