Full name: Isambard Kingdom Brunel Born: 9th April 1806 Place of Birth: Portsmouth Occupation: Mechanical Engineer Died: 15th September 1859

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was an innovative mechanical engineer who built and designed a number of revolutionary constructions.  Born in Portsmouth on 9th April 1806, Isambard Brunel was taught engineering by his father who was a French civil engineer and by the age of eight, Brunel had grasped the basics of engineering and progressed rapidly. Isambard attended school in Hove, Brighton and at the age of 14, he went to study in Paris, France before he began working for his father. 

Isambard and his father planned the construction of the Thames tunnel (from Rotherhithe to Wapping) and they eventually completed it in 1843.

In 1829, Isambard entered and won a competition to design the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge across the River Avon in Bristol, which was planned to be the longest bridge in the world.  Due to a lack of funds, the bridge was not completed until 1864, after Brunel's death.  Brunel was appointed chief engineer at Bristol Docks in 1831 and designed the Monkwearmouth Docks before completing one of his greatest works, the Great Western Railway.

Brunel became chief engineer for the Great Western Railway and designed and constructed the railway's main network of tunnels and bridges that linked Bristol with London.  Brunel constructed the Maidenhead Bridge, Bristol Temple Meads Station, the Box Tunnel and various viaducts at Hanwell and Chippenham.

Brunel allowed for faster and smoother journeys by using the broad guage (2.2m) in place of the standard guage (1.55m). 

Brunel wanted to further revolutionise travel and persuaded the Great Western company who funded the Great Western Railway to invest in trans-atlantic travel for the first time in world history.  As a result, Brunel designed and built a steam ship named the Great Western, which would allow crossings from Bristol to New York and became the first steam ship to provide a transatlantic service. 

Each crossing took 15 days and a total of 60 crossings were completed over a period of eight years until Brunel began devising an improved version of the steam ship.

In 1843, the revolutionary SS Great Britain was launched, which was the first screw propeller driven transatlantic steamship and the largest ship in the world.  SS Great Britain became the inspiration and basis for the further development of modern ships.  The luxury passenger ship was designed for international travel and was able to carry 252 passengers and 130 crew.

In 1853, Brunel was commissioned to build the Great Eastern, which was the biggest ever ship to be built up to that time and was able to carry 4,000 passengers.  However, the ship encountered various engineering problems and Brunel began to suffer ill-health which lead to his death on 15th September 1859.