IoR welcomes six new fellows

UK: The Institute of Refrigeration has this month honoured six members as fellows for their leadership, volunteer work and contribution to improving the standing of the RACHP industry.  

The six new fellows are Brian Churchyard of ASDA, Alex Cohr-Pachai of Johnson Controls, Lisa-Jayne Cook of GEA, Dewi Garcia of at Harp International, Craig Girdlestone of Danston and Peter Woods of Wolseley Climate. 

Recognition as a Fellow of the IoR distinguishes an individual as an ambassador and technical leader and recognises their unique contribution to the RACHP sector. Fellows are appointed by the IoR nominations committee on behalf of the board of IoR trustees.  As fellows, they can use the designation FInstR after their name.

The achievements by the six individuals reflects the wide range of activities that the IOR is involved in and range from supporting apprentices and colleges, encouraging sustainability and transition to low GWP refrigerants, helping to improve safety, promoting careers through STEM initiatives and careers for Women. 

Brian Churchyard, head of engineering, net zero and energy at ASDA, has participated in many IoR initiatives such as the Carbon Trust Code of Contact for Retail Refrigeration, the Sustainable Retail Refrigeration report, the BRA retail end user section, RAC Cooling Awards judging, IoR’s international refrigeration committee. He wrote a report on the application of low GWP refrigerants in retail presented at the IIR and co-authored a paper on refrigerant solutions for the IoR. 

Alex Cohr-Pachai is active internationally supporting the use of natural refrigerants. He chairs the Eurammon technical committee, IIR working group on safety, and the industrial heat pump manufacturer’s group at the Danish Heat Pump Association. In addition, he is chapter lead author for industrial refrigeration and heat pumps in the UN Refrigerant Technical Options Committee. He regularly participates as a speaker and chair at IoR international conferences and events.

Lisa-Jayne Cook is actively involved in encouraging STEM initiatives with young people and promoting careers for women in RACHP. As well as being a STEM Ambassador and member of the IoR’s Women in RACHP group she is also a trustee of the IoR and director of ACRIB.  She regularly takes part in IoR webinars on STEM, has written articles for trade magazines on careers in the sector, mentored young people, and was identified as one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering in 2019. She works as service sales manager for key accounts at GEA. 

Dewi Garcia, technical manager with Harp International, is a long-term member of the IoR’s RACHP Eng Tech Section for service engineers. He not only attends regular meetings but has given talks to various colleges, IoR Cool Talks and refrigeration societies on refrigerant and F-gas topics.  He arranged for his employer to host IoR SIRACH events.  He is also committed to promoting the sector taking part in local school careers events. 

Craig Girdlestone, managing director of Danston Ltd, joined the IoR through its Service Engineers’ Section originally and became a member some years later.
He is now a member of the IoR membership committee and actively involved in the apprenticeship employer group. 
Girdlestone is seen as a strong advocate of IoR membership and contributes to online forum and meetings, encouraging new members to get involved. 

Peter Woods is a regular contributor to industry both by speaking at RAC Question Time events and participating in FETA working groups in equipment and components. He has a strong commitment to skills, contributing to net zero initiatives and mentoring apprentices. He has been actively involved with refrigeration for the best part of 35 years in various engineering, R&D design and sales roles and is currently technical sales director for Wolseley Climate.

“It is so encouraging so see our members advancing through the IoR ranks and promoting our industry. It is the highest recognition we can offer to our six colleagues for the continuous effort and support they give to the IoR,” said IoR membership committee chair Damian Wiszniewski.