Pearson made ASHRAE Fellow

USA: Andy Pearson of Star Refrigeration has been made a Fellow of ASHRAE on the opening day of the Society’s Winter Conference in Orlando.

The group engineering director of the Glasgow-based refrigeration company, and a past president of the Institute of Refrigeration, Andy Pearson was one of 17 members from ASHRAE’s 50,000 members to receive the accolade yesterday. The award is made to those who are recognised as having attained distinction and made substantial contributions in HVAC&R such as education, research, engineering design and consultation, publications and mentoring.

In all, 54 people were recognised for their contributions to ASHRAE and the industry.

The F Paul Anderson Award, ASHRAE’s highest for technical achievement, went to Presidential Member Thomas E Watson, Fellow ASHRAE, Life Member, director of the Daikin Learning Institution, Daikin Applied, Staunton, Virginia.

Inducted to the ASHRAE Hall of Fame for deceased members of the Society who have made milestone contributions to the growth of ASHRAE went to Calvin D MacCracken, who with more than 200 inventions and 80 patents is best known for his pioneering work in off peak cooling energy costs savings and energy conserving options in ice rinks; and John Edwin Starr, a pioneer in development of small sized refrigeration systems and refrigeration by pipeline from central stations, as well as founder and the first president of The American Society of Refrigerating Engineers (ASRE), an ASHRAE predecessor society, in 1904-05.

The ASHRAE Pioneers of Industry Award recognises deceased individuals who have made milestone contributions to the growth of HVAC&R. This year’s recipients are Daniel Livingston Holden (1837- 1924), who was a charter member of The American Society of Refrigerating Engineers and a pioneer of the commercial refrigeration industry; and Benjamin Franklin Sturtevant (1833 – 1890), the founder of the air-side HVAC industry, having invented the equipment and starting the first company specialising in engineering and manufacturing of these systems.