MICHAEL E. GARRETT MBE, BSc, CChem, FRSC, CEng, FIChemE, FRSA, CEng MCIWEM

Head of Technology and Projects Assessment, KB Innovations Group

Mike joined BOC in 1957 at the Research and Development Centre and worked initially with the chemical engineering team on the thermodynamics of gas separation and low temperature refrigeration. He became a key member of the process engineering team that designed the refrigeration process and then developed and engineered the required high speed expansion turbines, operating at temperatures as low as 20oK in which the bearings were lubricated by helium gas. These formed the basis of the refrigeration unit for the first large hydrogen bubble chamber in the UK which was supplied to the National Institute for Research in Nuclear Sciences. These turbines have subsequently been developed further and are still widely in use today and one is exhibited at the Science Museum.

At this time the work on deep low temperature engineering also produced miniature Joule-Thompson coolers for infra-red sensors and he developed a more robust commercial unit which was used by schools to demonstrate the liquefaction of air. He then became the Engineering Manager of a department to develop and commercialise superconducting magnets and was responsible for a number of developments including high field superconducting joints, orthocyclic winding, thermo-compression magnet formers, automatic helium filling systems and several other cryogenic engineering techniques and devices which enjoyed commercial success.

In the 1970s work was begun on the ambient separation of air by pressure swing adsorption and he helped in the construction of the first unit ever built in the UK. The oxygen produced by these plants was of lower purity than that produced by cryogenic separation and he headed a team to identify markets for this new product. This led to the development of the Vitox oxygen dissolver, of which he was the inventor, still the market leader and used for the highly efficient addition of oxygen to polluted water and wastewater treatment plants. Many hundreds of these units are operating today worldwide ranging from pollution control in Hong Kong Harbour and reclamation of polluted waters, to emergency use on the River Thames by the vessels Thames Bubbler and Vitality which combine adsorption oxygen generation plants as well as Vitox gas dissolvers. The technology is also under consideration as part of the solution to pollution problems in Venice.

After the Vitox based business had become a commercial success he turned his attention to process engineering the production of nitrogen by pressure swing adsorption and later by membrane technology, pioneering the commercialisation in many applications including marine, food storage and furnace atmospheres. Where appropriate new process designs were developed and introduced.

The technology was then widened and a sophisticated miniature plant built which is able to control independently oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ethylene and humidity. These gases are used in refrigerated containers and by controlling the composition of the atmosphere high quality of produce can be maintained during transportation. This "Controlled Atmosphere" technology is rapidly gaining ground with hundreds of units in operation worldwide.

The system is highly regarded and enables landed produce to be of higher quality than that transported by air, even after several weeks. An American R & D 100 award was received for this work.

During his lengthy career as Director of Innovation for BOC Gases and Consultant of Innovation to BOC Group, Mike had group-wide responsibility for identifying and bringing new projects and technologies to the market as rapidly as possible. He also devotes time to encouraging science careers by lecturing at schools and organising events for the British Association Science Week and he features in the Science Foundation Course video for the Open University. He has also broadcast on scientific subjects on radio and national television. He was honoured to be invited to give a Friday Evening Discourse at the Royal Institution on the gases in the air.

As a Director of the Surrey SATRO ( Science and Technology Regional Organisation) he devised the Helium Challenge for the Young Entrepreneurs Scheme in which teams of 6th formers work for a year on a project. The projects include life-saving devices, non-burn saucepans, working airships and floating roofs.

He serves as a member of the Priestley Committee of the Royal Society of Chemistry and as a member of the peer review college for process engineering in the EPSRC. In respect of his work with water and wastewater he has been made a Liveryman of the Water Conservators and Freeman of the City of London. He has consulted for the Government Office for London where he was a member of the Working Group developing an Innovation Strategy for London, and was on the Steering Group for the implementation of flagship projects. He also served on a panel assessing SMART awards.

He holds a BSc in chemistry and physics, is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers, Chartered Chemist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts as well as a member of the Institute of Water Engineering and Management.

Recorded as the inventor of over three hundred UK patents and hundreds more overseas, Mike continues to present a challenging appreciation of engineering and science in each area in which he works. His vast experience of pulling good ideas to pieces and reassembling them in commercially viable form is a boon both to the companies we advise, and to their sponsors and advisers.

In 2001, he was honoured by being awarded an MBE in recognition of his services to innovation.

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