Brian Scarlett (11 July 1938–2 September 2004) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

academic noted for his contributions to

particle technology Particle technology is the science and technology of handling and processing particles and powders. It encompasses the production, handling, modification, and use of a wide variety of particulate materials, both wet and dry. Particle handling may in ...

Life

Scarlett was born 11 July 1938 in

Biddulph Biddulph is a town in Staffordshire, England, north of Stoke-on-Trent and south-east of Congleton, Cheshire. Origin of the name Biddulph's name may come from Old English language, Anglo-Saxon/Old English ''bī dylfe'' = "beside the pit or q ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England.Davies, R,. (2004) Particles & Particle Systems Characterization 21 177-8 In Memoriam – Brian ScarlettDavies, R., (2004) Particle Technology Forum Newsletter 10, 1,3-4 Brian Scarlett remembered He attended Wolstanton Grammar School and the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

, gaining a BSc in physics in 1959. By 1964 Scarlett had earned a PhD from the same institution, having also migrated from

Hatfield College Hatfield College is one of the constituent colleges of Durham University in England. It occupies a city centre site above the River Wear on the World Heritage Site peninsula, lying adjacent to North Bailey and only a short distance from Durha ...

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

for his doctoral studies. He died 2 September 2004 in Gainesville, Florida, being survived by his wife Joan, son Ian, and daughters Diane and Judy.

Career

In 1964 he joined the

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). T ...

. In 1966 he obtained a research assistant post at the Nottingham and District Technical College where he began his research on particle technology. In 1969 he moved to the

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

department of

Loughborough University of Technology Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

. He stayed there until 1983 when he moved to

Delft University of Technology The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; ) is the oldest and largest Dutch public university, public Institute of technology, technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. It specializes in engineering, technology, computing, design, a ...

as a full professor, of chemical technology in the Departments of chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and mining. In 2000 he moved to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

as full professor in the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

Engineering Research Centre, in particle science and technology, forming the largest academic group in powder mechanics in the US. He continued there until his death.

Other activities

Politics

While at Loughborough, Scarlett served as a

local councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a Municipality, muni ...

for Charnwood District Council and was appointed to represent

Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Leicester. The county coun ...

on the Trent River Authority, where he rose to the position of Chairman of Water Management. He contemplated a full-time career in politics, but decided to stay as an academic.

Committees

Scarlett served on several committees, including as the Chairman of the

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

Committee TC/24- “Methods of Particle Sizing other than Sieving”, Chairman of the Particle Size group of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

, and Secretary of the Particle Technology Subject group of the

Institution of Chemical Engineers The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a global professional engineering institution with 30,000 members in 114 countries. It was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter in 1957. The Institution has offices in Rugby, Warwickshire, ...

. He was a member of the

AIChE The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as professionals independent of chemists and mechanical engineers. Curr ...

Particle Technology Forum and of the Working Party on Particle Characterization and Agglomeration for the European Federation of Chemical Engineering.

Quote

"A particle size measurement does not have a meaning unless the objective of the measurement is also specified. Thus, the techniques which should be used depend entirely on the accuracy required and the circumstances of the place and time in which the measurements must be made. There is no such thing as the “best” particle size technique unless the circumstances are also specified."Quoted by Andrew Turley
in
Chemistry World ''Chemistry World'' is a monthly chemistry news magazine published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The magazine addresses current events in the world of chemistry including research, international business news and government policy as it affe ...
, 2011

Honours and legacy

Scarlett was a

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in United K ...

, a Fellow of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

, and a Fellow of the

. He was awarded honorary doctorates (DSc) by the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...

(1997)University of Coimbra
Doutoramento Honoris Causa de Álvaro Siza e Brian Scarlett : Universidade de Coimbra 23 de Novembro de 1997 and Loughborough University (1999). In 2000, the

American Institute of Chemical Engineers The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as professionals independent of chemists and mechanical engineers. Curr ...

gave him their Award for Lifetime Achievement in Particle Technology.www.aiche.org
Particle Technology Forum Award In 2006 the Fifth World Congress on Particle Technology had a Brian Scarlett Memorial Session of invited papers, Fifth World Congress on Particle Technology
Brian Scarlett Memorial Session with another at the Seventh in 2014.www.malvern.com
/ref> In 2010 a Brian Scarlett Scholarship Fund was set up by the

to support student travel to particle technology events. RSC PCIG Newsletter
January 2010

References

External links

Prof Brian Scarlett
World Congress in Particle Technology 2006 Profile including many photographs
Royal Society of Chemistry
Brian Scarlett Scholarship Fund {{DEFAULTSORT:Scarlett, Brian English physicists Particle technology People from Biddulph Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering People educated at Wolstanton Grammar School Councillors in Leicestershire 1938 births 2004 deaths Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham Alumni of University College, Durham