Acknowledging the pioneers whose work quietly underpins today’s refrigeration practice.

I was saddened to hear of the death of an old friend and mentor, the Australian refrigeration pioneer Klaas Visser, in early August of this year. I first met Klaas in 1995 at the International Congress of Refrigeration in The Netherlands (the land of his birth), and I enjoyed hearing him speak on a wide range of topics all over the world thereafter. He was always quick to acknowledge those who had mentored and influenced him in his early career, particularly Professor Gustav Lorentzen, who, Klaas said, always challenged him to think of other ways to look at things.

The news of Klaas’s death got me reminiscing about other people no longer with us who had provided me with support and encouragement throughout my career. Fred Herl, founder and owner of the MG Herl Valve Company in Germany, was incredibly generous with his time and resources and helped to establish the Carbon Dioxide Interest Group as a means of accelerating the use of CO2 in industrial refrigeration systems. Another friend who was exceptionally generous in passing on his experience was Anders Lindborg, formerly of Frigoscandia, who was recognized throughout the world as the authority on ammonia safety and who did so much to facilitate the reintroduction of ammonia to European businesses in the 1980s and 1990s. In the United States those I observed in a similar role included Milt Garland of Frick and George Briley, the previous curator of these column inches.

These mentor figures share a common characteristic of going out of their way to help younger engineers in their development, despite working in industry where you might expect more secrecy and competitiveness. It seems easier for an academic, whether as a teacher or a researcher, to provide a positive influence for young tyros because it is their job to interact with the student body. Nevertheless, several stand out to me because they reached beyond their university to provide guidance to those in industry, too. In this group I think particularly of Jimmy Brown in Scotland and Will Stoecker and Pega Hrnjak in the United States, who gave generously of their time, experience and knowledge, not only to me but to many others who crossed their paths. In Europe I think particularly of Joachim Paul, Fritz Steimle and of course Gustav Lorentzen who all had a similar gift for coaching young colleagues.

When I heard that Klaas had died, I commented to my wife how fortunate I was to have met these “elder statesmen” when I was still very young. “Be careful,” she said. “They were probably the age you are now.” For all of you over the age of 60, especially those of you who work in industry, you should take a careful inventory of those under the age of 30 who connect with you. What are you doing to help them progress, and how will they remember you when you are gone?