Ken McGowan died unexpectedly at the end of September at his home in Clontarf, Dublin.
Ken had a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry from the University of York, 1979, and was one of the first Fellows of the Institute of Metal Finishing in Ireland.
Ken was widely known for his skills and expertise in metal finishing. He worked in a range of metal finishing companies in the UK before moving to Ireland in 1984, where he worked with a number of metal finishing companies before becoming a free-lance consultant in 1999.
As a consultant, he worked with a large number of major Irish companies, both indigenous and multinational. His work included problem solving, design and setting up of plating lines and training courses.
He was an unassuming person until it came to metal finishing when he would yield to no one in any dispute. And, most times, he was right. He had a great sense of humour and enjoyed an argument. I thought of him as mix of guru and mischievous wizard.
He was justly proud of two particular episodes in his life.
He was a televised finalist on the BBC Young Scientist of the Year in 1974. On that occasion his principal judge was the Nobel laureate Professor Sir George Porter. Ken’s project was a good applied project, typical of Ken – synthesis of sucrose from newspaper in an attempt to alleviate the sugar crisis of the time. He used the equipment to hand, his mother’s Kenwood Chef mixer, which she claimed was never the same again!
This was followed by a much more ambitious project in 1993 on development of techniques to electroplate gold, with a copper and nickel undercoat, on The Dome of The Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem. The total area plated was 1400 square metres of 2 micron pure gold, with a total weight of just over 54 kg, and a value today of £1·9M (€2·4M).
I have met electrochemist friends and colleagues of Ken at various meetings in Ireland and abroad and we always enjoyed exchanging yarns about Ken’s various adventures. Sadly, Ken is no longer with us to continue his adventures.
He will be missed by all who knew him. He is survived by his mother, brother and two sisters – we all spare a thought for them in their grief.
May Ken enjoy arguing with his great heroes, Michael Faraday, Albert Einstein and Richard Feynman in whichever heaven scientists end up in!
J. Parkes