Burton Paul, 76, Penn professor and engineer

Burton Paul, 76, of Princeton, a mechanical engineer and University of Pennsylvania professor emeritus, died Oct. 19 at the University Medical Center at Princeton of primary amyloidosis.

Dr. Paul joined the Penn faculty in 1969 and later served as chairman of the department of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics.

In the 1970s he made important contributions to mechanics relevant to the design of high-speed rail systems. He was adviser to a team of students in the 1980s that developed a mechanical hand with a delicate sense of feel. More than 40 years ago he pioneered the application of computer-aided techniques to the analysis of mechanisms. He built a home computer from a kit in the 1970s, his son Douglas said, and acquired a new laptop the week before he died.

After retiring in 1996, he continued to mentor former students, including Krishna Singh, owner of Holtec International. When Holtec won a lucrative contract recently to establish a facility for spent radioactive fuel rods at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, he told a reporter that Dr. Paul "gave me encouragement every step of the way. He has always been a source of inspiration. He's a first-rate intellectual."

The Professor Burton Paul Endowed Scholarship in Mechanical Engineering was established at Penn in 2006.

During his career, Dr. Paul consulted on a variety of legal cases. His research resulted in the publication of more than 100 scientific papers. He may have accomplished his best work, though, his son said, surviving his debilitating disease for nine years. It is a disorder in which harmful protein fibers build up in tissues and organs, for nine years.

Dr. Paul had a tremendous will to live and aggressively sought new treatments, his son said. He wanted to get to know his four grandchildren, his son said.

A native of the Bronx, Dr. Paul earned a bachelor's degree from Princeton University; a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University; and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn.

In 1958, he became assistant professor of engineering at Brown University. He later joined the Ingersoll-Rand Research Center in Princeton. When he accepted a position at Penn, he commuted to Philadelphia so he wouldn't uproot his family.

He took the train to Penn for 27 years his son said. In the early days rail travel was more genteel, his son said. Occasionally his father would ride the Montrealer and eat breakfast in the dinning car, served by waiters in white coats.

In addition to his son Douglas and grandchildren, Dr. Paul is survived by his wife of 49 years, Lois Simon Paul; son Jordan; and two brothers.

Graveside services were held Oct. 23 at Beth Israel Cemetery in Woodbridge, N.J.