Professor John P Paul

Born: June 26, 1927 Died; November 13, 2013

John Paul, who has died aged 86, was one of the founders of the bioengineering unit at Strathclyde University and a pioneer of hip joint replacement technology, whose research is one of the main reasons why the operation is so ubiquitous and successful today. During a long, international career, he won dozens of trophies, plaques and lifetime achievement awards for his work on surgical implants, and succeeded in putting Strathclyde on the map as a global centre of excellence in the field.

He grew up in Old Kilpatrick, near the shipyards where his father was an engineering draughtsman. During his teens, he was evacuated and spent the war years with two elderly aunts in Aberdeen, before returning to Glasgow to study at Allan Glen's, where he excelled both academically and on the rugby pitch. He played for them as a forward well into his thirties, and continued to referee for several years afterwards.

He studied mechanical engineering at the Royal College of Science and Technology (which became the University of Strathclyde) and was a founding member of the bioengineering unit in 1962. His interest in this relatively new subject began when an orthopaedic surgeon asked for the department's help in the design of pins to secure fractured femurs in elderly women. John Paul was put on the case and discovered there was no information available about the forces transmitted by bones while a person is in motion - so he built an instrument to measure them. His resulting PhD became a classic reference work around the world, and his data is still used today for the current hip simulator machines that are used to improve the long-term functionality of modern hip joint prostheses. The set of data used for the repetitive forces on the hip joint during walking is now referred to as The Paul Cycle.

He began to travel worldwide to spread the word about his research. He went to Russia to work with Soviet scientists long before Glasnost; he was working with Chinese universities back in the 1980s; he would visit any country that could afford to pay his return economy fare because he was evangelical about letting people know about this marvellous new technology that could so enhance patients' lives.

He was head of the bioengineering unit at Strathclyde from 1977 to 1992, and worked with colleagues on knee, elbow and ankle joint research, as well as hips. He has a scientific term named after him in knee simulation machines as well as hips: the dynamic compressive force input time profile used on standardised knee simulator wear testing machines around the world is known as the Paul Curve.

Ironically, the years of playing rugby took their toll on his own joints and he needed his first hip replacement at the age of 51. His wife, Bette, was horrified that just a couple of hours after he emerged from surgery, she arrived at the hospital to find him out of bed and walking along a corridor while some of his students measured his gait. He went on to have four hip replacements and one knee replacement, so no one can say he didn't practise what he preached. His mobility was severely challenged in later life but he would not give in to disability and managed to get around efficiently on elbow crutches.

Outside the university, for 36 years he worked for the British and International Standards Organisations, which establish standards for joint implants around the world. He chaired the Endoprostheses and Osteosynthesis committee from 1991, and was a delegate to the Implants for Surgery committee from 1976, making what they call "a considerable contribution to international standardization". He was also president of the International Society of Biomechanics (1987-990), an active member of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and he received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from The International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty.

Prof Paul and his late wife Bette led an active social life, frequently entertaining overseas visitors at their home in Milngavie. He felt a strong duty of care to the students who flocked from around the world to study at Strathclyde. If they could not get home for Christmas, they had Christmas dinner with the Paul family. If their residence arrangements fell through, he put them up. And he was always ready to use his contacts and influence to help former students advance their careers. One student emailed the family after his death to say "it feels like the passing of a favourite grandfather."

Almost all the correspondence the family has received mentions Prof Paul's dry sense of humour and the twinkle in his eye. He frequently shared a bottle of duty-free malt with colleagues in his hotel room after conferences, and one letter notes: "He always dispensed wise advice on those occasions. It's just a shame I never remembered any of it the following morning."

He continued to work until just months before his death on November 13, following a short illness. He is survived by his three children, Gillian, Graham and Fiona, and five grandchildren, Ana, Rhuaridh, Barnaby, Harvey and Florence, on whom he was always a strong influence. From him they learned that you can achieve whatever you want in life if you work hard enough for it; that if you get 99 per cent in maths, the 1 per cent lost was due to pure carelessness; they learned to be altruistic, although they will never be able to match his high standards; they also learned the best way to tip someone off an inflatable mattress in a swimming pool and that whisky should be drunk with water but never ice.

They miss him terribly, but are comforted by the fact that he led such a rich, full and valuable life. It is hard to imagine how a life could be lived better.