Editing Andy Thomas (section)

==Education==
Thomas went to St Andrews Primary School, Adelaide at Walkerville in South Australia and subsequently to [[St Peter's College, Adelaide]]. After secondary school, he studied at the [[University of Adelaide]], where he received a [[Bachelor of  Mechanical Engineering|BEng]] degree with [[First Class Honours]] in 1973 and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] degree in 1978, both in Mechanical Engineering.<ref name="who">{{Citation | last = Halfpenny | first = Kate  | title = Rocketman | newspaper = [[Who (magazine)|Who Weekly]] | pages = 39 | date = 1996-06-03 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.adelaide.edu.au/seek-light/stories/andy-thomas.html South Australia's first NASA astronaut] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709211830/http://www.adelaide.edu.au/seek-light/stories/andy-thomas.html |date=9 July 2017 }} - website of the University of Adelaide</ref>

He appears in the 1972 edition of the Adelaide University Engineering Society's (AUES) annual publication, ''Hysteresis''. The caption below a photograph of the 21-year-old Thomas reads:
{{quotation
| A.S.W. (Syd) Thomas: Hides his massive intellect behind a screen of silence and hair. His abilities are varied and include designing wine labels for the A.U.E.S.
| Hysteresis 2000
, pg 27<ref>[http://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/info/mags/1972.pdf The University of Adelaide - School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering - Hysteresis 1972, pg 27] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525020457/http://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/info/mags/1972.pdf |date=25 May 2006 }}</ref>}}

He is the great-great-grandson of [[Frederick George Waterhouse]], first curator of the [[South Australian Museum|South Australian Institute Museum]], and naturalist of the John McDouall [[Stuart Expedition 1861–1862]].<ref>[http://www.thewaterhouse.com.au/page/default.asp?site=1&page=about About Frederick George Waterhouse] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829104808/http://thewaterhouse.com.au/page/default.asp?site=1&page=about |date=29 August 2007 }}, www.thewaterhouse.com.au</ref>