Geoffrey Soar Award

Recognises a notable paper/presentation made by a Young Member in the field of fluid machinery. 

Eligibility

• Open to Young Members, worldwide,

Award conditions

• The Fluid Machinery Group (FMG) considers nominations for awards as a standing agenda item in their fourth meeting of the year.
• Members of the committee, who typically will have been on the organising committee of conferences/seminars, will recommend candidates.
• A sub-committee of the FMG will then select the award winner.

Award criteria

• Candidates for the award will normally be selected from one of the conferences/seminars organised by the Fluid Machinery Group (FMG).

Value of award

• Certificate.

Application process

For further information contact membernetworks@imeche.org.

About Geoffrey Soar

Geoffrey Soar was very much the traditional engineer who started his training by working on machine tools in the production of diesel engines in the late 1940’s, whilst also studying at the local technical college in Salford.  He progressed to technical design and, after a short period in nuclear engineering, returned to reciprocating machinery in the mid-1960’s as an Assistant Chief Designer for compressors at the Reavell Company in Ipswich. 

Geoff continued to work for this company (subsequently, becoming CompAir Industrial and later Gardner Denver) for nearly 30 years until his retirement in the 1990’s.  During this time he introduced a complete new range of high speed reciprocating compressors, which together with the pioneering use of computer aided design, set a new standard for the industry for machines that are still in production today.  In recognition of his visionary success he finished his career as Engineering Director.

As a Fellow of the IMechE, Geoff was also an active member of the Fluid Machinery Group.  He was a major participant in the organisation of many conferences for reciprocating compressors and their related machinery from the 1980’s, until his death in 2012.  He was also involved with British trade associations and the forming of new European directives for the compressor industry.

At a local high school in Ipswich, Geoff volunteered his services for over 10 years to promote the engineering profession to their final year students.  Under a scheme started nationally as Neighbourhood Engineers, but later known as STEM Ambassadors, he devised engineering challenges for the students and provided guidance to help achieve solutions.  The school acknowledge that Geoff’s enthusiasm for these projects encouraged many of their students to consider engineering as a career.