Dr Ian G Carson 1943 - 2017

RSC Belgium members and friends will be saddened to learn of the death of one of our most active and energetic committee members and an excellent professional chemical scientist: Dr Ian Carson.

Ian died peacefully on 27 June 2017 at his home in Chaumont-Gistoux with his family around him. A memorial service was held for him at the Champ de Court crematorium near Court Saint Etienne on 4 July 2017. Ian served on the RSC Belgium section committee from 2004 until the end of last year and was section secretary in 2010-2011 and also membership secretary for many years.

At the service RSC Belgium chairman Tim Reynolds gave the following tribute to Ian on behalf of the section:

"For me, Dr Ian Carson was the epitome of a professional chemical scientist: he knew his subject inside out and he was a lifelong enthusiast for chemistry – and polymer chemistry in particular. He was diligent and thorough, but also creative.

Ian’s chemical career started with a first class honours degree in chemistry from Strathclyde University in Glasgow in 1965, swiftly followed by a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) studying applied and polymer chemistry in 1968.

After a year as a Royal Society Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Institute of Industrial Chemistry at the University of Genova, Italy from 1969 Ian embarked on a 32 year career with petrochemical giant - Shell - working in initially in the UK, then in Holland, and finally from the early 1990’s in Belgium.

He worked on a wide range of topics from scaling up catalyst systems to providing technical advice to business units and investigating marketing applications for polymers.
In his final ten years with Shell Research Ian was based at Louvain La Neuve, where he was Manager Polyesters responsible for research and technical service provision including work on, the now ubiquitous, PET plastic bottle and various polymers for use with textiles. 

It is worth considering that it is highly likely that all of us today will wear or, certainly, will touch an object that is made from a material that Ian was intimately involved in refining or creating. That was Ian’s chemistry.

Ian retired from Shell at the end of 2001 and became a Polymer Consultant continuing to use his knowledge and skills for the benefit of a portfolio of companies and society.

And, fortunately for us, he also found time to bring the benefit of his experience and enthusiasm for chemistry to the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Belgium section. Ian had been a member of the RSC since 1967 – eventually clocking up over 50 years as a member of the society, and from 2004 he joined our executive committee.

Ian was as diligent and creative for RSC Belgium as he had been for Shell. Researching event ideas, contacting potential speakers and – most importantly – making things happen!

His contributions to RSC Belgium were wide ranging, but in particular I remember his shepherding of our demonstration lecturers in their tours of schools around Brussels and beyond, his language skills enthusing younger people from different communities about chemistry in our work with the Greenlight4Girls initiative and our own Top of the Bench competitions, and his organising work for our annual Café Chimique events.

But Ian was a very unassuming person – not one to blow his own trumpet as we might say – so it was particularly pleasing that we were able to recognise Ian’s contributions to RSC Belgium in 2015 with a Long Service Award – recognising his 10 years’ service to the section – and as a special mark it was presented in person to Ian at a dinner in Brussels by the Society’s CEO Dr Robert Parker (see photo above). Ian truly deserved the award.

We thank Ian for his contributions to chemistry. We will miss him. We already do."

If you wish to give a donation in Ian's memory, please donate to the 'Fondation St. Luc'. Their bank account number is BE41 1910 3677 7110 and please mention Ian's name on the transfer.

RSC CEO Robert Parker presents ...

On the evening of 5 May a special meeting of the RSC Belgium executive committee welcomed RSC CEO Dr. Robert Parker to Brussels. Dr Parker was in the Belgian capital for a meeting at the European Parliament and stayed on to talk to the executive committee and make a special presentation to one of its long-term members: Dr Ian Carson.

Robert recalled that one of his first major public events after being appointed as interim CEO of the Royal Society of Chemistry was to speak at the European Schools Science Symposium (ESSS) in 2011. The  ESSS 2011 was held at the European school in Woluwe Brussels and RSC Belgium had initiated the invitation to Robert's predecessor Richard Pike. Robert's experience at the Symposium was a significant factor in his decision to apply to become the permanent CEO. Ian as secretary of RSC Belgium at the time had issued that invitation.

Ian (above, left) received a Long Service Award from Dr Robert Parker (above, right) in recognition of his ten-year service on the RSC Belgium committee and his tremendous efforts to organise many significant events for the section including the recent major tour of Belgian schools by Prof Averil Macdonald and our annual Cafe Chimque events.

RSC Belgium section chairman, Tim Reynolds, said: "It was really pleasing to see Ian get this long service award from Robert Parker. It was a special occasion. Ian has done so much for the section in Belgium."

Powering Ahead with the President

RSC Belgium was delighted to welcome RSC President Prof Lesley Yellowlees to the section on the evening of Monday 4 March. Lesley’s talk on Solar Power in the Brel Theatre at the British School of Brussels (BSB) was well received and topped off a hectic long weekend for her on RSC business in Brussels.

Prof. Yellowlees is the first woman to hold the Presidency of the Royal Society of Chemistry. She held a personal chair in Inorganic Electrochemistry at the University of Edinburgh and is currently Vice Principal of the University and Head of the College of Science and Engineering. Lesley’s research interests include inorganic electrochemistry, epr spectroscopy, novel processes for carbon dioxide conversion and solar energy: her topic for discussion on Monday evening.

Just over 60 members and friends heard Lesley describe the problems posed by the ever increasing demand for electricity from an ever increasing global population. To meet these demands will require sustainable renewable energy sources. For Prof Yellowlees this means solar power and this is an area where chemistry is making a big contribution.

Solar and chocs
Lesley outlined how Dye Sensitised Solar Cells work and the research that she has undertaken in Edinburgh to characterise such cells using techniques such as uv/vis and epr spectroelectrochemistry in the search for optimised formulation that can provide us with cheap solar power. Lesley’s presentation from 4 March is available here.

A recent RSC Policy document on Solar Fuels and Artificial Photosynthesis shows how current and future science and innovation could change our future energy options.

Following Lesley’s talk members and friends enjoyed a special drinks reception featuring a ‘chocolate tasting’ courtesy of Centho Chocolates.

Lesley was accompanied on Monday evening by RSC CEO Robert Parker. The two were in Brussels following the major triennial RSC Editors Symposium that had been held in the city over the weekend involving some 300 editors of RSC publications and 80 RSC staff. RSC Belgium chairman Bob Crichton and section secretary Tim Reynolds had been invited to the symposium banquet on Sunday evening at the Concert Noble. 

CSA visit
Lesley and Robert were also able to meet at the European Commission’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Prof Anne Glover on Monday morning. The meeting was arranged by Tim Reynolds and they discussed a number of issues where RSC could support or input to Commission initiatives, including topics such as diversity and promoting the value of science education to school students.

Prior to taking up her position as at the Commission Anne Glover was CSA to the Scottish government and Anne still has a laboratory and personal chair in at Aberdeen University, so Lesley and Anne have known each other for a number of years. Anne, like Lesley, is a passionate believer in the need to ensure science – and factual evidence in general – is at the core of policy making. Clear communication of science is a key element of this.