Mr George L. Swales (Materials 1953)

Provided by David Swales

George’s early education was badly interrupted by the war and consequent evacuation from his home in Middlesborough. On leaving school at 15 without a recognised qualification, he managed to get a job as an Apprentice Steelworks Chemist at the Dorman and Long Britannia Steelworks in Middlesbrough. By attending night school, taking opportunities for day release and a great deal of hard work, by the age of 20, he had obtained a City and Guilds Full Technological Certificate in Metallurgy. To further improve his education and qualifications, he attended Imperial College in London, ultimately ending up with a BSc first class and wining the Bessemer Medal and Prize in 1953.

After graduation, his first employment was as a Technical Officer for ICI on Teesside developing fabrication procedures for use in chemical process plants and was elected an Associate of the Institute of Metallurgists. To widen his experience, in July 1955, he joined Bapco in Bahrain as a Materials Inspector.

In September 1957, George joined International Nickel as a Development Officer covering the chemical, petrochemical, oil and gas industries.  He authored and co-authored many technical papers and presented at conferences in the US, Middle East, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Canada and Europe.

Following International Nickel’s decision to close the Birmingham Office in 1982, George joined Scomark as Metallurgist and ultimately Technical Cconsultant. George’s final job was as a consultant for the Nickel Development Institute, joining a former colleague and friend, Brian Todd. Having finally trained a replacement consultant, George retired in 1992.

He enjoyed painting in oil and watercolour, crown green bowling and in particular, both jazz and classical music, having played the trumpet in his youth.

His wife, Jane died in June 2007. Geoge is survived by his son, David and daughter, Judith.