Henry Paynter

Henry Martyn Paynter (August 11, 1923 – June 14, 2002) was an American scientist and professor of mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is best known as the inventor of bond graphs, a methodology to describe dynamic systems.

Biography Henry Martyn Paynter IV was born in Evanston, Illinois and grew up in New York City and its environs. He received the B.S. in civil engineering in 1944, the M.S. in mathematics and science in 1949, and the first Sc.D. ever awarded in hydroelectric engineering in 1951, all from MIT.

At MIT he joined the Department of Civil Engineering in 1946 and became an assistant professor in 1951. He joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1954 on a half-time basis to initiate a systems engineering curriculum. He became full time in mechanical engineering in 1959 and was promoted to associate professor the following year. He became a full professor in 1964.

He was regarded as a creative, charismatic, and passionate teacher who deeply influenced the careers of his students. He urged them to think "big" and "deep" about engineering and science. He published on a wide variety of subjects in more than 100 papers, patents, articles, and book chapters, as well as several books. After he retired, Paynter was a senior lecturer in mechanical engineering.

Paynter had been awarded the Alfred Noble Prize of the Joint Engineering Societies in 1953. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1977. In 1973 the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) awarded him the Thurston Lecture Award, in 1979 the Oldenburger Medal, and in 1984 the ACC Education Award.

Work Paynter is celebrated for his contributions to "the analysis, design and control of complex multimedia systems and for developing the Bond graph modeling language."

The Bond graph modelling approach was presented for the first time in the "Ports, Energy and Thermodynamic Systems" on April 24, 1959, at MIT, which was later published (Paynter, 1961). Paynter was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1997, one of the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.

Publications, a selection Paynter, Henry M., Analysis and design of engineering systems, The M.I.T. Press, Boston, 1961 .