In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the advancement of the science of friction, lubrication and wear and particularly its application to rail transport.
Professor Barwell WhSch PhD(Lond) BSc(Eng) CEng FICE FIMechE FIEE FASME received his practical training at the Great Western Railway, Swindon. He subsequently attended the Imperial College of Science and Technology of the University of London, obtaining his PhD in 1936. On leaving university he was awarded the Robert Blair Fellowship and sent the following year, partly at the Technische Hochschule, Berlin-Charlottenberg and partly in North America, studying Railway Motive Power.
Joining the National Physical Laboratory in 1939, he became section head in charge of lubricant and bearing research in 1946 and, three years later, he helped to found the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, and became head of the renowned Thorntonhall Lubrication and Wear Group.
In 1958 he became Director of Research for British Railways Board. During his time in that post, British Rail was involved in its biggest main line electrification programme and it fell to him to find practical solutions to some major electrical and tribological problems.
Since 1965 he has been Professor and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University College of Swansea and during this period was largely responsible for the establishment of the Swansea Tribology Centre in the College and became its first Director in 1968.
A Founder Member and subsequently Chairman of the Lubrication and Wear Group of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Professor Barwell was one of the chief witnesses to the Lubrication Engineering (Education and Research) Working Group of the Department of Education and Science in 1965.
It is difficult to think of an aspect of tribology to which he has not made a significant contribution, but apart from his own important technical contributions to the field, which gained him many medals, honours and awards, there are three ways in which his achievements have been exceptional.
The first of these has been in encouraging and attracting others to work in the field of tribology. One of the most important developments in modern tribology resulted from his clear thinking when, whilst at the National Engineering Laboratory, he was responsible for the circulation of a note which led directly to the collaboration between D Dowson and G R Higginson which culminated in the foundation of modern elastohydrodynamic theory.
His second exceptional contribution has been to international cooperation in tribology. He has travelled and lectured widely in many parts of the world and his publications have appeared in eleven countries. He was Chairman of the Planning Committee of the International Conference on Lubrication and Wear of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He was the only overseas guest of honour at the First Indian National Tribology Congress in 1974 and in 1975/76 he spent a year giving invited lectures and attending conferences in India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, France, Canada and the United States.
Finally, mention must be made of his outstanding contribution to railway engineering and the development of high speed transportation. Many of his achievements have involved the application of tribology to problems of rail vehicles, such as adhesion between tyre and track, wear and dynamic motion of pantographs and conductor wire, and braking systems, but he has also made important contributions to propulsion systems, control and passenger comfort. He must be one of relatively few modern engineers to have achieved a worldwide reputation in two distinct fields of engineering.
He has received many awards for his technical achievements, and in 1975 was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Lubrication Engineers.