Peter Douglas Dunn

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(20 January 1927 – 7 March 2014) was a British engineer. After working at the

Atomic Energy Research Establishment The Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), also known as Harwell Laboratory, was the main Headquarters, centre for nuclear power, atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from 1946 to the 1990s. It was created, owned ...

, Harwell and jointly holding numerous patents on heat pipes and associated technology with power stations, Prof Peter Dunn joined the Department of Applied Physics in 1964 and started the Department of Engineering at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

in 1968. As head of department, alongside his friend Dr

E. F. Schumacher Ernst Friedrich Schumacher (16 August 1911 – 4 September 1977) was a German-born British statistician and economist who is best known for his proposals for human-scale, decentralised and appropriate technologies.Biography on the inner dust ...

and through the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Peter Dunn was on the first committees working with

Intermediate Technology Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing technological choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by its users, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and locally autonomou ...

Appropriate Technology Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing technology, technological choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by its users, labor-intensive, efficient energy use, energy-efficient, environmentally sust ...

. These committees led to the formation of the Intermediate Technology Development Group (now

Practical Action Practical Action (previously known as the Intermediate Technology Development Group, ITDG) is a development charity registered in the United Kingdom which works directly in four regions of the developing world – Latin America, East Africa, Sou ...

). He encouraged the Departmental research group to contribute to the developing sectors of intermediate technology. Peter Dunn started the world's first

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

Degrees in

Renewable Energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

in 1977. The research group contributed to early UK work on wind energy. The group included Dr Musgrove who went on to be the first Chairman of the British Wind Energy Association (now called

RenewableUK RenewableUK, formerly known as the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), is the trade association for wind power, wave power and tidal power industries in the United Kingdom. History A number of universities active in wind energy in the 1970s m ...

) and then on to head of development at National Wind Power. In the

1999 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1999 for various Commonwealth realms were announced on 30 December 1998, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1999. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various orders, d ...

Professor Peter Douglas Dunn was honoured with an OBE,

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

"For services to the development of innovative energy technologies". (Oxon, Oxfordshire) Gamos was founded in 1989 by Peter Dunn and Simon Batchelor. Gamos was proposed as an organisation to expand the work of the department in the combination of poverty alleviation and renewable energy. It has since expanded its work to include poverty alleviation and Information and Communication Technology. Gamos is a UK organisation specialising in

development aid Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political International development, development of developing countries. It is distinguishe ...

. Using the word related to

hieros gamos ''Hieros gamos'', (from and 'marriage') or hierogamy (, 'holy marriage') is a sacred marriage that takes place between gods, especially when enacted in a symbolic ritual where human participants represent the deities. The notion of ''hieros ...

but not drawing on its meaning, the organisation has enabling frameworks with the UK

Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

. It has been cited by that agency as having been the eighth most active contractor within DFID's Engineering Knowledge and Research Programme. Gamos contributed to the

Commission for Africa In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

report, provoking a multi donor action that supported regulatory change concerning mobile phones in Africa. It was also responsible for the special journal paper, "Good Practice Paper on ICTs for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction" published by the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

. Dunn died on 7 March 2014.

References

External links

corporation website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Peter 1927 births 2014 deaths Academics of the University of Reading English mechanical engineers Officers of the Order of the British Empire