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igem news

OBITUARIES

JOHN WARING igem.org.uk
GRADE: Chartered Member facebook.com/IGEMpage
SECTION: North West twitter.com/IGEMGi
AGE: 86
JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTION OF
DEREK WILLIAMSON MSC CENG MIGEM
12 SEPTEMBER 1949 – 22 MAY 2019 GAS ENGINEERS AND MANAGERS
DEREK PASSED AWAY following a short
illness. He was a loving dad to his son and
daughter and will be dearly missed by DIGEST
BEIS unveils plans to
family and loved ones. Energy suppliers could be
transform the energy system
required to publish smart
meter survey results
EU must better prepare
Derek will also be missed by his many SEPTEMBER 2019 Brexit on UK citizens
for impact of no-deal
friends and colleagues, who held him in THE NEXT
high regard, as was attested by the large GENERATION
number of people who came to pay their Nurturing the engineers of tomorrow
respects at his funeral.
FOUNDED 1863
Derek hailed from the coal mining town of Ashington, ROYAL CHARTER 1929
Northumberland. “His special character and spirit likely a
result of formative years shaped by his community and a
loving family upbringing,” said close friend Graeme Bulmer.
“Those who knew Derek well enough would agree that he was Covers.indd 1 15/08/2019 16:10
the salt of the earth.” PATRON PRODUCED AND DESIGNED
Although a great young footballer, Derek turned down Her Majesty The Queen BY SYON MEDIA
a personal invite from Sir Stanley Matthews and instead PRESIDENT + 44 (0) 203 900 0145
E: gi@syonmedia.com
chose a career in engineering. He served his time as a NCB Antony Green www.syonmedia.com
Apprentice Fitter at Woodhorn Colliery and went on to CEng FIGEM CWEM FCIWEM
become an Underground Engineer at Ashington Colliery. MIW ©
The next, and largest, part of Derek’s career was his 25 PRESIDENT ELECT
years at the British Gas Engineering Research Station (ERS) Duncan Wong
in Killingworth, where he rose to the position of Senior R&D CEng MIGEM
Engineer. Published by IGEM
Soon after the closure of ERS, Derek’s skills and vast VICE-PRESIDENT T: +44(0)1509 678 159
experience were put to great use when he was appointed to Ben Clarke E: general@igem.org.uk
CEng MIGEM IET
the post of Senior Test Engineer at the then greenfield site of IGEM House,
Wellstream, a role he held for 12 years. HONORARY SECRETARY 26 & 28 High Street, Kegworth
During this time, he was responsible for the creation and Gordon Davies Derby
running of the testing department, handling the large scale CEng FIGEM DE74 2DA.
testing of flexible deep sea oil and gas pipe structures. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Registered Charity No. 214011
Graeme added: “Engineering was just one of Derek’s many Neil Atkinson
talents. He enjoyed nine fulfilling years of retirement. He CEng FIChemE HonFSE ISSN 1755-5477
researched his family history and wrote a book to capture this
for the benefit of his family. He also penned a collection of EDITORIAL & SUBSCRIPTION It is believed that the
ENQUIRIES:
statements made in this
‘Poems from the Heart’ that read as a poignant legacy of the Sharon Baker-Hallam publication are based
man. He loved walking trips and paying unannounced visits BA Hons AIGEM on accurate and reliable
to old colleagues and friends en route. Along with his many T: +44(0)1509 678 186 information. The views
other pursuits, his interests were many.” E: sharon@igem.org.uk expressed are not necessarily
those of the publisher. No
ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES liability can be accepted for
Ian James any error or omission.
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